But 19 people were too many Even with fewer people, the families must eat in shifts and sleep on mattresses that cover almost every square foot of floor space. Children are everywhere, tugging at curtains and knocking over a vase of plastic flowers. Zaruye Elezkurtay spends much of the day out of the house with other refugee men milling around the Bar America, which has turned into a journalist hangout and therefore a hub of information. Older children spend most of the day outdoors, playing soccer or chasing the thousands of kids who are in the streets and yards of this small town. The babies stay inside with Behare Elezkurtay while Xhylsome and Barhud Selmani go to work at city hall.
Dinner is usually soup, a cup of rice and some bread.
And it's like cooking for an army. The Selmanis are both city workers who earn a good living by Kukes standards, and although they are happy to share their home, they are worried about having enough money to feed themselves, let alone visitors. And I know of one family that is hosting 20 refugees. I'm not sure how they manage. For every family taken in or transported elsewhere, four families are left to camp in the rock-strewn fields beneath the Reza Mountains in freezing overnight temperatures.