I am absolutely amazed at how full my calendar has been during my first month at site and how quickly the people of Brod have made me a part of their community.
I have attended two performances given by school children. The primary school was in the second week of December and a showcase of prose and music, while the preschool and kinder garden children had a holiday performance complete with jingle bells and presents under the tree on December 30. Santa Claus and lighting of the tree here is associated with New Years and not Christmas. Working as a community development volunteer my presence at the schools is limited. I took the initiative to attend the performance of the primary school alone without invitation, because I felt I am bound to meet parents and teachers from the community.
When I attended the annual dinner with the women’s organization “Luna” I was pleasantly surprised to recognize four ladies from previous encounters. My friend, who had invited me, was unfortunately delayed and couldn't come at all and I went alone to the restaurant. Now my circle of acquaintances’ has grown exponentially. That is how I received the invitation to the performance of the preschoolers.
Earlier in the month, I met with members of the environmental club “Treska” and was invited to a caving expedition, which was canceled due to an unexpected heavy snowfall accompanied by below zero temperatures on the scheduled date. I do have a rain check for the next trip, though.
I was invited to accompany the municipality employees to (1) attend a community forum of needs assessment sponsored by an ngo and (2) a presentation of the Slatinsky Izvor caves in the municipality for which an application for UNESCO World Heritage site was filed in 2004. I look forward to seeing those caves in the next two years.
At the municipality, I started conversational English lessons in order to get to know the employees, which has helped in making for a congenial relationship with everyone. Even though I speak Macedonian haltingly, I am making headway in increasing the content of the conversation and they are starting to share their work projects with me,along with helping me with my language skills, just as I help them with theirs! I have a class daily and sometimes, due to their work schedule repeat the content with the ones who miss the 'class'. When we wee struggling with pronunciation earlier this week, it was real pleasant to hear a peer say, we have two years, ima vreme! Even though I hadn't planned to teach English when I signed up as a volunteer, these classes offer an opportunity for conversation, which will lead to collaborative projects!
To further communication and cultural exchange opportunities, I invited all my coworkers to a Christmas party at my home – sharing our way of a celebration with theirs and with the help of two of my Macedonian friends baked cookies and American style pasta and tomato sauce. It was well received with close to 20 people. My friends and I wrapped the evening in a sing-a-long with my friend’s son playing the guitar and singing both Macedonian and English songs!
Meanwhile, not to ignore my volunteer colleagues, I thoroughly enjoyed Hanukkah in Skopje and loved the girls night out for Boxing Day in Gostivar. I still keep up with my language tutoring and daily walks with my tutor, not to mention the long hikes during the weekends, alone or with friends.
It has been quite a roller coaster life emotionally and there are times I really miss being back home with family, but this choice to work as a volunteer has allowed me to experience and grow in ways that staying in my comfortable cozy environment at home would not have done. So to my nuclear and extended family, a big thank you for your support and encouragement. May the New Year bring you good health and uplifting experiences.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Intercity Transportation
In the few months I have been here, I have discovered that the decentralized transportation works.
Every local community has drivers’ who have figured out the needs of their communities. Entry to meet this demand starts with ‘wild taxi’s’. These are unlicensed driver’s with personal cars who ‘hang’ around the main street, often calling out the names of the town they are headed and will drive passengers to their destination in the neighboring villages and towns at the same rate as the fixed bus rate and charge by the passenger. So if you are alone, they may stop and pick up 3 other passengers. In big cities they tend to prey on tourists and charge inflated rates, but in the smaller towns where there are no tourists, like my site, they are okay. The louder they yell for passengers, the more careful a tourist needs to be!
The next step up is the licensed taxi driver, followed by the licensed combi driver. The combi, small minibus’ holding about 6-8 people to larger ones with a capacity of 21-30 people is most efficient. They operate like buses with a fixed schedule based on their knowledge of the needs of their community. For example, in my town the people who go to Skopje on a regular are usually going to shop for the day, maybe for a job related meeting and return at night, as well as students who live in Skopje and return home for the weekends. The journey is not short – 2 plus hours, so the two combi driver’s leave every weekday morning around 5 am and return in the evening, leaving around 4pm. Their mission is to transport people, so they will take people who may not want to all the way to the final destination and drop them along the way. If they have space they will pick up passengers along the way to their final destination.
