I was making my way to the shop when I ran into Anna-Lisa. I had completely forgot that we had another lesson scheduled for today rather than yesterday. At least I can say that I did do the homework before hand and didn't have to worry about that. Before we headed to our "classroom" I asked her if someone had opened the shop. Of course there was no one there and I had to go open it. Not only that, but I had to wait until someone else showed up so I could continue my lesson. Anna-Lisa and I sat in the shop in the back going over the homework until Don Antonio showed up and kicked us out.
Since it was pretty cold again today we decided to change locations. We had our lesson in the same room where we had Andy's farewell dinner. I think I like the change because not a lot of people come walking through interrupting the lesson. It finally gives me a chance to focus completely. Anna-Lisa had a little surprise for me towards the end of the lesson. She told me that their would be a test next session, Thursday, to see how well I am progressing. It's one thing to speak the language and a completely different thing to write it out and read it. I have to really buckle down and hit the books these two nights or I might have lessons until the day I leave.
After the lesson I went back to the shop to see if Don Antonio would need any help, considering he always wants to do things himself. I got bored waiting around so I decided to take a walk around the church. I ran into a couple of Americans from California on tour with a guy who is a tour guide from the Vatican. I had nothing else to do so I went up to them and asked if they needed a tour guide. The guy said he knows the place pretty well and could handle things himself. He also pulled out his ID from the Vatican. He then quickly changed his mind and wanted to test my knowledge about the monastery. I took them through the church only pointing out some of the frescoes, basically wherever they wanted to stop, explaining what I could. The other tour guide would throw in his two cents about this and that whenever he could, but most of the time I was talking. I did manage to pick up some good information from him, so now my tours will be packed with more information. I think he was pleased with the tour because I did receive a 20 euro tip from him for the tour.
The afternoon was another slow one. I basically sat in the shop the entire time studying and daydreaming about nothing. When Cecilia did return to close, I stepped outside and just listened to the sounds of nature. I could feel myself in this peaceful state where nothing else mattered. I think it is important for everyone to just stop what they are doing, step outside, and just listen to the sounds of the world. I try to do this at least once a day. You really begin to appreciate the true beauty of the world once you make time for it. It was the most relaxed I have been in awhile, if only for a little period of time. I did want to stand there just a little longer, but Cecilia and everyone else wanted to head back inside. I hope tomorrow is a beautiful day so I can drift off again.
It seems like this monastery has a revolving door. Almost every week when someone leaves the monastery, another person comes in to replace them. In Wednesday's case, there were another two monks who sat at the table with us. The first monk got here about two days ago, but this other one I was surprised to see. He showed up for mass this morning and then appeared again at breakfast. Don Ignacio told me that he would be spending a little time here at the monastery. I did not know that it would only be for the day. I guess after breakfast he went to his room and slept, because I did not see him the rest of the day until lunch.
Most of my morning was spent cleaning one of the chapels in the lower church. Since this chapel holds our large groups that requests masses, you could imagine how long it took me to sweep the entire place. It would not have been so bad if I didn't have to sweep half and then move stuff around to sweep the other half. Even with all of this moving I managed to finish before lunch. I told Don Ignacio that I had swept the entire room and he gave me a pat on the back.
Don Carlo was gone for the past two days or so and returned just before lunch. Italia told me that if I wanted to get rid of some of those biscotti
At 3 I went to open the shop only to find Don Antonio arriving. I decided to head back to my room and do some studying. I got bored after about 20 minutes and went for a walk outside of the monastery. I managed to take some more photos of the monastery at that same angle, the night photos ones, to show a better picture up close. Hope you enjoy.
You know how sometimes you prepare yourself for something thinking that you did enough only to find yourself wishing that you spent a little more time on this or that? Well I had that same feeling Thursday when I was taking the test. The test was a mixture between written and verbal. Anna-Lisa even threw in some extra parts to test my knowledge further. The first half of the test went pretty well, since I have been able to practice that section more frequently, but the rest was a disaster. At the end of it, she kept encouraging me that I was improving and said it is difficult to learn the language, but I feel like I failed. I need to hit the books a lot harder than I have been or else I will not improve. I can manage to form some sentences and understand a lot more, but I am nowhere near being fluent. Now I am not trying to completely master the language before I leave, I only want to speak Italian as if it were my original language without having to think of what comes next or how to phrase the sentence. I know with Anna-Lisa's sessions, it will come in time.
