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.