Jack of all trades

There is an endless flock of children coming to the monastery nowadays. Almost every day we have to deal with these little children, who seem to come in groups of sometimes one hundred to tour the monastery. Sunday was just like a revolving door of a building during rush hour, where the seemed to be no end to the line of people coming in and out. I did however manage to step out for a few minutes in the morning to accompany Matt on his second Italian tour.

He said that I might have to help him fill in some words that he might have forgotten, but to be honest, I don't know how much use I could possibly be considering I am still lacking many Italian words. He managed to give a very brief tour, since Cecilia had another group with her and everyone in our group seemed to understand that our Italian isn't the best yet. Maybe someday I will be able to give a tour in Italian, that is only if I can remember all the words and dates.

Later that day I saw a group coming to the monastery carrying camera equipment. Apparently they were filming a documentary on the monasteries in the area and Sacro Speco was on their list. I think I might have been in a few of the shots or photos, so be on the look out for some black guy with a fairly large afro. I mean how hard can it be to spot me, the only black guy up here working in a monastery. And if you do by chance see me, let me know.

The days are starting to get longer here, because in the afternoon I did not finish working until almost 7:45. That's way longer than I have ever worked here. We close the monastery at 6 pm, but there was a group still inside and I had to make sure they all got out before I locked up. They did not finish until sometime around 7 and decided to make a stop inside the shop, which meant that I had to help. I basically did all the heavy lifting when people wanted to buy statues that are kept in the storage area above the shop. When I finally managed to get down to dinner, which had already started at 7:30, I was so beat that I didn't even eat as much as I normally would. Once I was done, I made my way to my room and immediately crashed. What an exhausting day.

Like I said before, there seems to be an never-ending wave of children coming to the monastery. There was nothing written on the schedule for Monday, but apparently the children didn't know that. I was standing in the shop helping Clara fill the shelves from yesterday's chaos when I heard them coming. I looked at Clara and we both knew it was going to be a long day. Luckily Don Antonio showed up, but he came with the worst possible news. On his way up, he noticed 4 buses parked down at the entrance. That means that there is more than one group of kids here today.

I don't think I ever got a break all morning, considering after one group was finished another would come in and buy out the store. It was hard for us to restock the shelves before the next wave hit. We even started to run out of change to give, because these kids would pay with 10 and 20 euro bills for 2 or 5 euros worth of stuff. And to top it off one little girl continued to ask me, "how much does this cost". I knew that she was just trying to test my patience, but I continued to indulge her, until I finally said look here. I mean come on. Why continue to pick things up and then ask what the price is. Use your eyes people!

Tuesday was delivery day for the shop. The boxes of liquor we were expecting arrived early in the morning; a little earlier than expected. They arrived when mass was still going on and I noticed Clara standing in the back of the church. She told me that the boxes had arrived and to make it down to the shop as quickly as possible, so I skipped breakfast altogether and ran to help. She was surprised to see me there so soon and I just told her that I did not eat anything yet. She tried to force me to eat something, but when there is work to do, I would feel terrible leaving her to do it all alone.

There had to be at least 40 boxes of liquor delivered. I think there was enough liquor to get a small town drunk and still have some leftover for the next two days, but the shelves were completely empty, so I guess the amount was appropriate. I don't think we will need to order any more for at least the rest of my time here.

Pinnucia finally returned sometime in the early afternoon with a little gift. She brought cookies for us to snack on after lunch. I didn't even know that they were there until Don Luigi came out with one for me. As soon as I ate it I had to have another one. Luckily Don Luigi gave me another two to quench me appetite. Mattia, on the other hand, wanted to be sneaky and try to steal more cookies. He was like a little vacuum cleaner going back and forth trying to steal cookies when Pinnucia or Italia weren't looking. Well Italia finally caught him and chased him out of the kitchen waving a large wooden spoon. It was a classic scene from any number of family shows when a kid tries to be sneaky.

I tried really hard this afternoon to get a quick nap in, since I was just wiped from carrying boxes and restocking shelves, but the weather had something else in mind. As soon as I got to my room it started to rain, which then turned into hail. It was just pounding on my window and I had to turn my sleep music all the way up just to barely hear it. When I finally was able to sleep, it was already time for work. And I had another surprise awaiting me once I reached the store.