Clara returned to the shop today after about a 5 day absence. Her brother-in-law passed away at the age of 47 I believe from a heart attack. When I found out where Clara was for the past few days, I would have never expected her to return to the shop this week, but to my surprise she was here. The shop had a different feel to it today.
Today's lunch had to have put the idea of Christmas into every one's mind. We were surprised with roasted chestnuts that Italia and Pinnucia had prepared for us. I did try a few and thought that they were good, but nothing I would crave, like gelato. When I saw the chestnuts coming out, I immediately thought of that song that starts off with "Chestnuts roasting on a open fire…" I guess time flies here at Sacro Speco even though most of the time it feels like it stopped. I cannot believe its almost been 2 months since I arrived. Before I know it it will be September and I will be heading back to the states moving forward with my life.
In the afternoon I did not feel productive at all. There were few people who came into the shop, so most of the time I spent wandering around again through the monastery. But before I could sit in the back room and study, Cecilia took me down to the entrance to wait for a delivery of chocolates. I know what some of you are thinking, how lucky is this guy. I would agree with you if I actually ate chocolate. Now if it were a delivery of gummy bears, it would be a completely different story. The Abbot showed up right as we parked and took Cecilia back up to the shop leaving me all alone with the car. The driver of course showed up right as they were making their way up the mountain. I helped him load the car up with all of the boxes, just barely fitting it all in, and then asked him if he could drive it up to the shop. Here all of the cars that the monastery have are all manuals and I don't know how to drive one yet. I have been trying to get someone to teach me, but without any luck. Maybe someone here will teach me and let me practice with that new golf they got. A man can only dream right?
Don Carlo manages to crack me up every time. Friday he made a surprise visit to the shop with Mattia. I think they were cleaning something and they had to throw so stuff in the dumpster outside of the shop. Anyway, he came in to say hi to Don Antonio and Clara. I walked into the shop just as Don Carlo was sneaking a bag of candy under his jacket. The funny thing is that the monks along with the workers can take pretty much anything they want for free. He then proceeded to try and distract Don Antonio by asking all of these questions about things in the shop. I guess he thought no one saw him, but once again I was the only one to catch it. I had to run in the back because I was going to fall on the floor laughing. I guess you had to be there to see it, but trust me, if you were there you also would have started to laugh uncontrollably.
I was scheduled to do a tour at 12 that wound up arriving an hour late. I had to change up my schedule just so that I could still do the tour. This group was from the States for some school in Ohio. It was a group of older people, which meant that it would be a long tour even though I was going to cut out some of the frescoes. Before I headed out on tour, Clara told me to make it as long as I wanted, depending on how hungry I got during the tour. To tell you the truth I was hungry before the tour even started, but I gave them a 45 minute tour of what I could. I felt terrible for both the group and Don Antonio. The group didn't see everything that I normally show and Don Antonio had to wait around in the shop for the group to finish their mass. At least he managed to get Italia and Pinnucia to make him a small lunch before the group arrived. Don Antonio wound up not even heading down to Santa Scholastica until the shop closed. Even with the shortened tour the group was very pleased with me. I got another 50 euro tip.
Once the mass finished, I had to walk the group out and make sure no one else came into the church. Of course when I opened the door, there were three Italians waiting to go inside. I told them that we were closed, but that didn't stop them from walking in. One guy said they just wanted to look around. I told him to come back at 3, but they still were persistent and then started to walk in. I simply told them to get out and wait until 3 pm. Since they were hard-headed and refused to listen, I had to be a little more harsh. One of the guys in the group started to mock me and all I did was just close the door in his face. Sometimes people don't understand that things do not always revolve around them or operate on their schedule.
