la fine

i'm back home in the boston area now, after a crazy long day of travel yesterday. somehow, through hellish delays, sprints through airports and missed connections, i ended up in first class for my cross atlantic flight! (i suspect that its because my voice cracked when i was begging the customer service lady to find a way to get me back into America. no tears, i swear). i had the most delightful woman sitting next to me -- she works for Dannon yogurt but is a big foodie and lover of all things sustainable agriculture. we lounged in our comfortable couch-like chairs... feet up, wonderful blankets... drinking wine, eating cheese&meat plates, chocolate mousse, tea and cookies (i overdid it) and gabbing like a couple of school girls.

the rest of my time at Pignano was spectacular. everyday was like an eternity, but it quickly became hard to imagine/remember reality outside of those 500 acres of land. we spent my last couple of nights at dusk out in the wheat fields, helping Davide selectively harvest types of wheat for next seasons planting and drinking specialty beers. delizioso

ok, insert dramatic concluding thoughts here, right? i'm too tired for that today and i'm late to take micheline out to celebrate her birthday. maybe another time? or when i see you in person, for sure. big hugs to you all, thanks for reading!

pane pignano

i'm so glad that i stuck out the rough patch earlier this week; since then, its been much better. i've been baking in the kitchen with Zac (see photos), so I'm up every morning at 4:30 am! in the dark! He spent a couple years apprentice-ing with different bakers around the world, and moved to Pignano a few months ago to handle all of the bread baking. So far we've made challah bread, croissants, bagels, whole wheat sourdough, white sourdough, country rye... he's really good and he's very chill about it all (if you can't tell from the photos).

At night, things have gotten more fun...music playing, singing, fires in the teepee (where i no longer sleep). The landscape is breathtaking, but this is the longest i've stayed in any single place on my trip -- and it feels great to take it for granted and just live in the beauty of it. I'm here until Saturday and then back to Rome and then back to Boston on Monday! I can't believe the trip is almost over, but I have a feeling its going to be a loooong last week (especially if i continue averaging 4 hours of sleep per night). Note to self: get better at daytime napping.

pignano (part 2)

so, its taken me some time to figure out Pignano and i learn new things about this place every couple of hours. the farm has animals (horses, donkeys, chickens for eggs, pigs for prosciutto), vegetables (lots and lots: green beans, onions, celery, garlic, tomatoes, chard, zucchini, eggplant, pumpkins, etc etc etc), wheat, beans, buckwheat, and more. in addition to that, they operate a school, a high end villa/hotel, and a business that makes herbal creams/oils/sprays.

highlights:
-horseback riding (jessalee and nancy, i forgot to take a picture of myself but i thought of you the whole time. im going again this weekend)
-community meals, usually outdoors and with all food from the farm
-collecting eggs from the chickens. one time, this morning (feels like a week ago), i was feeding the chickens and they were following me everywhere and all up in my space. one of them jumped in my bucket of feed. i was so frustrated with it, and it wouldn't get out. i tried everything (i dropped the bucket, i kicked it a little bit, i clapped my hands near it, i yelled "move, stupid chicken") and eventually i realized how much out-loud talking i had been doing to the chickens, and wondering if anyone was awake and listening to me....by myself in the chicken yard at 7am, kicking at the chickens to get them out of my way and yelling "move, chickens" and 'get away, chickens' like it was helping anything at all. i've had similar experiences with the donkeys, although generally i like them more.
-cutting zucchini flowers (an italian delicacy... which we had as part of dinner. Ranineri said he could sell them for 1 euro each).
-consuming the last swiss chocolate bar i had left hidden in my backpack yesterday (my secret birthday), while finishing my book on a hammock in the afternoon.

downsides:
-i hate the teepee. i have to hike about 10 minutes into the woods, in the complete dark, to sleep there. and the woods (500 acres) are home to wild boars that i can hear moving around near me and i have to clap to keep them at bay. which reminds me of skunks in New Hampshire...which makes me wonder if the clapping is actually useful.

still, i was doing alright until last night, when we had an ant infestation and a bug the size of my fist was ON MY PILLOW when i went to lay down. i didn't sleep the whole night (and before that we'd be going to bed after midnight and waking up at 5:30), and today almost anything not completely positive caused me to burst into tears. i insisted on moving into an enclosed tent tonight, and i refuse to feel like i'm being high maintenance about it.

ok, enough complaining. the day times couldn't be lovelier here, so i'm going to focus my energy on making the night times work. or ill just learn what i can in a week and then run back crying to Alessia's house.

pignano

Thanks for all the great birthday wishes, everyone. I missed you all so much this week, and I am doing my best to enjoy the moment but I'm ready to return to the wonderful US of A. (On the 4th of July, I kept calculating the time differences....now, they are putting out the hot dog machine...now, they are probably watching fireworks and making smores...).

I might have time to write later, but right now I'm late for my second shift of work (my favorite activity, braiding garlic...see below) and just wanted to post some pictures. I'm in tuscany at Villa Pignano...different than what i expected, basically an amazingly beautiful ecovillage. With lots of ecovillage drama, which i may elaborate on later. We wake up at 5:30, work until 11:30 or so, then lounge around, eat lunch, rest/read on hammocks for the afternoon...work again from about 5 - 7pm, then have dinner and social time. I'm in charge of the non-horse animals (chickens, pigs, donkeys) and then help Ranieri in the vegetable garden. Will write soon.