Sunday started off with a huge surprise. Remember the crazy flower lady from the other day? The one who came to the cemetery to pick flowers. Well she returned again for mass this morning. Right in the middle of mass while everyone was seated and listening to Don Luigi preach, she walked through the middle of the service. It was as if she didn't even she the other people sitting quietly during the service. She tried to go to the lower church and we had closed that door so that others would not interrupt our mass. One of the nuns shook her finger at her telling her not to go down there. She came back up and was making her way to the back of the church when she decided to have a conversation with a nun. I can understand if she had a question or something, but she was talking once again as if there wasn't a service going on. She left right after that. I guess the nun must have said something to her to keep her quiet. That wasn't the only excitement for the day. It was also an interesting day for tours.
Don Luigi had a tour with a group of deaf mutes. I guess someone else would translate for them during the tour, while Don Luigi pointed at each fresco. I did not even know they were deaf and mute until one came to the register looking to purchase an item. Luckily Don Antonio was there, because he told me that he can understand them just a little. I already have a difficult time communicating with others who come into the store; imagine how hard it would be for me if I had to interpret sign language. It has always been one of my many goals to learn sign language in at least one language. I do know some that I picked up for attending a few group meetings at SJU, but not enough to communicate.
Before lunch today, Don Ignacio and I walked back to our rooms to put some stuff away. Mattia was hiding behind the door leading to the monks quarters. He scared Don Ignacio half to death, but that wasn't the worst part. When Don Ignacio made his way to his room, Mattia asked him how he was doing and Don Ignacio answered just fine. For some reason Mattia felt compelled to blow a kiss at Don Ignacio. Of course Don Ignacio freaked out and told Mattia "GET OUT!" Can you blame the man for losing it? I know I can't. Mattia definitely has a problem and no one can seem to figure it out.
Today the Abbot ate lunch with us. I guess he does this at least once a week or so. We somehow got onto the subject of actors that the Abbot enjoyed watching. He was trying to figure out his favorite act and Matt and I started to name so famous ones. The Abbot shook his head to each and every one, until Mattia chimed in. Mattia suggested it was Gene Hackman, and the Abbot said yes it was. He applauded Mattia for getting something right for a change. I guess Mattia is only good at useless information. When we were cleaning up after lunch, I noticed Mattia staring at me and I asked what he wanted. He finally spoke after a few seconds and the word that came out his mouth was Kobe. Yeah that's right, Kobe Bryant from the Lakers. Again people not all black people look alike. At this point I am tired of explaining it so I went back to cleaning the dishes.
Monday was all Saints Day, so our schedule was switched around just a little bit. We would have mass at 9:30 instead of the usual time which is at 8. Once mass was over, I headed to the shop to help Don Antonio. Once I got there, he asked me who had closed the shop the night before. I told him that Matt and I had closed everything. He said that when he showed up at 8 this morning, the store was just wide open. I told him again that we closed everything and the alarm was set. We made sure of it once we left. I said it had to be someone else. Maybe it was Mattia, because he was cleaning the bathrooms that night and was the only other person outside. He is usually absent-minded with that sort of thing anyway. Even now we are still not sure who exactly left the store unlocked, but I am almost certain that it was Mattia. Because even Don Carlo agreed with me when he stated at lunch today "Mattia, your brain is broken". We also did something a little different at lunch as well. Since we all have our favorite things we like to eat and there were plates prepared for us for all Saints Day, we traded what we didn't like for what we liked. Everyone was trading something for something else. It was an interesting lunch.
The afternoon was fairly slow so I decided to spend some of my time inside the Sacrestia with Mattia and Matt. I was trying to study when I heard this strange noise coming from Mattia's laptop. Apparently he was taking a driving test and whenever he made a mistake, the computer would make that noise. Matt and I were both surprised it didn't make that sound a lot, considering Mattia's past experience with driving.
Today Cecilia finally returned from her trip. She took me to her office and said that she had a present for me. I didn't believe her, since the last present she gave Matt and I was a piece of paper with instructions of what to do when she is gone. She got us so excited to see what the present was and she gave us paper. I flipped through my dictionary to find the would liar, and said it over and over again. This time, however, she was not lying. She brought back a little decorative box for me. I will now have something to keep my change in. She then laid the bad news on me once I got the gift. She told me that I would be in the cemetery again today cleaning. It seems it's a never-ending job cleaning the cemetery. So the entire morning I spent at the cemetery with Cecilia while Matt sat in the shop. But before we started our days, at breakfast, Mattia for some reason decided to meow like a cat. He was pointing at the milk on the table asking Matt to pass it down. I guess somehow in his mind he associated meowing with asking for the milk. Only Mattia could draw such a conclusion.
Lunch today was very special. We actually had Francesco's parents come eat with us. Francesco is one of the workers who works down at Santa Scholastica. His parents are from Sardegna; the same place where Don Luigi is from, so we had food typical of Sardegna. There was dish after dish. It was the most food I have ever seen in one sitting. I also think Don Carlo was trying to fatten me up for some reason. He tried to make me finish this plate of chicken and also half a pan of potatoes. I said no the the chicken, but had no other choice to eat all the potatoes, since I was once again the last person to get it. I figured I would be able to survive with eating this much because there wouldn't be anymore food. I was very wrong. We also had two desserts. The first was some kind of cake and the second was of course gelato. The day before I did not eat the cake that Italia prepared because I was full. She was not very happy with me. I decided I had to make it up to her today by eating a slice. I told he afterwards that I ate a piece and her eyes lit up with joy. The only thing is that I will now regret that decision since it is only adding to my weight. It's hard to try and stay fit when everyone wants you to finish this and that. She even said that when I go home I will be fat.
In the afternoon I again had another tour with a group of Germans that needed to be translated. The tour lasted at least an hour and 45 minutes since I had to wait for the guy to translate what I said. Halfway through the tour, he told me that they were on a time schedule. I said to myself that this would have been good information to have from the start, but I rushed through the rest of the tour. They thanked me, gave me a 70 euro tip and hopped back onto the bus. I really don't like giving those kind of tours, because stuff always gets lost in translation, especially if the guide doesn't understand all of what you are saying. It seems this is just my luck. Every time I have a tour to do that will be translated, the guide doesn't understand me half the time, so I waste time trying to rephrase it simpler.
Tonight at dinner, we had some wine left over from our guests. I switched bottles with Don Ignacio because I was interested in trying the other wine that was on the opposite side of the table. I gave one glass to Matt and had one for myself. Mattia I guess was upset that there wasn't any left over for him, so he picked up Matt's cup, smelled the wine, then proceed to take a sip from Matt's glass, and placed it back down. Me and Don Ignacio looked on in shock. We had thought Matt noticed this, but he apparently didn't. Matt finished his wine without either one of us telling him. I thought he knew since Mattia said that he did smell it and taste it. Matt must have only thought that he had smelled it and that was it. But with Mattia, there is always something else. After dinner we told Matt what had happened and he said to both Don Ignacio and I that he did not even know that Mattia drank from his cup. I told him that if Mattia picked up something of mine, my eyes would be glued to see if he would do anything to it. You can't ever tell with that guy.
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