Saturday was one of those days where there nothing really to mention besides the fact that we prepared for palm Sunday. Sunday was a very windy day, which caused us lots of problems with the palms we gathered. Cecilia told me to set up the table outside with the palms in a basket so people could come by and pick them up. Well we didn't notice at first, but the wind was so strong that it could easily blow the palms over in the basket and scatter them onto the floor. Luckily I decided to check on them before they were blessed, because it only took a few minutes before the basket flipped over and the palms were spread across the ground. I had to pick them up, place them back into the basket, and stand there with my hand on top so they wouldn't flip over again.
Ever since I returned back to my shop duties, Clara has been grooming me to run the shop by myself. Well today in the afternoon the caffe machine broke down. I had to take a look and do a little machine test to see if it worked. Apparently the chocolate wasn't working properly so I cleaned it out piece buy piece and then put it back together. The only thing left to do was test it to see if I fixed it. It made the hot chocolate, but the thing is I don't drink or eat anything that has chocolate and I needed someone to test it. I walked all over trying to give it away, but no one wanted it. Finally Pinnucia accepted the cup. I knew she wouldn't let me down.
Don Heriberto is a man of mystery. I found out during lunch today that he is a man of many talents. He can play the piano along with the accordion. I have never met someone who actually plays the accordion, but apparently he is really good. We have to keep this all a secret though, because if the Abbot finds out he can play the piano, he will move him down to Santa Scholastica. When Don Heriberto heard this from Don Luigi and Don Antonio, he immediately shook his had and said he would never move down. I guess the Abbot is some sort of collector when it comes to those who have talents with instruments.
I don't know if I told you guys this before, but Don Luigi has four turtles in his room. Cecilia told me about them a little while ago and said that they match his personality perfectly. Well today I got to see them inside his room. He has three pretty large turtles with one little one. I kind of always wanted to have a turtle, but have no idea what I could do with it. It's like having a fish; are it teaches you responsibility, but you can't play with it. Dogs are more my speed.
Cecilia has now signed me up to be a teacher for those who wish to learn English. A family came into the shop in the afternoon and mentioned that their son was taking English lessons. Cecilia said that John could be the one to practice his English with since he is American and the mom instantly looked at me and tried to encourage her son to speak English. I was then instructed not to speak any Italian and only English. I looked at Cecilia toif it were ok, because she hates when I speak English. Looks like I will have a head start on working with kids. I guess this will be good practice, even if it's only for a few weeks on Saturdays.
Tonight we had some of "Sardegna's gold", as Don Luigi put it. It is this sweet white wine from Sardegna that smells really strong, but taste really good. I told him the name fits.
Monday was the main event; the show everyone was waiting for: the title match between Miciotto and a tiny lizard. Since there were few people in the morning, Miciotto decided to do a little sun bathing and spotted this lizard on the ground. It was almost like he was in a trance or something, because he didn't even move when I shook the bag of food. I was trying to figure out what caught his full attention and then I noticed the lizard frozen in its tracks. I took one step closer and the lizard decided to make its move. It darted behind the trash can and Miciotto tried to get there in time. It was a close call, but the lizard managed to slither away from Miciotto, so the victor today is the lizard. Maybe next time Miciotto.
When you hear a couple of American voices almost everyday, that's when you know things will start to pick up very quickly. Well today I met a guy named Michael Angelo. Apparently he is a pilot for US Airways and told me to mention him the next time I decide to ride US Airways. Well I didn't have the heart to tell him that will never happen again. I had a terrible experience with the US Airways a little over a month ago and vow never to take US Airways ever again. That airline is just horrible. If you have a choice to take anything at all other than US Airways, even if your other choice is to walk, if I were you I would choose walking every time.
Monday afternoon had to be the craziest I have ever seen in awhile. I of course had to give a tour to a group of American students studying in Rome. My group had about 40 people and there were supposed to be two other groups touring around the same time. Well I was hoping that my group would do the mass first, but of course people will do whatever they want to without thinking about the consequences. I had to skip through some of the frescoes since there had been another large group of people standing in the way. I would finish one section only to find that another group was standing in my next destination. It got so bad that I had to start screaming so that the entire group could actually hear what I was saying. Throughout the entire tour I kept apologizing for the craziness. Apparently another group of teenagers decided to show up during our tour creating more chaos. I just wanted to pull out my hair because I had to continue to wait for this group and that group. People need to at least let us know when they decide to visit so we aren't surprised or crowded while giving a tour for those who planned ahead, but that is wishful thinking. As I already said, people will do whatever they want.