The combi I took midweek was leaving after a holiday and packed with students. That morning, we doubled up and took on more passengers than there were seats! On the return home there were only 3 of us and I observed he stopped and picked up and dropped passengers along the way, meeting the need of the community in a way a centralized bus service would not be able to administer! So this weekend, when I went to Skopje for Saturday evening, I was able to visit and have lunch in Gostivar (a city about an hour from Skopje and in the same direction as my town) and still return on ‘my combi’ back to Brod, as he made a slight detour from the main highway to pick me up. Truly I feel the priority of the system is to transport people from place to place. If you combine these combi’s with the centralized inter-city bus service, the flexibility gained makes it a very efficient system. It also provides a space for entrepreneurial activity for a public service.
The starting point of this system - the ‘wild taxis’ presents a challenge – as it takes away from the efficiency of the system, and is often exploitative of tourists and newcomers to the community. The centralized system is also not a single bus company and thus you can only buy tickets in the last hour prior to the bus arrival to the station, from which you are departing. This is a new mindset for travelers from countries such as America where, we make plans and reservations way ahead of time, constrained as we are with time commitments. The quality of the intercity buses, combi’s and taxi’s is also a bit of a problem, ranging from modern to ancient equipment, so often the published schedules reflect the timings of those companies with little newer equipment.
As volunteers, we see this side of equation simply as we are given no choice – we are not allowed to drive and don’t have enough money to rent a car for our travels! I have experienced the value of this rule in our slower paced environment.
Every local community has drivers’ who have figured out the needs of their communities. Entry to meet this demand starts with ‘wild taxi’s’. These are unlicensed driver’s with personal cars who ‘hang’ around the main street, often calling out the names of the town they are headed and will drive passengers to their destination in the neighboring villages and towns at the same rate as the fixed bus rate and charge by the passenger. So if you are alone, they may stop and pick up 3 other passengers. In big cities they tend to prey on tourists and charge inflated rates, but in the smaller towns where there are no tourists, like my site, they are okay. The louder they yell for passengers, the more careful a tourist needs to be!
The next step up is the licensed taxi driver, followed by the licensed combi driver. The combi, small minibus’ holding about 6-8 people to larger ones with a capacity of 21-30 people is most efficient. They operate like buses with a fixed schedule based on their knowledge of the needs of their community. For example, in my town the people who go to Skopje on a regular are usually going to shop for the day, maybe for a job related meeting and return at night, as well as students who live in Skopje and return home for the weekends. The journey is not short – 2 plus hours, so the two combi driver’s leave every weekday morning around 5 am and return in the evening, leaving around 4pm. Their mission is to transport people, so they will take people who may not want to all the way to the final destination and drop them along the way. If they have space they will pick up passengers along the way to their final destination.
The combi I took midweek was leaving after a holiday and packed with students. That morning, we doubled up and took on more passengers than there were seats! On the return home there were only 3 of us and I observed he stopped and picked up and dropped passengers along the way, meeting the need of the community in a way a centralized bus service would not be able to administer! So this weekend, when I went to Skopje for Saturday evening, I was able to visit and have lunch in Gostivar (a city about an hour from Skopje and in the same direction as my town) and still return on ‘my combi’ back to Brod, as he made a slight detour from the main highway to pick me up. Truly I feel the priority of the system is to transport people from place to place. If you combine these combi’s with the centralized inter-city bus service, the flexibility gained makes it a very efficient system. It also provides a space for entrepreneurial activity for a public service.
