The Transhumance!

On Monday morning, I awoke at 5am to go with Chérif and Alison on the Transhumance! This event is when the sheep farmers (although some farmers of other animals also participate) bring their herds up into the mountains to be in the cooler climate. I already talked about it a bit in one of my earlier posts when I described how we were marking the animals. On Monday, I actually got to witness the ritual!

We started out with the sheep at about 6am. The sun was already rising. The sheep were ready to go. Chérif had already put on the larger bells on a few of the sheep, which gave them the clue that the trip to the mountains was coming. Chérif took the lead and all 76 sheep followed him. Alison and I took the rear end, making sure that none of the sheep would fall behind. The sheep kept nibbling at trees and grasses all morning along the journey. We went real slow because Chérif wanted them to eat and to not stress their bodies from so much exercise.

We took some breaks. We had a small breakfast with tea and breads. We all had waterbottles to sip, too. We met up with another herd at around 9am. We had already walked about 4.5 miles! Two farmers were leading the other herd. They both had strong southern French accents, so I couldn't understand a word they were saying, haha! I'm glad Alison was with me. We all walked the second half together. We mostly stayed on the roads. The drivers of cars that came into our path were very understanding of the whole process. Some even stopped their cars to let us pass (European roads are very narrow, so much that two European cars must slow to pass one another). Many of the drivers were smiling and waving.

Chérif and the farmers all had sticks that they used to control the sheep. They make them themselves. They look like walking sticks, but they are made out of chestnut wood (their are a lot of those trees in this region), over an inch thick, with a thicker and rounder end to tap the sheep, and a long strip of leather at the other end to make signs for the sheep (like twirling the leather to tell sheep to move). It was interesting to watch them. The scenery was also amazing to see. We were high up, overlooking scattered houses, green trees, and rolling hills. The air smelled like mint because wild mint was growing all around. The wild flowers and bushes were very diverse. There were also many terraced gardens with all types of produce: tomatoes, potatoes, onions, peaches, etc. What a hike!

We arrived at the top of a mountain at aroung noon. We walked about a total of 9 miles! Ja-Ja drove up and met up with us to have a picnic. We had nuts, chips, chicken, salad, bread, chocolate, coffee, and more. The sky was still blue and I really wanted to sleep then, hehe. The sheep had the same idea. There was an ancient tower near us, which was now a residence and a café, but was built by the Arabs (Moors) in around the 800s! What a truly historical experience this has all been. At around 3pm, more sheep came to make the heard total more than 1,000 sheep! Other farmers took the sheep further. The walk for the sheep will be about 3 days until they reach their destination. We said goodbye and drove back home. I will miss them!

Back at the farm, things are a bit slower. Chérif said that he would normaly be cutting the hay now, but it has been too wet. He must might until the rains and storms stop, and we will cut the hay. Some farmers are getting anxious because they need the hay as feed. Weather really controls so much around here, even dramatically changing the taste of the produce. With more sun lately, the strawberries are tasting sweeting and the radishes much stronger. I'm glad I get to connect with the rural life more on this trip and see how food is grown. I have a lot more appreciation for the risks these farmers take and how some things are just out of their control.

So, back to more weeding! We have started collecting some of the onions for a German client who will sell them in their country. These onions are a bit milder from this region, so the clients come to Chérif's farm every year to sell these particular onions back home. I am having a great time with Alison and learning more about Britain. Did you know that many Brits call soda "Pop?" Haha, hurray for the midwest in the USA then (since they normally call soda "Pop"). Try to shine some sun our way out here, please! Talk to you all soon!

More People in Town

I am meeting and seeing more and more people all the time here. This area seems to be very quiet during the winter, but then springs into action during the summer months. Since the farm really borders the mountains, there are a lot of people who only come here during the summer because the flowers are in bloom and there are a lot of summer festivals. In fact, there will be a music festival coming up this week and a cherry festival is going on today (there is actually a cherry tree right outside my bedroom window, and the cherries are turning red now). Next weekend is a festival for the transhumance, which is when all the sheep farmers bring the animals up to the mountains. Chérif and I will do that tomorrow. I bet I'll have some interesting stories to share!

We will also go with the new WWOOFer that is here. Her name is Alison and she comes from Britain. She is about50 years old and has been volunteering around Europe on separate, small trips for about 10 years now! She is a true nomad at heart and loves moving around. She seems fascinated with the Hippie movement, hehe. She is very sweet and does translation for a living, so she is helping me with my French when I don't understand things. It's nice to have someone to speak English with, too. Trying to speak French all the time is becoming stressful for me.

Speaking French at the Saturday market is always stressful! Everyone notices my accent and like to point it out, haha. I say that I'm American. They either become silent, haha, or engage in a long conversation about something, like Israel or how they have family living in the USA. I did see some familiar faces at the market this time. They seem to have more patience with me. Ja-Ja brought fresh pea pods, sugar snap peas, baby spinach leaves, and raspberries to the market for the first time. The strawberries are looking better since it hasn't been raining so much. The carrots, radishes, and green beans seem to be favorites.

I've still be eating very good: tomato and egg tarts, friend tuna and egg rolls, salad greens, Asian stir-fry with tofu, zucchini sautées, runny eggs with bread, cardamum-spiced rice pilaf, and more. I'm certainly having those cravings for food back home, though: sweet potatoes, broccoli, salmon, chicken, corn, pork BBQ, chocolate cake, and more. I've realized that I live in a wonderful part of the world! There's air conditioning and heat systems, cheaper food, movie theaters and shopping all around, safe roads to go on walks and jogs, and family! I miss my family very much, especially Mom's home cooking, Dad's flowers, and even watching sports with Alex. Sometimes discovering new ways of life makes you understand how special home is, no matter what the differences are or if one way seems better than the other. Love you all!