Quick hands are essential

Where there are Koreans, there always seems to be disorder in the shop. That is what Clara said it is like when a Korean group comes to visit the monastery. Well it was just my luck that such a group decided to visit on Tuesday. It was a very small group of Koreans, about 15 people or so, but they managed to create chaos inside the shop.

Whenever the group is done selecting whatever it is they are looking for, they all bombard the register expecting you to be ready to collect money and give back change. I was glad to have Clara there to help me today, because they were just so many hands reaching out trying to get some attention. I had to stop trying to put things into bags and just hand it to them hoping they would save me the trouble. And today they all apparently wanted the same item; this handkerchief with St. Benedict's face printed on it. They cleared out the box in a matter of minutes and had to search to find more. I think everyone in the group of 15 bought at least 3 or 4 for themselves. I just gave up trying to fill the box back up and pulled out the draw and placed it on the counter. Once the dust settled and the shop was cleared, the Koreans spent a total of 500 euros. Just imagine if they had been a larger group. So I guess one good thing came out off all that confusion.

The Abbot was in good spirits today coming into the shop and pretending to be a boxer throwing some light jabs. I was also in a good mood today, because I got to see something awesome. A double rainbow. If you look very closely at the picture, you can notice the second one a little to the right of the very visible one. I also got to see where the end was, but unfortunately no pot of gold. Do you want to know what's at the end of the rainbow? It's a waterfall. Some of you might be disappointed, but I think it's a pretty good treasure. I mean who doesn't love waterfalls?

Man I thought yesterday was hectic, but I was completely unprepared for Wednesday. Clara told me yesterday that I would be helping her do some weed cleaning outside above the shop. I thought it wouldn't be so bad, considering the shop isn't but so big. Well I was wrong. When she came back down from cutting, she was covered in tiny pieces of weed. I knew I had my work cut out for me. 

When I made my way above the shop, the entire ground was covered with recently cut weeds. I had to collect them and place them into a pile to be burned. When I was halfway through collecting the weeds, I noticed the pile had gotten taller than me. Well I told Clara this and she decided that now was a good time to start placing some of these weeds into plastic bags to be carried down to the dumpster. Three bags later and the job still isn't finished. I think this will be continuing into next week depending on the weather. Looks like I will have some long days ahead of me.

The afternoon started off with me being run over by a large group of Germans. I was surprised by them when I open the door to the church. I already knew that this was going to be a very exhausting afternoon. Shortly after the German group went inside, I began to hear the voice of little children and I was of course alone in the shop. I was hoping that they wouldn't come into the shop, but I might as well have hoped that I could speak fluent Italian. Luckily they did not stay too long in the shop, because their tour was going inside and I could breath for a second; that is until the German group made their way into the shop. Just when I needed some help, Don Ignazio showed up. Even though he doesn't know all the prices of the items, he was able to take part of the load. I just had to tell him what the cost was and he would take care of the rest. 

Once we finished with the German group, the kids showed up again. This time they meant business. When kids come into the store, I was told by Clara never to use the machine to print prices, since they sometimes don't have the money for what they want. So this took longer telling the kids how much everything cost, figuring out what they could afford, and getting the money. It was so busy and hectic that even the Abbot started to help out with some of the purchases. This is a first for me, because he usually walks into the back room and surfs the Internet. I guess he saw how much I was frantically running around and decided to help out. I look forward to tomorrow, since there is nothing on the schedule. A peaceful day I hope.

They are simple rules people. What's the problem?

Seems like almost everyone was off to a slow Saturday morning. Don Carlo was late to morning prayer and Mattia slept through it. It has been awhile since we did silent reading in the monastery. It was such a beautiful day and hardly any people showed up before 11. I got so bored that I decided to head back to my room and grab my camera. 

To tell you the truth, I haven't tried every function that my camera provides. Just the ones that are a little easier to use. Well, now was the perfect opportunity to try them out and learn a little more to better my camera skills. Miciotto finally popped out of his little resting spot. Even he had a rough start today. His eyes were slightly opened just enough for him to see and when people finally showed up, he didn't even bother running anyway like he usually does. He just slowly walked away and then plopped down against the wall when they had pasted. 

Since things were so slow, Cecilia made me sit inside the Sacrestia while Mattia gave a tour to a group of Korean nuns. I of course passed the time by studying up on my Italian while looking for new words.

One thing that I hate to see while sitting inside the Sacrestia are people who choose not to follow simple rules of the monastery. We signs all over the monastery telling people not to take photos, because the flash ruins the frescoes, but this of course doesn't stop them from trying. Cecilia and I had to tell one group on a number of occasions to refrain from taking photos. People think they are slick or something; trying to hide the camera under their clothes or something. Well people we do have cameras and can see the flash going off. I don't know how many times I pressed the button yelling "no photos" Saturday. Do they even know what they are destroying?

Mattia did the craziest thing tonight at dinner. After we are done eating, we all help clean the dishes and set up for tomorrow morning. Mattia's job is to vacuum the table and collect all of the crumbs left behind. well for some reason Mattia decided to vacuum my clean plate as well. Luckily I was there and noticed him doing it, or I would have been eating little dust particles. I just looked at him, asked what he was doing, and then took my plate inside the kitchen and rewashed it. Sometimes the things people do just surprise me. I just wonder how many times has he done this in the past?

Rules people, they are there for a reason! On Sundays we have two separate masses, one at 9:30 and the other at 11. Well I usually go to the 9:30 so that I can help out in the shop when things are busiest. I decided to check and make sure that everything was in order for the 11 am mass and had to force a group down the stairs. They didn't understand the concept of this being a church and mass was about to start. They just took their time walking down the stairs as if I weren't there telling them to move quickly. And once I finally was able to close the doors, so other guy decided that now he wanted to make his way down the stairs. You have got to be kidding me right? After you just saw me shove these people down you now have the urge to go down. I just looked at him, pointed at Don Carlo who was waiting, and told him that some people are trying to serve mass now. At this point I don't care if I am rude or not, because people don't listen otherwise.

On a happier note, Diego paid us a visit again today. He taught me some hand gestures in Italian, because I gave him this weird look when he walked in waving one hand like he was chopping the air. Apparently it is a way to say ciao. Things shortly got a little busy after that with crowds of people filing into the shop. Diego and Don Luigi saw this one girl who was attractive and obvious not Italian. They both looked at me, gave me this weird grin, and started gesturing to me that I should talk to her. I swear everyone here wants to play match-maker with the volunteers. I know Andy and Eli probably went through the same thing when they were here last year.

