Subsistence Farming - Raising Your Own Meat

I posted some pictures a few weeks ago of my visit to a student's house (the one with all the kittens!). Her rabbit recently had babies so she invited me over to see them and take more pictures.

Visiting her house is an interesting mix of emotions. I absolutely love animals so I enjoyed being there and seeing all the animals - especially cuddling the kittens! I also absolutely adore my student and loved spending time with her. On the other hand, it's hard to think that all the animals, excluding the cats and dogs, are raised for meat. Even the baby bunnies will eventually be turned into meat.

Subsistence farming, whether animals or crops, is a large part of life in Padina. People cannot afford to go to a grocery store and buy meat. If they want meat, they need to raise it. Pigs are bought when they are very young. Baby chickens, ducks, and turkeys can all be bought at the local market, usually for less than a dollar. I couldn't imagine raising an animal and then killing it for food, but that is how life is in many countries around the world. Although this concept is foreign to us, it's actually much more environmentally friendly than how we get our meat. Think of all the resources that go into producing the meat that you eat. From the farm to the factory to the packaging and then to the store, a lot of resources are consumed. Even though most of us might have a hard time raising our own meat, subsistence farming sure is a better environmental option.

I would consider having chickens one day - but just for eggs. I saw one chicken laying awkwardly against a wall. I asked her what the chicken was doing. She said it was probably laying an egg. Sure enough, when she picked up the chicken, there was an egg underneath! Many people also used fresh cows milk and homemade cheese. not everyone has a cow, but there is usually at least one person in the extended family that can supply the others with milk.

The last few pictures are from a visit to a church member's house. Her grandchildren had two adorable kittens. The black and white kitten cuddled in my arms for about a half hour. He would meow in protest every time that I stopped petting him. Enjoy the pictures!

Time to Say Goodbye

The last week was a strange mix of emotions. On one hand, I was really sad to be leaving. I felt like I finally got the hang of teaching. English is such a difficult language, there was too much left to cover! On the other hand, I am so excited to be going home! The two emotional extremes basically canceled each other out and I really didn't feel much of anything when I left.

My long round of goodbyes started on my last Sunday in Padina. I attended my last service in Kovacica. That "goodbye" was the easiest because I hardly spent any time there and didn't know any of the adults at the church. I feel really awkward being recognized in public. I am happier just doing my work and not attracting any attention. But since my host viewed my work as sharing God's love, I was factored into the sermon. While he was thanking me for my work, one cute little old lady said, "What about her husband? We need to thank him to!" so for about 5 minutes, Tom was the topic of conversation in a small church in rural Serbia. They said they appreciated the sacrifice Tom made by letting me come here and the support he has given me. So Tom, the congregation of Kovacica thanks you! I got plenty of goodbye hugs and kisses from the members. I think the older people just liked having someone young at their church. The ladies will come up to you, pinch your checks, and give you a big hug and a kiss simply for being there.

Even though I would attend church with them on my last Wednesday, my official goodbye to the church in Padina was later that afternoon. Janko went through the same goodbye/thank you speech as in Kovacica, but this time he also brought up Tom. Padina thanks you as well, Tom! I received a few more hand made goodbye gifts to add to my already bursting suitcase.

The most difficult goodbyes were with the adults students. I enjoyed working with them the most so I will definitely miss them the most. I really hope I can come back in a few years and visit everyone.

Goodbye Serbia, Hello Home!!!

Market in Kovacica

On my last Saturday in Serbia, Liljana took me to the market in the neighboring town of Kovacica. This market was bigger than the one in Padina and had a slightly different atmosphere. Enjoy the pictures!

Italy!

Sorry I haven't posted anything in about a week. My last few days in Serbia were too busy and I didn't have internet here in Italy for a few days. Please continue to check back over the next two weeks. I still have plenty of things to post!

Playing Dress-Up and a Priceless Gift

About a month ago, one of the petite little old ladies from the Church offered to dress me in her traditional Slovak clothes since we are around the same size. I happily took her up on the offer this week! Traditional Slovak clothing is very neat and always very colorful.

