How I started a goat and became a cheese maker in Bali
For some, even moving to another apartment it becomes a test and stress, others easily break from their homes and go to the other end of the earth to start life from scratch. Ksenia Kurt belongs to the second - she told us how she was in Bali and found her place and business.
Selection
I was born in a military family. In any place we lived for five years: in the Carpathians, Germany, the Astrakhan region - so even in my childhood I had a habit of packing my bags, moving, getting used to, looking after, meeting new people. Then there was a dream to become a flight attendant, but everything turned out differently.
I finished school in the Astrakhan region; I studied in a medical class, and we were prepared for admission to a medical university. In the ninth grade, my friend said: "What if you become not a flight attendant, but a doctor?" Of course, I was surprised, but I loved my friend, trusted her, so I took and agreed, although I didn’t want to be a doctor. Despite the fact that I graduated from school with a gold medal, my mother issued a verdict: "You will not go to university. Do not waste your time, go to the medical college."
So I became a midwife and worked for two years in the Saratov maternity hospital. I liked working in the maternity unit - this is the peak moment, for the sake of which everything is started. But our medicine (at least ten to fifteen years ago) did not always respond to its tasks. Sometimes women were operated on unnecessarily, only for the sake of money, the medical staff among themselves called them "women." I'm glad I can tell you now. Although, of course, there are doctors who struggle with the system - in my twenty years I was faced with a choice: to take one side or the other. But in the end, she refused both options and decided to go further. Despite the positive moments, the warm feedback from the patients, I was convinced that the medicine was not mine. And I also wanted to get a diploma of higher education.
Sometimes women were operated without need, only for the sake of money, the medical staff among themselves called them "women"
I retired from the hospital and entered the Saratov branch of the Russian State Social University at the psychology department - the only place I was taken without exams after the medical college. In order to pay for her studies, I began to work as a waitress. Unfortunately, the combination did not work out for long, I had to quit and finish my studies. But I soon returned to the restaurant business.
When I received my diploma, I felt cramped in Saratov. At twenty-four, I moved to Moscow with a friend and immediately got a job at a restaurant - this is how I got money, and later the opportunity to rent an apartment separately. After six months in Moscow, I came home for the holidays. The whole family gathered to listen to the stories about the capital, and the aunt said: "Xenia, you should be on television! You have been broadcasting for an hour, and we are listening to you with open mouths, as if watching a movie."
I myself was not going to always be a waitress. When I returned to Moscow, on the same morning I saw an advertisement on television about recruiting to the Ostankino High School of Television and thought it was fate. I continued to work, and at the same time I began studying for a TV and radio host, but they didn’t call me on television - there was only an opportunity to work at Mosfilm as an administrator on the project, that is, as a secretary, without any creativity at all. I remained a waitress and do not regret it.
Change
I always came back from work late, not before midnight. Once, when I approached the porch, a hand fell on my shoulder from the darkness. At first I decided that it was some kind of intrusive fan - but the stranger immediately threw me to the ground and took the bag with documents, money, keys from the apartment.
At about the same time, my boyfriend, a sommelier, who offered to live together after a couple of months of meetings, left me. We rented a completely empty apartment, made repairs, bought everything in it to the last detail and, happy, moved. Two months later, he became gloomy and silent, and one morning he handed me a letter, where it was written that I was very good, but we were not on the way - and went to work. I never saw him again.
Because of the attack and the breakup, of course, I worried, suffered and could not work for several months. Colleagues helped me to cope - they brought me everything I needed, and even more: from a metro pass to oysters and champagne. At the same time, they did not delicately ask unnecessary questions - they just came to visit, and then in the closet I found a huge bag of food.
People play a huge role in my life, without support and help, nothing would have happened. And much depends on random coincidences. After I broke up with her boyfriend, a friend invited me to Turkey at the Wella event: she worked as a leading stylist and looked for a model for haircuts and dyeing, which could show the result on the runway. I became this model. The British were in our team, they turned out to be wonderful people, and I had a new dream - London. I never got there, but in a long period of sadness this dream helped me move forward.
Date with goats
In Moscow, I continued to gain useful experiences in the world of food, drinks and service, but I realized that I didn’t want to serve guests salads all my life - and in seven years I was already tired of Moscow. I wanted to move to another country, but I did not speak any foreign language and could only work as a waitress. Quite by chance (yes, again by chance!) A friend advised Bali, and I thought: why not? She quit and flew there for a month. She rented a guesthouse in the not very tourist town, where there was not a single Russian-speaking person, she rested, met local people, studied the island. And she promised herself to return.
The promise was kept only after three years. During this time, I saved up four thousand dollars, bought a one-way ticket and flew off to Bali without friends and connections. She lived in a guesthouse, then with friends - and while she was looking for herself, the money ran out. Again, Moscow colleagues did not give up and sent me a thousand dollars. I wanted to change the scope of work, to find myself in something else, but it turned out differently. Only here I realized that ten years of work in the field of public catering was a preparation.
