Halpern M. Joel, Kerewsky-Halpern Barbara (USA)

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and south in the direction of Ni{ (a major city in Serbia near the Bulgarian border). So,
about l5 kilometers from our village, we took our last look at the landscape we had
come to know so well. Who knows when we will see it again? The track followed the
Morava River, which marks the eastern boundary of {umadija.
Gradually we passed out of the area of gentle hills and, still in the Morava basin,
traveled higher into the system of the Rhodope Plateau which projects into the eastern
part of Serbia from Bulgaria. The house types gradually changed from the whitewashed
mud and brick {umadijan homes with red tiled roofs to homes more open in design,
with porches and arcades. Often they were partly of wood.
We passed through the city of Ni{, near which there is a famous spa, Ni{ka Banja.
There is a folk song about the supernatural power the mineral water gives young men.
Past Ni{ we con-tinued in the vicinity of the Morava, called the Southern Morava here.
Outside the town of Leskovac we saw a factory which had been planned with a seeming
magnificence with a big formal garden in front. It is now completely abandoned, with
broken windows and crumbling trim, although the red star on top is still in good
condition. Later we saw another factory under construction. All that was up was the
wooden frame but already the red star had been hung on wires, appearing to dangle in
mid air in a space between the framework.
We passed the settlement of DŽep, Turkish for pocket, and the town of’ Vladi~in Han
where we saw peasants returning from market. The landscape now changed rapidly.
The flax in this area is relatively famous. In swampy ditches near the roadbed were
bundles of flax soaking. The women all wore dark, hand-woven striped skirts, very full,
with a trim of black lace on the hem, whether they were working in the fields or returning
from the pijac. In many places marshes were overgrown with wild yellow swamp irises
and tall reeds. Later on, in open fields, it was even prettier with the tall grasses dotted
with white and purple wild flowers and brilliant red poppies.
Entering a Moslem area we saw the white silhouettes of a minaret in the center of the
cluster of community buildings. The men wore cotton skullcaps, turbans or fezzes. The
women were not wearing the baggy pants we had seen worn by the Moslem women in
Bosnia. One surprising thing was the number of horses. Although this was supposed
to be a poorer area, it did not appear so to us. In {umadija, central Serbia, we had
become accustomed to seeing cows do the work of horses in the less prosperous
households. There was flat, fertile land, a good supply of horses, and relatively welldressed
peasants. New for us was the sight of water buffalo. They appeared increasingly
common as we proceeded further south.
At about 4:30 in the afternoon, the train crossed the Vardar and, after the slums of
Skopje on the city outskirts, we pulled into the railroad station. Waiting at the station
were hansom cabs with horses, but we found a nosa~ or porter with a wheelbarrow to
get us to the hotel. We had sent a telegram to be sure of a room. The desk clerk was not
sure if we had asked for the najjeftinija, cheapest, or naifinij, the finest. We assured
him that we wanted the cheapest So for 400 dinars, or $1.30, a night we settled into a
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