you can keep manhattan, just give me that country side...

oh my god, yall, i am actually living on a farm with real life italians.
we rise at dawn, we work till dusk, we take 2 hour lunch breaks complete with pasta and a second course and salad fresh from the garden and wine and dessert and espresso. i am in heaven.
the catch, of course, is that these people, not a one, speaks any english. which is a blessing, for sure, because i am now forced, FORCED, to commmunicate in italian continuously. there is no escape. and even though i speak terribly and i understand very little, we manage to talk and communicate very well. infact, while i am writing this, one of the italian boys is in here chatting me up about football and roma and all other thigs delightful and we are sharing laughs and i forget that it is in another language entirely which is really, really amazing. i mean really amazing. i am totally completely proud of myself.
i also have a new appreciation for the trauma that exchange students go through. i have never been on this end of the language and foreigner-in house-divide, and i will tell you, its strange. i considering going into the kitchen for a nice cup of tea and a light pre-supper chat with la nonna. but then i remember, this light pre-supper chat will include mass stuttering and sign language and overall mental exhaustion by the end and for a second i consider just hiding in my room, studying there. but then i remember earlier, when we sat around and laughed about something and la nonna told me about how and why she moved here from veneto after the second world war and that the dog sleeping in the corner dreams alot, probobly because he was once attacked by a goat and is now trying desperatly in his dreams to avenge himself etc, etc, and i realise, that was a perfectly delightful conversation all in italian too, and somehow i got past that alright, so i bet i can do it again. and i do. hoorah.
so, the farm. it is an organic farm that produces masses of greens and zucchini and other vegetables and some CRAZY looking plant that looks like something out of a science fiction movie, all bright insane coral reef colors, red, pink, green, blue, magenta, in huge stalks, like electric bok choy. i have never ever seen this vegetable before, and i was told that it was "antico", or ancient. yesterday we built a greenhouse and today me and the owner of the farm drove like, practically out of lazio to another town somewhere and picked up a load of vegetables and i got to see the entire outskirts of rome, which is not too nice, actually.
this might be the healthiest week of my entire life. we wake up at 6am, leave by 7 after a nice breakfast, work till lunch, have a huge long lunch break, then work till dusk, and then return home for a light dinner and some studying and i am asleep by 10:30. the family that i am living with is incredible, so so kind to me. they have two kids, a 15yo boy and a 9yo girl, and the parents own the organic farm where i work. it is a family business, and two of the ladies brothers and the husbands nephew work with us. one of the uncles is named paolo and he is cowboy. this totally blew my mind for a minute, because i had always loved italians and cowboys and had never cosidered that rolled into one, and i couldnt figure out if that was an amazing combination or too much or not right or just perfect or what. but he is so so nice to me, and he talks to me continuously about horses until i understand the jokes he makes and he lets me help in the stable and just chats my ear off and he wears cowboy boots and we watched a video of him in a rodeo competition and he says that i can come here and live and hell go to america where the good horses are and it will be a perfect exchange. the nephew is a boy my age who lives in rome proper. he didnt say much at all to me until like, right now, but the past few days hes just said one word things and smiled at me alot and would come up to me at random times and hand me fantastic things to eat; pieces of fresh cheese, toasted bread, coffees, plates of spaghetti, carrots, an orange (which he had already started the peel on! my hero), so i loved him for that. one can say alot with food, you know. everyone is just fantastic. the little girl who i live with is named margherita and she is just beautiful! shes funny as hell, too, quick and witty, and she talks to me in a way i can understand and helps me with my flashcards.
its pretty cold today, and i am walking about in heavy duty work boots muching on fresh kiwi and i look at myself and see that i am covered head to toe in dirt and that feels so good. all over the farm there are boxes of fresh foods, imported vegetables and organic wine, cartons of lemons and kiwis and jugs of olive oil and bushels of rucola and buckets of carciofi...even the dogs sit around and munch on the fresh carrots...
have to go now, ill blog later, im going to go take pictures. i love everyone!!