le mercato.

PLEASE DON'T READ THIS UNLESS YOU ARE VERY BORED WITH YOUR LIFE........ it is SUPER LONG...as you can see, it's almost a novel ...
    I wrote this one mostly for me; it's written, journal/diary style, no dark secrets or anything though.
     

    I woke up at six, I didn't even need an alarm, paranoid that I would miss the work; I was ready to do some hard labor and all that good stuff. La casa, the house, which is four stories high (the three wwoofers on the third level, Sophia and Marco on the second level), was instead silent and still. Everyone was sleeping. I read my UCLA book hehe, I softly plucked at my uke, I went on the computer, I studied Italian; finally at 10AM, everyone was awake. I made coffee in this amazing little tin contraption you put on a stove that is exactly the opposite of our coffee makers in the US...I want to explain it but I'll just show you a picture of it tomorrow.Today I was so enticed by my work I didn't take any pictures.

Except this one, a (6:30am) picture of the outside of the restaurant and where we eat:

 And for the record, the coffee is so amazing, I am buying an Italian coffee maker to bring back! I told Sophia, who is Marco's girlfriend, that I drink Starbucks and she scoffed, saying that drinking Starbucks is like drinking water. It was great. Haha.
Then after a satisfyingly sophisticated breakfast of coffee, milk, and a variety of biscotti, one of which is called Stella something, I was very content...and NOW ready to work. However Marco wanted me to rest and so Sophia took me to the hugest SUPER DUPER market in the region of Emilia Romagna: Ipercoop.
It was a mall, plus a supermarket like Walmart the size of 2 Costco's...I hope that makes sense, but what I'm saying is its style is more like a Walmart, its size more like a Costco... or two.
I mean, the workers there were wearing roller skates to get around...they were also wearing striped red and white skirts...so I guess this place was also like Ruby's.There were too many choices, so it made my head spin just trying to pick which bread to buy or mosquito protection to use, it was kind of like being in Forever 21.
      I realize I am using a lot of comparatives to things in America, but ironically Italy and America are completely different.
    It was fun shopping with Sophia; she's really really nice. It was also funny because we were looking to buy me a watch, but when we asked a worker where to find it, he just said it was where the perfumes were...so now we were looking for the perfumes in order to look for the watch.

     Anyways, after that, I went home and picked some Fragalini with Lisa (the wwoofer from Dublin), ate a beautiful and heavenly lunch made by our chef Francesco, and prepared for the market, or in Italian, le mercato. It was so small, le mercato, half the size of cerritos farmers market...but it was because right now is faire l'augosto, basically an italian holiday, a week of freedom simply bestowed upon the people by the unmerciful heat. But then again, if you are Italy it's the whim for the win. If you own a shop and you don't want to work, just flip the sign over and that's it. You are closed if you want to be closed.
        Everyone migrates to the beach this weekend, so the Modena market was very small today. I was so tired and I've never been able to not talk for such a long period of time. All I got to say was, "Grazie" and "Ciao" and "Sorry, I'm from the states". I am really going to study Italian hard core every night here. It's very crazy to stand there and for once be the one thinking, " Goodness, he's talking way too fast. I don't know what he's saying; wish he'd slow down." hahhah I apologize when I speak fast, I shall slow down...from now on. But then again its another language...I kept on accidentally speaking french hahaha ( FYI, the Italian don't have much love for the French).

     Oh and tonight is "stella cadente", the night of the falling stars,  but we had a great feast ready when we came back. It lasted so long I just came back to the room and didn't look at the stars. Francesco made grilled pork, chicken, ribs, zucinni and cheese...again a beautiful meal. I had lots of wine and got really sleepy...basically the stock for alcohol here is endless. The wine was made on the farm and this just made it feel like it wasn't alcohol hahaha it was red wine, and tasted quite nice.
We had dinner with a many other guests, the chef's wife and son, three other farm workers, and  Alberto, one of the most passionate people I have ever met. He and us Wwoofers exchanged opinions as he brought up things like permaculture, failed revolutions, the disgusting invention of the interest system, corruption of the bank... the world, lies of the Vietnam war, lies of 9-11, lies of Kennedy's assassination, the mafia, the Illuminati. It was great. The wine had made me sleepy, but I could not sleep while this guy was talking. Firstly he was brilliant and second, he was Italian and his hands were all over the place, showing his frenzy.
Marco got in on this too...when it came to talking about "the fucking system", and while he was at it he made sure we didn't forget about his obsession with his melons.
   "This," he said, holding up his beautiful sweet smelling melon, "take this"; he handed Lisa the melon.
"Now take this."
He smiled as he placed a 2 Euro coin next to her.
 "Now eat it. Which one you eat?"  His English wasn't beautiful, but his point certainly was.

Capitalism, has ruined everything that really makes sense in the world...It's just crazy;a farmer can barely make a living by making what people NEED to live: food. An athlete makes a bajillion times more on throwing a ball, sure it's entertainment, but is he creating something that people need in order to survive?Mental support of it being entertainment is simply not enough to defend this case. Too bad some people just don't see it this way...:( or it's just easier to not see it this way I guess.

I mean, people can try to eat the Euro if they want, but I told Marco that I would eat the melon.
heh

Btw it is soo late again, but today's story was too interesting to forget. Tomorrow, since it's Saturday, I'll be going to Verona with Lisa. Wish us luck!
<3 Em