Every time we have little children outside the shop, they love to play in the white rocks. Their actions range from rolling around in them to picking them up and throwing them. When their are children there will be of course some type of pet. Almost everyday I have to grab the shovel and scoop up poop and toss it over the edge. If they only knew…(Mike that one's for you. Like the reference?)

A funny little side note, found out that Don Antonio used to scuba-dive when he was a young man. Apparently he fished that way. I never would have imagined him doing that. When Cecilia told me, I just looked at him trying to picture it. I guess since he is older it would be hard for me to picture him dropping to the bottom of the sea with a little harpoon gun.

Well today was a pretty standard slow day. We had two groups in the morning, one from Germany and the other from Austria. Well I did some more translating for both Cecilia and Clara in the shop. The first time was with a German couple who were trying to figure out what they wanted from the coffee machine. I had to translate some broken English into Italian and then had to translate it back so they could understand. My real tests was with Clara and a group of Americans. One lady wanted to know about this stuff called Gocce. I believe I told you about it before. It is apparently a cure to everything that ails you. It is pretty strong alcohol, which you mix with something like tea of coffee. Well this woman was not sure how strong it was and I had to get Clara to explain it to me and then I could explain it to her. After all of that I don't think she even bought the small bottle. Well at least I can say that everyday I am becoming more and more useful. 

Don Ignazio is a prankster. Today after lunch, we were cleaning the dishes while Mattia was filling water bottles. We have this little water dispenser next to the sink that we use to refill the bottles. Mattia often forgets to watch the bottles so that they don't overflow. Today Don Ignazio waited for Mattia to turn his attention on something else and then say, "Mattia the bottle"! Mattia jumped up and ran over, only to find that the bottle wasn't even halfway filled. I just burst out into laughter. I guess you would have to be there. Mattia's face was priceless and I couldn't stop laughing. I laughed so much that Italia started to laugh at how long I was going. It had to be at least a minute or two. I don't know why I found it so funny, but it still makes me laugh.

It's Spring!

I had a nice little surprise fly by my window Thursday morning. I guess I should say it was two little surprises. Two military helicopters flew past my window. I wish I had my camera ready, but I really didn't expect to see something like that while I was in my room; the occasional bird diving for food, sure, but not two helicopters. 

I had to do more cleaning again this morning with Don Ignazio inside our chapel where we pray every morning. He wanted me to clean and polish all of the wood, because after the mass for St. Benedict, there had been many people inside leaving marks. We were both surprised when Diego and Francesco showed up at Sacro Speco. Apparently they had a meeting with Don Luigi, but decided to stop by for awhile to pay us a visit. Inside the chapel there is this old pipe organ. I never knew if it worked or not, because no one here plays it. Francesco turns it on and starts to play. His is a very talented organ player who plays by ear. I don't think I have ever heard such wonderful music from an organ. I wasn't the only one who was impressed, because Don Ignazio wanted to recruit Francesco to stay here at Sacro Speco to play the organ for us every morning. Don Ignazio complemented him on his playing along with his singing. He said we could use someone like him for our morning prayers. They even said that I could join them and perform Gregorian Chants as they are meant to be sung. I had to decline considering I don't know Italian all that well and the fact that my voice isn't the best for singing.

After I finished cleaning, I decided to head into the shop to see if Clara needed any help. It was a pretty slow day, so there wasn't much to be done. My source of entertainment was a little writing contest between Clara and Francesco. Clara wanted to find someone who could write really well and wanted to test Francesco's skills. She handed him a pen and gave him a name to write. Francesco wasn't happy with the type of pen and said he couldn't write like he normally would with that kind of pen. He said he needed one with a point, not just some normal pen. Well Clara created one letter, which in my opinion looked very professional. He said that she should be the one to write instead of him based off my comment. 

Since the schedule was pretty light today, Don Ignazio figured he could get a lot of cleaning done, well he was wrong. He went to the cave to sweep and mop up after all of the visitors from Sunday and Monday. He just finished cleaning when he heard this large group of kids coming. He already knew how this was going to end and couldn't do anything but helpless stand back as they trampled through leaving their little footprints over the floor. I am lucky considering that my area I just cleaned is located in a locked area, so I don't have to worry as much when there is a group, unless that group has a mass scheduled.

I was flying solo in the afternoon in the shop, which was a pretty difficult adventure. There of course was a huge crowd that came to visit the monastery, about 50 people or so, and all came into the shop together. It always seems like when I am there alone things get hectic, but I guess that is what's supposed to be expected when things warm up. Well this group had no concept of a line and people were throwing things in my face trying to pay and head out. I wish people would realize that I am only one man and can only do but so much. So I had to point things out for  one person, while another was asking the price of a certain object, and then another wanting to check out. I don't think I have ever moved as fast handing out receipts and putting things into bags. I am a one man army.

I do have a questions about something that has been bugging me for quiet some time. Why do some people feel the need to pay with 50 euro bills when their total isn't even close to 10 euros? People should realize that this is a monastery and not a bank. We don't just have a infinite about of money to give everyone change for a 50, especially when things are slow. I can't even count the number of times I have people if they have something smaller. I can understand if your total is close to 30 euros, but when it's less than 10, let us be serious. You don't just walk around with a 50 in your wallet hoping someone will be able to break it.

Another round of cleaning for me on Friday. This time I had to clean and polish the seats in the lower chapel. What is so different about this chapel is that it is very old. Some of the wood is falling apart and some pieces are on their last leg. Don Ignazio brought Fabrizio down to see if he could fix any of the pieces so that people don't fall and hurt themselves or destroy what is left. He said the chapel is about 400 years old or so, so I think you can understand why it's in such bad shape. This discussion of fixing chairs prompted Don Ignazio and Fabrizio to tell stories of when they witnessed people fall through chairs. 

Fabrizio chimed in with his story of having to fix one of the seats inside the very chapel I was cleaning. One monk would always do every action forcefully, from slamming a door to even sitting down in a chair. Well you know that during mass there are several times when one gets up and sits back down. Well this time he did it so strongly that he broke the support underneath the chair, causing him to fall on the floor. Fabrizio showed us where he had to put in the new support beam. I don't think I have ever seen anyone actually fall through a chair before, but if it is as funny as someone missing a chair completely, I think I wont be able to stop laughing.