Why people like to make things difficult? An English tour arrived early Tuesday morning, before we even open the shop. Don Antonio was greeted by a group of Philippines women looking for their tour guide. I got the call when I was still eating my breakfast and had to immediately rush to find them. Well Don Antonio told me that they were waiting inside the church for me. I guess I must have taken a long time, because by the time I got there, they had already started their own little tour. They were already down in the lower church taking flash photos. I can't tell how many times I told them throughout the tour that flash photos ruin frescoes. If you don't know how to turn off flash, simply don't use your camera. It's that simple people. There is nothing to complicated about how to solve the problem.
Well anyway I was apparently some type of celebrity since every photo that they wanted to take I had to be in it. Also everyone in the group had to get their own photos with me as well. I just felt weird taking so many photos over and over again, even when I hadn't finished the tour yet. It had to be the longest tour I ever gave. I started a little before nine and didn't finish until 10:30 or 10:45.
After they were done with the photo ops, they made their way to the store where they cleaned us out. I mean they bought so much stuff that we started to run out a change to give back to people. I had to continue to refill baskets as they just wiped them out and multi task. It seemed that everyone wanted my help even though Matt was standing right there as well. I don't think anyone's receipt was less than 30 euros. By the time everything was done, the register was filled with only 50, 100, and 500 euro bills. It was my first time seeing a 500 euro bill. I was surprised that someone would just carry something like that around. Did you really expect to spend that much money in one place? The total they spent in the shop was at least 900 euros, but they still weren't finished giving out money. Even after all of their spending in the shop, they left me a 100 euro tip for the tour. When I ran into the Abbot in the afternoon, he was very pleased with all of the money spent in the shop. He gave me his congratulations for doing such a good job. Apparently John rakes in a lot of money.
I got another glimpse of Don Heriberto, the mysterious man. When I was heading back into the kitchen to continue cleaning dishes, Don Heriberto was walking into the dining room. I decided to let him pass before I went through the door and he did the strangest thing. He lifted the little vacuum duster used to clean the table, aimed it like a gun, and started to pretend to pull the trigger. He even made the noise of a gun going off. This is just completely unexpected from Don Heriberto. He is usually very quiet and keeps to himself, for the most part. I guess having Don Antonio around brings out the unseen side of Don Heriberto.
I said things would be different here at Sacro Speco with Don Antonio added to the mix. Well I am pleased to say that I am definitely loving the change. I found out Wednesday that Don Antonio was playing this little trick on Don Heriberto. He told him the other day that there was a group from Columbia coming to visit the monastery and they wanted a tour in English. To my surprise Don Heriberto volunteered to do the tour. I guess it's not often that we have visitors from Columbia, since it is so far away. Well something that Don Antonio said about the group wasn't sitting right with me. He said that they were coming around the time we were having lunch Wednesday. I checked the agenda to see if it were true and found there was no group scheduled. I had a feeling, since Don Antonio always picks on Don Heriberto and jokes with him.
When Matt came in the shop and asked me Wednesday about the Columbian tour, I told him there was no such thing. He was surprised because he saw Don Heriberto studying the guide and frantically trying to prepare for his tour. We both could not help but laugh at this situation. I know it is awful if you really think about it, since Don Heriberto was a completely different person after hearing a group from Columbia was coming to visit. All day he was asking when if the group had arrived yet and to let him know. Everyone scolded Don Antonio for making up such a believable lie and leading Don Heriberto on. Poor Don Heriberto; he got his hopes up for nothing.
Today in the shop there was this American girl who almost bought out the store. She spent over 200 euros, the most I have ever seen before. Since she had collected all of these things together and placed them on the counter, a nice little pile accumulated. Some Italian woman comes into the shop and notices the pile. She starts to rummage through it like its a yard sale. She then starts taking items from the pile and says she is ready to pay. I just look at her in shock, because these things will be bought by someone else in just a few minutes. Like it is so hard to go and find the stuff on your own. The nerve of some people.
I am happy to say that I am now mobile again. By that I mean I now have another cellphone. Don Luigi gave Matt and I cellphone so that we can always be found. Our work responsibilities have now changed and will be moving around a lot outside. Having Don Antonio here makes it easier for me in particular to do other work. So I guess now I am like the maintenance worker here from now on. I will definitely have my hands full.
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