After visited the Ethno House, it was really neat to see her house. I have visited a few houses here in Padina, but because most of my students are younger (under 50), their houses are more modern. Her wardrobe looked like it could have been in the ethno-house! She also had the traditional mattress on her bed as well as the typical painted and colorful walls. Both of the outfits that I am wearing in the Pictures were hand made by her around 30 years ago. She still wears the outfits I had on today, but only for very formal occasions.

First, you have to put on the blouse and button it all the way up to your neck. This would not be bad in the winter, but I don't know how they survived the summers. Next, you put on up to three slips that have been treated in starch. I luckily only had one on in this picture. After that, you put on the skirt. Formal skirts, like the ones in these pictures, are heavy because of the amount of material used. The, you put on the apron. The skirts are made with adjustable waste bands so that they can be worn as you get older and bigger. The apron covers the opening in the front of the skirt. After you are dressed, you put on the cap or bonnet. The cap reminds me of wearing a baseball hat backwards. You can see the cap in the second picture. And finally, if you want, you can tie a scarf around your head. It seems like so much effort just to get dressed, but it was a lot of fun!

I think the lady, who is probably one of the cutest little old ladies in all of Padina, had fun dressing me up. We even convinced Liljana to dress up in traditional Slovak clothes. Liljana is Macedonian so she doesn't wear clothes like this. It was really fun seeing her dressed up as well and was definitely entertaining for Janko. He called me "Zuska" whenever I had on one of the outfits.

After dressing up, we had hot cappuccinos in the 90 degree weather. The lady said something to my hosts and then went back inside. They told me that the lady wanted to give me a skirt! The people here are too generous and I was so afraid she would try to give me one of the beautiful skirts that I had on. To my relief, she came back out with a less formal skirt. They have light weight, simple, inexpensive skirts that they wear on a daily basis. The ones I had on were expensive, heavy, and very formal. The skirt she brought out was somewhere in the middle. It is too nice to wear on a daily basis, but definitely not as formal as the ones I had on. I was so honored and grateful that she wanted to give me something so nice and personal, but I felt a little guilty accepting it. I think she made it about 30 years ago. I really don't think it's possible for the people here to be more generous! Hopefully I can find the perfect occasion to wear the skirt at home!

Padina's Ethno-House

Many villages in this area have an Ethno-House. The Ethno-House is a house that is set up to show how people used to live back in the 1800's and early 1900's. My hosts and I finally got to see Padina's ethno-house just last week. The house was very neat to see and was a great example of what the inside of houses used to look like in Slovak villages like this.

You will notice that the walls are very colorful. Walls with painted designs were very common. You can still see some walls like that today, but as time has changed, the walls are becoming much plainer.

The lady who runs the house was very friendly. She even let me dress up in a traditional, formal Slovak outfit. Enjoy the pictures!

More Adorable Kittens . . . and some other animals too

My student, Zuska, that took me to and from Belgrade for the concert invited me to her house because she knows how much I love animals. I had been wanting to see her kittens for awhile so I was very excited to go. Like many families here, they raise their own pigs, rabbits, chickens, etc because meat is too expensive. I took a few pictures of the chickens, ducks, and geese, but I spent most of the time with the adorable kittens. I saw one little kitten swaying back and forth because she was about to fall asleep sitting up. I picked her up and she instantly fell asleep upside down in my arms. Too cute! She slept happily in my arms until her son knocked over a dirt bike. So what could possibly make me happier than holding a precious sleeping kitten? Holding 5 precious kittens at one time! These kittens were so cute! They reminded me of little bobcats.This slideshow is longer than the others, but who can get tired of kitten pictures?


On a side note, the weather here has been brutal the past few days. It has been around 95 degrees and humid for about a week now. Interestingly, Liljana said that summers never used to be this hot. The hot weather only started after they were bombed by Nato so that is an interesting coincidence.

