Sicilia

Finally this blog posting will update you on my whereabouts for the past two months. From January 18th-February 16th, I headed south from Rome to experience life in Sicily, the large island off the tip of Italy. I was happy to see other parts of this beautiful country on my 13 hour train ride through the toe of ''the boot'', thus legitimizing the name of this blog (''gets the boot''...means I'm learning about/'getting' Italy...in case you hadn't figured that out by now!). I spent the month at a meditation center just outside of Catania, the second biggest city in Sicily, located on the eastern coast. I wasn't sure what to expect of my time at the center since I'm more prone to prayer than meditation and would rather call on the name of Jesus instead of the sun and moon or some Zen guru, but hey, it shaped up to be quite the experience!

Sicily is absolutely breathtaking and its weather was a welcome change from the cold and snow of northern Europe. The sea surrounding the island is perfectly blue and the warm sunshine in the middle of winter was fantastic. The Sicilian people are a breed all their own and it took me awhile to understand their distinct dialect but by the end of my time I had adopted the Sicilian habit of speaking with your hands in excess (yes, this habit is true of all Italians, but Sicilians do it the most!) and the family I lived with took it upon themselves to teach me to curse in Italian, a skill I suppose will serve me well throughout life?!

The center was amidst countless orange trees and I loved taking walks each day (with the owner's four dogs!) and being able to just pick fruit off trees and eat it while overlooking the valley below and Mt. Etna in the distance. The oranges were the best I had ever tasted – as big as grapefruits and incredibly sweet! Recalling those oranges now reminds me of the many simple ways God has shown me His love and creativity on this trip – getting to taste the best food, meeting interesting people, having safe travels – are just some of the ways I know He's speaking to me.

I spent the month at Samadhi Center working as a family's personal chef and somtimes maid. It was fun being able to try out new recipes and by the end of the month I became much more confident in my cooking abilities! I was whipping up risotto, ragu, gnocchi, soup, tirimasu etc. all from scratch. I guess that's what people do when they have unlimited amounts of time on their hands to spend in the kitchen! I even made pizza that turned out pretty well if I do say so myself! (See photo below...) My real test however, came when Carmen (the lady who helps run the center) asked me to cook for her extended family who was coming over for the traditional Sunday lunch. Talk about pressure! Me, a 22 year old American girl, was solely responsible for pleasing the taste buds of a bunch of Sicilians...oh boy. All worked out in the end though and everyone enjoyed their meal. Carmen even asked if I could stay and work there longer because she hates to cook but I politely declined and was happy to head to my next destination.

On February 16th I arrived back at Casa Faustina, an agriturismo and farm in Assisi where I spend the month of November harvesting olives and making olive oil. Giordano and Tamara, the couple who run the place and who have also become my good friends, asked if I could return and house sit while they went away on vacation. It's great being back in a familiar place with unlimited internet access! I've spent the time spreading organic compost around the 1,300 olive trees (not a pleasant smell...), feeding Lola the dog and Lino the cat, and taking advantage of the internet access as much as possible. I depart here on March 15th and will head to a farm in Tuscany where I will hopefully learn to make cheese – and we're not talking Kraft Singles! It should be fun and I'm looking forward to being in a new environment and learning new things, although I will miss the comfort of this familiar place and its connection to the outside world – the internet! Therefore I apologize in advance for possibly not being able to post on here for awhile. Oh by the way, if anyone has any advice on taking care of sheep and then using their milk to make cheese, let me know! Ciao!