Life in Alagna is molto bene, as is everything else around here.We are staying up the hill from Lucca and Elena's apartment, at his dad's house, JJ (Josue). We have our own room about a five minute walk mostly uphill and across the ski lift. JJ lives in another fratzione, of which there are approximately 5 or 6 in Alagna. A fratzione is a group of houses that live on the same hill and do things together. There are only 400 residents in Alagna, but when the peak tourist season is going on there are many staying in time shares from the surrounding countries. This area is called freeride paradise because there are no trails for skiing, you just go where ever you want to. We try and speak to JJ every time we walk to or from his place, but he speaks only Italian. Most times though we say Ciao, and then look up a phrase in the dictionary to say to him. Like last night he was eating so I walked in and said quale cena, he said bene and offered us a glass of wine, so he is happy to have us around even though we cant communicate for extended times. We walk down for coffee and breakfast at 830, then visit and walk over to the field for some chores, right now we are raking the leaves off of the field where hay will grow to feed the goats in the winter. The hay is cut by sickle. Then we take a break from work around noon and come back to the house for lunch, which is always filling and a great part of the day. After lunch is coffee and basically relaxing until three. Then back to the field, Luca always goes up and lets the goats graze, then brushes the donkey (Libero), and cleans the pens before Fidel, the dog rounds them up to come home and milk. We walk up to JJ' to clean up and rest, then walk down to dinner at eight and visit until after ten before we go up to bed. Two nights ago Luca's friend Maurizio came over for dinner and brought a bottle of wine. He didn't speak English but the few words he knew he did not hesitate to say, and what he said in Italian he said very passionately so it was a great treat to be near him. We just came in a little early for lunch today to watch and learn from Luca making bread. He makes six huge loafs at one time, and sells them to the market. His dough that he uses in every loaf is three years old, but he says there are people in the village who have starters over 100 years old. Hes great because he is very knowledgeable about the local history.