To, da poskušamo razvijati svojevrsten trajnostno obarvan turizem, smo že večkrat poudarili. In v tem tednu smo udejanili še enega od mnogih letošnjih projektov. Pa bom za tokratnji podjetniški dnevnik kar lepo izkoristila že napisan dnevnik britanskih študentov, ki so te dni bivali pri nas.
Introduction:
We are a group of ten students and two teachers who have travelled from Bilborough College in Nottingham, England to Slovenia for three weeks. We are currently staying in Robidishce with Stasa and Simon for four days to volunteer around the village and explore the Slovenian culture. From this experience we are learning new things every day such as making traditional Slovenian food to the history of the village and its people.
We would like to thank Stasa and Simon for letting us stay with them in Robidishce and for all of the amazing food they have cooked us. We have throrughly enjoyed staying in Robidishce and we hope our help of rebuilding walls, painting and many more jobs makes a difference in the community. We have fallen in love with the village the spectacular stories, and the beautiful mountains which surround it. We will look back and will all cherish the time we spent here.
Thursday, Day 1:
Yesterday, we had a long tiring day of trekking and when we eventually arrived at Robidishce, Stasa kindly greeted us with some lovely pasta and tomato sauce. She also makes the best pancakes. Today, we started the hard work by volunteering to help re-build the wall and also chop down the over grown bushes beside the bench area. Laura, Vikesh, Sonja, Maggie, Jess and myself re-built the wall. It was a hard job moving the rocks but we all really enjoyed it and worked as a team. The other team were Adam, Lisa, Naomi, Walter, Matt and Emily. They worked very fast together to clear the bench area and chop down the long branches. We came back to Stasa at 1:00pm for lunch and she made us delicious risotto. The food is always the best bit. After lunch, we also helped by cutting the herbs and pulling off the leaves. Some of us re-painted the signs in Robidishce and also renovated the gallery signs on wood. The signs are all in different languages including Slovenian, English, French and Italien. This was quite challenging however interesting as we learnt new words.The best part of the day was when we all made Njoki together. Stasa taught us how to make it. Whilst some of us were pealing the potatoes, others were mashing them, some were mixing the flour eggs and potatoes, some were rolling then cutting the njoki and placing it on the tray. We had a lot of trays. Later in the evening, Stasa showed us the gallery and the history of Robidishce, the war, and how she and her husband Simon became interested in setting up a volunteering place for people all over the world to come help, visit and stay. It was really interesting to see the history as we didnt know much about Slovenia before we came. After we had dinner, we all decided to take a lovely slow walk to Italy just to say we have been there.
Friday, Day 2:
Yesterday, we didnt manage to complete the wall as some of the stones were heavy to move. Today we had more people to help us as the bench area had been completed. As we had more help, we finished re-building the wall at 12:30pm. We started at 9:30am. Fixing the wall was like doing a puzzle as we had to see what stones would fit where and make sure the rocks were stable so they didnt fall. The weather was a lot warmer than yesturday, therefore, after Stasa cooked us pizza , we all fell asleep for a little while. We continued to pick the herbs in the afternoon and also helped paint more signs around the village and the stones near the gallery with bright paints so that they stood out. Later in the evening, we all helped cook some more njoki. We had a lot to make and made a production line. Slowly we are becoming like professionals according to Stasa. She cooked the noki we made yesterday for dinner today. I have never had this before and I think now it has become one of my favourite dishes and we all shall definately be making more of njoki when we go back to England.
Saturday, Day 3
Today we stayed in the garden. Some of us burnt the wood into a bonfire; some picked raspberries and peas and also podded them into a bowl. Others helped Stasa clean the cottage. Quickly time passed and lunch came. Stasa cooked us stew. The vegetarians had potato stew, the other option was beef and tomato. As a group we also picked fresh leaves from the herb garden for salad. After lunch, Simon and Stasa kindly offered to take us down to the river as it was a beautiful day and they said we had been working hard. I agree however it didn’t feel like work as we enjoyed our jobs so much. The river was stunning but cold. Stasa cooked some amazing dark chocolate brownies to snack on which was quite a treat. We also brought an inflatable ball to play with which kept us entertained. Some of us tried to skim stones in the water. When we came back, we went to the bar and we all brought some coke and savoury snacks. After, we cooked our dinner, which was a good experience as we collected fresh herbs and mixed it with the potatoes. Along with this we roasted some courgettes and spring onions on the barbeque and for meat eaters there were sausages available. Our dinner was surprisingly nice considering it wasn’t cooked by Stasa. Unfortunately, we all went to bed not particularly looking forward to leaving the next day.
Robidishce
I look around and see:
A small village high on a hill;
Beds with duvets neatly folded;
Ants scurrying frantically as their home is destroyed,
Picked up and secured in a wall;
Gnocchi neatly lined on a tray;
A bared up hut that was a border post;
A completed task –
A dry stone wall where rocks were before;
Italy surrounded by yellow stars;
Plates scraped clean after every meal;
A view seemingly inserted by photoshop;
Water frothing and bubbling over rocks;
A place I would love to see again.
I listen and hear:
A laughing child;
The silence over a good meal;
Endless singing and laughing as we work;
The periodic crowing of a rooster, drawing attention
To itself over the other birdsong;
Gnocchi lyrics to every song;
A distant car motor distorted by the wind;
A place I would love to hear again.
I sniff and smell:
Clean cloths still dripping wet;
Mint, camomile and lemon, freshly picked;
Fresh food wafting from the kitchen;
Potato clinging to hands and table;
Peas freshly podded in a bowl;
A place I would love to smell again.
I open my mouth and taste:
The most amazing food I have ever eaten;
The gnocchi we made the night before in a beautiful bolognaise source;
A Perfect chocolaty balance in brownies;
Food I would love to taste again.
I stand and feel:
Warm water rhythmically beating down removing dirt;
Sticky potato doe stuck to my fingers;
Light refreshing rain on my face;
The heat of working in gardening gloves,
The sudden burning as my skin brushes nettles;
Working in the sun broken only by rain and shade;
Pyropen burning into wood;
Floating away with the current in cool green water;
A place I will defiantly visit again.