Nov. 19th 2012
Andrea is the new WWOOFer from Germany who arrived last Wed., 5 days late. Gianni wasn't sure if she was ever coming because she did not answer emails stating her plans. But she finally came last Wed. evening. Thursday we went to work, stripped one baby olive tree of its' olives which took all of 30 min. and it started to rain. We went home for the rest of the day. Friday am still raining, stayed home but went to work in the afternoon for 3 hrs. Easy day. Up till now, Andrea's only WWOOFing experience was at a farm near here in San Pietro where she might have worked casually for about 3 hrs./day with many days off. So basically she has NO hard work experience. Saturday we worked, in the mud made by all the rain, for a regular 5 1/2 hr. shift. A few times during that shift she, being already covered in mud, dropped to the ground like she was exhausted and did not want to get up. A little drama queen here. Complained a lot saying that the WWOOFing organization says WWOOFers cannot work more than 5 hrs./day (it does not). So she's not happy and wants to change everything about how we collect olives. I just shake my head and go on like I'm supposed to. She does not want to pick olives up off the ground. The ones that don't make the net end up in the dirt or grass and must be picked up one-by-one by hand. She says we should step on them and push them into the dirt and if Gianni says anything to tell him they were there yesterday. I don't listen. I just keep doing what I'm supposed to do. Picking up the olives by hand is the most painful part as I have said before. So now I have to do it by myself. Not good.
Sunday, our day off, was supposed to be, with careful planning, a good day to rent bicycles for the day. We planned to ride to the train station at 5:30 a.m. to get the 6 a.m. train to Monopoli and ride along the shore back down to Carovigno. On the way to the station, Andrea's chain got tangled and we could not fix it. She insisted that we keep going, get on the train with 1 good and 1 broken bike to Monopoli and somehow try to fix it there. So because she could still coast the bike, hung on to my sweater (it was cold) as I peddled and towed her along the now very dark, unlit road. When we figured out we were on the wrong road to the station, we pulled over at the Belvedere Sanctuary under a well-lit parking lot and she proceeded to throw a temper tantrum. She's 29 yrs. old. She started kicking the bike. It was very disturbing. I convinced her to call the guy (he gave us his phone #) who rented us the bikes and tell him he must come and take us back to town. She did. He came and said he only had room in his car for 1 bike. She rode with him back to town. I rode my bike. She was home before me and was lying on the couch, depressed or whatever, when I arrived. I insisted she take my good bike for the day so she could go to the beach while I stayed home and had a relaxing day and did a lot of reading.
She had a really horrible day. Rode to Monopoli, got lost, got rained on and waited at the Monoploi train station for 3 hrs. for the train back to Carovigno. Called Gianni to come get her with the bike at the Carovigno train station because it was still raining and she was already cold and wet. He came I guess reluctantly to get her, did not help her with getting the bike in the van and never asked her how her day was. He is VERY little help to us. Has NO interest in how or what we are doing.
After she got home, she said she wanted to take a hot bath, would I make her some pasta (that I bought) because she was hungry. She has never bought any food here. I made her pasta with pesto that I had bought that day and she ate and went to bed.
It's raining again today and forecast says it will rain for the next 3 days. Very strange weather for this area.
Afterthought: I asked her what she plans on doing when she returns to her apartment in Berlin. Her only aspiration is to marry a rich man, get a small house so she can have a garden.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Saturday, November 17, 2012
THE MUD
NOV. 18TH 2012
Just when I thought I have pushed my body to its' limits---it rains. Which makes mud. It rains about only 3 times per year here. The soil in the olive garden is rich and fluffy and soft. Add enough water to it and what you have is a heavy paste that clings to your shoes/boots and ultimately adds about 3-6 lbs. to each foot. So walking in it becomes very tough. Then add the weight of 2 buckets of olives, each weighing between 40 and 50 lbs and you've got a struggle. All of this is apart from getting this mud all over yourself; in your hair, on your face and all over your clothes- within the first 1/2 hr. The first day of this (after getting 1 1/2 days off to rest) I wore my garden shoes. After about 1/2 hr. the mud had started to come to the top of the shoe and up my leg. The second day I wore my rubber boots. It takes at least 1/2 hr. after coming home to rinse and rinse and rinse the mud out of my clothes. I hose my boots off at the farm. And it's kind of reddish in color so stains my pretty pink shirt. Next week should be better after having a couple of days to dry out.
