A Night Walk in the Forest/Yushki-Ukraine
“Incredible!” I shouted at my grandfather, which was the thing I remembered as I left the little village of Yushki situated in the province of Kiev of Ukraine late in the evening on my way to my tent. The moment I remembered on that way was a time I experienced about 30 years ago then and 40 now.
I am never into races, nationalities, and any identities that put difference and illusions into the mind of humans. When I said, “Incredible,” to my grandfather, who died in 1985, I was in the village of Koyunyeri of the district of Çan of the province of Canakkale. The village populace is Yoruks just like those of my mother’s village in Adana. As the Yoruks are immigrants who came to Anatolia from Asia about a millennium ago, and who were Turkish nomads wandering around the continent, I could say I have roots relating to the Turks, as the country is considered one.
As in everywhere in Turkey, villages have coffeehouses, which serve tea, usually and customarily used by men.
I was in one of the coffeehouses of Koyunyeri when I was with my grandfather. It was just after his friend from the village of Dogancilar left to go back to his village. The village of Koyunyeri and the village of Dogancilar were two Yoruk villages, each situated on top of two neighboring hills overlooking a beautiful valley which was turned into a pond of a dam later on.
“Will he go all the way about a few kilometers down to the valley and climb up to his village for also a few kilometers? What about bears, boars, other wild animals or even genies, devils, werewolves, or even aliens who were guaranteed to kill him?” I thought as a seven year-old kid. I asked if he were not afraid. Someone I do not remember now said, “No. He just lights a cigarette and enjoys the night walk towards his home!”
Now I was walking the central path that led to a forest in the village of Yushki in Kiev, Ukraine, and it was night, it was the time for all the things that make us afraid on earth to revisit us.
Regardless of the dogs barking, I left the village and continued the path toward fields. The village was almost abandoned and some of the residents were the ones from Yushki Ecocenter I contacted a few weeks ago. Luckily, one of them had taken me to the Center’s worksite, which was my destination now, and told me about their endeavors during the day. I had asked, for sure, if any wild animals were present there, before planting my tent and hearing that the area was very secure in terms of wild animals. In fact, I had passed through numerous forestry areas from Kiev until I reached the village and thought that it must be a mecca of forest lovers. This is the feeling you can have in many parts, particularly southern ones, of Ukraine and Russia.
A. E. Arslan
Copyright: Comfort & Travel
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