The MOUNTAINS
I adore mountains as I was raised in the Himalayas. I loved all the climbing up and clambering down we did while in Zerqan and I loved watching little city girl Abby showing me she had inherited my mountain goat legs as she ran down some pretty rough patches on our walks. This picture shows the valley we came through to drive up to the village of Zerqan. The water there was clean and crisp and we could drink it right from the tap without worrying about it. The air was much cooler and everything smelled clean - maybe because the air was cleaner? Just what our tired city lungs needed!
The PEOPLE
The people, and in particular the woman we met in Afrim and Genci's family in Zerqan were to be admired. They were strong, hospitable, cheerful and never complained. They cooked everything from scratch and cared for their cow, donkey and chickens - not to mention their men and children so faithfully. They made the most wonderful food for us and even fed us two of their family chickens for a special meal. They had gardens, chickens, about 17 beehives, a donkey and a cow to care for and yet their house was sparkling! They made the most wonderful bread every day and even a very light cornbread that I want to get the recipe for. I was impressed with the depth of understanding and the high level of education that these ladies had even as they completed the most basic of household tasks. It was a joy to share community and cook with them and have conversation with them over the time we were there.
I loved the sense of community and how everyone in the family seemed to know what work to get on with alone or in a group, and then all would gather around to share a hearty meal.
The FOOD
Fabulous!! What I was impressed with the most was the many uses of milk and what a treasure a cow is, yet how much work goes into caring for just one cow. The matriarch of the family, Afrim's mother, seemed to be the most tied to the care of this cow. She would walk the cow to pasture and home again twice a day - the trip to pasture and back taking an hour at least. She would milk the cow in the morning and afternoon. The patriarch, Afrim's father, got up early at 4 am to go and cut fresh morning grass for the cow. When I went down to the barn to see the animals with the children I felt so good for this cow as she munched happily on fresh cut green grass. I was also so happy to see that the calf that she has was allowed to nurse and took half of her milk supply. My children got used to the taste of "cow milk" rather than UHT or pasturized milk - served piping hot. They loved the milk curds and the yoghurt that was prepared from the milk and I adored the clarified butter in so many of the foods that was served. The smell of warm ghee overwhelmingly reminds me of the village and great food in Nepal.
While I was there, I was trained in the art of rolling out byrek dough. This is an important skill that all young brides should already know, but I hadn't learned yet. I felt like I was getting the hang of it, but know I have a long way to go to churn out good byrek like the bride of that household did!
The FARM
This was a mini-farm in a sense. There were gardens and fruit trees and chickens and a cow and a donkey, bees and a dog and my kids loved interacting with all this. Abby really enjoyed picking plums and stuffing her cheeks with them and Daniel especially loved running around after the dog and just exploring the backyard. I think the city kids quite took to country living!! :) It warmed my heart to enjoy it along with them as I really think of myself as a country kid even though I've lived the majority of my life in the city.
I was hoping to include more pictures but my technical skills aren't up to it so I'll just post a link to those who are interested in viewing pictures of our little trip.
https://picasaweb.google.com/Lizzygrezda/TripToZerqanSummer2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCIyGrv6AgNbBUg
