Last night was our first time working in the restaurant. Luckily, there were only 8 guests total (normally there are 30-60 or more!). Barbara and Joe cooked all of the food [click for photo], Autumn and I transported it & cleared dishes from the table, and Aunt Marianella was the hostess & did most of the talking (considering our italian isn't great). There was a group of 6 that we started serving at 9 p.m. for dinner & they didn't leave until well after 11 p.m.! AH
This is how the meal went:
- Antipasto (appetizer) [click for photo] - a plate decorated with numerous things: seasoned peppers, a few types of sliced meat, sliced/grilled zucchini & eggplant, cheese, fried dough and fried leaves [click for fried leaves photo] [another fried leaves photo].
- Pasta - different everytime! Could be seasoned with different flavored sauces, and different shaped noodles!
- Meat/vegetarian substitute - Last night was roast beef with potatoes & cabbage.
- Dessert - Almond flavored cake with a white cream & chocolate sauce drizzled over the top.
- Coffee - Tiny, itty bitty cups at the end of the meal.
- Optional shot of Liquor - supposedly helps with digestion
It was a bit stressful trying to understand the guests, and reach over the table to clear/give plates. (Keep in mind it was our first time EVER waitressing!) Hangin out in the kitchen was the best part! Barb & Joe let us try a little bit of everything they made, and it was all extremely delicious! They have a small t.v. connected to a video camera that looks over the dining room. They use the camera to see when guests are done eating & when we need to bring out the next plate. 
The strangest thing I tried was called "Salvia." [click for photo] Basically, it is a minty-tasting leaf deep fried in some kind of doughy/breaded outside. We also tried the pasta with red sauce & peas, fried dough with a tomato based sauce, and a few other things from the menu! It was fun except for the fact that I was extremely tired & the group of 6 left very late!
Sheep Shearing
A man that shaves the sheep was here today. Barbara says they only do it once a year, so Autumn and I were able to go watch! First, Maximiliano & Alessandro had to run around the sheep pen and catch a sheep to shave [click for photo]. Next, the shaver-guy takes an electric razor, similar to the kind a barber would use to cut men's hair, holds the sheep down awkwardly [click for photo], and shaves all of the wool off! [click for photo] Of course, the sheep were "baahing" and squirming all over the place during this, but they run away freely once they are shaved. They look so funny! Also, I discovered that black sheep are male and white sheep are female. It was crazy to see the giant pile of wool when he was finished [click for photo]. They don't use it for anything - supposedly nobody really wants it!
Cow Checking?
The guy who does artificial insemenation for the cows was here. He didn't actually impregnate any cows, but we did get to watch him stick is whole arm inside the poop hole to check if the cow is ready! YUCK. It was really disgusting.
Tiny Children
Barbara's family was visiting today and her 3 nephews were here. I don't know exactly how old they are, but my guess is 2, 4, & 6 years old. They came with Autumn & I to feed hay to the wild horses, and had fun climbing on piles of logs. Unfortunately, neither of us knew enough italian to really communicate with them, so when it was time to return to the house, we had a bit of difficulty getting them to cooperate. We kept repeating "Ragazzi, andiamo a casa!" (boys, let's go to the house!). They began to follow until they were distracted by climbing along a steep hill shouting "Tarzan/Tarzanino" and beating their chests. We didn't know how to say "get down," so we crossed our fingers, yelled what we did know how to say & prayed they wouldn't fall. The oldest came across a big snail, which thankfully excited him more than the climbing and we helped them down & back towards the house. He told me he loves to eat snails, and he let it crawl all over his hand until we returned home.
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Tomorrow, Sunday, will be the busiest restaurant day of the week! Wish me luck & I'll share with you all the interesting things that happen to us or the delcious food we try!
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