From one thing to the next

Sometimes I am amazed at what people do for amusement. Tuesday I waiting for my tour to arrive when I spotted a group of teenagers that were picking up the rocks outside from the ground and throwing them at eat other. I was wishing that this wasn't my tour, because I knew how little I would enjoy it, and of course it was. One of the chaperons came into the shop to tell me that the English group had arrived. I went with her hoping the best for the tour only knowing that no one would pay any attention to what I was saying.

It is times like these that remind me of giving tours at St. John's. Almost every kid that came to visit doesn't pay attention, leaving me only either talking to myself or the parents. So during the tour I spent most of my time talking to the teacher and the other chaperon. The only thing that these kid were interested in was shoving each other around outside and throwing rocks. I guess I have to be thankful for my time spent as a tour guide. It prepared me for what expect from groups such as this.

My afternoon was a little more exciting, since I actually helped Clara translate some stuff. A group of Russians walked into the store and didn't speak any English or Italian. We just had to point to things and hope that they would understand. Clara surprised me by speaking a few words of Russian. Now I really feel terrible. It seems like everyone in the monastery can speak some other language, and I only limited to English and broken Italian. After everyone left and we closed the store, Clara had me read information written in Italian so that she could translate it into Russian. She said it would be good practice for me when I am trying to pronounce some words in Italian. I managed to get through it, but struggled at some parts; especially when there were punctuation marks, because I did not figure that I would have to know how to say a comma in Italian. 

There was much discussion about me during dinner tonight. I usually get about two or three bowls of vegetable soup, but today I just wasn't too hungry. Don Luigi was the first to comment being surprised when I didn't return with another bowl. He asked if I was sick or something. Don Ignazio guessed it was because of what the Abbot had said a few days ago. He said that I was getting a little bigger since the last time he saw me. Considering he didn't recognize me when he saw me the first time I returned, I think his judgment is a little suspect.

I think my new nickname should be the cleaner. Not just because I almost finish every dish that Pinnucia and Italia make, but also because that's all I did Wednesday. Don Ignazio borrowed me in the morning from Clara to do some cleaning of the monastery. I first cleaned the balconies in the lower part of the church and began to vacuum the long hallway leading to the Sacrestia, when Fabrizio came and told me to help him. I guess today I would be helping everyone with everything. 

There was a shipment of boxes for the store that we had to carry there in his little 4 x 4 truck. We loaded the boxes, but before we went on our way, he showed me something that he got as a gift. It was a AK 47 is his trunk. I just had to ask if it worked or not and he cocked the barrel and pulled the trigger. Luckily it wasn't loaded like the last time he brought a gun to the monastery. Oh yeah a little side note. The day that I left the monastery, the Abbot had lunch with us. Fabrizio wanted to show him something and unaware to all of us it was a rifle. The Abbot is really into rifles apparently and decided to shoot of a few rounds. We were in the kitchen cleaning dishes when we heard this loud bang that almost made me drop the plate in my hand. My first instinct was to hit the floor or start running, but I noticed the Abbot holding the rifle. Well anyway Fabrizio and I drove to the shop. He showed me the ammo for the gun and told me that every Saturday, he goes off a little path off the road to shoot a few rounds. 

Once we got to the store and unloaded all the boxes, I had a choice: either help Clara set up, or finish cleaning. I decided that I would take a break from cleaning and help her out. Since we had to open many boxes and only had one box cutter, I pulled out my little all purpose tool that I always carry around with me. When she saw it all she could do was laugh. I said that you never know when you might need something and I would better off with this than nothing at all. 

There was garlic bread today during lunch today. Don Ignazio didn't want to rub any garlic on his bread, but I love the taste so I rubbed it all over the bread until there was nothing left. Don Ignazio said that people would not want to buy anything from me while I worked in the shop in the afternoon, because my breath would reek of garlic. He said as soon as I open my mouth, they would leave and take their money with them. I wish that actually happened today, because I did have one very strange visitor.

a few minutes later to wipe the handle he just touched. He then made his way to other door and came inside. He bought one pen and was on his way out the open door when he decided to unlock the other door and walk out that way. I thought it was very weird considering that no one else was blocking the door, but I hadn't seen anything strange yet. Outside the door he started on his way and then came back to the same spot. He did this at least three times before he finally committed to his method of walking. I can't be too sure, but from the looks of it I think that man suffers from OCD.

My day was filled with strange occurrences. Miciotto came outside of his little hiding place to get food, but apparently dry food wasn't good enough for him.He wouldn't leave Cecilia alone and refused to eat his food. Cecilia went in the back and pulled out a tupperware container filled pasta and meat. She told me that Clara had made this or him to eat and I couldn't believe my ears. Clara, the one who tells Miciotto to get out of the shop had made him a delicious meal. Well he is spoiled, because he couldn't eat the dry food until it was topped with the pasta. When Cecilia went to check on his progress, he eat the entire dish including the dry food. What a greedy little cat. Definitely has a little Garfield in him.

A Festival to remember

A packed house for both masses on Sunday morning, not including the hundred of people who showed up for the celebratory mass in the afternoon. I usually can get a seat in the church regardless what time I arrive for mass before it starts. Well today was completely different. I did my usual run-through to make sure everything was set for the mass and found all the seats taken a half-hour before the mass starts. I could not believe my eyes and wound up standing the entire time for mass. Luckily it is only about thirty minutes or so. Any longer and some people might have passed out due to exhaustion. Just to give you an idea of how many people attended both services, both Don Ignazio and Don Carlo said they almost ran out of the Host for the people in mass. Once I got to the altar, Don Ignazio had to start breaking it in half just to make sure everyone was able to partake in the Eucharist. 

I had some idea of what Sunday would be like, but did not picture that many people attending. There many people coming in and out of the church, visiting the shop to celebrate St. Benedict's life. Monday was the day that St. Benedict died in 547, so everyone wanted to come to the place where it all began. 