The jars of jelly and jam were waiting for us down at Santa Scholastica. We of course had to take two cars to cart the stuff up to Sacro Speco, which went a lot faster than this morning. There was only one pallet of jam, which fit into each car equally. On the way down, Clara asked if I could drive manual, because she would let me drive back up. Unfortunately I am not there yet. Maybe I will learn here in Italy if Clara lets me practice. And one thing that I realized on our way back to Sacro Speco is that Cecilia is a little speed demon when it comes to driving. We left at the same time, but didn't see her until We almost reached Sacro Speco. Matt told me that they almost went off the edge at one point. I will take driving with Cecilia over driving with Mattia any day.

I thought I was through with excitement for the day, but I spoke too soon. After dinner I went straight to my room only to find the power just went out. I thought it was strange, since there was no sign of a storm or something else that could have knocked out the power. I was on my way to check out what happened when the lights came back on. Apparently the monastery was using too much electricity at once and it overworked the system. Good thing I am prepared with my little flashlight next to my bed. I just now have to charge the batteries for the next blackout.

Looks like there was a little confusion on Wednesday morning. I was prepared to head to the shop and help Clara out when Don Luigi called my room asked if I were ready. I had no idea what he was talking about, so I asked and he told me that I was helping Fabrizio, Mattia, and Matt move some furniture from La Rocca Abbaziale back to the monastery. I quickly ran to change my clothes and tried to catch Fabrizio before he left, but it was too late. I heard his little 4 x 4 truck pull off, which only left riding with Mattia. 

Like I told you before, the man has no driving skills whatsoever. I mean even before we were able to leave the monastery, we almost got into a terrible accident, because he wasn't paying attention. There's a blind spot when pulling out of the monastery where everyone knows to slow down and wait to see if it is safe to go. Well Mattia thought otherwise. He was about to floor it when I yelled wait! If I didn't do that, I think our journey would have been cut very short and I might have died.On the way there he somehow got us lost in the small town, almost running into a wall when trying to turn around and just barely missing cars we passed by on turns. Matt and I were both fearing for our lives, me a little more so since the seatbelt was somewhere stuck between the seat and the truck. I vow to never again ride with him even if he is the last person who can give me a ride. I rather walk or pay an obscenely large amount of money to get where I need to go.

It was almost like a little party up at La Rocca, because shortly after we managed to get there Francesco, Diego, and Fr. Daniel showed up. The only thing that was missing was some music, beer, and American girls dressed in bikinis, as Francesco put it. While we were there they showed us around each of the closed off areas that needed keys. Luckily Fabrizio is like the key master with his ring of keys to everything. We walked all up and down that place taking photos. I tell you the place was like a maze and if someone weren't there to help me find my way, I think I still would be there wandering around trying to find my way out.

We safely reached the monastery with the table that we took from La Rocca and I kissed the ground. I had to ride with Mattia again, which was another adventure in itself. It took him at least 30 minutes to park the car and by the time he was done we had already unloaded most of the table from the truck. The last thing to go was the base, which was the biggest piece. Italia's car was in the way where we had to carry the table, so I folded the mirror and hoped Mattia wouldn't hit the car. Fabrizio pretended to be superman and tried lifting the car once he saw that we were going past it. Today was just full of laughs and fear. Just that type of mixed day I guess.

When I finally got to the shop in the afternoon, I was surprised by a little meow from Miciotto. I looked around but didn't see him, and then he meowed again. To my surprise he was on top of the roof looking down at me waiting for his lunch/supper. I was a relatively slow afternoon until a group from Texas walked in. It was two old couples who were looking for some souvenirs for there friends back home. I was a little surprised when the woman walked in and said you look like you're from the states, New Jersey I would guess. They had run into Matt before and he told them. They gave me a little nickname while they were shopping, "Jersey", which I found a little funny, because it was almost close to the nickname I had in college, Jersey D. That was my snowboarding name when I went to the mountains with a few friends.

