It's autumn in the province of Piemonte and with that comes fog and the fragrance of pig poop.  This is an agricultural area with farmland all around.  There are fields and orchards between all the small towns outside of the city.  It can be lovely but alas the odor isn't.  Some years ago Italy really started pushing farmers into organic production.  "Slow Food" is an Italian based organization that promotes locally grown foods, organic farming, and a healthier diet.  Obviously, as the name attests, "Fast Food" is their nemesis.  This move changed the way farmers fertilize their fields.  When I lived here 20 years ago there was never that much of a smell because they used chemical fertilizers.  Now they use pig poop.  Some days it is so bad you'd think a septic system had backed up.  Yuck.  The good side of all this is the wonderful, untainted fresh fruits and vegetables at the markets.  The weather is still warm.  70ish days and 60's at night.  We have a long weekend coming up and I'm hoping to take a bus to the sea for a day.  Even if it's not warm enough to swim it would be nice to walk along the seaside.  It gets a little claustrophobic away from the water. 

I started teaching the children at the school yesterday.  My job is to read aloud to them, teach them library skills, and encourage them to read.  At least that's what the agreement was.  I am paid hourly, and very little let me tell you, and I have already put in more than a month of volunteer hours helping set the library up.  I have no interest in or intention to do more than what I am being paid for at the moment.  They are trying to recruit me into the staff however, with extra responsibilities and time thrown in.  There is a teacher workshop this Friday and one of the deans asked me to be on his team to help improve the upper grade's "Extended Essay" results.  He was sure with my experience I'd be a great asset and wanted to be sure I felt involved.  I told him I wasn't coming in.  I think I may not be starting out on the right foot but what the heck.  xxoo me