Intro

"There's something you should know about me," Michelle said, just after we had gotten through security at the Pittsburgh International Airport. I was worried that this was going to be the whopper. The intensity with which she packed her lunch the night before made me question the idea I had in my mind of us being great travel buddies. Maybe there was something big that was going to force this to be a rocky start. We hadn't actually spent considerable time together since I graduated college. Who knew what dark secret Michelle was hiding?

Michelle is confused by cars parked on
the sidewalk near our hostel.

"When people chomp gum, it annoys me. Really when I just see the gob of gum in someone's mouth, I find it disturbing. When I sit next to someone on an airplane who is chewing gum, I immediately put in headphones, even though I normally think headphones are rude. My biggest fear is to be on that plane with someone sitting behind me who is chomping gum."

This. This I could handle. I spent the next few minutes wondering what "something" Michelle should know about me. I couldn't think of anything big, so she'll just have to figure that out on her own, I guess.

One oddity I know we both share is our desire to try our hands at organic farming in a foreign country. Why farming? Well, why not? It's a fun way to experience a culture, not just to see a country. We'll be living and working with Italians and spending our days with farming families, and there's a whole lot of learning that can come from that. Not only is farming educational, it's cheap. And to be perfectly honest, we're cheap. And it's organic, so it's eco-friendly, sustainable, and part in parcel to social-justice living, which has become important to me over the past few years.

On the airplane!

When Michelle asked me if I would like to join her on this adventure back in the spring, I was truly concerned if this was something I "should" do. A dear friend of mine said it this way, "You're never going to say to yourself, 'I really regret organic farming in Italy for three months when I was 24.'" I hope she's right! I invite you all to journey with us as Michelle and I begin harvesting Italy.