Make Time: Shit just got real in the Amalfi Coast

As I said, I was heading to Erchie in the Amalfi Coast on Sunday. I got in around 6:30pm and the bus ride from Salerno to Erchie was hectic. There were a ton of people packed onto the bus, and the driver was driving around these tight mountain rides insanely fast. The woman who sat next to me sounded English, so I spoke up a conversation and she said she had lived here in Amalfi for about 12 years. I told her where I was going and that I was going to tell the driver to stop there, because apparently it's often overlooked. The English woman said she would go tell him, because the name of the town is actually pronounced Air-key-ah. I would never have gotten that. Ha. Anyway, it was a very nice way to start my time in Amafli. I get of the bus and walk down some steps and see a beautiful little beach town in front of me - maybe 500 inhabitants at most. I walk to the main restaurant in town, called Frederico's, and ask them where my hosts live - Gianpedro and Senem. One of the guys in the restaurant gets up from his table and walks me over a little bridge and then to the front door of my new home. It's literally steps from the beach. There are a few girls and a guy in the apartment when I arrive. The guy and one of the girls is from the Netherlands, and then other girl is from northern California. We have a quick interaction and then I put on my suit and jump in the water. So refreshing after a long day of driving and then train and bus rides. Feels amazing. I get back to the house and the owner's are back now (Gian-P and Senem). They are very hippie. Very crunchy. Very communal. They had warned me that they were having friends in town on Sunday and Monday nights for this music festival in the mountains, so soon afterwards there are three guys and a girl that arrive from Napoli. Very nice people, but I felt like I was on the set of Dazed and Confused. There's a huge fat guy named Banana, and then there's a very skinny Mick-Jagger-look-a-like named Fabricio. A girl named Maori, and then last but not least - a guy named Gaitanno (absolutely classic Napolitano). We sit and talk and it becomes very quickly apparent that the Italians from Napoli really don't speak that much English. Comedy. Banana (the big fat one) speaks pretty good English cause he lived with a girlfriend in upstate NYC for a few months. He's named Banana because apparently when he was a kid someone bet him $5 to eat 20 pounds of bananas and he did it…then he went to the hospital. He's a classic fat Italian looking guy - funny and talks a ton. Three Americans come to dinner as well, and they are staying at Gian-P and Senem's other apartment in town - two 23 year old girls from Cincinnati and a 50 year old woman from Montana. Before dinner we all walk over to a neighbors apartment to serenade her for free cheese. Apparently Banana and Maori are really good traditional singers, and so we head over there - all 12 of us - and singing and free cheese giving ensures. Here's a cool video of it. After that we head back to eat a ton of food. Fresh fish. Salad. Sardines on bread with cheese. All very good. All very fresh. They have homemade wine which we drink while eating, and then we end the night with homemade limoncello. All great. We are told to meet out front of the apartment at 5am to walk up the mountain - which should take about 3-4 hours. Fair enough. I pass out around 2am while others stay up…