I knew lunch would give me the break that I deserved having dealt with hundreds of people. We actually had a full table today for the first time in a long time. The organist, Davide, and his friend were to eat lunch with us today. Don Antonio also joined in, since he would be spending the entire day at Sacro Speco to help in the shop. An interesting conversation came up during lunch. Don Ignazio was talking about how he cannot ever have his window open when he sleeps, because a lot of dust would fly into his room. Don Antonio chimed in to say that Don Heriberto would also have the same problem in Columbia, due to all the cocaine flying throughout the air. I honestly didn't expect that from him; that comment to me is something more Don Carlo's speed, but they are both around the same age and joined the monastery around the same time, so I guess I can understand a little better now. 

Talk about chaos. Setting up for the celebration was very difficult for us with all of these people filing in and out of the church. We had to open closed off areas to the public, which of course meant people could aimlessly wander through the monastery. I had to keep an eye on all the visitors making sure no one wonder somewhere they aren't supposed to be and set for the service. There were so many chairs we took from different rooms in order to accommodate the potential guests and still came up short. Once again people had to stand for the service, including me again. I just decided that I would just wait inside the Sacrestia and watch the ceremony on the video monitors. 

I finally got to see Anna-Lisa after the service ended. There was actually a German priest who showed up and participated in the service. She was talking with him when she spotted me walking back in. The first thing she did was scold me for not returning any of her emails. I tried to explain to her that I never got any of her emails, because I would have responded to help me with my lessons. And here all of this time I just thought she forgot to email me, but apparently she got the wrong email address. I gave her the correct one again and told her to send me an email to make sure that it works. Well I still haven't seen an email from her yet, so I don't know what to conclude.

After a long hard day's work I returned to my room only to be surprised by two things: a gift for my birthday, and fireworks outside my window. The gift obviously was from the ladies in the monastery, but the fireworks were to celebrate St. Benedict. I could not see the fireworks from where my room is, but I ran to the balcony view I found awhile ago. I arrived just as the fireworks were finishing, but don't worry. Monday I got my fill of fireworks.

I knew Monday was going to be a struggle. Clara was not going to come in today, since it was the festival of St. Benedict, which means that I have to handle things pretty much on my own. Luckily Cecilia was here most of the day to help me with things. I thought I saw a lot of people yesterday, but it failed in comparison to today. Every time I looked up, I saw another group of people walking inside the church. I managed to surprise myself today considering I had to balance answering the phone and questions from customers. There were several occasions when I had to handle doing both at the same time. My Italian is coming along very nicely. I have be persistent and try to speak as little English as possible. My real test will be when Matt returns to the monastery. Let's hope I can manage to keep this progress going.

Again I had to make the trip down to Santa Scholastica for lunch today. Luckily this time Cecilia wasn't giving a tour so I could make it in time for Don Carlo to carry me and Don Ignazio down in his car. I saw the strangest thing today at lunch that both Don Ignazio and Don Carlo mentioned the other day. There is a priest at Santa Scholastica

This afternoon a group of Americans came into the shop asking a question about of the frescoes they saw in the church. It was of a Saint named Onofrio, who was blessed with long hair he could fashion into clothes to cover his body. The ladies thought it was St. Benedict and Cecilia wanted to tell them who it was. I actually had to translate what she was saying in Italian so that they could understand. This was a first for me, considering most of the time I don't understand everything people say to me in Italian. It was also helpful to know a little about the story beforehand. 

Shortly after this when the shop was emptied, Don Carlo entered to do his "shopping". He heard me listening to Gregorian Chants by the Subiaco choir. He was not impressed with how they were singing. Him and Don Ignazio are very particular when it comes to singing, but as for me, I actually like listening to them. I guess every priest in the monastery is a critic of music.

I did not get to see the festival in Subiaco today, because I had to work, but Cecilia did manage to take me down to see the fireworks. I was originally going to go with Don Luigi, but once I heard he was only going for the mass and coming right back, I decided that I didn't want to go. Luckily Cecilia was here to volunteer to take me down, and I am glad she did. I got to see them lighting the torch and have front row seats to the fireworks. It was worth being a little cold waiting for everything to start, but I will let you be the judge of that.

The return of John

Monday must have been my lucky day. I finally got to see inside one of the rooms that I actually don't have a key for. Behind this huge door are the relics that the monastery collected throughout the years. This was just more preparation for the celebration of St. Benedict. Our job is to make sure we have these relics polished and sparkling for the ceremony on Sunday, so Cecilia and I picked out which relics we would use. I am going to have my work cut out for me tomorrow since I have to polish them and make sure they are presentable.

After making the selections, Cecilia decided to take me into Subiaco and run every possible errand she could think of. We stopped at so many different places that I can't even tell you where we went today. I can tell you the last place we visited since it was a clothing store. Some new clothing had come in and she wanted to check them out. To my surprise we walking into an Armani Jeans store, which is of course way out of my price range. There was only a tiny section for men which I quickly sifted through, only to find the cheapest piece of clothing costing 65 euros. I guess I can treat myself once my time here is up by buying at least one thing from that store.

I finally got to see Clara today. She was the last person beside Anna-Lisa who I haven't seen yet. She just got done with a tour and found me sitting inside the shop behind the register. Her group was coming inside the shop and she assumed that I would be able to handle it all on my own. I told her that three months is a very long time having not practiced speaking Italian with someone else. She insisted that nothing had changed and I could handle it, but she still helped me out a little bit. It turns out that she was right though in assuming I would be able to handle things in the shop by myself.

In the afternoon I was assigned to the shop and only had a few visitors, but that's not what I was really afraid of. I always had trouble answer the phone and being able to answer questions, but I can proudly say that I did fairly well today. There were several calls that came in, which I could fully understand and respond to. I surprised by how well I answered questions in Italian whiteout hesitation. I am really starting to get the hang of this whole Italian thing. It is only a matter of time before I can actually give a tour in Italian, but I shouldn't get ahead of myself. One hilarious thing happened during one of my calls. I had to transfer one of the calls to Mattia, because I could not find Don Ignazio. When I called Mattia's room, he answered the phone and somehow got confused on who he was. He announced himself using a different name and then quickly correct himself. I just laughed and told him that there was a call for him. Leave it to Mattia to make a memorable first day of work. 

Don Ignazio paid me a visit today in the shop. I decided to take the opportunity to continue to practice my Italian. We stumbled onto the topic of Don Heriberto, because he called to let me know that I could close the shop. Don Ignazio recalled a time when Don Heriberto called when the store was packed full of people and he was the only person there. He only called to tell Don Ignazio that the church was closed, but would not let him get off of the phone to help the customers. Don Ignazio tried to explain it to him, but Don Heriberto just was not getting the clear picture. I guess I am the lucky one since all he ever says to me when he calls is "tutto chiuso". 