Today I have off. Andrea and I rented really nice mountain bikes for the day. We will ride to the train station for Monopoli with the bikes and ride along the sea back down to Carovigno. I know it will not rain.
Just when I thought I have pushed my body to its' limits---it rains. Which makes mud. It rains about only 3 times per year here. The soil in the olive garden is rich and fluffy and soft. Add enough water to it and what you have is a heavy paste that clings to your shoes/boots and ultimately adds about 3-6 lbs. to each foot. So walking in it becomes very tough. Then add the weight of 2 buckets of olives, each weighing between 40 and 50 lbs and you've got a struggle. All of this is apart from getting this mud all over yourself; in your hair, on your face and all over your clothes- within the first 1/2 hr. The first day of this (after getting 1 1/2 days off to rest) I wore my garden shoes. After about 1/2 hr. the mud had started to come to the top of the shoe and up my leg. The second day I wore my rubber boots. It takes at least 1/2 hr. after coming home to rinse and rinse and rinse the mud out of my clothes. I hose my boots off at the farm. And it's kind of reddish in color so stains my pretty pink shirt. Next week should be better after having a couple of days to dry out.
Today I have off. Andrea and I rented really nice mountain bikes for the day. We will ride to the train station for Monopoli with the bikes and ride along the sea back down to Carovigno. I know it will not rain.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
The arrival of Andrea from Germany
Nov. 15th 2012
Andrea arrived as the new WWOOFer yesterday. She's about 6 ft. tall, skinny, with a strong German accent. She speaks very good English, Italian, Spanish and of course German.
On her first day at work, we arrived at the olive farm, stripped one baby olive tree which took us about 20 min. and it started to rain. It was time to leave. Somehow Gianni always seems to know exactly what is happening with the rain situation. That is why we left and not waited. All week he was saying "maybe rain on Thursday".
With a whole day off ahead of us we took 2 umbrellas and went downtown to the grocery store. I needed salad stuff for the week ahead. Since I do not go upstairs to Gianni's apartment for supper, I will need some lettuce etc. I got 2 very large Boston lettuces, a bag of mixed lettuces, a bag of mache(valeriana), a bag of arugula(rucola), a pkg. of tomatoes, a head of radicchio, 3 containers of yogurt, 3 bottles of yogurt drink, a loaf of sesame bread and a bottle of wine. It cost 13 Euro. Good deal.
Andrea is 29, single and already does not want to stay the 3 weeks she has committed to. She will tell Gianni today that she wants to leave after 2 weeks. It's not the place or the work. It's because she wants to spend a week in Rome before going back to her previous farm in San Pietro, just a short train ride from here. She left many of her things there with the intention of possibly spending Christmas with that family. Like many of the WWOOFers that I have met, they are unsure of going back home until they've done all they could, seen all they could see while WWOOFing. They are mostly all in their 20's and not sure what they want to be "when they grow up".
The first WWOOFing farm Andrea went to, she left after the first day. She had to stay in a caravan. It's a trailer that leaked very badly and was pretty gross to be in. You never know what the conditions will be like before going to these farms.
Heli made it home in Finland safely. She was surprised by her husband when he drove 300 miles to Helsinki to pick her up. She was planning on taking the 6hr. bus ride home.
Since it is still raining, I started a fire in the fireplace and have a pot of beans cooking for minestrone. All good things for a rainy day. I started playing chess online against the computer. Haven't won yet.
I understand they have the 4th Twilight book at the library in English. I'll have to go check it out.