5am. Monday. I brush teeth and pack up a few things for the day. I load some wine to help the group's load, and then we all walk out around 5:30am. As you can imagine Banana is the slowest, so he gets in his van with a few others and they drive over to the next town. The rest of us walk to that town and then start up the mountain a little before waiting for the stragglers. It takes them a good half hour to catch up - even with the car head start. Oh well. They catch up and then the walk ensues. With this many people it's hard to keep a good pace, and with the Italians stopping every 20-30 minutes to smoke, it took us a very long time. I didn't mind. The setting was breathtaking. Check out the pics below. We stop at one point in the woods near a little creek, and Banana, Maori, and Fabricio start singing the same traditional songs as the night before. It's about 9am and couldn't have been more beautiful. I'm in the woods behind the Amalfi coast with a bunch of Italians who are singing songs that are over 700 years old. Amazing. There is always a drummer going too, and the beat is like nothing I've heard before. Really puts you in a trance. The sun coming through the trees. The creek water running. Birds singing. It was a very special moment. After about 10 minutes of this I really felt the urge to play my harmonica with them, so I broke it out and waited for the right moment and then broke in quietly and slowly. Felt fantastic. We kept playing together for about 5 minutes and then I felt something hit my leg (I had been playing with my eyes shut). Apparently Banana didn't like the sound of the harmonica because it broke his rhythm and he felt it wasn't in line with his singing to the Madonna. Ouch. But ok - I get it. I put the harmonica away and we continue our walk up the mountain. I got a few very nice compliments from others about my harmonica playing, so I didn't feel bad about it. I knew it sounded great too, so oh well. As we get closer to the top of the mountain we can hear a helicopter making trips back and forth to take wealthy Italians, the elderly, and some clergy up to the festival. I need to remember the name of the festival…poor form on my part. There are loud bells ringing as we near the top, and you can see a church steeple in the distance, as well as donkeys making there way up the trail. Very cool. This video captures the feeling as we got to the top of the mountain. As we get to the top it becomes very clear that people around the church have been camping out for at least one night, and they've definitely done this all before. I love it. Very festival-like. At the top of the path we see about 30-40 donkeys tied up to trees. Kinda sad actually. The ties are very tight and the horses really can't move at all. Worst of all, they are tied up right next to this water fountain that all the people at the festival use all day long, yet the donkeys don't get water the entire day. This bummed me out. Definitely seems like Italians don't treat animals with much respect. We walk around the festival for a bit and Gaitanno takes me to see the mass that's going on, with the Madonna behind it, and some of the views around the churchyard. He then tells me to walk into a building in the courtyard to check out the flower pedals, which people are bagging up to throw at the procession. Very cool. Banana is in there and he is watching them brush the pedals around. I see a guy taking pics in the room, so I take out my camera and take a few pics as well. Then Banana asks the guys in the room if it's ok if I can come take some pics. I don't understand the full extent of what he said, but it sounded like "This is my American friend who doesn't know much about our tradition, but is it ok if he comes and takes pictures?". They happily let me in and I take some amazing pics - check out below. Then the other American girls come into the room and check out the pedals and take pics, and then we all walk outside. As we're lingering I thank Banana for getting me in the pedal room for close pics, and he then says to me that I have no respect. Huh? Yeah, he says I have no respect for the tradition here, and that taking pics is frowned upon by many locals. Apparently (apparently…) there are many Italians that don't like tourists coming to this festival, taking pics and speaking English…and dressing like tourists. Hm. At this point I was already feeling bad about the harmonica playing, so I just said I'm sorry and that I had no clue it was an issue. We eventually all walk our different ways, and I hook back up with two of the American girls (from Cincinnati) and we watch the procession of the Madonna. Here are one and two videos from it. Pretty great stuff! I hung out with Senem's brother, Oz, for a while after that. He's a very nice guy. Oh - he's the one from that mountain hike video…the one who has the green bandana on. He's 33 and quit his job to travel and figure out what he really wants in life as well, so we have great conversations. I really like his positivity and zeal for life. We end up finding some friends of Gian-P and Senem and then the rest of the group comes to hang out, eat, and just kick it in the woods. Their spot is great - so chill and has a huge picnic table setup. I relax and hang out near the picnic table on the flat area nearby with Oz. I'm kinda not feeling like too much socialization after Banana's negativity, so I just kick it and have a nice time relaxing. Eventually an Italian guy comes by to throw some stuff in the tent which is right next to me, and he introduces himself as Raphael from Napoli. He's about 45 and speaks very good English. We talk for a while and it's great to communicate with an Italian about all the things that are going on in this festival. He's very cool and then he tells me to join him to walk up the hill and listen to his friends from Napoli who are playing drums, singing, and dancing. They are great! As we walk up Raphael starts telling me the history of the drums and the songs, at which point Banana turns around and tell Raphael to stop speaking loudly close to the drums. Something about needing to hear the sounds or something. Shit man. I didn't even see Banana there until this, and now once again he's being negative. Raphael literally looked at him with a look of "Seriously, jackass?" but then we moved back a bit and he told me more about the songs and the music. He said some people take it way too serious (Banana), and that I should't let it bother me. Again, Raphael comes to the rescue. Such a nice guy. While we're hanging out he asks if I want some homemade Amoretto, and then brings me over a cup. Very good. A little too strong for me but it was such a nice gesture, so I drank it. After about a half hour of hanging out I walk back down to the picnic area and chill out with the Cincinnati girls (Jamie and Amber) and Oz, and then the 50 year old Montana woman (Helen) says she wants to head back down. It's about 5:30pm now, so me, Amber, Jamie, and Helen all head down the mountain. Jamie has a hurt ankle, and Helen is a bit older, so it takes us about 3 hours to get down. It should have taken us about an hour or so, but it's ok. I don't mind because I'm with good people and just having a great time. We get back home, eat a great Italian dinner at the restaurant I stopped at right when I got to town, and then I pass out around 11pm. What a day…

It was strange to go from such positive beauty and interaction to such negative on Monday. Some could say I was being disrespectful, but I do not feel that way. No one told me not to join in the music, and I heard many other instruments playing with the drummers while at the festival. And the pictures of the pedals…c'mon. There was already another photographer in the room taking pics, and when Banana asked the locals they had absolutely no problem with me entering close to the pedals and taking a few pics. Actually, they loved it. One guy asked my name and was all smiles and asking me where I was from. And the last instance at the Napoli music circle…laughable. Raphael confirmed that Banana was being absurd, so I don't feel at fault in any way. I tried not to let it get to me, but it was definitely a bummer. Could have been a much smoother experience, but such is life. Couldn't let it ruin the entire day, which I didn't. The best thing was having Raphael come up to me and be such a nice person. That really changed my day around, and showed me that I was definitely more than welcome at this festival. Funny - the truth always has a way of coming out and showing you what is what. I will probably never see Raphael again, but I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart. You were a very kind and welcome soul to me when I needed it, and I will never forget you. I will always wish good things and happiness upon you, Raphael.