The starting point of this system - the ‘wild taxis’ presents a challenge – as it takes away from the efficiency of the system, and is often exploitative of tourists and newcomers to the community. The centralized system is also not a single bus company and thus you can only buy tickets in the last hour prior to the bus arrival to the station, from which you are departing. This is a new mindset for travelers from countries such as America where, we make plans and reservations way ahead of time, constrained as we are with time commitments. The quality of the intercity buses, combi’s and taxi’s is also a bit of a problem, ranging from modern to ancient equipment, so often the published schedules reflect the timings of those companies with little newer equipment.
As volunteers, we see this side of equation simply as we are given no choice – we are not allowed to drive and don’t have enough money to rent a car for our travels! I have experienced the value of this rule in our slower paced environment.
Jottings
My first two weeks at site has been packed with new impressions of the place and the people! As I started my daily walks immediately, through the section of town that is buzzing with activity – people heading to work and children to their school, my presence in the community is very visible. While doing no more than smile and greet the children in English and the adults in Macedonian, I have become a familiar figure in this short time. Much to my delight, I am often greeted with a smile of recognition during these walks.
This morning, I met one of my personal goals - that people will be able to keep time with my morning walks. This personal goal was based on a book about an English teacher living in Nepal, whose routine was well established in her community. I thought it would be cool to do that, because on days when I don’t feel like going out or am not meeting my walking partner, there will be expectation that I will walk by that particular combi stop at 7 am! So today, when I approached the spot where teachers wait for the combi to take them to primary schools in the neighboring villages, one of them looked at his watch and said, it must be seven to my walking partner!
My time in these first two weeks is packed with learning the ropes of living alone after years of living with the companionship of a husband and children. I buy a small loaf of bread at the bakery, standing in line with the young primary school children and much like them, pointing to the item I will buy that morning –not having enough language to name the items displayed. To date, I have made a big pot of soup, without any starters and was delighted with the outcome. It was my mainstay for a week! I have attempted to make broccoli with cheese sauce and succeeded, but made a mess of a pot of rice! I have yet to get a feel for all that is available and love the Macedonian phrase “ima vreme” (there is time) as it reflects my attitude towards my settling in period.
Meanwhile, I am becoming comfortable at my work site – slowly understanding their work and responsibilities with my limited language. As my co-workers hear me struggle with speaking in Macedonian – mixing up sentence structures with verb conjugation, nouns and expressions, they feel less anxious about their own poor English speaking and vocabulary and have started tentatively responding with a few words that they know! My morning greeting is now “Good Morning” followed by “Dobro Utro”. I have also backed of from having my coffee or tea at home and share that first cup at work. I still have my cereal breakfast before arriving though!
I know it’s only a week, but I have asked that we start English conversation hour twice a week and we start tomorrow! I suspect many of my co-workers have studied English and are nervous about speaking. I was nervous too, of sounding silly, of being judged about my abilities, but after our intensive training before arriving here, some of that nervousness disappeared and there are many phrases in Macedonian that I speak with confidence. So my goal is not so much to “teach a new language – heaven knows I have never taught a language class in my life, but to make everyone comfortable with hearing themselves speak the language they have learned, but lost it because of lack of use. I am nervous too, of leading a conversation hour, having never participated in one that I can model. Cie la vie! We will all learn together.
Meanwhile I have made friends with some community leaders. I attended the “preredbata” – kind of a musical evening at the primary school last Monday. When I heard about it, I figured I should just show up – as it will be filled with parents of the children. It worked – not only did I run into a few parents, who happened to work at the worksite, but also a few other teachers who I know through my visits with my landlady and her friends. Later that night the PCV volunteer teaching at a neighboring village, invited me to the teachers party in town. I was reading a book when her sms reached me. I dropped my reading and walked out the door immediately. We both joined in dancing the traditional ora and had a great time. Now my circle of friends has become bigger and I know the names of many of these teachers, some of whom I see during my morning walk and around town.
I have met a few other community leaders and though I have made two trips to Skopje, midweek for a secondary project and over the weekend to attend a Hanukkah celebration, I am quite content in my new town. The hiking trails and walking playing a big part in my settling down, as it matches my routine back home. There is time enough during my service to really get to know the country was visit the other places that are recommended by the people and the tour guidebooks!
