hee haw

My final moments in Mondaino were thank god much less tearful than before. This is because I am instructed to return as soon as possible - before I come back to Canada, and before my other predetermined trip in the fall. A few family members even hide in their rooms firmly stating this is NOT a goodbye.

I make it in one piece to my next location, Fauglia, which is a little town outside of Pisa. No I did not see the tower and I honestly don't plan to.

A beautiful farm wedged in the middle of this little town, it's a glorious old estate which they have been adding onto for about ten years. I get my very own apartment with a KING SIZE BED and there's sometimes working wifi and a better equipped kitchen than I could imagine. I follow Federica around in the morning to feed the animals. Goose eggs are giant. They have a pony, a mule and a donkey. The mule is named Boing. She opens the sheep gate and lights up a Camel and tells me to try leading them out to pasture. I summon up everything I learned from Babe (as you should in most life situations anyways) and eventually they mosey out to the field. They also have a peacock.

In the evening I eat some sort of white blossom off of a tree, breaded and fried and either dusted with sugar or eaten alongside onions. I still am not sure if this was some sort of initiation.

They have bees and produce their own honey, as well as olive oil and different dried herbs and spices. Oh, also I made cheese today, making bread tomorrow.