When it rains it pours. It stormed really badly last night and I guess it wasn't finished, because Tuesday morning when I was heading to the church to do some cleaning, the power went out. Don Ignacio knew it would be a pretty slow day today due to the weather, so he had me clean around the monastery. The only problem is that when the lights are off, it is very difficult to see inside the church. I took this as a sign that I probably shouldn't be cleaning the church now and went to go clean the TV room along with the stairs leading to the rooms. The power was still working in that part of the monastery, which I found a little strange, but apparently they get electricity from different places. So I spent a good part of the morning cleaning in those areas while I waiting for the power to come back on.
The power wasn't the only thing that was out of whack today. Lat night when I tried to close to large gate leading to the monastery, for some reason it decided not to close. I thought the remote was broken and went inside the Sacrestia to close it from there, but the little light indicating that the gate is closed wouldn't turn off. I went outside to check again to see if the light was broken and found the gate still open. It just seems like every time there are major storms, things start to fall apart. I thought I would be done with storm related problems having left MN, but now instead of snow I have to worry about lighting.
The power managed to come back on before I finished cleaning the stairs and TV room, so I made my way to the church. That's when I ran into a couple with their little boy named Benedict visiting from Washington D.C. They told me an interesting story of how they decided on the name Benedict for their child. They had visited the monastery years before and were inside Saint Benedict's crave praying. Something told them that they should name their child after Saint Benedict and 4 or 5 months later they did just that. The father told me that this place is very special to them and I really do feel the same way. It is almost as if a sea of peace and calmness rushes over me whenever I just stand outside and listen to nature. Who knows, maybe I will find what I have been looking for here; that is if I ever realize what I am looking for.
Today's lunch was another interesting one. I walked into the kitchen to get a sneak peek at what was for lunch and found Italia stirring this large pot filled with what looked like pudding. The dish was called Polenta, which is some type of porridge made from cornmeal. She then asked me if I would eat it and I always like trying new things, so I was up for the challenge. The only problem was that I had no idea how much she was going to give us. I saw Don Ignacio come out of the kitchen with this small wooden tray filled with polenta which was covered in tomato sauce. I thought he was going to split that with everyone, but apparently that dish was meant for one person. I already knew what would come out of that door next and had to brace myself for a huge meal today. Sure enough Mattia placed a little wooden tray filled with polenta in front of me topped with cheese, sausage, and tomato sauce. I think this meal can go down as another difficult meal to swallow. It was way too much for me to eat and I can put away a lot of food. I was so stuffed afterwards that I didn't even eat anything else they brought out. And yes there was a second dish on top of the first huge tray of polenta. I wasn't the only one who thought it was a lot of food, because Don Ignacio told me later that he even had trouble eating the second course.
I spent the rest of my afternoon working on my Italian again while helping Clara cut out little labels for the chocolates in the store. We didn't have a lot of visitors Tuesday afternoon so I could get a lot of my questions answered. Clara will only speak to me in Italian and continues to insist that I know quite a bit. I of course have different feelings on this matter. I do know a good number of words, but that isn't the problem. The problem is that I don't really know how to string the words together to form sentences yet without having to pause and think about it first. But I guess with practice I will manage to get the hang of it in no time.
I guess I really never do learn my lesson. Wednesday morning the barber showed up to cut hair for the monastery. He only comes every 6 weeks or so, which means we have to make an appointment or let our hair grow wild. I opted not to get the hair cut the first time, because I figured he wouldn't know how to even approach my hair. This time I decided I would take the chance and let him trim the back of my neck along with the sides. Well let's just say that it was another failed attempt at explaining how to cut my hair. I somehow wound up with no sideburns. It wasn't a total loss though, because the back of my neck is now smooth as ever. I just have to wait until I get to Greece and can finally buy my own trimmer to shape myself up. I have confidence that I will do a better job than anyone else here could.
