I guess everyone has their own passion or their own world where they can drift into to find their own peace. For me I love to watch TV. Whenever my shows come on, no matter how terrible the day or how I feel right before watching, I can drift off into TV land and laugh until I can't breath anymore. For Don Carlo, it's his plants.
Don Carlo has a thing with plants; it's almost like an obsession. You should see how many plants are placed outside in the garden of St. Benedict. There are just too many to count. I think there shouldn't even be anymore plants in that area, since it is outside and nature takes care of itself, but I guess I don't know anything about gardening. Well Wednesday afternoon I noticed Don Carlo preparing more plants for the garden. Little did he know that whatever he decided to use for fertilizer would attract some visitors.
Thursday morning after morning prayer, we noticed that all the plants Don Carlo planted yesterday in pots had been dug up. All the dirt was scattered all over the ground. When Don Carlo saw this, he threatened to kill that cat by swinging it by its tail. Poor Piccolo. I don't even think it was him who even did it, but I guess it would be a relief for Miciotto if Piccolo weren't around anymore. He then would be able to eat in peace without having to quickly scarfing down the food and look over his shoulder before Piccolo shows up.
Since we did not have mass at Sacro Speco this morning, we went down to Santa Scholastica to participate in their mass. We apparently had a special guest serving the mass this morning, but I have no clue who it was. Once again we have so many visitors everyday that it is hard to keep track of who is who. After the mass we had to wait at Santa Scholastica until 1 pm to have lunch and we finished mass around 11:30. That was a long time to kill, but luckily Francesco showed us around the unseen parts of Santa Scholastica. We got to see the old Foresteria (guest rooms), a chapel where they brought in this huge glass chandelier blown in Venice and brought there, and finally the oil trees, chickens, and bees. I knew about the oild trees, because I could see them from Sacro Speco, but had no idea that Santa Scholastica also had eggs made here. We are just that efficient.
In the afternoon Matt's parents decided to pay us a visit. They would only be staying with us for one night, so we had to make the most of it. We had a drink of "Sardegna's Gold" and said our farewells.
I think it was my lucky day Thursday. I found out that at dinner we would be having all of my favorite all-time meals: potato wedges, my favorite kind of soup, and of course to top it all off some delicious cookies. My eyes lit up when I took a sneak peek. Pinnucia knows me too well.
I am sad to report that I have nothing to share for pretty much most of the weekend. I came down with a terrible cold which basically incapacitated me for two days. I felt it coming on Friday and tried to prevent it with what I had in my room, butit was just too determined. I was to be confined to my room in order not to spread my cold to anyone else, but you know what the weird thing is; I got this cold from Don Antonio. And he was the one who told me to go to my room. Of course he is still sick and is spreading his germs all over the place potentially risking everyone else's health, but he refuses to go to his room. Most times older people are just too stubborn and stuck in their own ways. Even when I started to feel better and tried to work, he kept kicking me out and sending me to my room, while he was coughing up a lung, or so it seemed. So someone explain to me why I have to be in my room while he is still spreading his flu around? It doesn't make sense to me, but as long as I keep my distance, I should be able to recover.
I am happy to share that I am now back into action as of Sunday. I feel so much better and my fever has almost gone away completely. It worked out perfectly considering today is Easter Sunday, probably one of the busier days we would have here.
I found out after mass that we would be having lunch down at Santa Scholastica. It feels like this entire month I have spent more time down at Santa Scholastica than I have here. Don't get me wrong or anything, I do like Santa Scholastica, but going there in the middle of the day always ruins my plans. I typically like to write, clean, or sleep during the little 2 hour break and going down there always means that I have to skip my ritual. Not to mention that fact that I miss out on Italia and Pinnucia's cooking. Santa Scholastica can't even compare and everyone here at Sacro Speco agrees with me as well.
