AUTUMN’S ADVENTURES

The sunshine is finally here for the first time since we arrived.  It was so nice — 73°F!!!  We started the day with the normal farm tasks — feeding the animals, letting the horses run free, scooping the cow poop, laying the hay…its just awesome.

For lunch, Barb’s aunt Marinela made Risotto and fried eggplant and we all ate together outside on the porch.  Barb brought out a lot of maps and tourist booklets and she pointed out a few cool places to go in Varese and surrounding areas for our next days off on Monday and Tuesday.  Amber and I are already getting used to hearing Italian and we are understanding quite a lot.  So we sat there for a good 2 hours listening and chatting with the family, getting to know them more.  We also gave them some good ol’ western NY maple syrup as a thank you for inviting us into their home and Barb was so excited.  So tomorrow we will make some food to accompany the syrup.

We had the whole afternoon off so we sat on the porch and chilled with our computers and then Amber went into the sunshine and did some sewing/repairing of her pants and my only sweatshirt.

At around 7pm we started to help Barb in the kitchen, preparing for the 2 dinner parties that were coming into the restaurant that night.  This was my first time serving to anyone so I was a bit nervous, especially since they spoke Italian — not English!  I also looked like a doofus wearing black capri pants with white socks showing from my black shoes (and to add even more humor to the ensemble, my white socks had Italian flags on them!).  The first dinner party was a couple.  They were so cute and in love and very nice so it was easy.  They also spoke English so that was good.  I wasn’t very perceptive and I kept forgetting to grab certain things off the table when they were finished or leaving forks or checking the water.  But it is a learning process.

The second party was a group of 6 people in their late 20’s early 30’s.  They were really loud and asked a lot of questions.  It was very nerving because I had to reach over people and carry lots of plates and get more water and wine and bread and blah blah blah.  And the worst part about them is they kept ordering and ordering and they wouldn’t leave!  It was 11:30 by the time they left and I was just exhausted waiting for them. But I had a really great time in the kitchen with Barbara and the family, trying all of the foods they sent out and just joking about everything.  I’m really learning a lot from them and having such a wonderful time.

It has been raining every day since we arrived and I’m beginning to think I packed all the wrong clothes.  I was expecting hot and humid weather so I packed very light weight clothes, one light sweatshirt and pretty much all tank tops.  I’m freezing my buns off and smelling quite horrid because I have to wear the same sweatshirt every day on my stinky farm body. I’m going to the open air market tomorrow to buy some warmer clothes and thank goodness it’s open air! hehe

I found out today that the meat I had been eating for lunch and dinner the past few days was ostrich meat!  Amber tried the meat today before knowing it was ostrich and she said “I really like this!” and when she found out it was ostrich she made a face and painfully finished the rest. I was so excited to be eating ostrich, of course, and I am waiting for them to say to me “Autumn, you have been an awesome volunteer so here — make an ostrich omelet!”  Can you imagine??? An ostrich egg omelet?  I know the eggs are available at whole foods but there is nothing better than watching it pop out of the ostrich’s butt and plopping it directly into the frying pan.  Ooh la la!

We started today with feeding the horses hay.  You have to make sure they move their heads away when you put the hay in their stable because if they don’t you could accidentally poke them in the eye with the pitchfork and that is the end of that horse.  I enjoyed screaming at them “eh eh eh back back back” lol.  Then I brushed and pet the baby horse for a while.

Our next task was to clean out a small storage room that was full of dirt and old random building supplies and to put a bunch of toys in there that were being stored in the outdoor wood oven where they make pizzas.  There were so many spiderwebs and the floor had about 2 inches of dirt on it but it took only about an hour to clean and organize it.  I hope we get to make wood oven pizzas now that the oven has been cleared away!

For lunch I made tomato and mozzarella salad and also had more antipasto.  It was super delish.