3 weeks to go to Sicily
Andrea arrived as the new WWOOFer yesterday. She's about 6 ft. tall, skinny, with a strong German accent. She speaks very good English, Italian, Spanish and of course German.
On her first day at work, we arrived at the olive farm, stripped one baby olive tree which took us about 20 min. and it started to rain. It was time to leave. Somehow Gianni always seems to know exactly what is happening with the rain situation. That is why we left and not waited. All week he was saying "maybe rain on Thursday".
With a whole day off ahead of us we took 2 umbrellas and went downtown to the grocery store. I needed salad stuff for the week ahead. Since I do not go upstairs to Gianni's apartment for supper, I will need some lettuce etc. I got 2 very large Boston lettuces, a bag of mixed lettuces, a bag of mache(valeriana), a bag of arugula(rucola), a pkg. of tomatoes, a head of radicchio, 3 containers of yogurt, 3 bottles of yogurt drink, a loaf of sesame bread and a bottle of wine. It cost 13 Euro. Good deal.
Andrea is 29, single and already does not want to stay the 3 weeks she has committed to. She will tell Gianni today that she wants to leave after 2 weeks. It's not the place or the work. It's because she wants to spend a week in Rome before going back to her previous farm in San Pietro, just a short train ride from here. She left many of her things there with the intention of possibly spending Christmas with that family. Like many of the WWOOFers that I have met, they are unsure of going back home until they've done all they could, seen all they could see while WWOOFing. They are mostly all in their 20's and not sure what they want to be "when they grow up".
The first WWOOFing farm Andrea went to, she left after the first day. She had to stay in a caravan. It's a trailer that leaked very badly and was pretty gross to be in. You never know what the conditions will be like before going to these farms.
Heli made it home in Finland safely. She was surprised by her husband when he drove 300 miles to Helsinki to pick her up. She was planning on taking the 6hr. bus ride home.
Since it is still raining, I started a fire in the fireplace and have a pot of beans cooking for minestrone. All good things for a rainy day. I started playing chess online against the computer. Haven't won yet.
I understand they have the 4th Twilight book at the library in English. I'll have to go check it out.
3 weeks to go to Sicily
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Heli leaves
NOV. 11TH 2012
After 3 weeks together, working our butts off, Heli is leaving. She will be staying in this area for 3 days vacationing until she flies home to Finland. She has been my roommate and workmate. She was only scheduled to stay the 3 weeks so will be replaced by another WWOOFER from Germany on Tuesday. This afternoon after working all day we took the train to Bari so she could rent a SMART car at the airport. We drove back to the apartment and tomorrow we will drive to Alberobello and maybe Locorotondo for a much needed day off from picking the olives.
Heli is a Swedish language teacher to high schoolers in Finland. When a teacher in Finland teaches for 5 years, they are entitled to take a full year off from teaching and still get paid a portion of their pay. This is what Heli did. She has been away from home for almost 3 months. But tomorrow we will be free to travel and NOT pick olives! We are very happy about this.
After 3 weeks together, working our butts off, Heli is leaving. She will be staying in this area for 3 days vacationing until she flies home to Finland. She has been my roommate and workmate. She was only scheduled to stay the 3 weeks so will be replaced by another WWOOFER from Germany on Tuesday. This afternoon after working all day we took the train to Bari so she could rent a SMART car at the airport. We drove back to the apartment and tomorrow we will drive to Alberobello and maybe Locorotondo for a much needed day off from picking the olives.
Heli is a Swedish language teacher to high schoolers in Finland. When a teacher in Finland teaches for 5 years, they are entitled to take a full year off from teaching and still get paid a portion of their pay. This is what Heli did. She has been away from home for almost 3 months. But tomorrow we will be free to travel and NOT pick olives! We are very happy about this.
