Winding down

Why do children treat the monastery as their own personal playground? Saturday morning a group of kids showed up with two balls and decided to play some form of volleyball outside the shop. I already knew where this would end up and either outcome would not be good for the kids. I was more afraid of them hitting the bad into one of the windows of the shop, but they wound up hitting right over the edge of the mountain. Well it was only a matter of time before it happened and all I could do was laugh. All I heard was their screams of disappointment as they watched the ball fly over and roll down the mountain. That should teach kids that this monastery is a special place, not a playground. 

If kids aren't throwing rocks outside or playing with balls, they are beating on the machine. Having to run back and forth when I hear kids beating on the machine instead of asking for help just frustrates me. And to top it off, I noticed one of the teachers doing the same thing. What kind of example are you setting for your students when you are ready to break a machine just for some candy? People these days, I tell you. Just lack common sense and patience. And that's a terrible combination. 

The kids already put me in a bad mood when I had to deal with the Korean group. See the thing is about Koreans, when the enter the shop and grab their things, they don't understand the concept of a line. They just start handing things to you as if you can just give them their receipt and change so they can be on their way. Well sorry to say, but it doesn't work that way; you just have to wait your turn. They also tend to buy things in bulk, so that when I look back in 2 minutes or so, the baskets are empty and I have to refill them. The store is always cleaned out when they leave, leaving us to restock almost everything. It's even worse when it's just me and Don Antonio. Since he cant move around as quickly as me, I have to rush around grabbing everything before another wave of people comes into the shop.

Later that night I went to Tivoli with Cecilia, Matt, and Don Paolo to Villa D' Este. This is one of the few nights that it is open this late, so she wanted us to take advantage of the opportunity. I did manage to take some very nice photos, but to be honest I was not too impressed with the fountains. I thought from what everyone was telling me that it would be the greatest sight I have ever seen. Well I will let you be the judge of that.

Something else has also been on my mind. While walking back to the car I noticed in one of the shop windows some black mannequins. Someone tell me why these mannequins some "gangsta-lookin" facial expressions, like mean looks and tongues sticking out? Is this how black people are portrayed in Italy? What's even more disappointing is that this has not been the first time I saw something like this.

Started my Sunday morning waiting for a group of 100 German girls. Matt and I had to split the tour in half and try to figure out how we would do the tour. The chaperone told me before I started the tour that I would have to speak slowly, since they could only understand a little. Well that would make things eve more difficult since the group was so large. 

Even though I was talking slow and explaining things in detail, I still got blank stares from the group. I am used to this, because giving tours to teenagers at SJU I got the same stares. It just doesn't bother me anymore; I just continue on with the tour and if there are any questions I will answer them individually. Even with the awkward silence from the group, I must have done a great job because the chaperone tipped me 30 euros. At least someone enjoyed the tour.

After the tour I went to the Sacrestia and Cecilia pointed out that something was wrong with the candle in the cave. The fire was too big and she sent us down to check it out. Turns out that the entire candle was on fire. Someone dropped the entire wick inside the glass cylinder, causing the entire thing to catch on fire. Well with my quick thinking, I ran to the kitchen, grabbed a metal bucket, and threw it over the candle. While I was trying to put out the fire, there were groups just standing in my way. People come on now. When something is burning and you see people frantically trying to put it out, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!!! Just call me firefighter John. Also this is apparently a frequent occurrence, because this is the second candle that burned out of control.

Don Heriberto's really quick today with the response to Don Antonio's question. Everyday when Don Antonio arrives for the meals, he always asks Don Heriberto how his life is. Well today Don Heriberto was prepared. Before Don Antonio even got to ask the question, he just responded, "My life is hard". It is the simple things that Don Heriberto does that just crack me up. Since Don Antonio didn't get to describe how Don Heriberto's life was today and noticed there was a flower next to his plate, he decided to add another condition to his life. He told Don Heriberto that his life was beautiful, then hard, and now smells of flowers. Pour Don Heriberto, no matter what he does Don Antonio will continue to pick on him.