At around 4pm we went to the stables and laid sawdust in one of the rooms to prepare to transfer one of the horses into it.  Then we fed the horses again and even fed the ponies!  It was raining pretty hard all afternoon so I was soaking wet by the time we were finished.  Also, my rubber boots are about 5 sizes too big and have holes in them everywhere, rendering them pretty much useless…so my feet were wet and stinky as well.

Tomorrow is our first day off so Amber and I will go into town and explore.  More adventure to come soon!

Today was our first full day on the farm and it was exactly what I had anticipated — it was awesome.  We woke up kind of late because it was pouring rain and we had stayed up late the night before.  After breakfast we put on our work clothes and headed to the stable to scoop cow poop!  I couldn’t believe that was the first thing I would be doing on the farm and I was totally ready for it with my bandana, pitchfork and mud boots.  It was the dirtiest job I’ve done in my life and I enjoyed every second of it.  But right before the poop, we let the horses out of their stable to run around for the day in the field and forest.  It was such an amazing sight to watch them run freely in a pack — really cool.

After 2 hours of poop scooping and hay laying, we had lunch.  Barbara had cut some prosciutto so I put that on an arugula salad with this amazing pesto mint paste that she had also made. It was literally heaven in my mouth.  Oh, and for breakfast I had eggs and mushroom antipasto.  mmmhmm that’s right.

Our poopy filled boots and hair and clothes needed to come off so Amber and I took showers and chilled for an hour or so before we had to go back out and round up the horses that had escaped from the field and wandered into the woods.  It was totally cool because we were walking along old train tracks and there were wild strawberries along the path as well.  The horses always congregate at the same spot, at the old train station.  So we found them there and it took about 10 minutes to get them to go in the direction that we wanted them to but they finally went.

Once the horses were in, we rounded up the sheep, fed the deer, goats and crazy looking birds and then we were done working for the day!

For dinner Barbara had prepared dough for making pizzas so everyone came together in the kitchen and made their own pizzas and we all hung out and ate pizza together and cracked jokes and had such a wonderful time.  I put antipasto on my pizza and prosciutto because I can’t get enough of it.  This family is so great!  Tomorrow if I have time I will do mini biographies of the family members since I am too tired to that now.

Until tomorrow!!!

So here I am, reviving the blog again for my next adventure — farming in Italy!  I tried to blog while backpacking in Europe but I was all over the place and it was just too hard to organize the millions of things I was seeing into coherent posts.  So onward we go, this new adventure is going to be awesome and well blogged about, so bookmark me!

For those of you who are totally out of the loop, this summer my younger sister and I are farming on a huge farm in a small town, Varese, in Italy in the Lombardy province on the border of Switzerland.  We will be here for 2 months doing random manual farm labor, helping out in the family restaurant and learning italian and how to cook.  We are able to do this almost for free (minus the flight and any random mini trips around Italy that we go on).  The farm experience was made possible as a volunteer exchange program that we are doing through an online community called Helpx.  There is a similar community that works specifically with organic farming called WWOOFING, which is more widely known.  Helpx provides a forum for people who are looking for helpers on projects and helpers looking for people who have projects.  Normally the people looking for helpers will provide food and shelter in exchange for the work.  This is how Amber and I are living in Italy for free and only working about 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week.

The farm we found is called Goccia d’oro Ranch and it is run by a big italian family that speaks very little English (yay for us!).  The farm is part of agriturismo, which is tourism on a farm, a new way of vacationing that is becoming very popular.  They have every animal imaginable on their farm from deer to ducks to ostrich to special chickens with crazy feathers.  They also love breeding Arabian horses, so there are tons of horses on the farm and Amber and I will learn how to ride.

Amber and I arrived yesterday, separately, as I came from Germany visiting my cute boify and she came directly to Milan.  Unfortunately, Amber’s flight was delayed FOREVER and instead of arriving at 12:30 in the afternoon she arrived at 12:30 in the morning!  Poor girl.  You can read her blog to hear all about it.

I arrived by train after 6 hours and entered Varese in the pouring rain, crossing the border into Italy by foot and running to the bus stop only to get soaked in rain and wait for a bus that didn’t come after 45 minutes.  Luckily, Barbara, the woman from the farm, and Robin, a farm helper from New York City, were able to come and pick me up at the border as I tried to dry off.

