What's so red as strawberries in the summertime?

San Vincenzo: Livorno, Toscana, Italia

Things here are so strikingly beautiful! I am about to over-write. Sophie and I woke yesterday in our big bed in our accidental hostel ( we got transferred to a different one because I forgot they operate on military time here and said we were arriving at 9 when I should have said 2100, but it turned out way better this way because in the new hostel I didn't feel like I was going to get murdered) and went exploring Rome. I promptly decided I was in love with it and wanted to move there (another of my fleeting impulòsive desires but still a nice thought) Mostly because there are a billion fountains, all of which spout the freshest and most tasty potable water. I liked drinking out of a lions mouth, that's enough to make me want to up and move. That and the cannoli I ate really took me to a new level in terms of food.
Anyway, Sophie and I made out way to the train station and got on our train. She fell asleep immediately and I took pictures of me smiling next to her drooling. Im excited because I took them on her camera which is film so she will have some funny surprises when she gets it developed. We left rome and the scenery got more and more lovely. Yellow and white and brick houses nestled in fields of wildflowers, herds of sheep in green pastures, turquoise water fields of sunflowers all saluting the sun, post-cards of tuscany, but better.
When we arrived in San Vincenzo I was really excited that I could see the shore from the train station, about half a mile away. The mamma of the farm that we were to stay at met us at the train station. I was a little nervous because her emails had been really curt, but I realized this is only because they pay for the internet by the second. She is the traditional, even stereotypical italian mamma. Big lady, jet black hair, melon breasts, thick untamed eyebrows, always laughing and smiling and whistling to herself, very affectionate, and an amazing cook. She took us to the farm and we were greeted by the sweetest skinny little german shepherd puppy named Cesere who loves to jump up on people and play frisbee, and a 9 year old and 13 year old, niccolo and tommaso. She brought the 5 kids out and introduced them all to us, it was very von trapp family, there are 5 of them in total. I asked where was the nearest place we could buy some food and she (ida, la mamma) laughed and went into the kitchen and returned with a loaf of bread she had baked that morning, gorgonzola, and a huge hunk of some other cheese, olive oil from their farm, and huge meaty tomatoes from their neighbors' farm. We feasted and then walked through the vineyards, through the sunflower fields, through a little stretch of forest.
After almost a half an hour of walking, we emerged from the forest right onto a small, empty, isolated beach at about 6 pm. Of course, we plunged in naked because we could. The mediterranean is so mild in every way. The 'waves' were lightly lapping against the shore and the temperature of the water felt like the same temperature as our skin, we could barely feel the water around us. I felt like I was drunk on the sunset and kept swimming towards it like a maniac, as if I would eventually catch up with it and bathe in it or drink it in. If we spoke it was only to reaffirm that we werent dreaming or to proclaim how amazing this was. I'm glad Sophie was there with me because my words cant really do it justice so I am glad someone else but me knows. We decided to go back there every day.
When the sun set behind Corsica, we got out and walked home. The air dried us pretty quickly, and we were walking fast because we were worried we were going to miss dinner. It was nine o clock at that point, and earlier that day when I asked Ida when dinner was, she laughed and said "una bella domanda" so I knew i shouldn't worry too much about time. When we got back at 945 the whole family was just sitting down. I am trying to not be vegetarian here, so i did not turn down the steak- it was really too much though. I masticated it like i was some kind of dinosaur and could only swallow half of it, the rest of it i spat out and gave to the puppy. Not that it wasn't good, i just needed to warm up to meat-eating before someone makes me eat a half a cow. We ate and drank and talked late into the night, and then i passed out instantly, exhausted from the sea and sun and steak.
This morning we woke at 645 to begin working. We made little cappuccinos, ate fresh baked bread with homemade cherry marmalade on the chairs outside, and went into the fields to plant some leeks! We spent 6 hours planting leeks, taking breaks every two hours or so to enjoy some of the fruit in the orchards. Peach trees dripping with peaches, apricots that tasted like nothing I have ever had. To those of you who do not like apricots, I wish you could taste these. They are very sweet and crunchy and BIG and tender. I am going to get some more later tonight.
I am sore from the leek planting. We planted 2440 leeks, and our little two fingers, our backs, and wrists all feel it. I have to say, i am not going to go into this too much, but i really understood all the woman\womb references to the earth in literature and poetry etc. after that.
When we were done we went into the rows of strawberries and picked and ate for quite some time. They are completely organic, but they seem almost radioactive. They are so small and brilliant, almost neon, they look like small little red-orange lightbulbs pretending to be strawberries. I have never seen a red like that. Never tasted a red like that! My fingers are stained red and now I am rubbing them all over the keys at the internet point in this cute little one-street beach town, while a impromptu jass band parades down the narrow, cobblestoned street.