Friday was an interesting day. It started off with Don Carlo leading mass and getting upset with some of the people when they didn't end the prayer at the same time. He made a huge fuss and yelled in a booming voice "We finish the prayer together during mass!" I looked at Matt in shock thinking how could he just yell that during a prayer. Even more shocking, how could he tell people how they should pray. But that's just Don Carlo for you. He will never change.
The major surprise that happened Friday was that the Abbot and Don Luigi sat in a car that Mattia was driving. In case you don't remember, Mattia is a terrible driver and has already damaged (wrecked) one car. I ran to tell Clara this because I couldn't even believe it with my own eyes. I looked at Don Luigi as he entered the car and saw this look of fright on his face, I guess if I were in his shoes I too would be worried. Well I didn't here anything happening after their ride so I guess Mattia did fine, but I still wouldn't trust him on the road. He had a hard time reading during prayers without putting the book so close to his face that Don Ignacio says he could eat it.
That afternoon Cecilia, Matt, and I went to the cemetery to do some more cleaning. This time we were more thorough. We picked the weeds from the concrete and sidewalk, and then cleaned the inside of the chapel. I must say that we did a really good job. Unfortunately, I think that it wouldn't show because there are some many trees around and the chapel won't be used until sometime in November. Why we cleaned it this early is beyond me, but it looks good now. Once we got back to the shop Don Luigi said we could close early today. In my time here we have never closed before 6:30. I knew this would give us plenty of time to play scrabble so I urged Cecilia to hurry so we could play. Unfortunately we did not finish the game, but Cecilia did say that I had obviously won the game. I did however manage to use the dictionary less this time. I guess this is proof that I am getting better with Italian words.
Well Saturday was the mark of our last wedding for the year. We had to of course set up for what could possibly be t he largest wedding I have ever seen here. There are some things that are different here for Italian weddings besides the ritual. For one not everyone is required to be inside for the wedding. There were at least half of the people inside the church, while another forty were standing outside drinking and eating. They were only here for the major event. When the bride and groom walk outside as husband and wife. I think even the monks and Cecilia were surprised at the behavior that we saw. These people drove up to shop with all of this food and liquor to feed and plaster (get drunk) a whole town. I knew that we were in for a long day because these people just seemed like they would want to stay forever. I still don't even know when they left because by the time the bride and groom walked outside it was already 12:45. I had to get to lunch, but still lock up everything. I figured that we could clean up after our siesta.
When I walked down to the shop I noticed that the sidewalk was clean and Cecilia had done it all. I felt pretty bad about this, but I think she had other plans for Matt and I. She told us we had to clean the parking lots. At first we had to clean up the leaves, but Cecilia told Matt that we just needed to clean up the trash. It seemed easy enough until we got down to the second parking lot. Apparently the people at the wedding thought it would be a great idea to throw pasta, rice, and pieces of paper all over. When we got down there, our mouths dropped when we saw the mess we had to clean up. This stuff was all over the place, and the fact that the wind was blowing and people kept driving past didn't help any. It took us two hours only just to somewhat clean the lot. There are still pieces floating around, and not all of the rice could be picked up because it fell into the cracks of the path. When we got back to the shop, I told Cecilia what we did. I think she knew this would happen because she told us that she saw people carrying large boxes of pasta. You think she would have given us a heads up, but that's Cecilia for you. I told her never again would I clean up something like that. I have made a choice when cleaning up this stuff: at my wedding you are banded from throwing anything. I now know how the people who have to clean afterwards feel. Especially if its tiny stiff that blows in the wind. If I see anyone throwing anything, I will tell you to stay and clean. I think a simple congrats will do.
Sunday was surprisingly another slow day for us in the shop. Matt and I spent most of our time sitting in back practicing our Italian. I now actually have all of my lessons on my ipod, so I can listen to them when doing any type of work. I listen to them and then write down the words I don't know so I can remember them. I find this a good way to study because I have progressed a lot using this new method. I just now have to apply my Italian knowledge to others; translation: start talking more.
There was really nothing for us to do today because Don Antonio was in the shop and we had no English tours today. At times like this we both agree that we feel kind of useless not being able to help with anything. We do have many days like this when we have very few people visiting the monastery. So all in all today was a pretty dull day. The only excitement that I got was of course at dinner.
Mattia struck again with his weird comments. To this moment I still don't know exactly what he was trying to say at dinner. Even Don Luigi was confused and he can speak fluent Italian, so I don't feel bad at all that I cannot understand him. Today actually marks my first week of serving lunch. We all take turns handing out the meal and making sure everyone has what they need. I was a little nervous because of Don Carlo. He likes to take control of everything and that includes how to serve the meal. Luckily he approved of my methods, so I guess I am in the clear for now. I just have to survive the week and I should be fine. I did however miss one thing that Mat pointed out to me. Don Heriberto gets his own meals because of his condition and during dinner its pretty much serve yourself. Matt showed me that Don Heriberto was eating his salad with his hands because he didn't have a fork. I asked Matt should I get him one, but by the time I could get up, he finished and started on his fruit. I guess if he wasn't bothered by it then there should be no reason why I should. Matt told me that I had to put this one in the journal. The crazy things you see.
Speaking of Don Carlo, he still hasn't stopped giving Matt and I biscotti packs every night. I have no room to eat all of this stuff so there are 10 packs in my room. Since I am usually the last one to finish with one course, because I like to get seconds and thirds, I have to finish everything. This leaves no room for Don Carlo's biscotti packets. I will probably have at least 50 before the year is out if he keeps this up. Maybe when I travel this is all I will bring to save money.
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