San Cassiano Farm #2

Our second week at the San Cassiano farm was marked by superior weather than the first. 

Blue skies...at last!

Laurika gets right to work.

Our jobs included adding compost and planting in the vegetable garden, tying and pruning grape vines, and removing a giant, rotted palm tree that had been killed by an invasive beetle.  Over the weekend, Laurika, Dylan, Katlyn and I were able to sneak away for a day hike into the nearby Parco San Matese.

We hiked through mountain towns, like San Gregorio Matese, as seen from the farm.

Took in the views

And soon found ourselves in the snow!

Deep in Parco San Matese....it makes me want to ski!

As the afternoon sun began to wane, we still hadn’t reached our destination: the elusive Lake Matese.  Also there was the minor problem of not having any way to get back to the farm since we had left on foot many hours before.  Here once again, we lucked out and were saved by the kindness of strangers.  We befriended the only other hikers we saw all day—Pasquale and Ellio who happened to be taking their dogs up the same route as us.

Elio and Pasquale with their intrepid dogs.

Not only did they help us find the lake, but they ended up giving us a lift all the way back to the farm!  Pasquale runs a flower shop in town so we decided to visit him later to buy a bouquet for our host family. 

Che Bella!

There we learned that one of Pasquale’s passions is “aquascaping.”  He creates art in the form of underwater scenery in aquariums.  Then he submits his photos to international competitions.  His shop was full of intricate aquariums like this:

This photo is from Pasquale's aquascaping blog.  This one earned him the rank of #22 in the world!  What a cool hobby.

Another day, as we were planting trees, Andrea brought 3 men over to the nearby pig pen.  They chatted a while and soon returned in full body suits and rubber boots.  We watched as they chased down pig after pig, lassoed them and then killed them instantly with a cartridge gun.  Next the throats were slit and the males were castrated (apparently if you leave the testicles on, the meat sours…interesting).  I will spare you the photos of the bloody pigs but below you can see what it looked like during and after the skinning process.

These guys have done this before.

Don’t overlook the wheelbarrow of guts.

Over the next few days, the vast majority of the meat was cut up and frozen while we ate the most perishable parts (like the organs, we think).  We never got names for which part of the pig we were eating at any time; suffice to say the textures were…unique. 

Laurika demonstrates how best to eat a Neapolitan specialty called pizza frita--fried dough topped with tomato sauce and  mozzarella cubes.  No pig parts involved here.

This painting can be found on the wall in the small town of San Potito Sannitico.  It was done by Tono Cruz, the boyfriend of Andrea and Vittorio’s cousin, and the same man who did the beautiful work on our farm in the first post. 

Dylan makes new friends…

Wish I had as many friends as Dylan…

 

Vittorio is professionally trained in art restoration and carpentry—he has worked all over Italy.  I contracted him to make me a sweet gift for my Dad’s 70th birthday (can’t say what thought!)

I couldn’t resist but take a creepy photo of me with this night sky…

Countryside in the evening fog.

The four friends…Dylan and Katlyn...we hope to see you again!

Goodbye San Cassiano!  It has been an remarkable experience.

As a final note, I must add how sad it is that violence has once again become commonplace in Cairo and other parts of Egypt.  It seems that my family squeaked in a visit just before a new round of protests began.  The tourism industry, struggling but on the rise during our trip, is sure to take another hit as Egypt’s perception as a dangerous place persists.   But just as my family encourages people to visit Mexico in spite of the drug violence in the North, we will continue to encourage the same for Egypt. Regardless of the political situation and regardless of what we see on TV, a country is defined by its people, people who we can attest are just as kind and welcoming as ever.