Cows and other Adventures

Our neighbor's cows in foreground, with Duruxa's mountain in the distance.

Another amazing week has past at Duruxa, and I (Austin) am back with more adventures to share.  First, I would love to fill you in on some interesting nuances of the Austurian culture (Austuria is the region of Spain we are in).  Most locals in the foothill regions live in pastoral communities, where shepherding animals (goats, sheep, cows) is incredibly common.  Tradition was that families grew up working the farm together, and only recently has the presence of cities and modern Western culture caused many young people to find their lives outside of farming, leaving many farm properties in Austuria for sale or abandoned (hence many foreigners looking for an alternative lifestyle moving out here and buying land, like Duruxa).  Still, there are many of the older generation who work their land faithfully to this day, and even some of the younger family who stay behind.  One example of this is our neighbors, who run a massive raw blue cheese operation (raw, what?!  you might say; most cheese in Europe is made from raw cow and goat’s milk, hence its amazing taste and health benefits).  I have no idea what the family name of the neighbors is, but they have a son named Carlos who is built like a varsity American football linebacker and can drive a tractor backwards with his eyes closed.  I had met Carlos a few times before while shoveling manure or picking up the milk they give us from their cows, but we hadn’t talked much (nevermind the language barrier and his bellowingly quick and rough Austurian accent).  All that changed when I was cheerfully selected by Dane to join him on an epic cow walking journey.

Dane, Carlos, and Francisco chasing the cows.

In the summer time, most Austurian farmers walk their meat cows from the valleys and foothills to the high altitude grazing pastures of the picos.  This gives their home grass a chance to rest and be prepared for hay as winter food, while giving the cattle (or vacas, in Spanish) opportunity to graze on grass ten times more nutrient dense in the mountains.  Often friends and neighbors will help each other move these animals (the amount of interdependence in the communities out here is amazing).  Our neighbors were moving their cattle this past week, and Dane invited me to join him in helping out. 

Dane and I at the end of our journey.

Traditional Austurian food: steak, tortilla, and chorizo.

Dane enjoying some fried milk, a sweet and delicious treat.

Together with Carlos and his friend Francisco of equally impossible Spanish to understand, Dane and I herded about twenty five vacas (and two teenage bulls) over ten miles of valleys, hills and mountains to the local National Park Covadonga pastures at high altitude where the cows have their summer home.  It was absolutely fun, muddy, and a bit tiring.  Cows keep a good pace, and so we had to run at times to keep up, dragging our herding sticks with us,  in case a renegade cow need be encouraged to return to the pack.  One bull freaked out in the beginning and charged around the local interstate, but Carlos (being a bull of a fellow himself), managed to get the toro back into line.  In the high peaks, Dane and I discovered a massive cave entrance near some lovely green birch trees, and we made a plan to return later to spelunk.  FInally, the cows were put to pasture, and all of us feasted on traditional Austurian foods, like homemade tortilla (not what you think, more like a potato loaded quiche), along with loads of neighbor’s homeraised, high quality chorizo, steak, and cheese.  Topped off with fried milk (can’t even describe, but so amazing!), we feasted ourselves silly, and I enjoyed so much practicing my broken Spanish and getting to know this wonderful family.  What a time!

So you’re probably thinking, what about that fearsome cave you found?  Well, Dane, Kindra, Carly, Jillie and I explore that sucker yesterday!  We drove back to Covadonga and found ourselves in a huge cavern that went deep underground.  A decent ways in we discovered some ropes to help traversing a narrow entrance, and we followed this excitedly, hearing the sounds of rushing underground water ahead.  Just meters beyond our roped ascent there was a cavern with a sudden drop off of a couple hundred feet, with ropes leading down.  Unfortunately, real technical gear was needed to continue, so we reached our end and savored a few minutes in pitch black with our headlamps out. 

There are masses of underground caves and lakes in the region (hence all the natural springs), so we hope to do some more spelunking in the future!  Especially since it is raining like crazy again, and probably won’t let up for a awhile.

We are still having a blast here; Kindra continues to do lots of gardening projects (like weeding potato beds), and I have been helping James build another wall out of stone.  The food is so delicious and natural, with loads of harvested food like cherries, chestnuts, and walnuts.  We went to the sauna in town on Friday, and I had my first real shower in a few weeks.  :)  Until next time, hasta luego!

In the upper garden, looking off towards Viking Peak.

Our mailbox!

More pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/117860913937238604610/Spain