Well Tuesday was just one of those days that was just plain normal. I wasn't expecting to have one of these days until a few weeks back, but I guess since I have been here before for 3 months it's bound to happen again. Nothing to exciting to report except that this monastery is filled with characters. I am pretty sure I mentioned this before, but it won't hurt to mention it again. 

One of my favorite characters is of course Don Carlo. You know whenever he has something to say during lunch it will be hilarious. Well today it wasn't what he said, but what he did. He went to go and collect the dirty plates that accumulated during lunch, because we have several dishes served. We he arrived to collect Don Heriberto's dish, he decided to play a little game of peek-a-boo with him. He snuck up behind Don Heriberto and covered his eyes. Don Heriberto jumped up a little bit, almost like he were scared. Don Carlo patted him on the back and just took his plate. I tell you, the things that happen here you probably won't even believe, but trust me the stories are all true and really funny.

My laptop charger surprised me Wednesday morning by being completely burned out and fried. I looked under my desk and found the cord black and severed. Luckily my computer wasn't destroyed in the process, but now I had to go and find a way to get another charger or there would be no more journal entries and you guys wouldn't like that too much. 

That wasn't the only surprise of the day though. When we were finished with mass and returned to the kitchen for breakfast, a mysterious thing happened. When Pinnucia went to the fridge to take out what we had for dinner last night, she found a empty dish. ItaliaItalia and Pinnucia serve him, but sometimes he takes matters into his own hands. Matt caught him sneaking food once in the kitchen when no one was looking. I guess he figured that no one would ask questions about the missing egg and let it be. He is definitely one crafty and clever priest.

Today was not my day for being coordinated. I tripped going up the stairs after breakfast, got my jacket caught on the door handle and almost slipped because of it, but my uncoordinated actions finally caught up with me in the shop. When I was helping Clara sort inventory, I tripped going up the stairs hitting my leg on the metal stair. 

This might not have been my day for coordination, but it definitely was a good day for speaking Italian. I got a pretty good test today on how much Italian I actually know. Some guy walked into the store, who later introduced himself as Bruno, and started to talk to me and ask me questions. To my surprise, I was able to understand and answer all of the questions with ease.   After I helped him in the store, he offered to buy me something to drink. I told him that I was fine, but he insisted, so I told him that I would drink some tea. He also said that if I wanted to go to Rome I could just give him a call and he would take me. I was thinking to myself "does this guy think I am an idiot or something". There is no way I would ever go anywhere with him.  I will admit this made me feel very uncomfortable that this guy continually insisted on buying me something, but apparently things can get weirder. Within the 3 hours that I work in the afternoon, he managed to come back three separate times wanting to talk with me. I finally managed to get him to leave after the shop got a little bit busier, but he decided that he would call the shop. Of course I answered the phone thinking it was something important only to find out that it was Bruno again. 

I was pretty popular today because another group of people came into the store from Spain saying that my Italian was very good for someone who has only been here 3 months. The next thing I know there is this older guy standing next to me asking if he could take a photo with me. I thought it was strange, but saw no harm in taking one photo. This was by far one of the strangest days I have ever had here in Italy, and there have been plenty.

Happy birthday to me! Yeah that's right dedicated readers, Thursday, St. Patty's day, is my birthday. I was kind of hoping that everyone here forgot, because I really don't like doing huge things for my birthday, but Don Luigi made sure that everyone knew yesterday during lunch. So today was all about doing things for me. There was a prayer said for me during mass and when I got to the kitchen, Italia asked me what I wanted for lunch. I definitely was not expecting this. I had to think of what I wanted on the spot, so I just picked my favorite thing that I haven't had in awhile: scrambled eggs. Yep, that's right, eggs. I know what some of you are thinking right now and Italia thought the same thing. She asked, "Is that it?" I told her that that was all I really wanted and didn't want them to make a big deal out of today. All she could say was I have a very simple request. I don't want to ask too much of them, because they have all already done so much for me. 

After we finished lunch, the priests sung happy birthday to me. Mattia sung it in both English and Korean, Don Heriberto played his part by singing in Spanish, and Don Carlo finished it off by singing in Italian. What more could I ask for when I can hear the birthday song in so many different languages. 

Just when my birthday was going so well, who else would show up in the shop, Bruno. He first called and asked when the shop closed. I thought at first I could lie and he would never know or I could just risk the chance that he would come back to the shop today, so I risked it. Well I guess from my tone in this paragraph so far you can figure out that he showed up in the store about 15 minutes later. I don't think he has anything else better to do than to talk my ear off when I am working. Before he left he said that he would come back again another day when the shop isn't too busy. I already know this will be a very long 2 weeks until Matt comes back. If he is here, maybe I can find somewhere else to be when Bruno comes around again.

Well it's Friday and I completely forgot that during today we don't eat meat. This is the first breakfast that I have had here where I didn't have some type of meat with my bread. It was a little different than what I am used to, but I don't think it will be too much of a problem. Italia said to me that if I wanted to eat meat today that I could, but if I am here in Italy and living in the monastery, I should abide by the same customs.

Today I think I have found a person with whom I can practice my Italian. She is a tour guide and her name is Sara. What makes her a good person to practice with is that fact that she can speak English. She is the first Italian I found who can speak pretty good English and will be able to answer my questions when I get stuck. She was very excited that I had returned to Italy, because now she can practice her English with someone, but I think I am more relieved. Anna-Lisa was an excellent teacher, but it was hard to get questions answered when I didn't know how to phrase them in Italian. I now don't have to worry about that as much. I suggested that she could speak to me in English and I could practice my Italian with her whenever she's around the monastery. This is almost the same situation that I have with Clara. She speaks little English, but she learns new words from me everyday just like I learn new Italian words from her. I finally feel more useful now that I can speak a little better and am able to teach others something.

I thought I would be in the shop all night today. I was waiting for Don Heriberto to call and say that we were closed, but the arrived a little too late. A group of four Italians came into the shop. I knew that they were going to take awhile and make things difficult, but what could I do. I just stood behind the register waiting for them to finish their shopping. It took them over 45 minutes to finish, because they insisted that I give them a small gift for buying all that stuff. I told them that I could not, but of course that never works. I decided to cave and give them each a little pearl cross worth 1.50 euros. I will just have to put 6 euros in the register tomorrow. 

