ITALIA

i've been in italy for a few weeks now, and it still upholds the honour of being my favorite european country.
i have been working in a vineyard about 30mins from florence. the vineyard was incredible, 10 hectares of vines and olive trees. since it was located on the top of a hill it was a great place to watch the sunrise at 5:30 each morning when i had to be up for work. i was not paid, but i was given a bed and food. the people i worked with were generally alright, but in the end i realized that the situation just wasnt going to work out. generally speaking, i dont think that im afraid of physical work, but after weeks and weeks of the same repetitive motions of wrapping 10 foot tall vines around a guide wire for 6-8 hours daily...i couldnt take it anymore. additionally, my intention for being in italy is to see martina and with the early am start i could hardly keep my eyes open after 8pm.
martina's parents sensed that this wasnt the best setup, and were also put out that i was not being paid. so, they tracked down a school/seminary with a free room for me. it was really cool that they did that for me and i decided that it was a better option than the vineyard. i always thought that priests would live in a one room cell and would be lucky to have running water, but no! when i walked into my new palacial quarters i was flabergasted! what lay before my eyes but a 2 floor apartment complete with computer, television, bed and the most coveted object of all.......my own private bathroom. the first thing i did was sit upon my porcelain throne with the door open so could watch MTV. beyonce's video was on and looking very bootylicious, needless to say, i had never felt closer to god.
martina's family has been super nice, which was not entirely expected from the stereotype of the protective italian parents. they really enjoy feeding me, which is great because i really enjoy being fed. we are a great culinary team. i think my brain is subconsiously absorbing italian cooking techniques...the other day i was all alone and made pasta al dente with homemade sauce and tomatoes covered with mozzerella. what suprised me the most was that i covered everything with oil and salt.
what i tell you next may shock you, so, prepare yourselves. i am now the pround captain of a small, white Vespa (formerly driven by martina's mother). before leaving i had the impression that motorized scooters were for the stranger part of society, but absolutely everyone drives them here (does that make italy the stranger part of a global society?) after driving for a few weeks i can confidently say that if canada had a warmer climate i would be first in line to buy my new vespa. i've had a few close calls on roundabouts, and succeded in breaking a front headlight on a poorly placed post, but other than that i'm pretty amazing.
the beaches here are great, i've been to one with big waves that toss you around and another with calm blue water and white sand (which is not natural. the beach looks so beautiful because of pollution from a soda factory along the coast, if pollution looks good theres nothing wrong with it)
in a few weeks martina and i will be off to rome to visit our friend silvia who was doing the exchange in birmingham as well. she has a wicked house downtown and it should be a great and inexpensive way to see rome for a week. then, martina's family rents a house on the beautiful pollution beach, and we should be there for about 2-3 weeks to work on my tanning and reading a book on the beach skills.
after this we have been invited to a small island just off the coast of sicily for a week. i'm expecting to wear sunscreen like a layer of skin so i dont turn into a lobster.

i've done quite a few cool things here and i look forward to experiencing what else italy has to offer.
a dopo