Cops, fever and food

This blog covers a period of a week and is not necessarily in chronological order, as the greater part of the week was spent on training, training and more training! Language classes, field visits for technical training, history and politics of the region! Add to this mix language homework and there is very little free time. 

It is absolutely amazing to me how a brisk walk outside has a way of uplifting one’s spirits. When I woke up to an overcast sky on Saturday morning after a night of continuous rain that continued into most of the day. I felt quite lethargic as I had a scratchy throat and the start of a cold. So at first I didn’t want to step outside at all.  
I do walk in the rain back home so I did go out, adequately clad against inclement weather with a pair of warm pants and jacket, boots and a raincoat. 

I set out on the main road up a steady incline covering approximately one mile. On my way up I encountered a black dog and when I didn’t stop or show any fear, he just turned around and went back into his yard. I was on a public road and he had wandered out of his yard! On my way back, the police car that I had seen making it’s way towards the village was stopped and the two policemen were busy stopping cars speeding towards the village. On close inspection, there appeared to be a hand held radar detector that was laying on top of the hood, while they were engaged in conversation with the drivers of the three stopped cars. I would’ve missed all this excitement had I stayed indoors! 

By this time the rain had stopped but the clouds still lay across the hills and farther away the mountains, like grey necklaces. Closer the fields had the fresh washed look, the greens, browns and yellow hues blending in at random with haystacks (actually they are made up of corn stalks). I really knew nothing about this part of the world till I was given the option to come here as a volunteer. The little reading I did was more to do with historical perspective and never really spoke of how nature has made this place a combination of harsh stony rocky environment mixed with fertile soil set in rolling hills with extremes of temperatures! I have yet to see most of this country and yet it is already tugging at my heartstrings during my walks!  

My recent adventure at the local bank to withdraw money was funny. Since, I couldn’t use the ATM as I had kept my PIN number documents in such a safe place that I couldn’t find it readily, I stopped by the main bank. The teller spoke enough English to let me know it will not be a problem to withdraw money without the PIN. However, after a lot of keystrokes at his computer he tells me in officious sounding words that my registration wasn’t complete, and proceeded to pass my passport and debit card to a personal banker. At this time, all my Macedonian deserted me and I could only converse in English. I really didn’t need the money that moment anyway! Fortunately, a colleague rescued me. I had better find that PIN number if I ever needed any money!

My host family coddle me when my tongue twists and I have trouble with conjugations, verbs and nouns. Age is a great leveler in understanding culture and value, especially in this situation. Last week when the father asked me to make coffee for his guests (the mother was in the backyard finishing up making her aivar), just saying ‘Happie’ and ‘café’, I understood at once, without elaborate sentences! My host mother understands me enough and helps me by articulating the correct way to say it back to me and I repeat it back till it sounds right! With a mix of pantomime and picking up objects, I was able to convey to her that with the fever and cold that I was nursing over the weekend, the heater in the room would draw all the moisture out and will make my coughing worse. We found a way to increase the humidity by placing a pan of water next to the heater, something I remember doing as a graduate student!

More on Macedonian food! One of the host families in our village is an excellent cook. We had heard so much about her food that word got back to her and she invited all of us to her home for rucheck (lunch). She served a salad with roasted (?) pickled (?) sliced eggplant marinated in olive oil, garlic, parsley, salt, on a plate with marinated cucumbers and pickled peppers. They were so delicious that I had 2 additional helpings. Other items were moussaka, a potato salad dressed with tomatoes, grilled chicken and meat kabobs (meat, onions, and?), freshly made apple pie (pita e yabonka). There were baskets of fresh bread, plain and filled and aivar that seems to accompany every table at this time of the year in this region. 

I bet I haven’t tasted the full variety of foods of Macedonia! All this was followed by the generosity of her neighbor who had us over for coffee right after the meal and in addition to more apple pie; she served crepes filled with mixed fruit jam sprinkled with powdered sugar similar to the crepes served in France!