Mattia was at it again in the afternoon. When I walked into the Sacrestia he was conducting, or at least trying, to some classical music that was playing on his laptop. He called me over to show me more of his family photos along with his house in Korea. Afterwards, he asked me to type in my address so that he could see my house. I foolishly typed it in and now he has some idea of where I live. Knowing him he will somehow end up dropping by my house unannounced sometime in the future looking for me and a place to stay. I will of course be long gone from home, so he can feel free to stop by anytime he wants; sorry parents he's your problem now.
Pinnucia has now joined the group for encouraging me to finish what's left over. For dinner tonight there was this delicious potato soup and of course I was the last one to come up and get seconds. When I got there, there was enough for two bowls, but Pinnucia told me to finish it all. I told her that it was impossible and she kept telling me to finish it. I finally caved and said that I would return for a third bowl of the soup to finish the pot. Since I had three bowls of soup, I opted not to eat anything else except the grapes already placed out for me.I have to stop being the last one to get seconds or my new name will be fat Matt.
Another uneventful day in the life of a volunteer. I basically sat in the back of the shop most of the day studying from my notebook and occasionally helping Don Antonio when larger groups came into the shop. There at least five tours today, but unfortunately no English groups. We had groups from Germany, Italy, even Poland, but no English tours today. I don't even have any commentary about what I saw or heard on Saturday. I guess you could say the monks were low key today. Maybe they have wised up and decided to be more careful what they saw and do around me because they know I will put it in the blog. So, all-in-all a pretty quiet day.
I have come to a realization: old people just don't care anymore. Sunday morning when we were in morning prayer, Don Carlo let one loose; by that I mean he farted. I thought I was hearing things, because when I looked around no one else had reacted to the sound, but just before I walked out the door, I heard it again. It was during the Our Father and was very noticeable. I surprised no one else said anything about it. I guess they all know very well by now that Don Carlo doesn't care anymore. I can't wait until I get to that age because I already know I will get away with a lot of things.
When I made my way to the shop in the afternoon, I of course ran into Mattia in the Sacrestia. He was pointing at the video cameras babbling on and on about something. I told him to slow down because no one can understand him when he tries to speak quickly. He pointed at Cecilia on the monitor and told me that she is wonder women. Yeah the very same one from the comics. And hear I foolishly thought it would have been something important. I should have realized by now that anything that Mattia is going to say has nothing to do with anything and should just be ignored. I shook my head and walked to the shop. After a couple of hours of sitting there doing nothing, Don Antonio told me to go to my room. I guess he could see that I was somewhat bored and since there were very few people, he could handle things on his own. Plus if things did get out of hand, Cecilia would be done with her tour soon and could help him in the shop. I spent my free time going over my notes.
Once again I was put to the challenge at dinner. Pinnucia had forgotten about some potatoes inside the oven when I was helping her set up for dinner. These were the potatoes that we had for lunch that were left over. Since everyone had already eaten their fruit no one wanted the potatoes. I told Pinnucia to just put them all on a plate and I wold have to eat them all or else they would be thrown away. I always hate having to finish things others decide they don't want. And the weird thing is that others can refuse, but as for me, even if I do they still put it on my plate. Why do they keep trying to fatten me up?
Once again I was left with the feeling of helplessness after another lesson with Anna-Lisa. Every time I think I am making so progress, she knows exactly how to burst my bubble. I try to study as much as possible during the slow periods during the day, but it has become more difficult. I feel as if I am always running around without much of a break in between the chaos.
Take Monday for example. I of course had my usual scheduled lesson with Anna-Lisa which left me with more work to do before Wednesday. I figured I would be able to return to the shop, finish the homework, and get some solid studying time in. Not 5 minutes after I arrived in the shop did a English tour show up. Of course this wasn't on the schedule, but it was a relatively slow day so one of the volunteers could do the tour. Cecilia turned to me and said "John would be happy to give the tour". So off I went with the group looking to give a very brief tour. About an hour later the tour finally finished. The sad thing is that I didn't even show everything inside the church nor did I explain all of the frescoes and it still took me an hour to finish the tour. I need to figure out what I can cut and how much I can talk about. I think it is impossible to give a shortened tour because the group will always ask questions about this and that and you will find yourself backtracking to some earlier fresco that you skipped. It is either that or the group decides to take their time moving through the church leaving you with less and less time to explain. I have yet to find a good balance between explanation and useless facts. I guess with practice it will come.
