First morning in Calabria

14/06/07
I am in Calabria! Yesterday morning, I took my third exam, then had lunch and got on the train. There was a woman sitting in my seat, and when she noticed that I was looking to sit, she started stuttering a few Italian words, and I laughed and told her I was American, too. Her seat was across the aisle, but she had done some shuffling so that she and her family (husband and boys - I'm guessing from the 4 to 7 range) could sit together. So, I sat down across from her and we chatted intermittently. "I like your ribbon," she said, referring to the rainbow on my backpack, "I have a brother who plays for your team." Certainly friendly and outgoing. Turns out they were from Portland, Oregon, but had decided to take ten months off as a family and see the world. They had been through Australia, New Zealand and Asia, and by month eight, they had reached Italy. The got off in Florence, and the rest of my train to Rome was uneventful.
I have nothing good to say about the children on the train from Rome to Salerno.
Third train, Salerno to Praja - I'm probably the only foreigner on the train. I sit down and take out my knitting. The conductor passes by checking tickets, but he passes me right by. Couldn't tell you why. The train starts to slowly empty, and after some excitement between the conductor and some man who seemed to have cheated the system somehow, my car is reduced to me, and someone behind me, who sneezes every so often. After a bit, he comes and strikes up a conversation with me, as I comically am trying to undo a nasty knot in the yarn. He's a young, local man, getting off at the same stop as I. He knits, too, and tries to help me with the knot, but it's futile. We get off, and he accompanies me until I meet up with Martina, the girl who runs the hostel. The friendly young man bids me farewell with kisses on the cheeks, and I'm off in the car with Martina and her boyfriend, Andrea.
We get to the beach and find the rest of the guests, six girls (Three Aussies, a Brit, an American, and a girl from Singapore), around a small bonfire. Some people go back to the hostel around midnight, but the rest of us stay out until about one. When I finally get to the hostel, I realize that it's basically just Martina's family's house, and we're staying in the bright, little attic.
In the morning, almost everyone packs up and leaves after Martina makes us some crepes and I get to meet her parents and dog. The remaining girl, Grace, a quiet, fair girl from Queensland and I go into town to get some food for later. The town is nothing much, really, and the main road was in the process of being re-paved. After making some small purchases, I head back and find my way back to the hostel as Grace tries to find a bank.
Off to a good start, I'd say. Nine hours of train travel actually wasn't bad at all, since it was nicely split up. Today looks like it will bring cliff-diving and tomorrow is rafting, it seems. We'll see how all that goes!