I've been at the Shanti House for 16 days exactly. Like I mentioned in the past couple posts, the B&B is located up in the mountains, so the people who visit, mainly stay here and don't leave. For the helpers, or volunteer workers like me, it's pretty much the same because the nearest town is 22 km away and we don't have a car.
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| This is the view from one of the windows we are cleaning. Reminds me of the Philippines :) |
One of the great things about our hosts is that they make an effort to make sure we are entertained. I wouldn't have minded staying cooped up in the Shanti, but they've been taking us out to dinner, to concerts, to festivals, to the beach... It's been pretty amazing, actually.
I *did* mention how lucky I am to be here, right? :)
Anyway, here are some of the things that I got to do since I arrived at The Shanti.
Ferragosto
Ferragosto, August 15th is an Italian Holiday. If I'm not mistaken, this is the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Although the Italians don't really celebrate it for the religious reasons, it is a festival all the same. We walked to the nearest town where the villagers were having a mini fiesta with food, music and booze. I had only arrived the day before, so this was a pretty great welcome!
La Festival De La Musica
We went to a small music festival because our host's son had a band that was performing. It wasn't Glastonbury or anything - definitely smaller, but again, food, booze and some good music! It was a lot of fun and really cool to be one of the people who "knew the band". I was even roommates with the drummer! Sick! :)
Beach Day At La Secca
Almost the entire group went to La Secca one day for a nice beach hang. I believe La Secca was the closest nice beach they had. I have to admit - it made me miss the beaches in California a little, but the temperature of the water was a lot warmer, and I got to do a few laps ---- my first exercise in weeks! It felt amazing!
Donega Day
Our host, Franco, has been playing the song called, "Donega" by a local band called I Russenenti, ever since I got here. It's a catchy little silly song (in Italian, of course) about the little town of Donega. He plays it several times a day, and it's become sort of an anthem for all the guests of the Shanti. Everyone goes nuts when he puts the song on, they've made a home video of everyone dancing, etc... You get the picture, right?
Well, I Russenenti had a gig last night in... you guessed it... Donega... and we went on a mini road trip to watch them play! Even the other guests who have left the Shanti showed up to Donega for the show! It was amazing! :)
How I end up in situations like these, I will never know! But if you'll excuse me, I have to go and put my make up on. I have a toilet to clean.
:)
