Saluti da Roma!
For the two people who read my blog: I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while. But I’m back and ready to report all the details of my exciting life…from another country! I have traveled quite a bit already and have seen a great deal so there is a lot I could say about Rome. However, I wanted to focus on something interesting, and this past weekend I thought of something goofy that would make for a great entry.
During our orientation trip for school they took us to a Buffalo farm in Paestum for a Mozzarella tasting. Very fun, very random, and CLEARLY ideal for my first entry from abroad.
The day began with a long bus ride to the farm. Once we arrived we went to a window where two young men were making and braiding mozzarella. One of the young workers was even churning the mixture (something I had only ever read about in Laura Ingalls Wilder novels but never actually seen).
They then took us to the pens where they housed the buffalo. The woman described their system as “very democratic.” The buffalo are never forced to give milk, rather when they feel full they can head over to the high tech machine that takes their milk. In the meantime, or afterwards, the buffalo can enjoy themselves in the spacious pens, stop for a massage (there was a massage station with a queue), or socialize with one another. The males can also have their pick of the litter in terms of females because there are only eight of them and there are at least one hundred females.
The whole farm seems too good to be true. They treat the animals well and make delicious mozzarella! What could be more perfect? Sadly the somewhat misleading (I honestly should have known better) tour took a turn for the worse.
Our tour guide then took us to the leather shop. I thought I misheard her, but alas, we then entered the shop there were men were hard at work making leather goods from leather skins sent to the farm from Tuscany. The skins were taken from male baby buffalo. Myself and the two other vegetarians in the room sadly accepted that this farm was not the Buffalo paradise we had imagined it was. ( I took the following picture solely for documentary purposes.)
Then our group tasted delicious mozzarella, which I suppose was all right because the animals were not harmed for that, they were just part of a farm that wanted to kill the buffalo from other farms. You win some and lose some. Oh the injustice.
At any rate, it was a very random event that I felt warranted an entry on my blog.
Also, someone on the farm had a giant truck and it was the largest car I've seen in the two weeks I have been here. They also hate the Earth. (Now, I'm just getting pretentious and a bit hypocritical.)
Until next time lots of love from Rome!
Sara
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