The group I gave a tour to were all from different countries. It was the most diverse group of individuals I have seen in awhile. The group was made of Australians, Austrians, a guy from the States, and one guy from Tanzania. Apparently they were all studying to become monks at the same seminary in Roma. I most have done a pretty good job because after the tour they all wanted to take photos with me (which I really don't like doing) and gave me a 15 euro tip.
The afternoon was more tranquil which allowed me to get some much needed studying done. I am planning on getting even more work done tomorrow, because apparently the weather will be uninviting. Don Ignacio told me it will be cold and rainy all day. Sounds like perfect studying weather to me.
Kids, kids, and more kids. I think that is enough said about how my Tuesday morning went. Every time we have a group of school children, they seem to want to rush the store and create chaos. Tuesday we had a group of 120 screaming little children visit the monastery. I had seen on the schedule that there were supposed to be two groups visiting today, but had no idea that one of them was a group of kids. When I stepped outside to see if any of the groups had arrived, I heard a large group of children screaming. I walked back inside and paid it no mind, until I saw them. I simply looked at Clara and said "They're children". For once Clara agreed with me about how terrible children are when visiting the monastery because she was one of the lucky few to give them a tour. When she returned to the shop after the tour, she told me that she wanted two pistols, preferably colts, so she could shot the kids. I know how bad that sounds, but Clara is one of the nicest person here that you could meet. Hearing her say that means the group was just terrible. At this point I wishing for a very boring, uneventful day with hardly any visitors. I would welcome that peacefulness.
I wasn't the only one looking for a break today. Mattia actually spent most of the day down at Santa Scholastica to get away from Don Carlo. Mattia and Don Carlo are constantly arguing back and forth. Well, its more accurate to say that Don Carlo is always yelling at Mattia for small things and Mattia is always getting fed up with it. Finally he asked the Abbot if he could spend the day down at Santa Scholastica for some peace. Of course Don Carlo asked where Mattia was today during lunch. Don Ignacio told him that he was down at Santa Scholastica with the Abbot, but no one wanted to tell him the reason why. Maybe everyone is afraid of Don Carlo. When Mattia got back for dinner, I could definitely see that he was not his usual self. As weird as it may sound I hope that Mattia gets over this hurdle. He is kind of our source of entertainment in the monastery since there is never a dull moment with him.
I finally got my wish for peace and quiet in the afternoon. Only one person entered the shop in the afternoon. I spent my time with Clara in the back talking about my family and preparing honeys and jams. It was a great time for me to practice my italian because Clara knows a good amount of English, so if I ever did get stuck she could give me a hint. I managed to do pretty well without having to switch to English as often as I would before. We somehow got on the subject of the reindeers and Santa Claus. She was asking me the names of all the reindeer and I could only remember a few of them. She went online and printed a sheet with all of their names in both English and Italian. Along with that she printed out this Italian song describing each of the reindeer. We spent about 10 minutes translating that into English. Once again I was able to recognize some of the words and got the gist of what the song was saying, but I did have to ask Clara about a few of them. Who would have thought that I would be learning a Christmas song in Italian this afternoon, but that goes to show you anything can happen in the shop when we get bored. You always have to expect the unexpected.
Apparently silent reading for morning prayer is acceptable, because that is exactly how we carried out morning prayer on Wednesday. The reason why prayer that morning was a little different was because we were missing a few members. Both Don Heriberto and Mattia were not feeling well in the morning and did not attend morning prayer. I thought it was a little unusual that Don Ignacio was the only monk seated in the chapel and it was almost 7:30. Don Carlo strolled in a little after the bells began to ring and made his way to his set. He looked at Don Ignacio who told him that he could not lead the do the readings because his Italian isn't all that great. So we sat down and began reading the prayer to ourselves. One by one we got up to head to mass once we were finished reading.