Ethnic Museum

Earlier this week, my hosts, a student and her son, and I went to the ethnic museum in Padina. My hosts did not know about the museum before this, so this was their first time there too! The museum is free to the public and is run by a local couple. The museum included a very large collection of objects from Padina's 200+ year Slovak history. Because Padina was founded by settlers from Slovakia, the items are much closer to what you would see in Slovakia compared to the rest of Serbia. I was really surprised to see how colorful everything was. I was also surprised at how much this one couple had collected over the years! He even has some of the wicker suitcases that were brought over by the original settlers from Slovakia over 200 years ago. There is a picture of them below. You can see everything from traditional dishes to linens to outfits and more in the pictures below. The pictures outside the house show farming equipment, washboards, and other larger household items. Let me know if you have any questions!

I will be posting multiple times a day during my last week here, so make you sure scroll past this post to see all the pictures!

Thursday Market in Padina

Yesterday was my last market day in Padina. :( Although my family at home might not agree, time has gone by so fast! I would have loved to take more pictures at the market but even without my camera, I stand out in this town. People know almost as soon as they see me that I am not from around here. It was just too awkward taking such public pictures in a place that never sees tourists. I saw the brother and sister-in-law of one of my students at the market. (It is impossible to go there without seeing someone you know!) I said hi to them and continued walking through the market. They told me later that day that a stranger came up to them and asked them who I was because they could tell I wasn't from around here. So you can see why I didn't take too many pics!

My first stop at the market was to buy a few things from my favorite vendor. He sells the best tomatoes from Macedonia. Who knew Macedonia produced such great tomatoes? I always go to him because I can trust that he will give me a fair price on everything, plus he is really nice. He is my favorite because he has such a vibrant personality. The people here are wonderful, but they are quiet. This man is definitely an extrovert. He happily shouts out the prices to his customers with a big smile on his face as he weighs their selections. The first time I bought something from him, he proudly said "thank you!" He knows enough English to say the price and thank you, always with a smile of course. I told him I was leaving next week and then said "bye bye Padina" so he would understand.

Liljana went to the market later that day to buy things from the same man. He told her he was sad this interesting period in his life was over. I never thought selling fruit and veggies to an American once a week would be so interesting! He then gave Liljana a "special" price on whatever she bought from him because she is my host. There is one picture of him in the slide show below.

I always love to see the baby chicks and ducks at the market. They are too cute - especially the ducks! I would buy one as a pet, but there people here buy them to raise them for food. People only buy special processed meat at the stores. The majority of people here raise their own chickens or even pigs. You can see two pics below of the boxes of chicks. They are 35 dinar, or about 45 cents.

I have so many pictures to post, so there will likely be multiple posts per day over the next week. Make sure you scroll down so you don't miss anything!

Welcome to Kovacica!

Once a week, I teach an English class in the neighboring town of Kovacica. This towns seems a little bigger than Padina. Kovacica has bigger stores than Padina as well as a few cafes. Unfortunately, I only spend about two hours a week here between the English class and Liljana's Sunday school class, so I haven't really been able to explore the town. The few kids that come to English class/Sunday school are really great kids. I wish I was able to spend more time with them instead of some of the little terrors here in Padina.

The first picture of the blue building is the Methodist Church in Kovacica. The rest of the pictures are from the main square. I also took some pictures of the frogs and snails in the rain ditch/gutter alongside the road in front of the Church. the frogs were so loud! If you look closely, you can see how their cheeks puff out when they croak. My favorite picture is the one of the snail walking into the red pole. He was moving so slow, I don't understand how he still managed to walk into it!

Adventures in Belgrade Day 2

After an amazing concert, my Serbian friend and I headed back to her apartment. Both exhausted, we were asleep shortly after getting back. She was kind enough to feed me breakfast for the second time. We had the same Serbian specialty as the day before. I am so glad I was able to go with her instead of the other girl. The other girl only wanted to go to the concert. This girl feed me breakfast twice, dinner, and let me stay at her house. I cannot wait until she comes to Baltimore later this month. Hopefully many of you will be able to meet her!

We headed back into Belgrade together. She offered to spend the day with me again, but I felt bad taking up more of her time so we parted ways at a bus stop. She gave me another big hug and sent me off in the direction of the Cathedral of St. Sava. This is one of Belgrade's most famous sites as well as one of the largest domes in Europe. The cathedral was very impressive from the outside and was surrounded by a nice park filled with school children on a field trip.

