Tuesday 9/27 445pm Sora, Italia
It's been about a week since I moved out to the Mogli and so far, so good. I'm living with three boys, Benoit, Simon, and Daniel, and then the random volunteer from the farm who decides to stay the night. I ended up buying a sleeping bag from Sora and also bought a tent from a girl leaving for just 20 euros. It is pretty roomie and I've definitely made it my own in just a week.
Living with the boys has been quite interesting, especially since thy have all been there for over a month and seem to have forgotten what civilization is like. My least favorite is the farting. It's all the time and it's driving me crazy. They are constantly also smelling each other to see who smells the worst since most of them only shower like every 5 days. But, surprisingly, we eat like kings because Daniel is a great cook and can make something great out of not that many ingredients. So, every night at dinner, we have so much food and it pretty much is enough to keep you full until lunch the next day. And they never let me help with anything, so I've started doing the dishes as much as possible (we have a small sink out there and quite a few dishes). It usually takes me 10 minutes, but I feel like I'm helping a little.
The two dogs, Felicita and Beroni, have taken quite a liking to me. Everyday when I leave to go back to the Mogli, I call them and they always join me on the hike home. Felicita is like 17 years old, so Beroni and I have to wait for her on the hills, but I never mind because I like to think I'm their favorites. Felicita likes to sleep by my tent at night, so I definitely know I'm her favorite. I keep thinking that maybe she is protecting me from all the "monsters" in italia countryside, but since she is such a winnie, I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm going to protect her.
Winemaking has started and pretty much ended all ready. The process is very fast because the grapes have to be crushed and put into the jugs within just a few days. A few days ago we picked almost all the grapes in just the morning and then Guiseppe had to buy a ton more because they are making wine to last a year and there is no way he could do that with just the grapes he growes. The process is pretty cool and done mostly by hand and hand-powered machines. First, after we pick them, they are put into a machine that tears them away from the stems and turns them into a pulp. Then, by bucket and assembly line, we transfer everything in that giant barrel to the press where they are slowly pressed to get all the juice out. Just today we did something close to 900 kilos of grapes, which is a lot. After they are transfered, the juice slowly comes out, and bucket by bucket is poured into these giant jugs where they will sit for the new 2 months and ferment. The fermenting process is interesting because it natually brings any dirt in the juice to the top of the bottle, and then later, it will be transfered a few times to make sure all the dirt is out and the fermenting is complete. Then, in the winter, it will be bottled for the next year. So, there is nothing in the wine but grapes. And also interesting, for the white and rossi wines, Guiseppe pretty much just puts both white and blush grapes into the machines at the same times and later he will just decide which ones are white enough to be white and pink enough to be rossi lol. For him, it isn't about seperating the grapes but simply just deciding later.
I think I've sort of become a mini tour guide since I've been here. Since I like being around the animals and since most of the kids staying here want to go see the animals, I'm always the first one to take them over there with food and let them feed everyone. Leia, the donkey, is my new best friend and she likes when I bring everyone to meet her first because she ends up getting the best snacks. Leia is pretty funny and definitely stubborn, but only because when you run out of food, she stomps her legs until she gets more. There is a ramp and a gate that leads into the animals' area and she can always been found standing by the gate, so all the guests call her the swiss guard because she is always guarding that gate. But, I know that she knows it's the best place to stand to get food. I wish I had a smart donkey.
Now, living at the Mogli, I have to hike to the farm every morning and then back to the Mogli every night. I've also become accustomed to doing it with a 15 pound pack on my back, so I'm sure that besides working everyday, I am getting a workout just getting to and from the farm each day. Today, I will end up doing it twice (it's about a 15 minute hike) because I ended up going back around noon to take a nap and I came back around 4pm because even though I'm staying there, I still like talking with all the volunteers and guests before dinner. I bought a flashlight so I can now leave around 730pm and be perfectly fine. We always eat dinner around 8pm and then if there is nothing going on that night, we play cards for about 2 hours (me and the boys) by the light of glowsticks, mini candles, and head lamps, and then we will either greet all the volunteers for some win drinking or head to bed super early. Then, if I'm still not tired, I will read from my laptop Kindle app or watch a movie. We wake up around 730 every morning and I usually leave around 8am to walk to the farm again. I tend to like to do the walk by myself because I get to listen to music and maybe find some porcupine quills. Also, as uncivilized as we live at the Mogli, it's funny because near our sink there is a mirror and a little cup where we all keep our toothbrushes. So, at least we all have clean teeth every morning and night!
A lot of people here are interested in my Romania trip that is coming up. I was excited when the mom, Maria, added me as her friend on facebook (so now I'm friends with the oldest daughter and her). I'm also excited because I will be living in civilization again. Although, I will be super happy when I can take a shower at home and sleep in my own bed.