When I got to the shop in the morning, I went to feed Miciotto like I normally do every morning. I know what some of you most be thinking. At one point I despised that cat, but it has started to grow on me. I guess it is because whenever I am really bored, he is my entertainment. I pull out some string and start twirling it in front of his face and watch him try to grab it. That and I have learned how to get him on his back to rub his stomach. I blame Cecilia for all of this because she forced us to feed the thing when she was gone. Well this morning when I went to feed him, I saw Piccolo sneaking around and scared him off, but apparently I was a little too late. He had already attacked Miciotto, because he emerged from him hiding spot all wet and bleeding. Cecilia is usually the one who feeds both the cats in the morning before work, but she was not here today. So whenever that happens, Piccolo comes over to where Miciotto lives and takes out his frustration on him. Miciotto needs to learn how to defend himself, because that cat will eventually kill him and Cecilia would probably flip. She acts as if that cat is her child.
There were very few people in the shop today; a pretty slow day altogether. In the afternoon some lady tried to enter the shop, but both doors were closed. I like to close the doors when it's cold outside and turn on the heat. Having the doors open would just be a waste of energy and I figure that anyone could figure out how to get into the shop. Well, apparently it is a lot more difficult than I thought. One lady tried to come into the shop and noticed the door was closed. She peered through the glass and noticed me sitting inside. She pulled on the door and nothing happened. She looked confused and it proceeded to pull on the door. Now you would think that someone would try the opposite direction, but she didn't think that far ahead. She just looked at me helplessly and I had to get up and pull the door open for her.
You can now call me chef John. I helped Pinnucia prepare dinner tonight. Well it's more accurate if I said that all I did was cut the loaf so we could have bread with our dinner. Pinnucia hasn't had the use of her left arm for some time now. The day that her daughter was leaving, they had gone to Roma and she fell and broke her arm. So every night before dinner, I walk down a little earlier to help set up. Tonight was the first night I got to cut the bread. The most I usually do is take things off the stove and place it on the table. I felt pretty proud of myself tonight having been the one who prepared the bread. I know it is something small, but it's the small things in life that bring the greatest pleasures.
Don Luigi has finally returned from his trip, but will be leaving again in about two days or so. This time it will only be for a week or so, then he will be back at the monastery, at least for a little while. He returned sometime last night, but by the time he got in, we had already eaten and were in our rooms. My room phone did ring once last night. Maybe that was his way of letting us know that he returned, but it is still a mystery.
You never realize how small the world really is until you run into someone who lives in the same state and town as you. That's exactly what happened to me today. A couple of Americans came into the shop and the lady happened to ask me a question in a mixture of English and Italian. I responded in English and she was surprised. She asked where I was from and I was even more surprised by her response. She said that her and her husband both graduated from Columbia high school. And apparently they still live in Maplewood as well. I would have offered them a tour if there were someone else to cover the shop for about an hour. We had another tour group coming who requested an English tour, so I had to remain in the shop, even thought there were few visitors today.
"CHICKEN NUGGETS"!!!! That's what I screamed when I entered the kitchen for dinner and found a plate of them sitting on the table. I was socked to find out that we were having chicken nuggets for dinner. I think this is the closest I have come to having something that resembles an American dinner. All the other dishes have been interestingly different from my normal dinners, which I do not mind at all. It is really nice to have a reminder ever once and awhile of what things used to be like.
Another surprise tour for me today. Seems like I am always getting the surprise visits here in English. Well, anyway, the group arrived a little earlier than what was scheduled. They were going to have their mass first and then have their visit with a tour guide they brought with them. Apparently while I was setting up the mass, the plans had changed. Clara told me that I would tag along with the group while the other tour guide gave the tour. Of course that's not at all how things went. I wound up giving the entire tour while the other tour guide wandered off somewhere. I suggested that she start the tour outside downstairs since the mass would finish in the lower church. I guess I can say that I wasn't surprised that she would point at me and say that John would add to what she said. The next thing I know I was the only one talking. The really sad thing is these people most likely paid her for a tour that she didn't even give. What could I possibly do in that situation; refuse to give the tour? I had no other choice but to do the visit. And to top it off, before she decided not to speak anymore, she apparently gave the group some information that was way off base. She said that the statue of St. Benedict in the cave of actually Mary. When I heard this from some of the members in the group, my mouth dropped. How in the world could you possibly confuse St. Benedict and Mary? I mean this is the cave that Benedict stayed in, so I have no clue as to where she would get the idea that the statue was of Mary. Let us just say that she wasn't well prepared and should have let me give the tour by myself.