After visiting the Cathedral, I intended to try to find the bus stop where I was to meet my student to go back to Belgrade. I walked past some of the buildings that were bombed by NATO years ago. I was surprised that the bombed remains of the buildings are still standing there today as if they are frozen in time. I wonder what it must be like to live in Belgrade and pass those buildings every day. Are they immune to seeing such destruction? Or, is it a constant reminder of their country's violent past? Or maybe it is a reminder that the tensions with Kosovo still haven't settled?

After I graduated college, I was offered a position with a government intelligence agency. (I didn't receive actual placement information until almost 1.5 years later). I was recruited by a self-serving recruiter who only wanted to rack up enough well qualifying college recruits to get a promotion. At first I was told I would get to work on geospatial mapping issues with West Africa. I was told there would even be a chance to do mapping for humanitarian aid issues. With the thought of combining GIS technology with humanitarian aid, I accepted. As I learned more, I began to question my decision. There was maybe a 1% chance I could do what I wanted. Most likely, I would have ended up monitoring nuclear warfare or doing other military support.

The part I could not handle was the potential of being part of a team that decided which locations to bomb in other countries. I understand that sometimes drastic measures must be taken to stop violence such as the violence experienced here, but I didn't want to be a part of something like that. If I want the world to be a better place, why would I fight violence with violence and fuel the fire? I certainly don't know the solution for world peace, but I am pretty sure resorting to violence is not the answer.

Also, it is impossible to just bomb a government and punish those who are guilty of the violence. When you bomb a city, you bomb the CITY. Yes, terrible things happened here but now the people in Belgrade have to live with a daily reminder. Children who were born after the war are reminded every day of what happened before their time. These building are on a main street so there are not easy to miss on your daily commute. I would not want to be part of a team that causes a lasting impact on a city like this. So for those reasons, and some others, I turned down the position when they were finally ready to have me start. The building to the right is the American Embassy. After the US publicy announced its support for Kosovo, there were riots in the streets and all the windows had to be permanently boarded up for security reasons.

I hopped on a tram and headed to where I saw a cross on the map. I was hoping to see a nice church and I was not disappointed. This post is getting long so to sum up the rest of my day, I was eventually able to find my student with the help of a very nice bank manager who was willing to call her. We picked an impossible place to meet - people and bus stops everywhere! Luckily the bank manager was the perfect example of the generous Serbian personality who said he was happy to help.

My Adventures in Belgrade Day 1

My adventure to Belgrade started when I woke up at 4:30 in the morning. One of my adult students offered to take me on the bus with her to Belgrade on her way to work. We met at the bus stop at 5:15am and hopped on the bus with all the other house cleaners heading to Belgrade from work. She took me on a short down one of the main streets before leaving me at a bus stop where I had to catch a bus out to meet my new, mysterious couch-surfing friend, Ana. I nervously boarded the bus not sure how this adventure was going to turn out. Ana said the bus ride would take about 30 min, so 20 min into the ride I showed a note written in Serbian to some man that describe the stop I needed. Turns out, we had just past the stop! I got of at the next one and walked back to the last stop.

I anxiously waited a few minutes hoping I was really at the right spot. A short time later, a girl appeared across the street waving her hand and shouting hello. I walked over to meet her and she greeted me with a warm hug and kiss on the cheek. We walked back to her apartment where she immediately offered me something to eat. When she said "you have to try this, it's a Serbian specialty," my heart sank. Anytime I hear "Serbian/Slovak specialty" its usually some type of sausage or other nasty meat. I told her I was vegetarian, and she replied with a surprised face, "So am I!" I can't remember the name, but it was a breakfast cake with cornflour, eggs, cheese, and spinach. After breakfast, I took a nap before we headed into the city. In the meantime, my student had nervously texted Ana to make sure that I had arrived safely. She said she just couldn't relax not knowing if I was ok. She is just the nicest person, I wish you all could meet her!