In the third month of life in Bali, I met my future husband. I made chocolates for the cafe, and when I once again brought the order, instead of the Englishman I was met by a Canadian friend: the owner went on vacation and left him to look after the cafe. I brought sweets every other day, each time I tried to communicate with him in broken English. At first, I didn’t even understand what his name was - my English was limited to memorized phrases from the service and hospitality sectors: “How long are you in Moscow?”, “Which whiskey do you prefer?”, “Unfortunately, the fish are over”. Despite the language barrier, I almost immediately invited Ben to celebrate Easter with my friends who spoke Russian. The next day, in response, he invited me to dinner, and the third he handed me the keys to the house and the wallet with the words: "Honey, do what you want, create, experiment."
We are so different. Ben doesn’t do anything without thinking about it. And I first do what I want, and then I think that it was not very necessary. We have a perfect union: ideas from me, technical implementation from it. So we began to make cheese. In 2010, Bali did not have tasty bread and smoked chicken - but most of all I missed my favorite cheese. I decided to cook it, but I ran into a problem: there is no milk on the island. I began to search and found it in Java. She took cheese recipes from the Internet, brought sourdoughs, enzymes, molds, and wax from Russia. I tried - and everything turned out. In the process, I was joined by partners from Russia - after a year and a half we already had three stores in Bali. But our vision began to diverge, I left, and in a few months the company was sold. I would buy it if I knew about their plans.
I began to look for new milk. I flew to Java, made cheese there and returned to Bali with twenty kilograms of cheese in a backpack. At the airport, no one was interested in why so many products and without documents: Indonesia is a wonderful country. But my friend, seeing my torment, offered to have a goat - although I never even had a cat. After a year of her persuasion, I called a friend from India who just bred goats: I just wanted to know where to buy them and how much. It was on the eve of my birthday, and he told me: "I have two six-month old girls, I give, take it!" I was going to goats, as on a date: I was worried, I bought cabbage, carrots, apples. And fell in love with them at first sight.
A few days later kids were with me. Before that, I assured Ben that it would be great to have my own fresh milk and cheese. He answered that it was difficult, we needed care for the animals, asked where we would take the goat, how we would keep them, and what I generally know about the goats. I replied: "Yes, it does not matter, in the process we shall understand!" But just in the process I realized that everything is not as simple as it seems: goats take time, attention, care - and the usual liter of milk becomes "golden." I began to make cheese from the milk of my own goats — I sold it first in stores, then in cafes and acquaintances. In July, we will again have the addition and the new season of goat cheese.
Not for all
Contrary to the opinion of the majority, I would not argue that Bali is a paradise on earth and everyone needs to go here. I did not have the installation that I want to live here, just the feeling that I should try. There have been no plans and expectations regarding the island. For me, Bali is not even a school, but a university of life. But I still do not know what specialty I am getting.
In the first year of life in Bali, I realized a lot about myself. My mother was the leader in the family. When I was born, she realized that her leadership could end, and did everything to prevent this from happening, not allowing me to show willpower - this illustrates the same story with how I did not enter the medical university. Therefore, my task in Bali is to restore my self-esteem. In Moscow, under the same conditions, I would not have succeeded.
Of course, if it were not for Ben, I would have returned to Moscow. There is nothing to catch without Bali. People who came to the island are divided into two categories. The first really want to stay here, but housing, visa, transportation and food cost a lot. In Moscow you can get a job, in a month you can understand that this is not yours, quit, find another one. Here you either open your own company or work for others. Both are difficult. Therefore, many people choose freelance: they conduct excursions, give culinary workshops, do massage, weave mandalas. When it does not work, you have to get out and do not very decent, in my opinion, things: to rent a house at twice the price or sell buckwheat for ten dollars. Therefore, to anyone who wants to move to Bali, I recommend living here for at least a month in test mode.
I was going to goats, as on a date: I was worried, I bought cabbage, carrots, apples. And fell in love with them at first sight
The second group of visitors to Bali, like me, everything turns out by itself. For the first six years I didn’t have a permanent job - but I discovered that I can tie a handbag, sew slippers, and cook food at home. For so many years I lived and did not know that I could do everything myself: even a handbag, even cheese.
But for Moscow, six years is too long. After this time, I realized that I was giving up and postponing important things. Therefore, at the beginning of this year, I thought about the fact that it’s time to finish with experiments, you need to get a legal full-time job. I presented these thoughts to a friend for whom I made sweets first, then cheese - and he suggested that I head their new bar. I am the only white person in the staff of sixty people, since nobody wants to hire us: it’s expensive and difficult with documents. I am extremely happy. I'm on the team, but I have a lot of freedom. I develop and implement the menu, organize the work of employees. My life literally goes on in the kitchen: I either work on it or talk about it. I signed a contract for a year - during this time I’ll understand whether I want to continue or will do something new.
I come to Moscow and Saratov once a year, do not miss the rest of the time. For me, returning to Moscow now is a step backwards, a defeat. I do not completely exclude such an opportunity, but now I feel very good here. Ben and I have a big house in the jungle. We organized everything so that if you wish, you can not leave it at all: a movie projector, a room for yoga, a garage and a workshop, a garden. And I am in my place - ironically, it is in the kitchen.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Jaroslav - stock.adobe.com, andrii_lutsyk - stock.adobe.com