The tour wasn't a complete disaster though. I did manage to get a busy card from a woman who is apparently the assistant dean of enrollment at Howard University School of Social Work. She told me to contact her if I was ever interested in doing social work after my volunteer year in Italy. I have no idea what the next year will hold, but I now have another option to consider after this. Who knows, maybe I will make a great social worker.
The one major downfall of having American tours is the fact that many Americans do not carry cash with them when going places abroad. All they ever have a credit cards. Well here at the monastery we do accept credit cards, but there are a few problems with that. Our phone system here is not the best and does tend to go out from time to time whenever there is a bad storm or it rains a lot. Well it just so happens that it did rain quiet a bit last night and caused havoc on our phones, so when the American group came in buying out the store and realized that our credit card machine wasn't working, some found it hard to believe. One lady even insisted that we let her take the stuff home and she would pay for it later. I don't care who you are, but that would never happen. She kept trying to find ways to pay with her card and just could not grasp the concept that the phone lines were down. We actually suggested that they pay in American cash and had to do the conversions. At the end of it all, we had about 350 dollars in the cash register. Let this be a lesson to all of you future travelers out there: ALWAYS CARRY CASH! Life would be a lot simpler, for you and the store you happen to visit.
I am being run ragged. I gave another tour Saturday to a group of American students along with some monks. Today was another packed day filled with tours. I was surprised because the weather wasn't the greatest today, and yet there were still several groups. I had to avoid three other tours while I was giving mine. During part of the tour, I was cut off because another group had arrived and where making their way inside. I had to move my group down the stairs and promise to finish the tour once the church clears out a little. We once I got down to the grotto, one of the monks recognized someone in one of the other groups. They were going to have a mass after their visit and since my group did not schedule a mass, they intended on joining the others. So not only did I have to backtrack to some of the frescoes, but I had to grab more chairs so everyone could fit in the chapel and rush through the rest of the tour. I luckily finished in time for them to join the other group for their Italian mass. Once the mass finished, I was able to fit in time to show the rest of the frescoes and get them to the shop to buy their souvenirs. I must have done a great job because they tipped me 20 euros and I also am able to get a free tour of Peter's Basilica in Roma if I ever decide to do a visit. So once again I manage to get some great contacts that I can use in the future.
The afternoon was a lot slower, allowing me study time; that's if Cecilia would give me my books back. She had wanted to play scrabble with Matt and I, but I just wasn't in the mood. I had already prepared for a afternoon filled with listening to my lessons and studying. Cecilia got frustrated with me and took my books. She refused to give them back until I would talk to her in Italian and join them in the back room. Well being the stubborn person I am, I decided not to do either and went to the church to set up for mass tomorrow morning. By the time I got back, Cecilia was distracted and I managed to retrieve my books. The only bad part was that by the time I got them back, it was already time to close and head down to Santa Scholastica for dinner and a celebration for Francesco and Diego. They both have decided to join the monastery and are now novices.