As we walked to the bus stop, I asked where I could by a ticket. She told me we would be ok and she never buys bus tickets in the city. I was a bit nervous riding the bus without a ticket, but I had no choice so I followed her onto the bus. First, we stopped by her school so that she could talk to a professor. We walked into the school and were greeted by the security guard who checks students' IDs. She said, you can stay here with him and then went up to talk to a professor.

I ended up having a great time with the security guard as well as another man who came over to talk because he had heard us speaking English. Other than at the Pastors' meetings, this is the first time I actually got to talk to Serbians on this trip. (Everyone in Padina identifies themselves as Slovak). Both men were extremely outgoing and friendly - the perfect examples of the warm and open Serbian personality. We talked a little bit about everything before the guard finally asked, "What did you think about Serbians before you came? did you hear that we were all terrorists?" He was afraid the media had ruined the image of the Serbian people. I said I never base my opinions on what the media says about people because the people are not the government. Just because a country may have or have had a bad government, doesn't mean that the people are also bad. Serbians are some of the most wonderful and generous people you will ever meet.

Ana came back down and said she was still waiting for her professor so she suggested that I go on a walk. I walked around the nearby park and then down a street. It actually felt a little liberating to finally be in a city after being in rural Padina for so long. I was able to walk around as a tourist without having to worry about my classes. I'm not a city person, but it was great seeing so many shops, outdoor cafes, and people everywhere. I walked back to the school about 30 seconds before Ana excitedly came walking outside. She had convinced her professor to give her a passing grade!

We hopped on another bus and headed into the main part of the city. She showed me the main pedestrian street in the city which has nice shops and of course, souvenir stands. We passed a really interesting display of about 20 signs showing pollution throughout Belgrade. It was a great display and we can only hope that it helps people understand this serious problem. But unfortunately, there are too many people out there that just do not care about the environment and no matter how hard you try to get them to see the importance of protecting the environment, they will just continue with their selfish ways. So, not only is Ana a vegetarian, she is also passionate about the environment and hates how people use so many plastic bags! It's so crazy how you can meet a complete stranger on the internet and end up having so much in common! (The majority of people on CouchSurfing.com are great, but she is probably one of the nicest!)

We hopped on yet another bus and headed out to the stadium to get the tickets. After picking up the tickets, we headed back to a small lake where we sat for about a half hour and talked about traveling, culture, and her upcoming internship in Baltimore. (I can't believe I met someone here who is coming to Baltimore this summer!). At one point, she told me I wasn't the typical American because I know so much about other cultures and just the fact that I know where Serbia is on a map makes me different. In one way, it's a compliment, but in another way, its sad how Americans have such a bad reputation over seas. While many Americans do know a lot about the world, we unfortunately have many people that are very uneducated about the world around them and the beauty of other cultures.

The best part about my day with Ana was being around someone my age with similar interests. Being able to talk with someone about things you are interested in or life in general is a great thing. Only two of my students are my age. The rest are older women or young kids, so I unfortunately do not have any friends my age here in Padina that I can just hang out with. (I am going to a singing again at the Nazarene Church tonight with the girl my age, but it's not the same). It's nice being part of a Church community here because everyone is so wonderful, but it is also a bit isolating. Because I am so busy, my only opportunities to meet people are in Church or during class. There is no one even close to my age at church. Also, here, the church comes first for everything which is great for them, but not ideal for me because I want to experience Padina beyond the walls of the church. I wish I knew when there was going to be a high school soccer match in town, but since soccer isn't important to them, no ones knows when they are. I would love to go to the local pub at night just to see what it is like, but I don't have anyone to go with and I am not sure how that would be viewed. Oh well, this has still been a great expereince so far. I'll write more about my second day in Belgrade later.

Most Amazing Concert Ever!

