I checked out the rather vague map to find out the way to Puharici which is one of the original villages on the lower reaches of Biokovo.
From there I worked out the road back to Makar and then back down to the town. The population shifted from these villages years ago moving down into the new town – there was an earthquake in the 1960’s which moved a few people, and for work I guess (and maybe because they had to keep having their gear boxes fixed – seriously steep roads!) so there are not many people left in them, mainly old people. There seems to be a trend now for new houses and renovations of old houses in the old villages, maybe because this is a cheaper housing option than buying in the town.
The Family Housing Concept is pretty straightforward - parents build a house (flat roof¸ leaving a bit of the reinforcing steel exposed), and as the sons marry (sons only mind you), they move back into the next level built on top. Easy. Question from the group – how many levels can you go up? Answer is three. And if you have more children (not likely) then the oldest son moves in with mum and dad with his wife, and gets that level as they shuffle off. Downside? Mother-in –law in your face – upside – mother-in-law often has your meal cooked for you when you get home from work, and built in baby sitters.
Anyway, the garden plots are still being gardened up in the selo
(village) – plots are full of tomato plants, potatoes etc, and the ground under the olive trees is being mown. Each original family in the village has title to garden plots – amongst the land that was passed to my grandfather there were numerous garden plots (about 25), spread over the general area of Tucepi – some only 12 m 2. But everyone in the village knew which bit of land belonged to which family. Working with the natural product available, (stones), the hills have been terraced and walls formed around the gardens. This work was done by the women. I say this just because it is true.
On top of a title of ownership to any of the land, there is a title of useage which outlines who has the legal right to use the land – it’s incredibly complicated and is one of the many things which needs to be sorted out before Croatia can be accepted into the EU¸ which the fortune tellers say will be next year. Or the next. Or soonish. I was talking to a lady here who is trying to sort out the title to some land that belongs to her husband’s family – it is a house of 30 m2 and one of those m2 is owned by a relative who won’t relinquish it – so there is a stalemate. There is a general flurry with NZ Croatians trying to formalize the ownership of family land before the current ownership is set in concrete – speaking of which, there is a lot of concrete around this place! Any bit of land not used for gardening is concreted for parking of cars – which is at a premium.
Anyway, we were walking. From the Makar road, down through the market (not so busy today because it is Sunday – church bells ringing. Now if Marie could help me here – what is the symbolism of the olive branch at this time of year? – (coming into Easter). Everyone coming home from mass was carrying one. And children had little painted eggs – I spotted some in a window –
and the local papers are full of ideas for easter gifts – not stereos and bikes and things on sale for Easter a la Auckland, but, for example, egg shells with sprouting seeds (I tried to photograph this particularly fantastic concept, but it is a bit blurry..)
From there I lay on the beach for a while to read my book (I know, hard work, but someone has to do it – its not all play, it’s a history of Croatia – just in case someone offers me a job as a tourist guide) and then walked around Sv Petar to pick sparagos –
even got a photo of this to show you. It is pretty elusive after the rest of Makarska has walked around the tracks, but managed to find enough for my dinner – with krumpir (potatoes) cooked in rosemary which, if you must know, I purloined. So that’s Sunday. Not difficult – but delightful!
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