Trip to the country

We have been quite the homebodies I must admit. The last time we ventured out of Tirana was when Daniel had just turned 1 and we went to Kosovo for a week long mission trip - he was so sick he was hospitalized that time. So, now we are afraid even to stay out of the house for afternoon naps lest it interrupt our perfectly balanced household routine. Any time we're invited anywhere I carefully calculate how we can get home in time for naps and bedtime... Well, we broke this routine and I'm glad of it! We had the most wonderful 3 that turned into 4 days in the beautiful mountains of Dibra in a village called Zerqan staying at the home of one of our dear friends Dr Afrim. So much happened there that the perfectionist in me hesitates to start writing about it lest I not capture every last wonderful thing. I've resisted that urge now to share with you just a few snapshots of why we had such a great time!

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