Robin is the only other helper from Helpx on the farm at the moment but more will be coming as the summer progresses.  There are Irish and British girls coming in July and some dude as well.  And I’m sure more will pop in randomly throughout the summer.  Some will camp outside and some will stay in our big bedroom, equipped with at least 6-8 beds (and a giant antique pool table).

When I first arrived to the farm we drove down this long, steep and stony driveway.  It reminded me of my dad’s driveway to his cabin — I expected rustic and I totally got it.  The farm is secluded from the town and has a fantastic view overlooking green pastures.  The hotel/farm house is huge and beautiful and I was greeted by an enthusiastic and friendly dog named Billy.  Robin showed me around the farm house and we chilled for the night until we went to pick up Amber.  I haven’t taken any pictures of the farm house yet because it was raining and when it wasn’t raining I was working on the farm…so pictures will come eventually.

So far everything is amazing.  The farm, Italy, the people, the food, the animals…I’m so happy Amber and I are finally here and doing this crazy thing, really living the life…

While I was traveling around Patagonia with Dave we met two french people surfing the same couch as us.  We ended up traveling with them for about a week after that and had a pretty good time.  I told one of the frenchies that I would be in Europe in January so we exchanged info and here I am, meeting up with him today to go check out Notre Dame.

The cathedral was huge and impressive though I’m not a giant fan of church touring in general.  To me they all look more or less the same, and they all have creepy statues of jesus dying in them.  Any they are dark and smelly and a little bit scary.  I do appreciate the stained glass windows though. They are probably the only things I enjoy seeing when I’m inside. While it was cool to say I was there, I didn’t stay for very long and I didn’t go up on the roof (8 euros to go up I was unwilling to shell out).

My french friend, Sebastian, and I continued walking around the island while catching up.  We ended up walking for a good 4 hours around the rest of the city, seeing various landmarks and famous streets.  By the end of it my feet were tired so he bought us some pain au chocolate and we went to his favorite cafe/bar in the city.  It’s a tiny little corner bar always full with loud, drunk french men.  We drank a coffee there and eavesdropped on the table next to us full of belligerent french guys on their lunch break talking about politics and sports.  The owner of the bar was the loudest and drunkest of them all, tipping back bottles of red wine with his hefty potato and meat stew lunch.   He was very opinionated and very funny, even though I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. Just watching his body language and listening to him was entertaining.  He even has a framed photo of himself holding a kings cane calling himself the king of the bar.

When I got back to the apartment, Nathalie and I decided to make a nice salad for dinner to celebrate our first night in her new place.

Nathalie woke up early to meet with a realtor about an apartment while I slept in and enjoyed the double bed that I had all to myself.  When I woke up I took a shower in the crazy multiple jet shower.  I turned on all of the knobs and was greeted by a bajillion different tiny streams poking at me like little needles.  I quickly realized this was not going to be a harmonious relationship so I shut off the tiny jets and took a normal shower where the water comes from above.  The water pressure was intense and so amazing that it made me forget about the little prickers attacking me just seconds ago.

When Nathalie came back to the apartment she brought me a coffee eclair to try.  YUM.  After our late breakfast we decided to take a trip to the palace of Versailles.  French citizens under the age of 26 are able to get into almost every tourist attraction for free, minus the Eiffel tower.  I had to pay about 16 dollars to get in.

