Winding Down in Sicily

I am winding down at Farm 3 and am already looking forward to Farm 4 in Abruzzo. It will be hard to leave the puppies and Haide (no it is not a misspelling) and Peter, the donkeys. In preparation I cleaned the donkey house and they have fresh hay on the floor. It took three wheel barrels of donkey stuff (you know what). Apparently it makes great manure for the orange trees.

Before I talk about the day, I would like to spend a little more time on the food of Sicily. They have simple but extremely flavorful dishes. Last night there were two kinds of Risotto: mushroom and pumpkin. I know there was some type of meat in one. They had both chicken cutlets and cotoletta, which is a breaded beef dish. There was white lasagna, which was filled with different cheeses. There was a pastry with cabbage inside (outstanding). The most popular meat in Sicily is sausage. It is not the type of sausage we buy in the store. The Sicilian sausage is so much better. My salad with oranges, fennel, sweet onions and oregano was a hit (they ate a huge bowl). The above are just a few of my favorites. Deserts were plentiful: tiramisu, cannoli, wonderful cakes, etc…… I hope to be able to duplicate these dishes.

Nirav ended up with a woman and she spent the night. It was so funny when Nirav came down and was putting a tray together for breakfast in bed. We were teasing him. I met Paolo from the other farm last night. I didn’t realize that he was hitting on me until he showed up again today. I immediately went and pick oranges.

We had another lesson this morning on Tai Chi, even though everyone was up until past midnight. I am hoping to continue lessons when I return because it is a beautiful way to meditate and exercise at the same time. Alfonso is getting better at communicating but I am not getting any better at following his instruction. It is very hard to keep the stance as you go through the movements.

We picked oranges and sorted most of the day because the two other Wwoofers are leaving tomorrow. I am glad the day is winding down so I can get some sleep. The swallows ended up nesting in the room next to mine and they get up very early and make major noise. I am not sure what they are doing but they fly around and dive in front of my door. It must be some type of mating ritual.

I decided that I am really not cut out for communal living. I think it is too difficult with everyone’s personalities. The two Wwoofers leaving are very difficult and are always worried that they have to do more than the others; they are also very vocal with their views. Since this is my first time with other Wwoofers, I am not sure if it is just their bad attitude and, therefore, an isolated experience or it is a normal part of communal living. I hope that I will have a chance to find out at another farm.

Ciao for now.