The concert was absolutely amazing! It was better than I could have ever imagined. I'll write more details about the trip later, so I will stick with the fun details for now. We walked into the arena just as the concert was starting, so I yelled to my friend, "enjoy the show" and then ran to my seat in the front row. I was at the far right of the stage so I didn't have the best view of Elton John. However, I had a great view of the percussionist and main guitarist. Honestly, I am glad I had a good view of them because they were much more entertaining to watch. Every once in a while the percussionist would playfully throw instruments in the air. For most of the concert everyone sat in their seats and enjoyed the show.

About two thirds of the way through the show, the security guards pushed back the rope that had been standing about six feet away from the stage. They motioned for the people in the front row to come up to the stage. People seemed confused at first, but not me! I knew what was happening and ran to the stage. (The whole front section is roped off so only people in the front rows can get close) For about 5 of his greatest hits, I was only a little more than 6 feet from Elton John!!! Being that close was so amazing! I could never have gotten a ticket like that here. Just like at PSU when you have a front row ticket to the game, nothing can compare to having nothing between you and the action. The main guitarist came up to the crowd and gave a guitar pick to the people on either side of me. I wish I had gotten the pick! Oh well.

I was waiting (and hoping) that he would come right up to the crowd to touch everyone's hand and he did! I can't believe that I got to touch/shake Elton John's hand! How awesome is that?! I never dreamed that I would be that close to the stage. Everything was so surreal because a minute after he touched my hand, he made an announcement that he had a special request for a song. I couldn't believe my ears, he played the Circle of Life - my favorite song! This is the song where I got the title of my blog from. So here I am in Serbia, hearing the song that I named my blog after and having just touched his hand. It was unbelievable experience.

Enjoy the pictures!

The Third Conditional

Today I practiced the third conditional with my advanced adult group and teens. To form the third conditional, you use If + past perfect, would + have + past participle. For example: If I had been able to plan everything for this concert myself, there would not have been this many problems! Today's lesson tied in perfectly with tomorrow's concert.

I am no longer going with the person that was supposed to take me. She went from being able to host me over night, to not even wanting to take me to the train station in a taxi because she lives on the other side of a city. I also found out that she would only be able to pick me up about an hour before the concert starts which means I would have to pay for the taxi and hope to get to our seats just in time. So basically, she was getting a free concert ticket for hailing me a cab. I expressed my concerns to Liljana and lucky she was very understanding, especially when I said I could easily do this myself. I can hail a cab myself, the tricky part is not getting ripped off when you have to pay them at the end - that is when you need a native! I was afraid my hosts would be really offended when I told them how I felt. They were very understanding and were also disappointed in how much her availability kept decreasing.

So who am I going with? A complete stranger I just met on the internet! Yep, I'm serious and I am really looking forward to it. There is a website called www.couchsurfing.com. It's like a facebook for people all over the world who are willing to let complete strangers sleep on their couches. I know this may sound really shady, but it's actually a lot of fun and a great way to meet people because 99% of the people on this site are just great people that like meeting others from around the world. I first couch surfed in Beauvais, France and then again with Tom in the Czech Republic. I did a search for women my age with their identity confirmed (meaning they have hosted people before). I emailed a few, and one emailed me back within minutes.

I am going with a woman named Ana. The best part is that she is coming to Baltimore in 2 weeks and staying for 6 months so our paths will definitely cross again! The first thing she wrote was that whether or not a concert ticket was involved, I was welcome to stay with her. She offered to come to the city and then take me back to her place so I can rest before the concert and leave my stuff there. She also said she can show me around the city a little. She is even looking up the bus schedules back to Padina as I am typing! Such a difference from the other girl who only wanted to meet minutes before the concert and put me in a taxi afterwards. I think I can finally look forward to the concert with confidence!

'We watch a lot of TV'

For the past few weeks, a new group of twelve year old boys have been coming to my teenager class. Their knowledge of and confidence with English never ceases to amaze me. They have a greater vocabulary than the other teenage girls that are 2-3 years older than them. Although their grammar is not better, their vocabulary is also greater than my advanced adult group. I finally asked them how they no so many words. Their answer was, "We watch a lot of TV." Usually the TV distracts kids from their school work, but in this case, watching lots of English movies and TV shows has really helped them! I wish I had these boys from the beginning, but at least we are trying to make the best of our month together!