Io Contadina Toscana

Thats right! I speak Italian now! Or at least, I can now say "I am a Tuscan farmer" as well as "Please pass the oil" and "Come on!"

I now get to say I am a Tuscan farmer as I have spent the past week and a half pruning and clearing the olive trees in Chianti country. I get up at 6 and feed the chickens and water the garden and walk the dogs (Oz and Charlie) and then head out to the olive fields and attack thorny brambles encroaching on the olive trees and climb up into the trees and cut out all the extra branches. I have become an expert tree climber and scythe-wielder. The thorns tremble when I approach. Around 11ish, I head back to the house, done with my farming for the day :) I then get to nap, swim in the pool, hang out with the family, and work in the studio. So, it is pretty much the best vacation ever.

And the best part is the people. The family is made up of Pascal and Kirsten and their sons Oliver and Rudi. Pascal is a hot air balloon pilot and I woke up at 5 one morning to go watch them launch the balloon. So cool. Kirsten is an artist and one of the most amazing people I have ever met. Aside from giving me free reign in her studio and introducing me to monoprintmaking, we have the most fascinating conversations about art and life and God and nature and she is truly expanding my mind. I adore her. Oliver is also pretty wonderful. He has a forge where he makes knives and such and he brought me in and let me hammer out some steel with him. He walks around half naked all the time with his hair hanging down his back and just seems one with the farm. Oh, and he is part of a Medieval sword fighting group that came for the weekend and I got to see them dress up and swordfight. Which was pretty cool. Rudi is 17 and very much a moody teenager. He also insists on speaking Italian all the time even though he does speak English. This doesn't stop him from being hilarious- I never have any idea what he is saying but his sound effects and facial expressions make it highly entertaining regardless. On top of the family, their friend Costina and her son Sebasiano (10) were here for the past week. Costina is the one that went out in the groves with me when the family had to go ballooning in the mornimg. She is a masseuse and Reiki healer and I got to learn all sorts of fascinating things about healing with energy (as well as getting a free session). Sebastiano only speaks Italian and follows Oliver around like a puppy, but he is super sweet and taught me all kinds of useful words like "burning" and "good night".

This past week as I fell into the rhythm of the farm I found that each one of these people have amazing things to teach me and I know that I have learned so much here. In addition, I have had a chance to teach them so much about Israel and Judaism- things they knew nothing about. I am loath to leave on Friday, but I sense that this time is coming to an end and as I cannot actually move here, it is time I moved on. I will be coming back though, for I have made relationships that are not limited to this short vacation.

I head to Florence on Friday and I am not sure how I will do switching back into tourist mode. I am looking forward to Shabbat in Florence, as the Chabad Rabbi will be around and I am ready for some meals that I don't have to halachically analyze to figure out what is kosher. I made Shabbat here this past week, and while it was a truly holy experience and I got to teach them all about Shabbat and introduce them to Challah and Havdalah, it was a little hard to have to keep saying, "sorry, I cant do that today".

Anyway, I am super happy and so glad that I decided to incorporate this farm into my time in Italy- I think this is an experience that has really changed my life.

Hope you are all surviving earthquakes and hurricanes and all the other craziness that is going on in the world while I am cocooned in the sweet countryside.