napolje is serbian for "outside", in bulgarian it's "vun" or "navun" (vutreshen vs vunshen inside vs outside)
but no, this was on the outer margins of a dense urban area, it's just in the culture there, i mean yes, sensible in winter and for actual agricultural areas but not in your backyard
the bulgarians were pretty full on about it too
it was hard for me to reconcile because as a child putting the shoes off and going out into the grassy playground was a daily routine... but again, me and the half tongan boy who i most vividly remember doing this with... the white kids didn't understand, and i look white but i'm black inside, and wearing shoes has always been a problem for me, especially because i have odd shaped feet that mostly are impossible to find shoes for