It's Tuesday morning and I'm lying in
bed still, savoring my American-sized espresso (decaf – I can't
handle the real deal) and and few small biscotti. This will be my
first full day off since arriving for the work exchange program at
La Preghiera.
My room is large and comfortable and
looks, well, actually, is Italian.
The ceiling is timber and wood beams, the floor is terra cotta stone
tile. The doors are thick and heavy and work with keys that are as long as your
hand. They stick into lock holes that are three inches big and deep.
The walls have some of the stonework exposed so that you're sure of what they're made of. Rather than look unfinished or in disrepair, the
exposure gives it the look of a house that's mighty and secure.
It's
eight in the morning. My windows are open- it's sunny and warm. The
sounds coming in are soft and very unlike the daybreak screaming monkeys in Costa Rica or the screeching, bat-sounding morning
birds of Madrid. These Italian birds and toads are going about their becoming awake much more easily and civilly. They sound lazy and happy. Or maybe I'm
projecting.
I
arrived here Wednesday via a flight from Barcelona. Or maybe I should
mention there were two flights from Barcelona. About halfway into
the first flight the pilot came on the speaker and said, “You've
probably noticed we've turned the plane around. We are aware of a
mechanical problem and are headed back to Barcelona to have it looked
at. We should be landing in about thirty minutes. Please take your
seat immediately.”
Uh, okay,
I hadn't noticed we turned the plane around. I could have done just
as well not to know that we were back in Barcelona when we landed at least until the time we landed. But I felt very calm anyway and used some
nice breathing and mindful mediation techniques when my mind began
to wander off to places that were not helpful. My life did not flash
rapid-fire before my eyes; I did not think of all the things I should
have done in life. I thought of my kids, and briefly thought damn
it! I really need to write up a will!,
and of other family and lots of friends and sometimes practiced more
breathing. Mostly, I talked to the young woman across the aisle who
had become someone I chatted with for awhile in the line on the way
into the airplane, and then turned out to sitting right across the
aisle from me. (That was a nice surprise! The universe giggled about
that!)
Actually,
everyone in the plane was pretty low key and calm until we descended
for the landing. It wasn't horribly bouncy or anything but one woman
starting wailing and crying out for God. I don't know what she saw or
was thinking about but it came over her strongly and apparently all at once
and she needed to let it out! Loudly! In Spanish. And then a baby started to
wail too. In babe-ish. Then we landed without a problem.
An hour
later, like sheeple, we all got back into what the pilot had promised
was a “brand new plane” and took off again. In between, no one discussed that
huh, maybe we've changed our minds and will take a train or rent a
car or something. And I thought, what are the odds of that
happening again on this flight? Pretty slim, right?
So I got back on too.
The
mood was different on this flight: now with people all chatting and
happy and meeting their seat mates. The guy in the window seat bought
champagne and insisted on sharing it with the row. When I asked him
if he had been frightened earlier he said “No. Not at all. I just
felt it wasn't my time.” And I knew that's what I had felt too. Nice!
Sooo,
anyway, I've been here for almost a week if you count the Wednesday
of the flight(s) and getting here to the country home, which is a
three-hour drive from the airport in Rome. The owners, John and
Lilliana, had arrived at the airport an hour earlier (on an
uneventful flight!) and waited for me and Katherine, the other Helpx
volunteer, to give us a lift to the “house”. We'd be working for them for the next two or three weeks- doing, umm, whatever, in exchange
for our rooms and meals.
They
call it “the house” but it's more like a mini-resort with a
nine-bedroom main house, a smaller four-bedroom house (I'm occupying
one in the little house now but sometimes must share it if we're
booked up), a chapel (that seats about sixty) , and an in-ground
swimming pool (I swam yesterday. Whoa. A little out-of-shape there, Damico!). They
have overnight guests here, like a hotel, but specialize in weddings
(you can imagine that the chapel helps out with this.)
It's
an interesting business, and the history of the place goes back far,
and I won't try to rewrite it. You can find out more about
LaPreghiera
here.
My
main job here is to help with the weddings. We had one this past
weekend. Sixty-five people attended, thirty-five of them stayed here,
the rest at some other resort nearby. The guests came from the U.K.,
the groom is Irish, the bride, British, or vice-versa, I'm not sure,
but the guests were all English speakers. Kathrine and I did all
kinds of things to help and worked long days instead of the customary
four hours a day for Helpxers, but we'll make up for it with many
days off. We did everything from weeding the long gravel driveway and
sweeping the walks (both very meditative), getting the chapel clean
and chairs set up, setting out and breaking down the breakfast buffet
everyday, taxiing people to/ from the train station (again, good to
know how to drive the stick!) to actually working the event as
bartenders. (I did get 50 Euros for that part and it was my favorite-
although – it was a long night and man! Those Brits could
drink!!)
And
with a shoutout to my friend Mary, who was convinced the hosts would
say, “Bell-a! You too beau-ti-ful for-a the laundry, you no iron!
Come-a up-a-stairs!” I must say I will
be ironing some day soon. After all the rooms are cleaned and
stripped (by the staff- thank goodness), and the bedding is washed
and line-dried but slightly damp, I will take an ironing board
outside and iron away.
But
not today. Like I said, it's my first full day off. It's time to
explore Umbria a bit. There's a nearby lake to do some hiking, then
stop off through a small town to wander around in and get some
pizza. The bigger cities can wait for now. I'm in no hurry.
Until
later-- Ciao!
