Contact jams in Italia!

This is a photo of me working on a sculpture at Louise's house (at night).  I'll keep you all in the proverbial dark until it's finished.
And this is what happens when you dont keep your WWOOFers busy.  We started to do some Contact Improvisation one day at Dino's.  The trend continued whenever we had some free time.  Above is Andrea about to jump onto my shoulders.  Below is Andrea (under a tablecloth) swinging Victoria around.
Since I probably won't post again soon, I wish you all a very merry xmas!  Ciao!

Another farm heard from...

Hello all! Last week I finally packed up all my bags and left Dino's farm. It had been great and I know that I wil return someday, but it was time to move on. I went to another farm near Cortona, at the house of Louise. The house here is so warm! Its not that winters here are very bad, but it does rain all the time...

At Louise's I've been caring for their horses (2 bigguns and a little colt) and generally helping around the house. Louise lives here with her 2 little daughters and her mom lives up the road. Right now there is another WWOOFer from the states here as well. As it turns out I am the only guy, so I think they are glad to have me around for big stupid jobs.

But really, the work is nice and the house is very cozy. Louise is encouraging me to make a big sculpture for her garden, so I've started that. I think it will be a centaur or something equally large and horshish. (Her daughters are as obsessed with horses as Flynn!) Louise has lots of wonderful tools, including a few power tools that I had been missing. I'm very excited to start work on this sculpture. I'll send photos as it develops.

I have also been teaching art lessons to Louise's girls and other kids from around the area. The best part about this job is that it pay$. I don't have much need for money right now, but it is nice to stock up for the next long travel. I really love working with the kids, but it makes me miss Chelsea even more. Its really fun but it can get a bit overwhelming. Mom, I don't know how you ever handled all those daycare kids! And Grandma, 5 boys? You all are crazy!

I also had my first succesful Italian art show. This took place on my last night at Dino's. That night there was a performance, feast, and dance party (like the parties I helped with the last time I was there, in the summer). I posted a bunch of drawings and paintings on the walls along with some prices and my website info. I sold almost a third of them! That was a nice little bonus, and it put a few more euros in my pocket. After everyone left that night we residents kept on dancing until a huge thunderstorm cut the music. Luckily we had Andrea, another American WWOOFer, who started playing the paino. Victoria (a frenchie WWOOFer) and I started a great improvised dance which went on until 3 in the morning. Dino told us that we were 'complete WWOOFers'. I think that's one of the best compliments I've ever received.

Next time- photos of all these wonderful things, I swear!
love, chris

Olives olives olives

I thought I would bring you all up to speed on the work that I've been doing since I am supposedly volunteering on a farm.  Picking olives is pretty easy work, but it gets a bit tiring day after day after day.  Basically the system is this:  we spread large nets around the trees to catch the olives and then we just pull the olives off of the branches, either by hand or with small rakes.  Some people use a machine that looks like a spider on a stick to shake the higher branches and knock the olives down.  We don't use one here, which is nice, since they are loud and obnoxious. Instead we use ladders or just climb the trees to get at the high branches.  Olive wood is incredibly flexible. Most of the branches can be pulled down to ground level.

Once a tree is harvested we dump the olives into a crate and store them in the house until we have enough crates to go the the mill.

The mill is called Il Frantoio, which comes from the verb 'to smash up.' I like that.  The building is very old.  It has been a mill for hundreds of years, and used to be powered by water which was directed to the machines through a small system of canals and dams. Now all the machines are electric.  Not quite as romantic, but effective.

Anyway, when we arrive at the mill we carry the olives upstairs where they are weighed and then dumped into a big cermaic bin. Once the machine starts the olives fall through a hole and into the 'olive oil assembly line.'  

Here's Dino, il padrone, encouraging the olives to go and become oil.  After this step the olives fall past a vacuum which sucks out (most of) the leaves and other junk.  Then they are washed and passed over a conveyor belt.  This is a good oppurtunity for 'quality control,' and Louise, our English neighbor and partner-in-oil, provides this service.

The olives then enter a series of grinders, much like big horizontal concrete mixers.  After this the mashed up pulp is directed into a large centrifuge, and the solid material is carried outside of the mill and dumped into a large pile of odorless, brown... stuff.  Then the oil is seperated from the other liquids.  Finally it arrives, in all of its glorious color!

Now for the fun part.  We all go into the next room, make a big fire in the hearth, cook bruschetta, sausages, and whatever else we have, and try everything with the most virgin oil you can get!  The taste is peppery, a touch bitter, and 100% olive.  Oh yes, and of course there is plenty of wine.  Even the dogs try some.

Well, there you have it: olive oil from harvest to taste.  I hope that all of you are well, and I wish you a happy Thanksgiving!  I have been invited to an American's house for a Thanksgiving meal this Sunday, so I will get my fill of the usual fare.  In fact, that's her up above, sitting next to the crazy South American painter who is giving the dog a taste of wine.  I love this place...

Va bene...

Ciao ciao

Well, I am still here at Dino's farm.  I'm tired from picking olives all day every day, but otherwise I am content.  The work days have been long but the weather is still beautiful.  I've been working on my paintings when I have the time but I don't have much to show for it.  Here is one photo for now to prove that I have still been painting.  More to come when the internet isn't so lazy.

Ciao a tutti!

Well, its been a while, but I'm still alive and well.  I'm in Cortona Italy, helping with the olive harvest, painting, meeting people, and enjoying life.  Here are some pictures of my little apartment/studio.  It used to be a rabbit house, but now I'm the only animal that sleeps there.

This is my outdoor studio space, complete with a wonderful view of the Cortona hillside and the valley below.
The vines have completely taken over the walls.  Its nice to be surrounded by this much greenery and sunlight so late into Autumn!

Well, there are olives to pick and dishes to wash, so I must be off for now. Ciao!

Oktoberfest!

We left for Munich at 6:45 last Friday. To ease in to a day of heavy drinking we bought a 6 pack of Beck's and cracked our first beers on the train at 8 AM. Gotta love it.

This was the tent where we had reservations and spent most of our time. And money.

The beer was all Spaten and it came in wonderfully huge glass mugs. The barmaids would carry about 10 at a time. I don't know how they did it, but we tipped them well.

I love how cluelessly happy I look in this picture. I clearly had no idea that I was about to take a beer shower. Seabass was the culprit of this photo. His excessive "Prost!" culminated in most of that beer finding my lap and shirt. Oh well. Everyone smelled like beer and cigarettes anyway.

From here on out there aren't really any pictures. Needless to say it was a day of reckless partying and cheering. The environment was just incredible. Everyone was so happy, so friendly. I will certainly go back some day.

Italia, Hooo! wait, first Prague

So after touring Hamburg, Berlin, and Munich's Oktoberfest I left Sebastian's apartment and boarded a train with all my gear for Italy. I had to run with my backpack and briefcase to catch the bus but I made it in time, barely.
Anyway, after boarding the train I got a call from my dear friend Ulana, a fellow Alfredian. She is currently living in Prague and she was gracious enough to invite me to stay. Well, that changed my plans. I hopped off the train in Munich and headed to the Czech Republic.
Now I'm here in her dorm preparing to go out and celebrate her 21st birthday at midnight. Hurrah!
Pictures to come soon, I swear...