7.22.10
A few evenings ago, we met a local Neapolian named Adonis. His family owned a cafe in the center of the city. Adonis told us the Neapoli region used to be famous for it's almonds but a disease had killed them all. He also introduced us to a sweet, almond drink called soumada; he made about 30 liters of soumada a week for the local cafes and he used the leftover almond pulp to make cakes and cookies. Supposedly the women used to drink soumada, which is a non-alcoholic drink, when they went out. The men on the other hand drank raki, a strong alcholic drink made by distilling fermented grapes.
Anyway, Adonis had attended the water conference hosted by the municipality (the one I missed because I didn't arrive until July 12) and he was very interested in talking to us about our studies and perspectives on water resources. He also offered to take us around to the old villages where his ancestors used to live. We were thrilled by his offer and went along for the ride in his Fiat Panda.
Adonis told us that the black hose supplies municipal water to the more remote villages. Margaret and I wondered how this would impact the water supply. Maybe this is why so much water is lost between the well and the tap? We also wondered what the pipe was made out of and how it reacted with sunlight. Was it PVC and was the plasticizer leaching into people's drinking water?
This is Adonis' grandfather's village.
Adonis bough this property and has been fixing it up. He showed us some pictures of the house before and we were so amazed at the improvement. It was completely falling apart; the roof was caving in, the plaster was falling off the walls, and the door was rotten. He pointed out the pocket on the left-hand side of the fireplace. It was used as a stash for sea salt back in the old days when stew was made over the fire. Adonis invited us back to his place in the mountains; he said, "I like to share this beautiful place with all my family and friends." Maybe we can spend some time with him and his family next summer.
We measured the volume of this sterna. It was about 100 m^3. Adonis told us the wires were placed there because his grandfather may have decided to cover the sterna but never got around to doing it.
This sterna has a place to stand while hoisting up buckets of water.
Adonis pointed out a grove meant to hold the water jugs.
Here, Adonis is hoisting up the water from the covered sterna.
Dumping the Water Back
Adonis also took us to an old monastery in the mountains made in honor of Saint Mamas. He has plans to build a meeting hall behind the monastery for people to gather, talk, and enjoy each other's company.
I'm guessing these odd shaped rocks were weathered away by water and blowing sands.
Wheat (or barley?) was piled up here. A stone pulled by a donkey walking in circles was used to separate the grain from the stalk.
Stone Table and Seating Area Under an Olive Tree
The olive tree grew right through the rocks.
Margaret, James, and I standing in front of the olive tree and monastery.
Mountainside Near the Monastery
No comments:
Post a Comment