Once Matt and I returned with Don Antonio to Sacro Speco, he opened the shop, handed me the keys to the door, and told me not to come back to the shop. I tried convincing him that I was better and could work, but he threatened to hit me with his cane if I were to come back. Whatever he says goes around here, so I knew not to come back and to rest in my room. To tell you the truth, I haven't been sleeping during those times. A man can only sleep so much before he is tired of sleeping, as weird as that may sound. I would just stay up and play around with my computer, trying to kill time.
Pinnucia bought Matt and I a little Easter present, one of those chocolate things wrapped in foil. Matt broke it open and that's where I found my gift: a boat shaped pencil. It was exactly what I needed to brighten my day. On a little side note, today was apparently Pinnucia's birthday and no one even told me. So I am glad I did find out and was able to wish her a happy birthday.
Ok so you remember how I said I was back into action yesterday, well Monday it was official. My fever was completely gone thanks to the help of Pinnucia and Italia taking care of me. They still even ask if I am ok to work because they are worried it might come back. As long as I keep my distance from Don Antonio I think I will be fine. It was too late for Matt though, because he woke up this morning with a fever. The same exact fever I just recovered from. Don Antonio strikes again. I wonder who will be his next victim? And it wasn't a moment too soon that I was able to work, because apparently today was a little different than or regular days. Today the shop would be open all day along with the church.
I didn't know if we were going to be taking shifts or something, but all I knew was that someone had to be in the Sacrestia and the shop the entire time. Well we all know who took the shop duty. Clara tried to get Don Antonio to leave and eat lunch, but he refused. While I was eating he finally showed up, ate really quickly, and then told me now to come to the shop until 5, which was about 3 and a half hours away. I asked him if he were sure and then went to my room to rest. I need to find another job quickly or I think I might just waste away here being sent to my room everyday. I am just waiting for the weather to get better and I will finally be able to work outside.
I felt it was time for an adventure somewhere new and luckily Don Luigi offered to take me, Don Ignazio, and Rafa, Don Ignazio's friend around to see some churches. So we set out Tuesday morning on a little adventure, which I didn't realize would take all morning and night. We didn't get back until sometime around 11:30 pm.
While we were on our way, I finally got some use out of my phone. Cecilia called me wanting to speak to Don Luigi. Apparently there was a group coming today that needed a tour guide who could speak French. Well Don Luigi and Cecilia both forgot about the group. Luckily there is another monk who knows several languages down at Santa Scholastica and could fill in for Don Luigi.
Our first stop on our journey was the monastery Casamari. This monastery had such simple beauty to it. I think Don Ignazio, Rafa, and I all agreed that with just its simple architecture it was very beautiful. I do like the frescoes we have at Sacro Speco, but I also do like just simple things, nothing too fancy. I got one little souvenir that Don Luigi bought for me, a beer. He refused to let me leave without picking something out to either eat or drink. He bought chocolates for everyone else and since I do not eat chocolate, he wanted to get me a beer. I haven't tried it yet, but apparently it is supposed to be really good.
After we had finished touring around Casamari, we made our way towards Montecassino. We were going to have lunch at some restaurant just below the monastery. It was mixture of languages at the table, since Rafa can speak English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. It seemed like every few minutes we switched from Italian to French to English. I noticed some of the other people around us were staring at us to figure us out. I think they were trying to place where we were from, but considering we all speak different languages, it would be a little difficult. The food was amazing, but still nothing compared to Pinnucia and Italia's cooking. It was just enough for me to regain my energy from walking all through Casamari.
Once we arrived at Montecassino, we got he special treatment. We were allowed to park in the special parking lot and given a private tour of the monastery. We got to see parts that regular visitors don't have the chance to see. It is always great to travel with someone from Sacro Speco, especially the prior. It was my first time to Montecassino, but I can say that out of all the churches I have seen, it is by far the largest. A little too big for my taste. I also wasn't a big fan of the decorations of the church. It was too busy to me and lacked the simpleness that I enjoy so much. You can take a look for yourself in my photos and decide wether or not I am right. I wasn't the only one who thought this. Don Ignazio and Rafa both agreed with me about the monastery.