Again today I filled in as an extra pair of hands for Pinnucia while she cooked in the kitchen. This time I did more than just cut the bread. I prepared some garlic bread, the salad, and of course cut the bread for lunch. I also did practice some of my Italian with Pinnucia, since she only speaks Italian. While we were cooking I did manage to learn a few new words from her so I could be more familiar with the kitchen. Maybe one day I will learn how to cook from her and become this master chef, but only time will tell.
I spent my afternoon in the shop only to be visited by four people. It was another very slow afternoon, since the temperature dropped quite a bit. Since there were few people in the shop, I decided to play with Miciotte; that just tells you how bored I really was. While I was playing with him, Don Ignacio decided to scare me by knocking on the glass door. Both Miciotto and I jumped up and stared at the door. Don Ignacio usually does try to scare me every once in awhile by opening the door swiftly, but never has been able to do it until today. I guess there's a first time for everything.
Dinner tonight started off with a laugh. I went to grab this white wine that everyone drank for lunch while I only drank water. I rarely drink wine for lunch and save it for dinner, because I feel it's a little early in the day to begin drinking. But when I went to get the bottle, Don Carlo walked in and made this ridiculous facial expression. I immediately started to laugh and Mattia of course wanted in on the joke. He said, "Che coos", which means what is it. Both Don Carlo and I said that it was nothing. Don Carlo decided to further explain by saying that it was only a joke between us two and that Mattia needs to stop poking his nose into every one's business. Don Carlo strikes again. Another one of Don Carlo's crowd-pleasing comments.
The laughs didn't stop there though. While Matt, Don Heriberto, and I were drying the dishes, Don Heriberto began to read Matt's shirt. His shirt was in English and in huge print it said Rock. Don Heriberto said the word Rock and then said it was a type of music in English. Matt and I both congratulated him being able to say it in English, since Don Heriberto doesn't know many English words. What happened next had both Matt and I rolling on the floor. For whatever reason Don Heriberto started to sway back and forth almost like he was dancing to some beat in his head. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen Don Heriberto do. I nearly dropped a plate because it was that unexpected. I have to say that mean times here will go down in history as my favorite memories.
What!? Today was Thanksgiving? Truth be told it really didn't even feel like it. Here in Italy, there is no huge celebration or even a dinner with a turkey. It is just another normal day during the week. Maybe there will be something tomorrow, but I kind of doubt it.
Apparently there is no such thing as starting early for spring cleaning, because for the past coupe of days I have been cleaning inside the church. Today I went down to one of the chapels, moved out all the chairs, swept and mopped the floor, and then polished all the wooden furniture. Once I finished there, Don Ignacio decided to call it quits for the day and planned for us to return tomorrow to clean other areas of the church. We really don't have many guess during the winter, since it gets dark quickly and it is very cold outside. Coming to the mountains during the winter has no appeal to people here. That's why we spend most of our time cleaning.
Don Heriberto is on a joking spree. Today while I was walking through the Sacrestia carrying a bottle of wood cleaner, he pointed at the bottle and made a gesture suggesting that he wanted to chug the bottle. Once again this came completely out of left field. The thing is Don Heriberto is pretty quiet most of the time and only really speaks when he has to say something important. The fact that he has now two days in a row done something out of the ordinary is already strange. Having both occurrences be outrageously funny is just icing on the cake.
For whatever reason today at lunch we stumbled on a discussion of the differences between the French, Italians, and Germans. I think it was something Mattia brought up and of course everyone wanted to chime in. Well the only comment that is worth mentioning to you is the one said by Don Ignacio. He said the only difference between Italians and Germans is that the Germans have square heads. Once again it was another comment that I could not predict, but once I review the conversation, I could only imagine Don Ignacio saying something like that.
We have a mystery here at the monastery. Apparently someone "stole" all the gum from the storage closet where we stock the merchandise that we sell in the vending machines. Both Clara and I remember seeing them inside, because Don Ignacio had asked for a pack and I noticed there were at least six packs left. Well this morning when Clara went to find another pack, they had all disappeared. Clara and I looked everywhere, but with no luck. I think this is will be another unsolved mystery just like the time that Matt and I locked the shop only to find it completely open in the morning with no one inside and the keys in the drawer. Still haven't found the answer to that one yet, so my hopes for finding the culprit here are very low.