Audio guides were included with the ticket so I was able to listen to the history of each room, it’s purpose and quirky facts about random objects.  The coolest things about the palace were the ceilings painted with murals and gold statues in almost every room.  One huge room had the biggest fire place I had ever seen.  So cool.  I have seen some pretty amazing things on the road but I have to admit that the architecture and the history of France is so impressive.  It really tucks the US as a youthful nation into it’s cradle…

That night we drove to Camille’s mom’s house to make dinner and drink some wine before going out in Paris.  Camille was taking us to a really popular disco in Paris so we had to make sure we were dressed properly, wearing a suit jacket and a dress.  We waited outside in the cue for about 20 minutes before Camille managed to get us in somehow.  The music was house music and some pop hits from the US.  We bought one drink each and it cost me 17 euros including tip.  It was apple juice and vodka in a tiny cup that I finished in about 5 minutes.  The club was packed. We started dancing and out of the corner of my eye I saw this huge monster coming towards us.  As it got closer I realized it was a tranny-version of Lady Gaga wearing platform shoes and a string that wrapped around his body and up his butt crack, forming one giant complicated thong.  I looked around some more and saw another tranny, more dainty but still towering over the crowd in his tall shoes.  I was so into the trannies. Oh what a night!

We left Damelevieres in a frenzy with bags and arms flapping while we made sure we weren’t forgetting anything as we said our goodbyes.  I spotted this funny box on my way out the door and had to snap a photo of it.  As we drove out of their little town I spotted a truck with the words “Love France” printed on the side. I couldn’t help but think to myself “yes, that is exactly how I feel right now, truck. Thank you spelling it out for me.”

When we arrived to Paris we met up with Nathalie’s good friend Camille at her boyfriend’s apartment.  We were going to stay in that apartment for the next few days while Nathalie found her own apartment.  Camille wasn’t staying with us, she was just giving us the keys since she was staying at her mom’s while her boyfriend was out of town working.  When I walked into this apartment all I could think of was one word: Ikea.  It was a total mod-bachelor pad equipped with a giant flat screen TV with surround sound, all white furniture and a red bathroom containing a shower with those multiple jets that shoot out at you.  Not to mention the cool view of other Paris apartment buildings from the giant floor to ceiling windows.  I dug it and couldn’t believe I was staying in such a nice place for my first few days in Paris.  I was definitely excited to try that shower out and see what all the fuss was about.  The gods are shining down on me for sure.

When Camille left us to get settled in we decided to take a drive around to see the major monuments at night.  It was really cool to see everything lit up and to be in the crazy night traffic around the arc of triomphe.  My head was out the window like an excited dog, numbed by the zero degree wind but too happy to care.  I saw lovers walking on the sidewalk, stopping to take photos together in front of the eiffel tower.  This city really is bubbling with romance.

We drove to the Montmartre district and checked out the Moulin Rouge all lit up.  We were hungry so we parked and decided to eat at the Flunch.  I was intrigued by the name alone but once inside I knew that I made a grave mistake.  It was like the college cafeteria all over again. I asked Nathalie if Flunch stood for Fast Lunch which she replied “Yeah, that would make sense.”

Tired from the long drive we settled on the couch and watched a marathon of Season 1: My Name is Earl.  Nathalie loves their accent so she always asks me to talk like them so we can practice talking like Earl together.  I’m now naturally talking like white trash with a southern twang thanks to her.

Today was my last full day in Damelevieres and though was sad to leave I was also excited for the last dinner — but we’ll get to that later.  To start off the day, Nath, Baptiste and I went to Nancy to coat shop for Bapt and then they took me to the Fresh Market to show me where their dad buys all of the food that he makes.  It was so amazing to be there and to see the hundreds of different cheeses in giant blocks.  The exotic fish and the live crabs and other shelled fancies.  The fruit was beautiful and expensive but not as expensive as the truffle mushroom, which costs almost $3,000 USD per kilo and look like baby elephant turds.  Apparently it is very hard to find and people use pigs to sniff it out and dig it out from under trees.  Maybe someday I will try it…

Now onto the dinner!  Both sides of the grandparents came to the dinner so the table was full and excited for this awesome meal.  To start, we had smoked mackerel with lemon followed by foie gras and smoked duck over a bed of spinach and pine nuts.  For the main course it was what I had been waiting for — escargot!  They were in porcelain “shells” to retain heat but normally they are served in their own shells.  The sauce was a parsley and butter sauce which you dipped bread into after you ate the escargot.  I liked it, loved it, wanted more of it. So I did. I ate about a dozen.  For the first dessert, it was none other than, you guessed it - cheese!  After that was the real dessert of gauffre, or powdered waffles.  I brought maple syrup from NY so the family tried some of the waffles with that. Yummy!