Gianni 50 years ago
NOV. 10TH 2012
WHEN GIANNI FIRST STARTED COMING TO PUGLIA FROM THE NORTH, he was probably in his twenties. At that time, the farmers of olives went to work at their orchard from town (Carvigno) in a donkey-pulled cart. It took about 2-3 hours to get to their farm. The donkey was egged on by the farmers' dog. It was always a white dog barking all the way . The farmer slept the whole way because the donkey knew his way. And the little white dog kept the donkey going at a snails pace. But the farmer got to sleep.
Then the donkey and cart and dog got replaced with a car. And the farmer could not sleep.
But despite the farmer got to drive to work, he still traveled at a snails pace. It still took him 2-3 hours.
This is a true story.
WHEN GIANNI FIRST STARTED COMING TO PUGLIA FROM THE NORTH, he was probably in his twenties. At that time, the farmers of olives went to work at their orchard from town (Carvigno) in a donkey-pulled cart. It took about 2-3 hours to get to their farm. The donkey was egged on by the farmers' dog. It was always a white dog barking all the way . The farmer slept the whole way because the donkey knew his way. And the little white dog kept the donkey going at a snails pace. But the farmer got to sleep.
Then the donkey and cart and dog got replaced with a car. And the farmer could not sleep.
But despite the farmer got to drive to work, he still traveled at a snails pace. It still took him 2-3 hours.
This is a true story.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
The big olive tree shaker and 3rd week at the olive farm
Nov. 7th 2012
On Monday a tractor came to the olive orchard with an even bigger mover and shaker than the one operated by Antonio (affectionately referred to as 'the little man'). Antonio is actually not little. He is though as wide as he is tall. This arm reached up into the very big olive trees and shook the whole tree like nothing else. One of the problems is that it also breaks branches and does permanent damage to the otherwise very sturdy trees. And if there is any gap between the nets; if some don't overlap, then the olives go flying everywhere, usually in the gaps. This means many hours bending over picking up each olive. This is the dreaded task that causes so much back pain. It's difficult getting up when you're crouched over for any length of time.
Whatever olives remain on the trees after such a shaking will remain a while longer to get more ripe. They are just not ready yet. Which is why sometimes the olive picking goes on until March of the following year.
It's raining just a bit outside today so work has been postponed until this afternoon. This is the second time rain has affected work. It really, really seldom rains here. And most times when it rains here in town, the orchard sees nothing.
LUNCHES WITH GRAZZIELA
Grazziela is a wonderful cook. She stays home every day (outside from going to the market) and plans the next meal for us and Gianni her husband. Most of what she makes is food that I have either made or seen made. This one dish though was different. It was meat stuffed meat. It was like you took a pot roast, flattened it and put a stuffing of meatballs (ground beef, veal, pork,eggs,cheese etc.) on it, rolled it up, tied it and baked it for a long time.
We had risotto made with beef stock (probably from the meat stuffed meat) and cheese. She did not use Arborio which kind of surprised me. Gianni made sure to tell us that there are hundreds of ways to make risotto. I thought Arborio was the only rice used.
Meatballs fried in olive oil. Don't know why she doesn't just bake them on high heat. Gianni cannot eat anything fried. I'd like to make meatballs MY way for her. So he can eat them.
She and Gianni have a cup of Orzoro and a muffin for supper. Orzoro is a barley drink, served hot.
I miss hot dogs and beans (don't have baked beans here).
I miss peanut butter
I miss dark bread
On Monday a tractor came to the olive orchard with an even bigger mover and shaker than the one operated by Antonio (affectionately referred to as 'the little man'). Antonio is actually not little. He is though as wide as he is tall. This arm reached up into the very big olive trees and shook the whole tree like nothing else. One of the problems is that it also breaks branches and does permanent damage to the otherwise very sturdy trees. And if there is any gap between the nets; if some don't overlap, then the olives go flying everywhere, usually in the gaps. This means many hours bending over picking up each olive. This is the dreaded task that causes so much back pain. It's difficult getting up when you're crouched over for any length of time.
