20th of October to 15th of November, 2020.
A. in some how looks very different from her Workaway profile and from any kind of mental impression I had made of her. She speaks a good English, which makes me already very happy. And she is also very happy and with a very young aura.
The guy who gave me a lift here, stay with us for a while. We sit outside (because it is sunny and warm now) and I have my first Serbian Rakya. A. says that is traditional, so I cannot refuse. But I am fine in accepting. We talk for a while, about many different things. Me and A. have a lot in common.
The farm looks really nice, as a traditional house in a village. There are two different houses: the one where they all sleep, which has the wi-fi signal and it is warm all the time; and the one where it is the kitchen and where we all eat. I sleep in this last one, Unfortunately the wi-fi signal does gets here.
In my first evening, me and V. (the oldest son) go for a walk around. We come up to some hills and I realize how beautiful the whole area is. In a very scenery way, full of hills covered in strong woods, it is very peaceful too stare at it. Far away you can see all the little houses, apart from each other from different distances. This tiny little villages do not stop on surprising me.
It is very cold here in the morning. But for now, that is just until 11 o’clock, when the sun warms up the place and makes possible to work outside. A. says I do not need to worry about my Workaway hours and take it easy. Which is not exactly my style. I told her I prefer to complete the five hours because then I can enjoy my free time in peace and with my conscious clean. She usually gives me some tasks in the morning but through the day we get some more. I cleaned one of the green houses of all the weeds, grass, and some of the plants, for example. But now I am not sure about what next. They have two pigs and some chickens which need to be fed every day but that is not even work.
The eating part it is a bit different. Usually me and A. have breakfast together but their lunch hours are later, around 15 or 16 hours. Actually that is their only strong meal. That is because through the day, they all, including the kids, grab something here and there (mostly bread with something) so they do not have an “all together” dinner, for example, I always adapt myself to the family habits, so I am fine.
I am trying to get as much information I can from A. about the farm. They have a lot of vegetables which they produce and make products to keep over the winter time. She already told me some things but there is so much to learn!
A. cooks some really good meals. I saw and helped her to bake the bell peppers for the Ajvar. And when I finally tried her own product: Waw! It makes all the other Ajvars I had it, looks like trash. It is super fresh and taste amazing! The main product around here, as much as in the countryside of Croatia, it is the red bell pepper and the paprika. Just yesterday we had this conserve, kind of salad type, made also out of red pepper (the baked one) with a lot of garlic and herbs, which is also delicious! A. baked a chocolate cake with their home made plum jam, which was one of the best cakes I ever had. She said it is very simple though. She also baked a traditional apple pie. Which basically consists in our Empadão de frango (Chicken pie) from Brazil (the one with the smooth dough) but in a sweet version, where the chicken is replaced by grated apples spiced with cinnamon and sugar. Another traditional dish she prepared, it is kind of soup with big chunks of potatoes and carrots. She also usually prepare the rice with vegetables in a pan in the oven. They have some great apple juice here too. It is their apples but they bring the fruits to an old lady nearby because she has the pot to do it. Apart of that, A. has a lot of conserves and jams she makes herself. It is for daily consume but mostly for the winter.
The two dogs they have are funny and peculiar. Laza it is a short legs and long hair light brown one, which is very affectionate to me and a very smart dog too. When we walk together (he usually follows me), he gets out of the road, just at the sidewalk, any time a car passes, and then goes back to the road again. Just like a human being. The puppy is Tara. A kind of brown and white poodle I would say, because her fur is curly. She is as crazy as a puppy can be and always wants to play. The white cat which reminds me Angel, from Cape Town, it is Belly. He is much skinnier than Angel though, but also want a lot of affection.
I try to go for my walks every day. It is a bit tricky sometimes because the sun is coming down earlier every day, and because I cannot start to work earlier in the morning, I usually finish my tasks in the end of the afternoon, when the sun is almost down. It is very calm around here. I mean, walking around the village, passing in front of the houses, you can always see the people working. It always get me thinking about how most everybody with a farm, makes profit out of the farm. And It is OK, I understand that it is the way they choose to make money. It is not like they have another job or something. But it is inevitable for me to think about my own plans of having a tiny farm and how profit it is completely out of the table.
But it is not just that which impresses me. Like I said before, this way of life, these real village’s people (and just now occurred to me why the name of the band), it is something so different for me. Maybe there are even places like this in Brazil, but since I never saw them, for me they are a completely new thing and always will be.