the first days

My hands are eternally dirty. No matter how many times I wash my hands, no matter how hard I scrub, my hands are always dirt stained and mud hides indignantly under my nails. My feet are turning brown from both sun and dirt and I love it. I love the feel of soil between my toes, cats nipping at my legs and even spiders crawling stoically across my fingers.
I wake with the sun, light streaming through my window and dogs barking at the restless chickens. It is a simple life, a life close to the Earth where there is little distinction between nature and man. It is peaceful sitting in the yard, hot breeze playing against my cheek while I write with paper and pen. All I hear are birds chirping, tractors in the distance and the occasional hiss from the ducks when I get to close. I am surrounded on all sides by trees and there are fields upon fields of olive groves in every direction. Work starts early to avoid the heat of the day, so while you are all fast asleep, I am just finishing my morning chores. Today Sandro went to help a nearby farmer with his tractor so he left me an array of choices for breakfast. The table held a pot of hot milk, hot chocolate mix, a granola cereal, and strangely two types of cookies with nutella. So this morning I had quite an interesting breakfast. Sandro is a very modest man as I expect most farmers are, and he wastes nothing. Any food that I cannot finish, he finishes. He calls himself "the trash". And on the rare occasion that he is too full, les gatti e le cane get a tasty treat. My first night on the farm we had cow's liver for dinner with lettuce from the garden and a mixture of the world's finest olive oil (the sabine valley is known for its oil), vinegar and salt. Although liver sounds disgusting, it is actually quite good (although its appearance might claim otherwise). I have much, much more to write but I will finish later tonight because Sandro's friend Matteo is going to teach me to cook (he's a chef).