Thursday, October 28, 2010

Shall We Go?!

Days Twenty-Six & Seven

It was 5:40AM and Rosa was honking the horn. She was going to Avellino to pick up a new WWOOFer, and had agreed to take Jessica, Jake, and I to the bus station so that we may spend the day in Napoli. It was pouring, and it certainly did not help Rosa's driving any. We had picked up another WWOOFer the previous day, so even though we were leaving town we knew the two of them could have the day to bond and settle in.

We had decided to spend the day in Pompeii which would be the first time for all three of us. Luckily, we brought umbrellas because Rosa's statement that, "it never rains in Pompei!" did not hold true. It was pretty crazy being there, especially envisioning what it must have been like to live there. There was one part where we could stand in the streets and see Vesuvias towering overhead, and imagined how terrifying it must have been to see lava and smoke pouring out of it in 79AD. Gah, blows my mind.

It's amazing how much a day hanging out in ancient ruins can take out of you! We had originally intended upon spending the rest of our afternoon in Napoli, but between the rain and the exhausted legs we were all traveling upon, we chose to return to Montefalcione. I FINALLY got some gelato in Avellino at a small cart near the bus station 1 Euro! Ugh. I wanted more, but Jake said no :((((( Anyways, we continued back to the house to find it completely dark and us locked out. Jessica called Rosa who said that she would be there in five minutes (which, in Rosa-time, is actually about an hour). She eventually returned with Mar (from Spain) and Robby (from South Africa) and we all exchanged pleasantries as we helped carry items inside.

The following morning, it was rainy so we would not be picking chestnuts. Instead, we went to a small building that is used by the family to host events, teach organics, and I suppose was once used as a banquet facility. Our job was to clean the kitchen that hadn't been used in 5 years (and hadn't been cleaned when last used). The flat-top was COVERED in rust. Absolutely covered- and I took it upon myself to remedy it. A bottle of coke, some steel wool and about 8 hours later (in shifts, of course) it is now good enough to cook on! There is still some black on it from where it hadn't been cleaned after use, but 98% of the rust is gone. I told Rosa that every time she is going to cook, she should scrub it down with coke first to be sure no rust has returned (especially if she is going long periods of time between cooking). The fry-o-later is a different story, though…This was Jake's task and it was messy! There was about 3 inches of congealed oils on the bottom of the machine, which still needs some work.

It was really great doing something different, and Jake and I both acknowledged how weird it was to be so excited for a deep clean. Something about it sparked pleasant memories that I didn't know I could have for a kitchen again.

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