It smells like paint and cabbage. At first I thought that the cabbage smell was still lingering from the капуста-sandwiches that I ate earlier at Magazin-Mixed. The shop clerk there already knows me, so does the owner of the store.
The smell of paint wafts over from the women that have been working on preparing the school building for the approaching begin of the school year. Hardly any furniture escapes a thick new coat of paint. Tables and chairs from the classroom that we had turned into an office for the evenings sparkle like new in a chalky mintgreen color. Stairs and baseboards (where there is no baseboard, a 10 cm wide piece of the wall where it meets the floor was painted) glow a light brown in the sun. The playground benches have a new, gray look.
It is nice that they are spiffing up the already beautiful school for the new year and the new students. We are delighted by the building and the playground and think that we would have liked to have gone to school here.
It is very quiet. Arriving here from the wide, open fields at 15:00, the shade of the peaceful spruce trees and the security of the surrounding buildings in the courtyard welcome you. In the auditorium where we eat it is still quite dark. It’s time to relax.
The smell of cabbage flows into the classrom, mixing with the paint fumes along the way. I notice that I am hungry; I am looking forward to the cabbage.
The first week here was filled with different forms of buckwheat such as Gretschka, buckwheat mash. As an accompanying dish, then, alternately steamed chicken or „Sardelka,“ soft, cooked sausage. Until the cook understood, or rather realized, that the two vegetarians really do not want to eat any meat, our dog and cat –Jon and Sasha –were very happy. Along with food, there is also cherry or pear compote or milk with sugar, sometimes even hot chocalate. On hot days there are tomato salads for dinner. David makes „Pa amb tomagàt, “ catalonian tomato bread out of them. He rubs the tomatoes on the bread until it is soaked with the juices. Depending on availability, he adds oil, salt, garlic (of course), and maybe even, someday independence.
The large buns, called „Bambushka“ according to Stas, are normally too much for us to finish after the rest of the meal, so we bring them with us. They taste the best the next morning in the field with coffee and honey.
We have also had Pelmeni (greetings to Konstantin) and filled peppers, sometimes sweet poppyseed breadinstead of Bambushkas.
What is left over, Lennart eats.
With a „Spaßiba“ to the cook, we go home, making a short stop at the store for a quick internet check, an answering of messages, and a look if tomorrow will be as hot as today.
