Sunday's Trip to the Village

This Sunday it was my special privilege to go visit the parents of Eugen in their village. Their village is not too far from Valsui. We were able to spend several hours at their house and enjoy their company. The video shows Eugen's mother mixing mamaliga. Mamaliga is a specialty in Romania and is made from corn meal. It is similar to corn bread but more moist. I tried to make it last year after I went home but it did not turn out very good, it was dry. Eugen's mom is showing me the correct way to mix the mamaliga. She told me one of my problems might be that I did not have the correct wooden spoon to mix it with. The first picture shows the results of Eugen's mother's work. That is the mamaliga and you just cut pieces off and eat. It is kind of like having mashed potatoes with your meal. The other picture shows the family "car". It is a one-horse power vehicle and you can even see the one horse in the background. The family has one horse, a cow, four pigs several ducks and a whole lot of chickens. The have some land on which they grow vegetables and corn and several fruit trees. We picked some apricots from one of the trees for dessert. The stove that you see Eugen's mother cooking at is in the "summer kitchen". It is fueled by a corn cob fire. I told her that I remember my grandmother firing her stove in exactly the same manner when I was young, throwing corn cobs in to stoke the fire. The building to the right of the stove is their winter kitchen. They have a stove indoors so that they can cook in the winter without being freezing cold. They also have a modern gas stove but she prefers this one because she says the food tastes better. I will tell you that the food she made tasted very good so maybe she has a point. During the summer most of the living is done out doors and the house is a place to sleep. I had a great time a fell very lucky to have spent time with these wonderful people. Talk at you all soon.