To end the night, Nath, Bapt and I played a french game called Yam.  I actually learned how to play this came in Jujuy but I forget what they called it.  Needless to say, I lost at Yam too…

This afternoon was another culinary experience at Nath’s grandparent’s house.  It started out with trying Patis, a famous french liquor made from anis.  I knew I probably wouldn’t like it because I am no fan of the flavor of anis but I tried it anyway.  It was mixed with some other juice or something but it was still too strong of a flavor for me so I took one sip and thanked them for letting me try it.  Then her grandma poured me some porte wine from Portugal but even that was too sweet for me.

For lunch we had pote lorraine which was different sausages and pork steaks slow cooked until the meat is so tender it almost melts in your mouth.  There was also a beet salad that was so good that I ate it up before I remembered to take a photo.  The beets came from her grandmother’s garden in the back yard. For dessert we had mirabelle and her grandfather had me try mirabelle liquor that he made in 1965.  Usually you pour the liquor over the mirabelle fruits and eat it like that but he had me take a cube of sugar, dip it in the liquor, put it in my mouth and chew.  He said it would take the edge off but it was still the strongest and most intense mix of burning in my mouth.  It took me a few minutes to recover after that one.  Nath told me her other grandpa used to gargle the mirabelle liquor every morning, to clean his throat and keep him from getting sick.

After lunch we went to Nath’s other grandma’s house to chat with her for a hot second.  She served us chocolates in the shape and color of mini golf balls while I listened to them catch up in French.  She had two tiny fridges covered in magnets from the US.  I got a kick out of that.  Since I couldn’t speak to her in English, I pointed to each magnet that I’ve been to and tried to explain with my hands that I’d visited or lived there.  She either thought I was a crazy person, banging at my chest to indicate “ME HERE” or she understood. I’ll never know.

We were meeting up with Mimi and her boyfriend for dinner tonight so we decided to make brownies to bring with us.  We bought all of the ingredients versus buying a box and throwing in some eggs.  I was worried that they wouldn’t turn out because I was converting the measurements from cups to grams and brownies are so finicky.  An hour later, we pulled them out of the oven and they were PERFECT.  I’ve never made perfect brownies before.  These had a flaky top layer and were super moist in the center.  I patted myself on the back for that one.

When we arrived to Mimi’s, we were greeted by an autistic cat that wouldn’t let us go up the stairs.  It was a cute cat but something scared me about it being autistic as I’ve never known a cat to have such a diagnosis.  It even had it’s own mini cat couch.  But that doesn’t top what I saw when I walked into the kitchen.  I look down and see a giant white bunny at my feet, hopping around like it’s the owner of the house.  This thing was so domesticated it was insane.  It came to snuggle with me a few times and proceeded to get white hairs all over my new black sweater.  We played poker after dinner and I lost.  First bowling, then this? I was on a losing streak…

Nathalie had some errands to run today so I accompanied her to Nancy.  She brought me to this bakery that makes her favorite pain au chocolat and then we checked out a few stores and Place Stanislas, the famous and most beautiful plaza in France according to Nath and her family.  It was hard to photograph it, being it was so big and all, but it was pretty and gold and stuff.

For dinner we went to this restaurant chain called Hippopotamus which is a steak house.  A bunch of Nathalie’s cousins and their girlfriends/boyfriends also joined us for this dinner.  Nath told me that I had to try bone marrow so I did (and I liked it).  I also ordered a rare steak and it was a perfect blueish-red hue.  What a hunka meat I tell ya. YUM.

After dinner a handful of us went bowling around the corner.  I’ve internationally bowled only one other time in Buenos Aires.  I always have fun bowling but I never win.  In fact, I always come in last.  I don’t really care though because I’m only in it for the neon lights and the slippery shoes.  And it reminds me of the Big Lebowski.