There's nothing else that would lift my spirits from such a long day than having a conversation around the dinner table. Tonight we talked about rainbows and killing animals for food. I know, the things we talk about are just totally out of the blue. Well Don Ignazio wanted to know how to say rainbow in Italian and that's how rainbows fit into the equation. As for the whole slaughtering animals, I still don't even know how we got onto that topic. Well Mattia decided to tell me of a time that he saw a chicken slaughtered. He witnessed the chicken being picked up and placed on a wooden cutting board. But the chicken wouldn't be cut just yet. The blade had to be sharpened. So the chicken would helplessly lie on the table watching the blade being sharpened. They way he described it was just priceless, not to mention his facial expressions of what the chicken was feeling.

Dinner wouldn't be worth mentioning unless Don Carlo had something to say. Mattia brought up some story of how he was afraid of not eating enough, because one time he went 10 hours without food. To him that was a very long time. Don Carlo said that we eat to live and Mattia just lives to eat. I laughed so hard that I almost choked. Classic Don Carlo comment. Oh and tonight at dinner I made a huge ruckus when I got up to get more soup. I apparently got up to quickly, didn't notice my foot was caught on the chair, and flipped it over. Don Carlo again had to through in his two cents again. He figured I was too hungry to be concerned for things that would slow me down like moving a chair. What can I say; it was really good soup.

Sometimes I just really loathe technology. I knew something was off Saturday morning when I felt like I had slept for almost 9 hours. Well to my surprise, I apparently did sleep that long. What woke me was a call from Cecilia telling me that my tour had arrived and they would be ready to go in about 5 minutes. My phone decided to somehow completely drain its battery in about 5 hours having just finished charging. Well it was 9:30 and I had to somehow get ready to go in just a few minutes, so I didn't even have time to hop in the shower or brush my teeth. I was completely off of my game today, but I still managed to do the tour and answer questions. I guess I did pretty well since I got a 20 euro tip from the group. That's right ladies and gentlemen, John the successful tour guide is back in action, and what a way to start off. 

There were a lot of people this morning in the shop. Don Ignazio actually had to fill in covering the shop, which he rarely does unless we are stretched pretty thin. I had one tour, Cecilia had another, and Sara came back today to give another tour. Not to mention that there was a large group of teenagers here waiting for mass. We can all guess how much of a disaster that would be. Well once I was done with my tour, I had to show them where they would be having mass and to make sure that they would be done and out of the church by 12:30, since we all had to go down to Santa Scholastica today for lunch.

Of course these group wouldn't finish until 12:45, leaving me to tend to the shop alone, since Don Ignazio had to catch a ride with Don Carlo. I was originally supposed to be in that car as well, but someone had to stay behind until Cecilia came back to take over and of course that would be me. Well Cecilia finally arrived in the shop around 12:55 and I had to rush back to find a ride. Everyone had already left, but luckily Italia was kind enough to offer to take me down to Santa Scholastica for lunch. 

When  arrived everyone had already eaten the first meal and I had to play catchup the entire time. Once lunch was over I was trying to figure out who I was going to get a ride from back to Sacro Speco. Te next thing I knew Mattia said that he drove here and would be heading back now. The only thing that I could think of was riding with him and ending in some horrific accident. I just could not get the memory of him totaling a car out of my mind. I tried to play it off like I was going to stick around and chat some, but I think Mattia knew that I had no intentions of getting in that car with him. We all walked out together and once we got to the cars, Mattia turned around and asked who would be riding with him. I looked at Don Ignazio and shook my head back and forth telling him I didn't want to risk it. Don Ignazio volunteered and went into the passenger's seat. I guess he was feeling pretty brave today considering he ate a little chocolate bar in the store containing milk. He has a sever allergy to milk and I warned him that there was milk in that thing. He said he was going to try it regardless. Today must be lucky day considering he survived the chocolate bar and the drive with Mattia.

Surprise, surprise

Ok devoted readers, sorry for the long wait, but you can all stop holding your breath because I am now back in action. I arrived in Italy Saturday evening without any complications. I think this is the first time in a long time I can say that I have had a smooth flight. I was a little worried about my bag, since I had to switch to another flight, but it all worked out perfectly. The only thing I would change is the fact that I did not get as much sleep as I planned.

The during the six hour flight I enjoyed a few movies to keep myself awake for the food, which of course turned out horrible. Can't ever trust airline food, especially when your hungry. I learned my mistake when my stomach tossed and turned once I landed in London. I decided that I would wait to eat something I can rely on once I reach my second home. 

I was surprised by Pinnucia once I reached Rome. I thought that Don Luigi would have been the one to come and pick me up from the airport, or at least Cecilia. It was great practice for me though, since Pinnucia doesn't speak any English. Seems like all of my lessons were paying off, since I could actually have a conversation. I am still not quiet at the level I would like to be, but time will help me with that. The other volunteer, Matt, doesn't arrive at the monastery until the end of the month. So this entire time I will only be speaking Italian, which is exactly what I want. 

My return was just filled with everyone saying hello and welcoming me back into the monastery. So I answered every one's questions while sipping on some tea that Pinnucia made me. I don't know I you all remember, but Pinnucia is a grandmother now. She took out some photos of here granddaughter Sarah. She apparently went to visit her daughter and son-in-law in Kenya in January and February. After seeing those photos, I think I have spotted another place I would love to visit sometime. Just add it to my list of things to do. 

Trying to find some way to fall asleep was difficult for me. On my second flight that was only three hours, as soon as I got to my seat I just knocked right out and woke up once we landed. I guess this short little nap was the downfall to a perfect night's sleep. To my surprise I woke up Sunday Morning 3 am. I tried everything that I could think of to fall back to sleep, but nothing worked. I somehow managed to stay awake lying in bed until 6:30, which is the time I usually get up to start the day. I already knew it would be a long day for me. I started feeling tired around 11:00 am, but had no possible way of going back to bed. I just had to tough it out until after lunch. I normally don't like taking naps during the day, but I made an exception today. I was so tired that I overslept and was late getting back to the shop, but luckily no one really cared much. I guess they all understand that I would be a little sluggish today, considering I had to get used to life here again. 