I think I am becoming envious of the wind. Just watching how it can move things around it with what seems like almost no effort mesmerizes me. Friday was a very windy day. The winds were so strong that they were able to continually close the large gate leading to the parking lot. When I walked outside this morning I saw the gate was shut and appeared like it was still locked. I walked up to it and unlocked the lock only to find out that the gate had already been opened. I pushed the gate back open and headed back inside the shop only to hear a few seconds later the gate slamming shut. Luckily there wasn't a car or someone coming through because they would have been crushed. Don Ignacio and I looked for some string to tie the gate back so that it couldn't be blown closed again, but found nothing inside the shop. Don Ignacio got the brilliant idea that we should use one of the necklaces in the shop only worth 1 euro to tie the gate back. I am not too sure how Clara will feel about that in the morning when she gets here, but I think it works as a quick fix until the gate starts working again.
In the afternoon Don Ignacio came back into the shop. He picked up one of these prayer cards that have been translated into Spanish. All he could say was "Orribile", because the translation was horrific. They had spelling errors and half the time the sentences didn't make sense. Well the same can be said about the tour guides that have also been translated in both English and Spanish. He took the time to go through the prayer card telling us what the word or phrase actually should be like we were the ones responsible for translating it. I do agree with him that this is horrible. If your ever happen to come to Sacro Speco and walk through the church, you will notice these signs placed in various areas describing frescoes in English and Italian. I am pretty sure the Italian explanation is correct, but the English one is filled with mistakes. I haven't heard anyone complain about it yet, but there will always be that one person who will say something as if your responsible for it.
Well it has been quite some time since Mattia has done something ridiculous so it figures he would do something at dinner. Don Ignacio was talking about how he was scared this one time in someone's house because a door had slammed shut and all the other windows and doors were closed. He said that he felt this tiny gust of wind on the back of his neck, almost like someone blowing on it. Well I am pretty sure you have figured out what Mattia did. He got up, stood behind Matt, and then blew on the back of his neck. I didn't see this once again because I focused on eating my meal, but knew Mattia was up to something. I asked Matt what happened and he said that Mattia just blew on his neck because of Don Ignacio's story. Were Mattia gets the ideas to do such things is way beyond me.
Old people are just hilarious. I don't think I can ever say that enough. Saturday morning, Don Carlo made his way into the shop. He didn't say anything to me, but walked behind me to grab a plastic bag. The next thing I know he is filling the bag with all type of items from the shop. He only seems to come around when he knows Clara isn't there. Even though we can take whatever we want from the shop, we do have to let Clara know what we want. Don Carlo of course follows his own rules, so that means what he wants he takes. I guess you can kind of say that Don Carlo is a shoplifter with some crafty tricks and distractions allowing him a clean getaway.
Today was a test of my knowledge of the Italian language. For practically most of the day I was in the shop by myself speaking Italian. I guess you can say that I have become accustomed to being left alone in the shop and having to fend for myself. During the down times, I just pick up my notebook and continue flipping through the pages until my mind feels like it will explode and then I take a break. At this point a person would walk into the shop asking some questions, so perfect timing I guess. While in the shop today, a couple somehow came to the conclusion that I was a priest and asked for a blessing on their items that they purchased. I can understand when someone calls me father on the phone, but to make a mistake like that when you are standing right in front of me surprised me. I just tole them that I am not a not and I would call for one so that they could get their blessing.
Apparently all languages sound the same to Don Ignacio. Today he was telling me a story from when he was back at his monastery in Spain. He was talking about some Germans that were complaining that he was Spanish and he described them speaking as if they were Asian. Matt asked if they were Germans or Koreans. Apparently whenever someone here is mocking another language it always comes out as some type of Asian. I somehow think Mattia is to blame for this.
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