Tonight was movie night at the monastery. Don Luigi found this movie called the Men of God and decided to watch it during dinner while eating pizza. It was the first dinner that we have had in the tv room drinking wine and beer. The movie was actually pretty good I believe, but I won't spoil it for those who wish to see it sometime. What was strange was that they spoke in both French and Italian throughout the movie, but I could follow the subtitles in Italian. It was my first real test of Italian knowledge.

When will the days of gardening end. Thursday morning I spent outside trying to clean up the garden where the statue of St. Benedict is. I got halfway done with the sweeping when I spotted a group of Koreans. I already knew that I wasn't going to finish, plus I was kind of tired battling bees while trying to sweep, so I called it quits and headed back to the shop. I spent the rest of the morning helping Clara stick labels on jars and restocking the shelves. Things are starting to get a little redundant here. I don't think I have given a tour since the first week I have been here, and I have been here a month now, believe it or not.

Today's lunch was a special treat, or should I say specialties from Sardenia. Every dish that was prepared is something typical of Sardenia. The reason for the feast was because we had another visitor in the monastery. To tell you the truth I don't even remember his name. Now some of you would think that is horrible, but you have to understand something. Every week we have another visit or two from somewhere different. After some time they all just seem to run together. The monastery is something like a revolving door for others to come and visit, have lunch, and then be on their way.

More and more kids in the afternoon. I think I am starting to get the hang of dealing with the little ones. I see this as good practice for the years to come or for my next adventure in Chicago. Well today a little girl wanted to buy these two books that both cost 2 euro. She only had 60 cents and I told her the price. SHe just looked at me with the look on her face like she had just lost her puppy trying to persuade me in giving her the books. I might have done it if she had 2.50 or 3 euro, but let's be serious. I cannot sell something that cost 4 euros to a kid for only 60 cents. I just looked at the teacher to explain that to her, because she wasn't hearing it from me.

Today I played the role as a mover. Remember how I said we took stuff from La Rocca, well this morning we were finally deciding on where we were going to put it. There was this huge cabinet that could only fit one place perfectly, right in front of the kitchen. Before we moved it Don Luigi gave us a little speech. He said under no circumstances are we to say that any of us placed this here. Don Carlo doesn't really like change so much and would have a fit when he would return this afternoon. Mattia stepped forth and said that he could take the blame, since he is moving down to Santa Scholastica by the time Don Carlo notices it there. Well I think it is a nice new addition to the hallway. It is almost as if it always belonged there.

Well Don Carlo surprised both Matt and I in the shop. He walked in all dressed up wearing this suit. Now if you ever did see Don Carlo, there were two possible outfits he would be wearing: his habit, or this track suit. It throw me completely off guard when he walked in all fancied up. I guess the trip must have went really well.

Just your typical Saturday morning packed filled with tours and crowds of people filing into the shop. This time it didn't seem so busy to me, since Don Antonio was here and I spent most of my time in the back preparing some little pins Clara asked me to do for her. In the afternoon Don Antonio told me that I could leave and do something else, since there were so few people. He didn't have to tell me twice, because I knew I could finally get some studying done. I went to the Sacrestia with Mattia and tried my hardest to get through my notebook, but of course Mattia had other plans. 

He first wanted to talk about computers and how Macs are so great, but limited. He was telling me of all these way he managed to get these programs for his Dell laptop and didn't have to pay for them. He said it is impossible with a Mac computer to do something like that. I just told him you have to know what your doing and anything is possible. The reason the discussion of computers came up is because Mattia wanted to listen to some music. He first played some artist named Abele, which was good and then decided to play some Abba. I just shook my head because he was trying to sing along with the songs and dance at the same time. Luckily no one was walking by the Sacrestia, because they would have thought something was wrong with him from the way he was moving. 

People don't believe me, but Don Heriberto sometimes forgets to call to tell me that the church is closed. Today was a perfect example of that. I waited until 7 pm for him to call and it never came. The church door was still wide open and he was just gone. Luckily Don Luigi came into the shop to get me and tell me to close. After we finally closed everything, some guy decided to try and get inside the monastery. Don Luigi told him that we are closed, but he must not have understood the concept. Even Don Luigi is surprised by how some people just don't understand that we do other things here at the monastery besides just opening and closing the doors for people to visit.