Back to the Land

My first week was amazing. I met the 12 chickens, fed them in the morning and collected their eggs in the evening; met the bees, tasted their honey and learned a little beekeeping; I walked up a road in search of chestnuts (maroni), found out they hurt if you touch them and learned how to make them edible; hunted walnuts, peeled them for a month and learned it is best to wait till after it has been windy to collect them; picked grapes; and went with Sandra to help work the mercato.

An attempt to work at the mercato my second week in Italia, first week on the farm and not knowing Italian was a huge mistake. I found myself embarrassed, confused and worst of all I believe I annoyed my host. I felt recovered after the market when we went to pick up my new friend Paraskevas from the Lecco train station.
Him and I explored the town and the surrounding area on Saturday. On Sunday we joined Gigi, Sandra, Serena and Tex for a hike up the mountain and a mushroom hunt. The view at the top was most extraordinary and there we sat, ate cheese, bread and fruit, and then took a nap.

Fourth Lesson: you must take the risk to speak when learning a language. Embarrassment will happen but it is all a part of the process. The more you practice the better you’ll feel (and learn).

Fifth Lesson: writing down the new words will help to remember them. Keep a small notebook in your pocket and when you learn a new word write it down.

After a week of waking up early, working physically, using my brain to translate everything and being on a nine hour time-zone difference my body was in need of some rest. For three whole weeks I slept for ten to eleven hours every night and took a one hour nap every day. I look back on it now and realize that I had gone to school for twenty years, worked for ten and never gave myself a chance to rest.

Sixth Lesson: Take a nap in the midday, resting will give you more energy toward the end of the day.