Whatever olives remain on the trees after such a shaking will remain a while longer to get more ripe. They are just not ready yet. Which is why sometimes the olive picking goes on until March of the following year.
It's raining just a bit outside today so work has been postponed until this afternoon. This is the second time rain has affected work. It really, really seldom rains here. And most times when it rains here in town, the orchard sees nothing.
LUNCHES WITH GRAZZIELA
Grazziela is a wonderful cook. She stays home every day (outside from going to the market) and plans the next meal for us and Gianni her husband. Most of what she makes is food that I have either made or seen made. This one dish though was different. It was meat stuffed meat. It was like you took a pot roast, flattened it and put a stuffing of meatballs (ground beef, veal, pork,eggs,cheese etc.) on it, rolled it up, tied it and baked it for a long time.
We had risotto made with beef stock (probably from the meat stuffed meat) and cheese. She did not use Arborio which kind of surprised me. Gianni made sure to tell us that there are hundreds of ways to make risotto. I thought Arborio was the only rice used.
Meatballs fried in olive oil. Don't know why she doesn't just bake them on high heat. Gianni cannot eat anything fried. I'd like to make meatballs MY way for her. So he can eat them.
She and Gianni have a cup of Orzoro and a muffin for supper. Orzoro is a barley drink, served hot.
I miss hot dogs and beans (don't have baked beans here).
I miss peanut butter
I miss dark bread
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Old man piazza
Nov. 5th 2012
The piazza (plaza) up at the top of the street where I live is quite lovely with its' cobblestone streets and benches to sit and meet friends. But everyone there during the day, every day consists of old men. Old men who when I walk by just stare and say nothing. In the evening sometimes there are many teenagers meeting up with their friends. There are never any women just hanging around. There are a few businesses but mostly there are these little alcoves or rooms off to the side with sometimes the rubber strips hanging in the doorway (to keep out bugs of which there are usually none). Inside these little rooms are sometimes a table and a few folding chairs. It looks like a place where men meet to sit and play cards or read the newspaper with their friends. But just old men. It's been said that the women are all home cooking. Cooking and the prep associated with the daily cooking is a major event in every household. I don't think anyone just has a "sandwich" for lunch as we do. But lunch is the biggest meal of the day. And being the one to do all the dishes that Graziella makes to prepare our lunch each day, I see all the prep involved. When I think all we are getting for lunch is a bowl of pasta, then she brings out the meat and potato or veg. We don't eat cheese or bread most days as we did at the other 2 farms. Graziella cooks with good health in mind. We all appreciate that.
So the old men in the piazza hang around every day gossiping like old ladies waiting to go home and enjoy the hard labor given up by their wives for their wonderful lunches. Only to go back out to the piazza and meet again.
The piazza (plaza) up at the top of the street where I live is quite lovely with its' cobblestone streets and benches to sit and meet friends. But everyone there during the day, every day consists of old men. Old men who when I walk by just stare and say nothing. In the evening sometimes there are many teenagers meeting up with their friends. There are never any women just hanging around. There are a few businesses but mostly there are these little alcoves or rooms off to the side with sometimes the rubber strips hanging in the doorway (to keep out bugs of which there are usually none). Inside these little rooms are sometimes a table and a few folding chairs. It looks like a place where men meet to sit and play cards or read the newspaper with their friends. But just old men. It's been said that the women are all home cooking. Cooking and the prep associated with the daily cooking is a major event in every household. I don't think anyone just has a "sandwich" for lunch as we do. But lunch is the biggest meal of the day. And being the one to do all the dishes that Graziella makes to prepare our lunch each day, I see all the prep involved. When I think all we are getting for lunch is a bowl of pasta, then she brings out the meat and potato or veg. We don't eat cheese or bread most days as we did at the other 2 farms. Graziella cooks with good health in mind. We all appreciate that.
So the old men in the piazza hang around every day gossiping like old ladies waiting to go home and enjoy the hard labor given up by their wives for their wonderful lunches. Only to go back out to the piazza and meet again.
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