This morning, I met one of my personal goals - that people will be able to keep time with my morning walks. This personal goal was based on a book about an English teacher living in Nepal, whose routine was well established in her community. I thought it would be cool to do that, because on days when I don’t feel like going out or am not meeting my walking partner, there will be expectation that I will walk by that particular combi stop at 7 am! So today, when I approached the spot where teachers wait for the combi to take them to primary schools in the neighboring villages, one of them looked at his watch and said, it must be seven to my walking partner!
My time in these first two weeks is packed with learning the ropes of living alone after years of living with the companionship of a husband and children. I buy a small loaf of bread at the bakery, standing in line with the young primary school children and much like them, pointing to the item I will buy that morning –not having enough language to name the items displayed. To date, I have made a big pot of soup, without any starters and was delighted with the outcome. It was my mainstay for a week! I have attempted to make broccoli with cheese sauce and succeeded, but made a mess of a pot of rice! I have yet to get a feel for all that is available and love the Macedonian phrase “ima vreme” (there is time) as it reflects my attitude towards my settling in period.
Meanwhile, I am becoming comfortable at my work site – slowly understanding their work and responsibilities with my limited language. As my co-workers hear me struggle with speaking in Macedonian – mixing up sentence structures with verb conjugation, nouns and expressions, they feel less anxious about their own poor English speaking and vocabulary and have started tentatively responding with a few words that they know! My morning greeting is now “Good Morning” followed by “Dobro Utro”. I have also backed of from having my coffee or tea at home and share that first cup at work. I still have my cereal breakfast before arriving though!
I know it’s only a week, but I have asked that we start English conversation hour twice a week and we start tomorrow! I suspect many of my co-workers have studied English and are nervous about speaking. I was nervous too, of sounding silly, of being judged about my abilities, but after our intensive training before arriving here, some of that nervousness disappeared and there are many phrases in Macedonian that I speak with confidence. So my goal is not so much to “teach a new language – heaven knows I have never taught a language class in my life, but to make everyone comfortable with hearing themselves speak the language they have learned, but lost it because of lack of use. I am nervous too, of leading a conversation hour, having never participated in one that I can model. Cie la vie! We will all learn together.
Meanwhile I have made friends with some community leaders. I attended the “preredbata” – kind of a musical evening at the primary school last Monday. When I heard about it, I figured I should just show up – as it will be filled with parents of the children. It worked – not only did I run into a few parents, who happened to work at the worksite, but also a few other teachers who I know through my visits with my landlady and her friends. Later that night the PCV volunteer teaching at a neighboring village, invited me to the teachers party in town. I was reading a book when her sms reached me. I dropped my reading and walked out the door immediately. We both joined in dancing the traditional ora and had a great time. Now my circle of friends has become bigger and I know the names of many of these teachers, some of whom I see during my morning walk and around town.
I have met a few other community leaders and though I have made two trips to Skopje, midweek for a secondary project and over the weekend to attend a Hanukkah celebration, I am quite content in my new town. The hiking trails and walking playing a big part in my settling down, as it matches my routine back home. There is time enough during my service to really get to know the country was visit the other places that are recommended by the people and the tour guidebooks!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
First Day at Work
Glorious day for Monday morning! This is the first day at my work site and what better way to start than with my usual morning walk. I returned home at 8 am. After a breakfast of coffee, cereal with flax seeds and dried cranberries, I walked to work. Have I told everyone that work is less than 5 minutes away and I can see the building from the gate of my house? This is the kind of work commute I have dreamed about many times, especially when during my early days of working in downtown Chicago, I had an hour-long commute by train.
The group I sit with were there drinking coffee when I arrived at 8:45am, giving me enough time for socializing and skipping the actual cup of coffee. I had been warned there would be more coffee during the day. I offered chocolates as this was my first day at work and it is a Macedonian tradition to share one’s good fortune with everyone.
