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February 18 Saturday Bicycle touring Italy Sardinia at Ossi Sardegna For breakfast we have hot chocolate and sponge cake. Sal says it's good because it is a light breakfast, not heavy to weigh you down so you don't feel like doing anything. Like bicycle touring, I suppose. The girls go to school. Rita takes her Mom to Sassari on the bus to the hospital. We go to the nursery school before lunch and pick up the two youngest girls. Tania, the eldest, walks home from a different school by herself. Rita returns after noon and makes rice and cheese and a fried egg with bread. We all get in the car and drive to the Santa Trinita church. Sal takes his gun along and an extra clip of bullets and a pocketful of loose bullets -- just in case. These tourist attractions are dangerous places. Sal tells Sharon that his gun is his god. As he shoves fifteen or so bullets into his pant's pocket, Sharon says he has many small gods. We drive to the church while Sal goes "bang" and points his finger at every shepherd or speeder we pass. We have noticed that the city inhabitants think the country folk are criminals and the country folk think the city people are bad people. When Sal has finished shooting all of the
local shepherds, I'm sure he believes the world will be a much
safer place. We search the churchyard beneath the almond trees and find a few almonds. Sal cracks them open with a rock. Fresh almonds taste delicious! They taste quite different compared to what we are used to getting in packages back home in Canada. Maybe that's not real pasta we have either. (The fresh peanuts we eat later at Sal's are different too. They are soft.) It is late afternoon by the time we return to Sal and Rita's. Too late to cycle anywhere. Guess we will have to stay another night. It rained last night and it is still cold outside. The weather is not that great to be on a bicycle tour in Sardinia. It is a good time to be inside. Sal tells us the small two bedroom apartment costs $400 a month. It is heated by a tiny wood stove in the hallway. There are hot water registers too, but they are stone cold. While Sharon and Rita go to the store to get groceries for supper, Sal takes me into the bedroom and shows me his gun and handcuff collection and a dresser drawer full of bullets. Very interesting. As we are leaving the bedroom, Sal lowers his voice and says "Top secret. Don't tell Sharon." I think he is talking about his gun paraphernalia, but then he points to the bed and says, "Me, you, Rita, scopo," and hits his palm onto his encircled hand. I croak, "No capiche," and try to change the subject by feebly asking how does one say "dresser" in Italian again. Thankfully we hear Rita and Sharon returning from the supermarket. I hope the subject has been dropped, but when Sharon and Rita are making supper in the kitchen, Sal says. "Free sex -- wife swap -- no problem?" I say I'm not interested. He says, "Okay, I had to ask. Friends?" and sticks out his hand for me to shake. I must confess: the second night passes much less comfortably for me than the first. |
