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I did not expect to become friends with someone in such a short, albeit intensive, amount of time (collectively, we probably spent close to 120 hours together, although that time had a nice balance of chatting and working in silence). The prime example of this from my trip is the friendship I developed with Mare.
WOOFING SLAVANIA FULL
Life is full of pleasantly surprising and unique encounters. I’m 100% sure I do not have the stamina or guts to handle all of this every single day without a break, hence my respect for farmers and shepherds.Ģ. There’s no end: milking (as well as feeding the pigs, chickens, baby goats and lambs) from 6:30 am to 8:30 am, herding from 8:30 am to 10:30 or 11 am, a morning break, mowing and collecting grass for the animals until lunch time at 1:30 or 2 pm, then another 2-2.5 hours of herding in the late afternoon, and some more mowing afterwards. And finally, the daily lives of farmers who work with animals are completely governed by and revolve around those animals. At the same time, though, these very characteristics make working with goats interesting and stimulating, as they keep people on their toes. Sometimes, they stay in one pasture for over half an hour other times, they start moving less than 5 minutes after they arrive in a new area. Sometimes, they stay together other times, they separate (throwing inexperienced people like me in a state of frenzy). Second, the animals (goats in particular) are not consistent in terms of their behaviors. As I’ve written before, I never really took the time to think about the work that it takes to work with animals, but I now have a lot of respect for those who do. They need to eat and drink every single day regardless of what the weather is like or how exhausted or unmotivated the farmer is feeling. For one, the animals don’t know the difference between Sunday and Monday.
![woofing slavania woofing slavania](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f3/7f/1f/f37f1fff07b5ffb3ac3c705e575a1426.jpg)
![woofing slavania woofing slavania](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/44/25/b7/4425b75179c133cff36817c5edb69061.jpg)
Farming, especially raising animals, involves a LOT of hard, demanding work that requires commitment and grit. But, I really could not have imagined or asked for a more thought-provoking, sensually stimulating, physically intensive, learning-filled vacation. What an experience it’s been! I’ve never done anything like this in my life, and I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.