After about 15 minutes, I accompanied one of the workers whose job is to record encroachments on the streets and other public spaces in one section of the city. The city is divided into three sections. They walk to and through their areas and I went with the English speaking one who monitors the area that includes the original village before it grew into a city and is the farthest from the office. These streets were paved about 5-6 years ago with the ‘stone-brick’ material and not the usual asphalt we see today, giving it a picturesque look. There are still many homes made of the mixed clay and hay brick with a stone and wood frame construction. The homes are not laid out in the modern geometrical fashion and so offer many fascinating angles to the street.
His job was like officer friendly and he spoke of the encroachments in a neighborly fashion and no resident was given a citation. Some areas had been cleared of the encroachment since his last round. Surprisingly many homes that we crossed had still not demolished the old outhouse structures, though each home is equipped with indoor plumbing. It is my understanding that outhouses are built, understandably during the construction of the home and have to be taken down upon completion. There is no manpower to enforce the demolition and they end up staying as eyesores.
We also stopped for coffee with one of the residents, who had remodeled his house fairly recently with a modern paver stone driveway. His patch of garden, approx 15 square feet, has a little section planted with salad greens. Using twigs and plastic to form a greenhouse, he had enough to sell some heads for cash income. The remainder of his garden was tilled ready for the next crop, with the exception of a corner, also covered with an even smaller greenhouse about 1 sq ft filled with cilantro and/or parsley. Two and half hours later, we stopped at a fresh bakery near the high school on our way back to the office and I picked up fresh bread and some “burek” for lunch. It was a great way to meet many residents of the city, see it with a colleague and observe one of the ways the municipality works.
Afternoon was a little slow and I was a bit tired having walked before work and during work all morning. I spent the remainder of the time at the computer using google translate to read some of the Macedonian documents. We had another “pausa” (break) at 2 pm and soon it was time to go home.
I did some more laundry, sort of with the idea that if I do a little everyday, I will not have a pile of clothes for the weekend. I had to wash my nice pants as they had picked up mud during my walks. Dinner, de facto became left over burek, an apple and a banana topped with a cup of coffee. I spend another hour on language, transferring my scribbles during the day in a coherent fashion in a new notebook I had purchased and preparing for the tutorial for the next day.
The group I sit with were there drinking coffee when I arrived at 8:45am, giving me enough time for socializing and skipping the actual cup of coffee. I had been warned there would be more coffee during the day. I offered chocolates as this was my first day at work and it is a Macedonian tradition to share one’s good fortune with everyone.
After about 15 minutes, I accompanied one of the workers whose job is to record encroachments on the streets and other public spaces in one section of the city. The city is divided into three sections. They walk to and through their areas and I went with the English speaking one who monitors the area that includes the original village before it grew into a city and is the farthest from the office. These streets were paved about 5-6 years ago with the ‘stone-brick’ material and not the usual asphalt we see today, giving it a picturesque look. There are still many homes made of the mixed clay and hay brick with a stone and wood frame construction. The homes are not laid out in the modern geometrical fashion and so offer many fascinating angles to the street.
His job was like officer friendly and he spoke of the encroachments in a neighborly fashion and no resident was given a citation. Some areas had been cleared of the encroachment since his last round. Surprisingly many homes that we crossed had still not demolished the old outhouse structures, though each home is equipped with indoor plumbing. It is my understanding that outhouses are built, understandably during the construction of the home and have to be taken down upon completion. There is no manpower to enforce the demolition and they end up staying as eyesores.
We also stopped for coffee with one of the residents, who had remodeled his house fairly recently with a modern paver stone driveway. His patch of garden, approx 15 square feet, has a little section planted with salad greens. Using twigs and plastic to form a greenhouse, he had enough to sell some heads for cash income. The remainder of his garden was tilled ready for the next crop, with the exception of a corner, also covered with an even smaller greenhouse about 1 sq ft filled with cilantro and/or parsley. Two and half hours later, we stopped at a fresh bakery near the high school on our way back to the office and I picked up fresh bread and some “burek” for lunch. It was a great way to meet many residents of the city, see it with a colleague and observe one of the ways the municipality works.
