THE ARCHIVE

After finishing our first week of excavatoin, a bunch of students and staff travelled to Florence to visit the Archaeological Museum. There were a ton of Etruscan artifacts on display and these were explained to us in great detail by the program director. I felt a little sheepish alongside all the classicists and art historians in our group, but the experience was pretty enjoyable. Here are a few photos that I took in the museum. If we are lucky, maybe we’ll find some artifacts like these at Poggio Colla!

(vases, wounded chimera, francois vase, two heads)

FYI. We don’t have any internet access on the dig so my communication will probably be limited to weekends.

For the next six weeks I will be working at an Etruscan Archaeological dig called Poggio Colla. In its 14^th year of operation, the program has over sixty students and staff working together to gather and analyze “material culture” from a hill in the Mugello Valley.

I am a staff member here with the official title of “Architecture Intern.” This is a newly created position which will allow me some liberty to move around and experience different aspects of the project. So far I have had a new task each day: digging in the trenches, surveying with the total station, geological mapping with GPS, etc. I will write about these things in more detail later.

On Monday I worked alongside the other staff and students to prepare our site for excavation. In the afternoon we began relocating a large pile of roof tiles that covered one of the trenches. Everything was going well until we realized just how many critters were living among the chunks of clay. Scorpions came first, followed promptly by oversized slugs and several varieties of squirming insects. None of these are deadly so we paid them little attention. When snakes began to surface everyone got a little riled up. One appeared at my feet and, for the benefit of the fifteen students standing nearby, I carefully grabbed it behind its head and threw it far into the woods.

At lecture that night students were recounting stories from the day. The director of the program caught wind of the snake incidents and asked us nervously what they looked like. Turns out that they were vipers–small but deadly within about an hour. I was just as horrified as everyone else. I think my irrational fear of snakes has now been rationalized.

The good life? I am convinced that it can be found at La Fattoria Cerreto Libri in the little town of Pontassieve. For the past two weeks, each day has consisted of a perfect blend of work, rest, food, wine and conversation–none in excess and all of the highest quality.

The Villa, which has traceable origins in the 14^th century, sits atop a hill with commanding views on three sides. Rows of olive trees and vines extend in every direction toward neighbouring farms and forests. Wildlife is protected in the region so it is common to see fagiani (pheasant), capriolli (small deer) and lepri (rabbits). There are also sounds of peacocks and roosters from a nearby hill and signs of herons nesting in the evergreen trees.

Each day we worked from 9.00 until 12.00, ate lunch, and worked again from 14.00 until 17.00. Most of our time was spent tying vines but I occasionally helped Salvatore mow the lawn, bottle wine, clean the beehives or prune olive trees. We listened to music in the vineyard and it made the experience completely surreal. Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles and Vivaldi have never sounded better.

Dinner began around 20.30 and extended long after dark. As Italian tradition dictates, meals were served in courses: Antipasto (bread, cheese), Primo Piatto (pasta), Secondo Piatto (meat, salad) and Dolcetto (fruit or gelato). At meals we were encouraged to eat everything on the table. After finishing a dish they often prompted me to “fare la scarpetta” which literally means to “do the little shoe.” In context it meant for me to soak up the extra sauce with a piece of bread. “Take the bread for a little walk in the pan” they would tell me.

The experience as a whole was fantastic and I am beginning to miss the farm already. Now I am in transit to Vicchio where I will work among Americans on an archaeological dig. More about that soon!

There is a certain type of individual who travels around the world, lives out of a bag and works on organic farms.  We call them backpackers.  Equipped with good walking shoes and a Lonely Planet guide, they have an insatiable appetite for culture.   They stay in hostels, live cheap and are perfectly accustomed to their own stench.

I used to think that these were my type of people.  I am attracted to their adventurousness, their energy, and their ability to tough out poor accommodations.  But lately I have discovered a real problem with backpackers.  Despite their wonderfully diverse stories, they are all the same.

If you have stayed in a hostel, then you know the type.  They are coffee-drinking, pot-smoking, meat-shunning, Nalgine-toting students on a mission to save the world.  While none of these particular traits really bother me, their sum total is unbearable.

Here on the farm we have been joined by several such backpackers.  For the most part, they are so enthralled by their own idealism that they forget basic tenants of social well-being — qualities such as kindness and hard work.  They eat organic food but neglect to thank the people who supplied it.  They enjoy good accommodations but neglect the chores that ought to be done in exchange.

My frustration is shared by our hosts who have seen this type many times before.  Salvatore confided in me that he is really upset with the new “wwoofers.”  They only want to eat (mangiare) and sleep (dormire).  If that is the case, I suppose there is little that any of us can do to change them.

This is what I’ll be doing if I run out of funds.

On Sunday, two friends and I took a day trip to Siena. We were originally thinking of going to the beach, but Salvatore (the farm handyman) recommended otherwise–telling us that “Siena è una città bella. Dovete visitarla.” After some deliberation, we decided to take his advice and ended up having an eventful (though slightly draining) day as bag-toting, gelato-eating tourists.