In the afternoon Cecilia gave me the low down on what was going to happen on Sunday and Monday of next week. March 21st is marks the date when Benedict passed away and there is a huge festival here in Subiaco. We also have to prepare the church for mass, which sounds like there will be hundreds of people here. I will try my best to take some photos of the chaos, but might not have the opportunity due to the herds of people flowing in.

Interesting little side note. I ran into the Abbot today and to my surprise he did not recognize me. He looked at Don Antonio and asked, "Should I know who this is?". Don Antonio told him that it was John, one of the volunteers from three months ago. The Abbot was shocked and then blamed it on my hair. He said he didn't recognize me because my hair had grown so large, but I can understand where he is coming from. A three month vacation is a long time to be away from the monastery.

Greece revisited

Seems like people get worried about me when I decide to take trips around the world. Wednesday before my flight, Clara told me to be safe and to make sure that I return back to the monastery. I told her that she doesn't need to worry since I am a very bright guy and can manage to handle any situation I am put into. Since I was leaving, Clara gave me the opportunity to continue packing somethings for the trip. The truth is I really don't start packing for any trip until the day I leave. I think it works out better this way since you are sure not to forget anything and still have everything you usually use for the week. I only make a small pile of things that I must make sure to bring, but everything else is last minute.

I was able to get Don Luigi to take me to the bus stop and give me directions on how to get to the airport. I made it there with plenty of time to spare because of his directions. They were simple and easy to follow, even if they were in italian. That just goes to show how much I have actually improved. The directions to the hostel, however, were just awful. I managed to find the bus that I was supposed to take, but for the life of me could not find the post office that I was supposed to stand in front of for the bus to the hostel. It took me at least 20 minutes to figure it out. The directions then said to ask the driver which stop to get off of, but of course the bus was crowded and I couldn't even make it to the front. I just got off where things started to look familiar. I wandered around for at least 2 hours trying to find the stupid hostel, not to mention it was already past midnight. I was supposed to check into the hostel at 11:30, but didn't make it there until sometime around 2am. I had to ask some cab driver where the hostel or the street was. He pointed in some direction and I just wandered around even more before I could find it. Wish I paid more attention in the Greek language class.

After my midnight excursion  of Athens, I was tired and decided to spend my Thursday morning sleeping off my exhaustion and frustration. I knew Chris would still have class Thursday so I decided to walk some more around Athens. I guess you could say that I didn't get enough walking down last night. I just visited the places I could remember having classes at while in Athens. I took more photos this time, considering the last time I was too busy taking notes to even care about photos. I was just trying to buy some time so that Chris could get out of class and we could finally meet up. I managed to find this small zoo that I had no idea was there two years ago. 

It started to get late and I was making my way back to the hostel when I ran into some guy who was trying to talk to me. I already knew where this was going, but still insisted on talking with the guy anyway. He took me to this bar that he supposedly owned, disappeared, and I was stuck with these three women trying to get money out of me. They kept insisting on me buying them drinks, but I continued to refuse. I did however have to pay a ridiculous amount for the one beer I drank. I just left and planned never to do that again.

When I returned to my hostel, I found another traveler in my room. His name was Mitch and he was doing a study abroad in Florence. He was also supposed to meet up with one of his friends, but they kept missing one another. We decided to hit the town looking for some adventure, since both of us could not find our friends, and walked for miles. We finally stopped at this little place to get something to drink. We both decided to try this beer called Mythos, which actually turned out to be pretty good. Both of us were very tired from walking around all night and nothing really gets started here in Athens until after midnight, so we made our way back to the hostel. I told Mitch that I wanted to stop by the apartment my friend lived in and try to find him. He decided to tag along since he had nothing better to do. With luck the apartment complex was open and I could hear chris' voice. I knocked on the door and he opened it with a surprised look on his face. He asked how did I know he was here and I just said I followed your voice. 

Mitch and I walked in, introduced ourselves to chris' roommates, but Mitch decided to leave shortly after that. I decided to stay and hangout with Chris, which meant staying out until 5 am. We had some drinks just waiting for the other people on chris' study abroad to make their way to the apartment. There were only maybe ten or so of us that actually went out that night, because the others wanted to stay in since they were planning on going out Saturday for some one's birthday. 

Once again I started my Friday off by sleeping in most of the day. I didn't expect that we would stay out so late, but I guess it can't be helped. I decided to spend my afternoon shopping for others back at Sacro Speco along with getting myself somethings that I needed and also wanted. I managed to find a beautiful winter jacket, a purple tie, and a bag for small trips like this one. I figured that I would probably need another bag, since I was buying all of this stuff. I got Pinnucia a t-shirt, Italia a sculpture of the last dinner, Clara a t-shirt saying it's all Greek to me. I just couldn't find one in Italian, but since Clara does understand and speak some English, I figured it wouldn't matter. I got my teacher Anna-Lisa this little sculpture of an owl, which apparently means good fortune in Italy. And for Cecilia I bought this little 3D picture of a cat and a motorcycle. She really has a thing for cats, so I figured she would love it. 

When I got back to the hostel, there was yet another roommate I had to meet. This time his name was David and he was from Mexico. I chatted with him for a little while, but wanted to go over chris' place and see what they were going to do for the night. I decided to make a little stop at Grill and Pita, the place we all went to for gyros two years ago. Some of the people on chris' trip had never been there and I had to give them a taste of what they were missing. I ordered cheese, tomatoes, onions, and chicken  all stuffed between two pieces of pita bread. I gave Chris the heads up that I would be bringing food tonight, so when I got there they all dug in and ate it all up. They said it was delicious and all I could say was that's what you have been missing all this time. 

We sat around for an hour or so trying to figure out what we wanted to do tonight. Someone suggested that we go to a hookah bar, and I had no objections. Once again the group was pretty small, maybe 6 people or so, but it still was an awesome time. We ordered two different types of hookah; one cherry flavored and the other was watermelon. They also ordered this drink that tasted like warm cinnamon, which was delicious. While we were enjoying our drinks and the hookah, Chris pointed out these two girls that kept looking over in our direction. I invited them over to our table and we chatted for awhile. They were also here in Athens on a vacation and were around the same age as us. One girl, named Christina, was from Russia, while the other, named Raina, was from Greece. They were traveling with their friend named Peter, who also joined our table. The girls of chris' group were really into him even though he was only 17. They were trying to rob the cradle, as some would put it. Not a bad night considering I made more friends around the world, so if I ever decide to head back to Greece or go to Russia, I will have a place to stay and have someone who could show me around.

