Val d'Orcia

I just spent the past two and a half weeks at Podere Il Casale, a fully functioning farm and agriturismo where they produce honey, wine, olive oil, pasta and cheese. Located in the Val d'Orcia in Tuscany just between the hill towns of Monticchiello and Pienza and not far from Montepulciano, I often found myself saying ''this is so cool! I'm working in a vineyard in Tuscany!'' or, ''I'm eating pasta made in the super-famous part of the Italian countryside!''

I initally went to Il Casale to work in the cheesery, but I soon found myself helping out in all aspects of the farm. I cleared olive prunings and made fires to burn them, worked in the vineyard tying and pruning grape vines, and assisted in caring for an unknown number of sheep and goats! I'll admit that working with the animals was the most fun, yet entirely absurd and extremely messy. On days when we had to clean out the stalls (and by 'clean' I mean shoveling out what felt like a thousand pounds of packed piles of hay and sheep poop) we wwoofers found it bet to keep telling ourselves that we were just cleaning up mud! Needless to say we got pretty good at handling pitchforks. I mention other wwoofers because I was lucky enough to work with Jon, a 24 year-old artist from Hawaii and Ruth, a 20 year-old German girl. The three of us got to be great friends over the course of our stay at Il Casale and relied on each other for moral support, wine and coffee breaks, laundry help, and with herding the frequent runaway farm animals.

It was so interesting working with the sheep and goats. Each day they had to be brought out to pasture to feed and then brought back in for milking. I only helped with the herding every so often but I gained enough experience to give meaning to the phrase ''like a lost sheep.'' It really is true - sheep are not very smart and if separted from the herd by just a few meters, they have no idea what to do! Goats on the other hand, are much smarter. Too smart in fact because they easily would find their way through the fences to graze as they pleased. In addition to the grown sheep and goats there were also a ton of kids and lambs. Working at a farm at the beginning of spring offers its fair share of surprises, and newborn animals are a prime example.

It was so great to be able to really experience farm life. while the work is by no means easy, it has given me new appreciation for living simply and understanding of the natural roots of things. I now know how cheese is made (pecorino - from the word 'pecore', meaning 'sheep') and all the work that goes into getting the milk. I've seen the work behind wine and olive oil production and even the time required to make good bread (thanks to my time spent firing up the wood burning oven). It seems that a lot of us in America are so concerned with saving time that we lost sight of our roots. We have no idea where our food comes from and the only time we spend resting with our family or friends happens in the short intervals between work and some other obligation. It was wonderful to meet Jon and Ruth everyday in the goat pen after work and just sit and watch the baby goats play while the sun set. I've had a lot of moments like that here in Italy - when it feels like time stands still and that there's nothing that needs to be done, nothing to cross off a to-do list - just time to sit and watch and appreciate small things. Now of course I know that when I get back to the States I wont have nearly as much time to do that, but I think I will be sure to carve out time for 'bel far niente', or, the beauty of doing nothing (italians are great at this!)

Besides the sheep and goats (and many other people that were all characters!), there was also an escape artist poney, a very vocal donkey (who had a crush on the poney), six proud peacocks, numerous cats, and two sheepdogs (my favorite, named Ben, looked like a polar bear and I would use him as my pillow to lay in the sun - so great!)

On another note, at Il Casale I also learned to appreciate not living in excess. Everything I own on this trip fits into a backpack, I ate only bread for breakfast, showered rarely, and slept in a cool old bus! It was all just fine and I realized I should make sure in life that luxuries do not become necessities for me.

Finally worth noting about my time at Il Casale was that I noticed so many biblical passages come to life. I understand better why mostly priests slaughtered animals, why Jesus would go to pray at the Mount of Olives, the significance of the vine and branches parables and what pruning really means, how Jesus really cares for us like a shepherd, the symbolism of unleavened bread etc. Perhaps the most dramatic biblical revelation came after I met Marco, the humble and quiet shepherd ('pastore' in Italian...) at Il Casale. Marco was the favorite of the wwoofers because he was the hardest worker, had a special gift with the animals, didn't own much (he even lived outside in a tepee for a year!), took time to spend with us, and never hurried. By the world's standards, he would almost be forgotten, but to us, he was so great and special! It amazes me that in the Christmas story God sent the angels to notify the shepherds, people like Marco, that the true King was born. It's the perfect example of God using the humble and the lowly to glorify Himself. Meeting Marco made that so clear.

Well, this blog entry is long enough and I encourage you to check out the pictures I attached (all compliments of the amazingly talented Jon!) at the end of this. I'm writing this from a hostel in Florence anxiously awaiting the arrival of my mom and sister in Italy tomorrow! I am so excited to see family, get hugs from them and impress with my Italian language and travel skills! I will surely have an update after they leave the day after Easter. A presto!