We had to wait for Don Luigi to catch some sleep since he had been driving all day and would be taking Rafa to the airport. It was going to be a two hour ride, but we of course encountered major traffic on the way. It turned out to be about three hours until we finally were able to drop Rafa off and say our goodbyes. To my surprise we ran into the Abbot, Francesco, and Diego at the airport. I guess they came to give Don Luigi a break from driving for awhile.
We drove around for a little bit trying to find somewhere to eat. We finally settled on this restaurant near the river called Bastianelli al Molo. Well of course their specialty was fish, so we would be having fish for dinner tonight. It was my first time actually trying raw fish. It was very fresh and had an interesting taste, but was delicious to me. Don Ignazio was the only one who couldn't eat it. As soon as he saw it, he shook his head and said that he would wait for the pasta, which also had fish in it. It was a very long and exhausting day, so on the way back I got so rest in the back. I am glad that for once I don't have to drive and struggle to stay awake when it has been a long day. By the way, Francesco is an awesome driver. I have never been in a smoother riding car before. I slept very comfortably while he was driving.
It was your typical slow Wednesday with few people coming to the monastery. I think it had a lot to do with the weather today. The morning wasn't so bad, but the afternoon felt like winter all over again. I was planning on doing some cleaning of the grounds, mainly the parking lots, but couldn't because it started to pour heavily. I think Italy needs to get it together. It's now spring, which means shorts and sunshine, not freezing rain. I will be happy when I can finally find somewhere that actually makes sense when it comes to weather. As I said before, I think crazy weather just follows me wherever I go. Hopefully tomorrow will be better than today and I can finally work outside. I get bored working in the shop, since Don Antonio does everything. The only thing I ever do is restock the shelves and vending machines. There isn't much more for me to do other than that, which I only to at most 3 or 4 times a day. All the other times I am in the back or walking around outside. I look forward to the day when I will finally be able to work outside or change my location.
I finally got my tour legs back into action Thursday morning. Two Canadians decided to pay us a visit in the shop and wanted to celebrate mass here. Since it was a pretty little schedule today, I decided to also throw in a tour as well. It was just their lucky day they said, because not only could they have a mass here but also a guided tour with yours truly, one of the best tour guides that has ever lived. That's just me tooting my own horn as they say, but I have gotten several compliments about how well I give tours.
I think this was one of the longest tours I gave here at Sacro Speco, considering I never stopped talking the entire time. We had to start the tour backwards, because there was another group of teenagers doing a tour with Cecilia, and you already know how much I love that. We still wound up waiting for the group to move past the lower part of the church in order for me to continue the tour. I thought I was past all the hectic and craziness, but Anna-Lisa's group of Germans showed up just as I made my way upstairs. Just my luck right, that the group that was supposed to show up like 2 hours ago would show up when I am giving my tour. Even with all the confusion I stilled managed to do a pretty good job considering I received a 20 euro tip for the tour.
This afternoon I was on Sacrestia duty. I had to sit there while preparing chocolates for the shop. Clara had asked me before I left for lunch to do it for her so we could do more things tomorrow morning. I tried to explain that I needed to study my words, but she insisted that it could be my study break. Some study break right; pealing labels and placing them on my least favorite thing in the world. As soon as I finished the phone lines went out. I don't know if that was some sort of sign, but it was just eerie. It had to of course been the rain. Almost every time it rains here, something goes wrong. Well when it started to thunder, I knew it would only be a matter of time before the power went out. Sure enough, as soon as I thought about it, the power went right out. Some guy came to the Sacrestia looking for an explanation as to why the lights were all off in the church, almost like he was blaming me. I told him there is nothing I can do, since the weather has a mind of its own and the church is pretty old. As much as I would love to, I cannot control the power here at the monastery. I told him that I have no clue as to when the power would decide to turn back on and he just stormed out. Somethings are just out of our control and you just have to deal with it.
No comments:
Post a Comment