People have to start to think that I am lazy considering that I slept in again Saturday. It was another long night, because I didn't get back to my hostel until 5am again. I once again made my way around Athens trying to find new places to see and things to buy. I did find this little flea market where I finished all of my souvenir shopping for everyone back at Sacro Speco. I had only wished that I had seen this place before, because I could have saved myself the trouble and bought everything there.

After I was done shopping, I had to complete this little homework assignment that Anna-Lisa gave me before I left. I had to send a postcard to the monastery in Italian saying whatever i could. I just basically wrote that I arrived, it was difficult to find the hostel, and that I remembered how dirty Athens was. There was a garbage strike for two weeks, so all of this trash was just piled up on the sidewalks. It was funny, because as soon as I got there, the strike ended and all the trash was being picked up. I guess they had to clean up Athens for my arrival. 

Tonight was the big party for one of the girls on chris' trip. She was turning 21 and everyone wanted to celebrate in the biggest way possible. They went to some all you can eat place for only 10 euros. Not a bad deal, but people were definitely ready to pass out because they had all eaten too much. I didn't tag along with them for the dinner, because I think it would be kind of weird for some guy to show up, who half the group doesn't even know. I just went to the apartment and waited with Chris until everyone showed up. chris' girlfriend was there, because she was paying Chris a visit all the way from Germany. We only managed to chat for a little while until everyone else showed up five minutes after I got to the apartment. That's when things just started to get out of hand. Music was blasting, people were drinking, and trying to dance in the apartment. Now the apartment is but so big, but that didn't bother some. One of the girls knocked down this mirror, almost breaking it. Luckily I was there to catch it before it hit the floor. Chris was fed up with the craziness and said that we all had to go out now. We were all supposed to meet up at this club called candy bar, but the traffic was ridiculous and we all got split up. Our cabbie took us some roundabout way to where we wanted to go charging us a ridiculous amount. 

I took us quiet some time before we managed to get the whole group together, because half of them went inside some other bar, while the rest of us waited outside. No one on the trip had there cellphones or any other method to communicate. Once we all finally gathered together, we went inside a bar called millennium, and danced for a little while until the owner kicked us out. The problem was that not everyone was buying something to drink and we were taking up space. I decided long before that I would not drink anything since I had a flight the next morning, but everyone else was just not willing to pay to have a good time. I kept trying to tell them that no matter where we went, the same thing would happen since it's a Saturday night. Towards the end of the night the group of 30 split up into those who wanted to dance, those who wanted to relax, and those who were just plain tired and wanted to go home. It wasn't the best needing to a perfect vacation, but I still had fun and managed to see a good friend.

Looking back on it now I wish I didn't got out last night. I rushed back from chris' apartment to the hostel, threw on my bags, and walked all the way to the bus stop. I was just exhausted and all I really wanted to do was sleep, but I couldn't trust anyone around me. I forced myself to stay awake at least until I got on the plan. I was so tired that I was confusing the simplest questions when checking my luggage. I think the ladies even knew, because they helped with everything. My eyes must have been red and I must have looked like I was drunk, because I was stumbling around shaking my head to stay awake. 

When I boarded the plane, all I wanted to do was get to my seat and sleep. Well there was this smelly guy blocking my seat because he wanted to board the plane before he should have. I was hoping I wasn't going to have sit behind him, but it was just my bad luck that I was sitting right behind him. Even though the smell would normally keep me up, I fell right to sleep and didn't wake up until we landed.

I think this was the first time flying that I didn't have any problems with anything. The way it usually goes is that my flight gets delayed, I get searched, or loose my bags. The only random thing that happened was when one of the guys doing searches at the metal detectors told me to hide my comb. I use this metal pick for my afro, because nothing else would work at this stage. He thought it was some weapon and almost took it from me. I just explained what it was used for and that was enough for him.

When I returned to the monastery,I found out that the other volunteer made had made his journey back home. The time has come for us to return home because we are drawing closer to the 90 day mark. Since he got here a little before me, he left earlier. I decided that I would leave this Friday, even though I could stay until next week. It just make more sense for me to go home now and work on this visa thing. I am not even going to talk about this because it makes me become frustrated.

Later that night I met Don Luigi's family that had traveled from Sardegna. I met his two brothers and his two sisters. We went to go eat at the same place again down in Subiaco. Once again it was too much food for most of us to finish, but that didn't stop me from trying. The crazy thing was that Don Ignacio actually tried to eat this pizza with cheese on it. We all urged him not to considering he has a bad allergy to cheese. but he still managed to get a few bites in before Don Luigi forced him to stop. The rest of the night was spent with us talking about how the pizza was too much for just one person. Imagine eating a large pizza by yourself including a fried appetizer, because that's what we did. It's ridiculous how much we are supposed to eat sometimes.

Christmas is drawing closer and closer. Monday I spent my time with Clara decorating the shop for the holidays. I must say that I am pleased with what we did in the time we had. She even managed to find this little Christmas tree and found a place for it on one of the tables covered with angels. I also handed out all of the gifts that I bought for everyone on my trip. I really think of it as early Christmas gifts, since I also dropped the bomb that I would be leaving this Friday. I know that my time isn't really up until the end of next week, but I figured if I leave early, I could return earlier. So you could imagine all of the sad faces when I told everyone that my time had come. It's a shame that I have to leave for a period of time, but I guess it can't be helped. I just have to wait until March before I can even think of coming back.

In the afternoon I spent most of my time talking with Mattia talking about laptops. He was interested in buying a new laptop, because the one he has now is pretty old. Being the apple supporter I am, I suggested that he get a macbook. I think apple should start paying me for how many times I suggest their products. 

Shortly after we finished our discussion, I was bombarded with a huge group visiting from Spain. Of course I was the only capable one in the store who knew how everything works, so everyone tried to ask me questions. The only problem was that all of their questions were in Spanish. Not one single person could speak Italian, but I did manage to find one little girl who could understand English.  So once again I found myself getting frustrated with the crowd of people at the register. I tried my best to get order, but it is really hard when no one can understand you and they all think that they are the only ones trying to buy something.