Siena is considered one of Italy’s most spirited cities. Today, this is manifest in the town square (il Campo), two ornately clad churches, and a variety of cultural events. Several of the most celebrated works of architecture resulted from a fierce rivalry with Florence. After the black plague made its mark on Siena–and Brunelleschi made his on Florence–it might seem clear who won. But despite all that, Sienese remain proud of their town and celebrate traditions that attract thousands of tourists each year.

The most famous event in Siena is the Palio, a semi-annual bareback horse race around the perimeter of the Campo. The Palio is to the Kentucky Derby what Cock fighting is to a farm show. If you haven’t seen images of this, I recommend checking it out on YouTube. Apparently there are quite a few traditions in addition to this one. Even during our short visit, we witnessed two brightly clad marching bands trolling through town. I’ve included an image to convey to you the absurdity of these people’s costumes.

All is well here on the farm, as we continue to tie vines, prune olive trees and the like. Thanks for all of your comments and emails so far! Mi piaciono le risposte in Italiano. Grazie mile!

One of my highest priorities here in Italy is to learn the language. Despite my love for charades, I cannot spend an extended period of time acting like a mime. That is why I chose to study Italian for a year at Cornell and continue to do everything possible to improve my language skills.

My first step in this process was to buy an Italian Maxim magazine. If you are not familiar, Maxim is the men’s equivalent to Cosmo (but much more sophisticated). I thought that by reading this–cover to cover–I might expand my vocabulary while simultaneously catching up on pop culture. So far, it has been extremely enjoyable. I have fumbled through several articles about movies, concerts, and cars. These were very difficult to understand at first but are becoming progressively easier. I discovered that Maxim really just repeats a couple words over and over again–the most popular of which are “adrenalina,” “maschile,” and “sexy” (which I think may be the same word in all languages).

In addition to reading, I have been learning a great deal by speaking to my host family. Of the five “wwoofers” here on the farm, I am the only one who studied Italian in school. As a result, I am often asked to translate between the others. So far I have explained a variety of topics including horse breeding, the American political system and the Italian mafia.

Today I made an extremely embarrassing mistake. At lunch, my friend and I were told that two new students would be coming tonight and that we should clean up the room before they arrive. I tried to say that we would sweep around the bed. In Italian, I said (very earnestly) “possiamo scopare vicino al letto.” Our host started laughing and explained that “scopare means to sweep and also to f***.”

Poor word choice… I wish Maxim had taught me that.

Italian Brady Bunch?

We have been eating very well here at Cerreto Libri. This is a recipe for my favorite meal so far–and it is easy enough for a guy to cook. (Thanks to Annie for writing this up).

Pollo per Uomini

Ingrediente:
2 boneless chicken breasts
Thinly sliced prosciutto (possibly bacon?)
Large sage leaves, fresh
Olive oil
Salt

Preparazione:
1. Press a slice of prosciutto onto both sides of each chicken breast.
2. Do the same with the Sage leaves.
3. Pour olive oil into pan (1/4 inch) and let heat over low. Do not heat oil too hot because the chicken is not meant to be deep fried.
4. Place chicken into pan and let cook until ready (flip once).
5. Save oil as dipping sauce for bread (“la scarpetta”)

(here are few famous men from Italy. They probably ate chicken, prosciutto and sage too)

On Sunday (June 8^th) I took the train from Firenze to Pontassieve where I am working on an organic farm for two weeks.  I arranged this portion of the summer through an international organization called WWOOF (willing workings on organic farms).  If you are not familiar, the idea behind WWOOF is that travelers (or “agritourists”) exchange labor for food and shelter.  In my estimation it is one of the easiest and cheapest methods of cultural immersion available to students.  I highly recommend checking our WWOOF Italia or any of the other national organizations throughout the world.

I am currently working at Cerreto Libi, a family farm that produces organic wines and olive oil.  I arrived just in time to begin tying grape vines in the vineyard.  At this stage, the young plants are growing in all directions and sometimes break under their own weight.  Our job is to guide the branches in the right direction so that they can reach the highest wire (the agricultural equivalent to parenting).

After two days on the job, everything is going well and I am beginning to perfect my knot tying technique.  (I will write more about the vineyard in another entry).  When I am not in “la vigna,” I am either eating with the family or reading my Italian Maxim magazine (yeah, it’s pretty sweet)

Eating is not only a necessity here, it is a way of life.  Each day we have a large lunch and dinner that can last for two hours.  The vegetables, olive oil and wine are all produced at Cerreto Libri—and the meals have been delicious. (My friend here is actually in the process of writing a cookbook so I might begin posting a few of my favorites to this site).

Wine is consumed throughout each meal with a very strong shot of Espresso to follow.  I suppose I have a very low tolerance to both alcohol and caffeine right now, so the combination has been especially potent.  Suffice it to say that vine-tying is an entirely different experience when we return to work each afternoon.

That’s all the internet time I get today… much more to come!