Seems like this week is full of birthdays. Yesterday was Matt's birthday and Sunday was Don Heriberto's. So again today's lunch was a special one. Don Heriberto was turning 70 today and of course we had to pull out all the stops. Don Ignacio joked and said that we should let Don Heriberto eat whatever he pleases since it's his birthday, but that would not work in Don Heriberto's favor. Since he is on a strike diet, he is only allowed to eat certain things and a certain amount. When the dessert came out, Don Heriberto told everyone, "Mangia per me", which means eat for me. He is not allowed to eat sweets, so all he got was some plain gelato while we sliced into the cake. While eating the cake, Mattia got the idea that he should do something to stick out again. The topping on the cake was powdered sugar which Mattia pretended to sniff as if he were trying to do drugs. I didn't see it happen, but Matt filled me in a little after when everyone started to laugh. Only Mattia would do something as silly as that and I would not expect less from him. I thought that Mattia would be done acting foolish for the day, but I was wrong once again. On my way to open the shop, Mattia was poorly hiding behind the door and tried to scare me. Now normally I would have the reflex to hit whatever jumped out at me, but since I noticed him way before he had the chance to surprise me, Mattia lucked out.
As soon as I opened the shop, Miciotto came wandering in looking for food. Throughout the afternoon people kept wandering in and noticing that cat. They all wanted to pet him and pick him up, but he is not really fond of people, so he would hiss and swipe the air. People would look at me as if I trained him to do that. All I would say is that cat lives here and we are responsible for feeding him and nothing more. He even hisses at me sometimes when I don't notice him and walk by him. Miciotto loves to bite the hands that feed him.
Even though the afternoon was not too busy, I still managed to somehow give a tour in English. The weird thing was that I actually gave the tour while in the shop. Two guys studying in Roma came in and asked if I spoke English. They then asked me what they should see in the church and opened up the tour book wanting me to explain everything. I was almost tempted to just offer them a tour instead of going through the book. I'm glad I didn't because I soon realized that when I was trying to explain some of the frescoes, one of the guys insisted on making little jokes and comments. I think my tour, if I actually gave one, would have lasted way too long. They came back about 45 minutes later asking more questions and wondering how they would get down to Santa Scholastica. Lucky for them that the Abbot happened to just arrive outside the shop. I suggested that they caught a ride with the Abbot, who would be heading down that way and wouldn't mind giving a ride.
Later that night I managed to talk with one of my really good friends from college, Raiko. He was keeping me updated on what has been going on back in MN and suggested that we both head to Japan to see our other friend. I am of course up for it, because I have always wanted to go to Japan and I now have a friend who works there. So you can definitely put Japan down as one of the places I will visit before my time is up here.
Started my Monday morning in the worst possible way: being sick. The only thing that was bothering me was my stomach and I could not figure out why. I think it had to be something that I ate the other day. It could also be due to the fact that both Saturday and Sunday I was forced to eat sweets to celebrate birthday after birthday. I guess my stomach wanted to teach me a lesson for cramming it full of junk. I skipped breakfast thinking that the pain would go away after a little while, but I was wrong. My stomach was cringing in pain all morning during my lesson with Anna-Lisa. Even though I was not feeling myself, I did manage to enjoy this lesson. That is because today's lesson felt more like a conversation than anything else. We spent most of the time talking about this and that in Italian. I know what you must be thinking now, that I am a wiz at speaking Italian. Well I still have a long ways to go, but I am starting to get better and better at it. As long as we start every lesson like this one, I should be fluent in no time.
Since I was feeling sick and didn't eat anything all day, I went to tell Pinnucia and Italia. They have a cure for everything that ails you. When I got to the kitchen, I noticed something different about Pinnucia; she no longer had her brace on. She now has the use of both of her hands after her accident in Roma. I was shocked to see that she recovered so quickly, but she said that she will still take it slow. While all of this was going on, Italia was preparing something that would help my stomach. She took two lemons, peeled off the skin, and then boiled them in hot water. She told me to drink all of it because it would help me stomach. I have never seen this done before, but let me tell you that I have never felt better. I ate so much tonight for dinner to make up for not eating a lot during lunch.
Speaking of dinner, tonight we somehow got into a discussion about bees; yeah, that's right bees. Don Carlo was educating us on how bees work while Don Ignacio was telling us stories of people he knew that got stung by bees. Don Carlo mentioned that if one bee was not doing their job, that the others would kick him out of the hive. While saying this he looked at Mattia. I guess Mattia got nervous, because he started to blabber and not make any sense, less than what he usually does. It was hilarious watching Mattia struggle to explain his worth to the monastery here.
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