As a child, our interlocutor Zorica Mišković-Pavićević spent part of every summer vacation in the countryside. That period of childhood, playing with her brothers and sisters, greatly marked her life. Testimonies from that time are not only about the joy of the game in everything they did, but about something much more than the game itself.
"We didn't feel the difference between swinging on the swing, playing badminton, table tennis, digging weeds, pushing the cart, our joyful laughter when the pigs rush to the food we bring them," Zorica tells us in one breath, adding that "he is usually the happiest of all of us was the one who sneaks out of bed in the morning, before everyone else, and brings the first eggs laid by the hens".
After childhood, Zorica, like most young people, came to a period when she preferred the hot asphalt of her beloved city and only occasionally, defying her obligations, would she go to the house in the countryside, but always with the desire that the whole family would gather in the old place, there where everything smells like the joy of childhood. That's why our interlocutor says that even today she looks forward to every opportunity to go to the "village of her childhood".
"I look forward to being able to go there even today, whenever the opportunity arises, although for the last ten years some new house has occupied my time and attention".
When she found herself three decades ago for the first time in the place where she and her boyfriend, now her husband, escaped from the hustle and bustle of the city, as she herself says, she had no idea that the building, whose construction was in progress, would one day become her home. Her father-in-law and mother-in-law started building the house with love on their ancestral property. Her father-in-law's illness, and soon after his departure, along with parallel events in the family, changed the life course of her loved ones and accelerated their return from abroad to Montenegro. After thirteen years of living in America, in a house with a garden that for her was an empire full of the taste of the homeland, returning to nature is a logical solution, even in Podgorica she has an apartment in one of the most attractive locations.
Family and business obligations, however, did not leave much space for our interlocutor to finish the house and garden, and bring it to the state in which everything is today, but with the selfless involvement of her husband and the love for the home that her mother selflessly transferred to Zorica, today they have this a warm corner that is their oasis of love and peace.
"It is an oasis that warms the hearts of our older children there in America, that gathers the family during the Christmas and Easter holidays, that opens the door to friends, both on the day of glory and on numerous other occasions with always nice gatherings that often last well into the night", proudly points out Zorica, adding:
"The most beautiful weekends are on the secluded terrace, where our cat, who came a few years ago and stayed there, is waiting for us, the terrace from which the view "falls" on Podgorica and which even the biggest fogs cannot disturb. There are the most beautiful awakenings and the most beautiful dawns, the most beautiful drinking of morning and afternoon coffee".
When she's in the countryside, our hostess doesn't even miss long walks in Gorica, or going to the gym or getting a massage after a hard day's work. She is sure that there is no exercise that can replace hoeing the garden, watering the flowers and numerous other "village" activities. It is especially indispensable to supervise the work on the future swimming pool, where every stone laid is a step more than a simple hole to a place for perfect refreshment of her family during hot summer days.
Technological progress has also made her life in the countryside easier, enabling her to introduce the Internet and use an application with the help of which, from any point in the world, her family members can follow the happenings in the house, as well as around the house.
"There are also funny situations," Zorica points out, "especially when my husband and I are drinking coffee on the terrace, and children from America open the app and announce that they are drinking coffee with us, and then comments filled with laughter and nostalgia come pouring in."
However, modern technologies sometimes succumb to not-so-rare situations when the electricity goes out in the countryside. These interruptions last for several hours, which compared to several days is still a good option when a generator comes to the rescue, for example. the dish in the oven doesn't remain undercooked, to watch your favorite series to the end, or to recharge the phone with a three percent battery. But, the generator's help is limited to a few hours, that's why the generator is not the final solution, especially since people living in the countryside, unfortunately, don't have it at all. That's why only they know how to cope with these outages from the system and how to function without electricity. Not to mention the fate of food in the freezer.
"Nevertheless, when you love something, it is not difficult for you, so it is not a problem for me to stay there, where I have more comfort than in an apartment in the city, and drive to work and back. But, every time I pass that road, I think that nothing has changed in these three decades since the villagers joined together and collected money to make it possible to reach their homes by car, and how that road is crying out for rehabilitation today, and the investments are apparently not coming from anywhere", clear is our interlocutor.
Our interlocutor claims that there are many other disadvantages of the village, compared to the city, primarily when it comes to the distance from schools, banks, pharmacies and everything else that is an inseparable part of the life of a person today.
"However, love is stronger than all shortcomings, stronger than unpaved roads and than driving around in the car and exhibitions to avoid potholes on the road. When I park my car in the yard and find myself on my favorite terrace, from which the view of the sky is different, I want to stay there as long as possible, away from all obligations".
Zorica felt the good sides of living in the countryside, in the true sense, right now, in the situation brought to us by the scourge, called corona.
As she says, "in the countryside you are not confined to the house, in your yard you are not obliged to respect the measures in the form of wearing a mask and there is no waiting in line to buy the necessary groceries. The food arrives directly from the garden to our table, from red onions that taste like the juiciest apple , through tomatoes which, as my sister says, are "the best in the world" to green salad which gives every meal a special charm".
Thanks to the already mentioned modern technologies, along with the Internet and electronic banking, today's man is able to carry out his business obligations without hindrance, it was called working from home, or better yet, working from the village. Thus, from an altitude of 400 m, our interlocutor held video conferences with South Africa, paid phone bills in America for the numbers she and her husband use when they stay there, and attended online meetings with colleagues from other European countries.
"Travel restrictions prevented the children from coming this summer from America, which increased their nostalgia even more and confirmed their love for their homeland and this corner that everyone enjoys in their own way. My husband and I in the fruits of labor of the past twelve years, which continue, as is usually the case when it comes to the house. Children, when they are there, with their company, with barbecue, music and dancing. Our dog is happy to be able to run in the meadows, and all together in those special moments under the starry sky while in the distance the lights of Podgorica sparkle like the most beautiful lamps," said our hostess Zorica Mišković-Pavićević, a little nostalgic, but also satisfied.
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