O, Calabria!

So I'm not very good at keeping my word. Photos have not appeared on this blog for quite some time and I am afraid that it will be a bit longer until they do. The internet here is so slow that it is hardly worth the hours of waiting that it takes to upload even a few small pics. To make up for that lack I will regale you all with a few highlights of what I've been doing.

Calabria was... interesting. I had a great time staying with Jamie and Armwrecker. We were basically on our own, since the farmer where we were staying took off for a conference as soon as I arrived. Food was a bit scarce but we were able to sustain our WWOOFer camel bellies with some wild salad foraging, lots of beans and chickpeas (we constantly had beans soaking in our tiny kitchen, and bread bought from an unlicensed widower who sells it out of her basement.

Calabrian culture was very different from the Tuscan one that I am used to. Tourism is not as large an industry down there so us three Americans were something to be stared at. Especially when we rolled around on 3 shabby bikes that Jamie slapped together from scrap, wearing our dirty farm clothes and boots with eukalelees, cameras and sketchbooks slung over our shoulders. We weeded oregano fields, cared for the animals, pruned vineyards, threw oranges at the marauding cats, and made music in the nights. We were often conscripted by a Bulgarian gypsy named Avramo (the apparent Godfather of his extensive family) to help him move furniture around. He would show up at the farm in his ratty old car or worse van, blasting warbling gypsy music and slowly snapping his fingers overhead. If it was past noon he was likely drunk. He had no license or insurance and who knows who owned the car. We would help him move stuff around or slap together cheap furniture (always a hilarious enterprise). He would 'repay' us by showing up at night with 5 liters of wine and speak in his broken Italian which I translated (freely) to Jamie and Armwrecker. We would sing and play American folk music and he would sing along and dance until he was nearly too drunk to stand and then he would (somehow) get into his ratty car and drive home. We were always worried about him but there was nothing we could do to stop him. Mostly because he was a champion boxer who fought in the US, Bulgaria, Russia, etc. Oh, by the way, he was completely full of shit.

Our other companion was a good ole local farmer named Antonello. He always wore a bright blue jumpshit with huge rubber boots and a fannypack across his chest. He had long greasy black hair, a strong chin and a belly. He spoke no English (like everyone we met) and he loved to insult us. He and Armwrecker became great friends- or maybe great enemies. Luckily our patron farmer had instructed Jamie and Armwrecker in a few choice curse words of Italian so they were able to hold their own even before I showed up.

Other Calabrian highlights include swimming in the chilly spring sea in the nearby town of Tropea, watching our farmer's old mother stack her chicken on top of her goose to amuse us, making pizza in the outdoor stove which was built only to heat water for bathing, pushing cars and caravans around with a gaggle of local bumpkins and gypsies, participating in these and other hairbrained jobs at the urging of Avramo, playing hackeysack in the streets amid the heckling of local teenagers, trying to teach a German 3 year some english that wasn't 'Fuckyouuuuuu!', and enjoying incredibly seaside cuisine whenever we were invited to meals at the farmer's house.

When I next get a few minutes I will tell you all about my days with the Elves, those wonderful aging hippies who live in the mountains nearby. As soon as I finish my sculpture here at Louise's (I'm carving the head today) I will be returning to the Elves for the warm weather and smiling faces. Until then, I love you all! Take care!

Ciao, Chris

Before I migrate south...

A quick update: Right now I am still in Cortona, having spent the last few months at Dino's and Louise's wonderful farms. I have learned a lot about horses, helped make goat sausages and salami, seen lots of live Italian music, learned traditional Tuscan dance, spent Christmas in the mountains, and made great new friends!
I've managed to sell a few paintings and I've been carving spoons out of olive wood. I actually have more money than when I arrived in Europe! Incredible!
Tomorrow morning I will take an 8 hour train ride to the toe of Italy's boot, in Calabria. There I wil find the dear Alfredians Jamie and Armwrecker. Apparently internet has yet to reach the deep dark south of this fine country (at least where I'll be staying) so I will be out of touch for about a month or so. The plan is to head back to Tuscany with Jamie and Armwrecker in tow to give them a taste of life in the land of the Etruscans.
Will post again -with photos- upon my return. Until then, take care everyone!
Much love,
Chris

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!