You know it's nice outside when you start to see ants everywhere inside the kitchen. I went to grab the honey from the cabinet and noticed them crawling all over the jar. Luckily they couldnt get inside the jar, because that would have been a terrible waste; I love that kind of honey. And so the ants continue to march in at every possible entrance they see fit to use. I hope they are prepared to face off against Italia, because she has something in store for them.

If there is one thing I loathe more than doing a surprise visit for a group that shows up is when someone in the group decides to add this and that to the tour. If you want to provide more information about the frescoes, then why don't you give the tour yourself. You should realize that I have more important things to do than to stop and wait for you while you provide your version of the tour. If you want to throw in your two cents, do it after I am done with the tour instead of wasting my time. It's simple, either let me do the tour or you give it.

Chef Don Ignazio is in the house. He had to prepare the soup Monday night for us, since Pinnucia is still in Sardegna and Don Carlo hasn't returned yet from his trip. It was kind of funny watching everyone stand over the pot saying how to do this and that. I think out all the monks here I believe I have the most cooking experience, which isn't saying much. I can say that the soup turned out pretty well, so I don't mind Don Ignazio cooking in the kitchen.

May 23 my bag will arrive. I caved on Tuesday and just couldn't wait for Clara to go to the shop. I ordered it online, and even though it is not the one I wanted originally, I am excited to see it. I just have to be patient, but I know I will love it. I don't know what it is, but once I saw Clara's tiny backpack, I knew I had to have one. All this week Clara has been pointing out different bags that kids had when they came into the store, but I still didn't see my original choice. I think if I did, I would try and switch with the bag I bought. But something tells me that it will grow on me.

Surprise, surprise; I had to do more cleaning outside. But at least this time I would not be alone. Clara and I set out Wednesday morning to the lower parking lot to clean the stairs leading to the monastery. It actually went a lot smoother than I originally thought, even though we had to sweep up the leaves. She told me that we didn't have to collect every single leaf, since it would take the entire morning, but to have it clean enough. So we finished cleaning everything in about an hour, just enough time for us to rush back to the shop and help Don Antonio with the group of kids that arrived. 

It was a showdown here during lunch today between Don Ignazio and Don Heriberto. Somehow the discussion of who speaks the best Spanish came up and Don Ignazio was the first to say that it was obviously his hometown in Spain. Well this didn't sit right with Don Heriberto, because he suggested that Columbia had the best speakers of Spanish. Well it seems like there is no way to actually prove this, so they just have to agree to disagree. From what I have heard, I would side with Don Ignazio, since I have heard him actually speak Spanish several times and from what I can understand, it sounds pretty good. But what do I know right?

What is with these tiny groups of people asking for a tour in English? Thursday morning I had to give a tour to two people traveling from Australia. Normally I am not supposed to give tours to such small groups on the chance that a larger tour group wants a tour in English, but Thursday morning was completely quiet and I didn't have any work to do in the shop. I found myself repeating descriptions over and over again, because the woman would forget something I just mentioned. I think the husband was getting frustrated with that, since he could follow everything I was saying and could remember the information. I admit I was also getting a little annoyed by the fact that I had to basically give the tour twice. I really don't like repeating myself more than once.

Don Antonio had to deal with a group that arrived late while we were having lunch, so he didn't get to poke fun at Don Heriberto like he usually does everyday. He arrived as we were about to leave the table. He popped in, wished us good digestion, told Don Heriberto that his life is hard, and went into the kitchen to grab his food. It was just priceless, because he didn't it all in one smooth motion. He just couldn't get through the day without letting Don Heriberto know what he thought his life was like today.

And there's the bell for round two between Don Ignazio and Don Heriberto. This time Don Heriberto was a little more prepared. While we were cleaning the dishes, Don Ignazio said that out of all the other Spanish speaking countries, Columbia is the best. But as far as who can speak Spanish the best, it is of course Spain. Don Heriberto just simply replied, "If you want to believe something that's not true, then that is fine". Nice comeback Don Heriberto.