The next day, Giulia and I made breakfast for the guests, and then she, Giacomo (who magically reappeared), and Vanessa packed up to go camping for the next few days. I was relieved they were leaving because I felt that one, I could get the inside scoop from Laura who has been here a month and a half, and two, I could figure out a rhythm for how I want to spend my days.
Before they left, and while still on the “clock,” Vanessa pleaded with me to play with her. “Dude, I’m supposed to be working,” I told her. “Whatever, my mom would want you to play with me instead.” She is an amazing 8 year old, who speaks perfect English with a California accent, as well as perfect Italian. Lucky girl. Alas, Vanessa was right, and I have come to realize that for Giulia, her family’s happiness comes first. So Vanessa and I jumped on the trampoline and played hide and seek until they were ready to leave. The grounds at Casa Giulia are pretty epic for hide and seek.
After the trio left, the house was significantly quieter, and Teresa (Giulia’s mom), Laura (the other Workawayer) and I let go a collective sigh of relief. The only noisy one was Dino, Giulia’s 1 year old son that was left with us. He is a really cute kid and happy for the most part, and had babysitters lined up every afternoon, so Teresa, Laura and I made plans. The first afternoon, we went to the local beach, about a 10 minute drive from the BnB. Fancy a swim in the Ionian Sea? Yes, sounds nice, quite nice.
The three of us cooked dinner together, drank wine, shared music and swapped stories. Teresa told us about doing MDMA with Alexander Shulgin at Timothy Leary’s house in the Hollywood hills, and hitchhiking from Mexico City to Machu Picchu back in the 60’s. She’s hella cool, and an unexpected friend. She lives in Lecce but I hope she stays with us the whole time. Plus, she has a car so the three of us have been piling in her little Beetle convertible and getting out to explore the heel of the boot. Although Teresa has seen it all, Laura has been working pretty hard and now that it has quieted down (perfect timing for me to arrive haha), Teresa is more than happy to show us around.
Yesterday, we went to Gallipoli, not the famous WWI site, but a charming seaside village with a nice port and an apparently existing gay scene, so much so that its nickname is Gayllipoli. Laura and I will have to check that one out on our own time.
As for the actual work, my main job (in addition to serving breakfast) is to weed the base of maybe 300 olive trees. I haven’t counted, but I will be impressed if I finish it in a month. After trying a few different methods, I figured using a hoe is the best way. You can imagine the jokes I’ve made. The work is super physically taxing, so yesterday I did 4 trees and today 5. My goal is to be able to do 10 in a day, but I’ll have to work up to it. I already have huge blisters on my hands. But I’ll build up callouses and stamina, and intend to leave southern Italy super fit.
Because I can only work in the field for about an hour before my arms start to shake and I’m afraid I’ll take my toe off with the hoe, I’ve been helping Teresa with Dino. He is a stout little kid, nearly as round as he is tall. He doesn’t talk but babbles a lot, but his favorite words are patate (potato) and coco, which is his word for cookie. His indulgent Nonas (grandmas) give him a cookie whenever he asks, which he usually ends up feeding to the dog. Someday he will be perfectly fluent in English and Italian, but for now it is super cute gibberish. I think he is an old man trapped in a baby’s body, because every time he sits down anywhere, he says, “Ahhhhh.”
My other favorite thing about Casa Giulia is all the food that grows here. Not only are there 300 olive trees, but there are almonds, chestnuts, plums, peaches, pears, pomegranates, apricots, mulberries, and many more. The neighboring vineyards are chock full of ripe grapes, waiting to be harvested. After being in such urban settings, it feels really good to get back to the land. And spend time with kids. I’m grateful for my time in Hawaii, which taught me how to farm as well as what to expect living with a one year old. So far so good.
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