Afternoon was a little slow and I was a bit tired having walked before work and during work all morning. I spent the remainder of the time at the computer using google translate to read some of the Macedonian documents. We had another “pausa” (break) at 2 pm and soon it was time to go home.
I did some more laundry, sort of with the idea that if I do a little everyday, I will not have a pile of clothes for the weekend. I had to wash my nice pants as they had picked up mud during my walks. Dinner, de facto became left over burek, an apple and a banana topped with a cup of coffee. I spend another hour on language, transferring my scribbles during the day in a coherent fashion in a new notebook I had purchased and preparing for the tutorial for the next day.
Settling In
The following day, Friday November 27, I left my village for my assigned site, settling in as the first Peace Corps volunteer for the local self-government unit in the community. This community however, has had previous volunteers working at the primary schools in the municipality. I was fortunate enough to get a choice between a high-rise building apartment and a single family home with the second floor modified to enable an independent entry and bath and kitchenette. I chose the recommended home. As far as creature comforts go, living in Macedonia is very comfortable, most homes are equipped with many labor saving devices, and have a continuous source of electricity, indoor plumbing and broadband! All I have to figure out is which internet package to subscribe to, a couple of labor saving devices for the kitchen, as it comes with a refrigerator, stove an oven. I am set.
As a PCV, I am still unable to comprehend the necessity of a continuous internet connection. Yes everyone in Macedonia is connected, so it is understandable that it is not a luxury. Though I have my laptop to journal as well as to blog, I decided not to get a connection and spend those evening hours in the community instead of on the internet. Learning to cook for one (just myself) is difficult after raising a family especially as memories of cooking for myself during college and before marriage colored my vision. The first and the easiest item I have settled on is the boiled whole-wheat grain cereal I wrote about earlier – simple, yet a good whole grain bread substitute doubling up as a breakfast cereal. Albeit it takes longer to cook than the cereal in a box, it is far more satisfying and very nutritious. With the availability of a wide array of vegetables, vegetable soup with cabbage as the mainstay is my next choice. Both can be made in quantity, once every few days. I have not yet found whole wheat flour in the local store – may need to pick it up when in Skopje. I hope to make chappatis, poories and paratha on weekends to have with yogurt and other Indian style vegetables.
Shopping will be at the small vendor stands and at the local “prodavnitsa”. There is no word to distinguish between a small neighborhood grocery store with a medium sized store or a supermarket, other than calling it “malo” (small) and “golemo” (big). The main store in town is a medium sized, split-level store grocery, hardware and clothing store. The grocery section is on the main floor and the mezzanine with clothing and household dry goods. Below the mezzanine is a hardware store that also included household appliances, such as stoves, washing machines, refrigerators etc.
Prem’s presence also blunted the shock of living alone and made settling in easy for me. He will know understand my ramblings about my place now that he has seen the beautiful mountainous region my house is in. Friday evening, we not only ate with my landlady, but also met her extended family.
The next day, we walked about and purchased fruits and vegetables and odds and ends not only at the ‘prodavnitsa’ but also at the small neighborhood shops.Gave me an opportunity to introducing myself as a new resident of the town. Though there were big gaps in language, we understand each other and giving a nice feeling of getting along and being welcomed. Along with our purchases we were also offered refreshments at the small shops, reminiscent of shopping in stores in India. Lunch with my colleague was scrumptious with a variety of traditional Macedonian dishes– local trout lightly battered and fried; palachinka (crepes, layered with serenje; burek (flaky pie filled with cheese); sarma (cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and meat); fresh baked white bread; ajvar (pepper-paprika relish) to name a few. Served with home made sour cherry compote and topped with a variety of desserts, including baklava!
Later that evening, we had another round of hospitality at my landlady’s home with freshly baked hot ‘tikva’ a squash similar to pumpkin and used by other volunteers to make pumpkin pie! It was too late in the day for setting up my landline telephone – internet connection so we left it for later. A common expression in Macedonia is “ima vreme” there is time!
Soon it was Sunday and after breakfasting on the whole grain cereal, it was time for Prem to leave! It was only 9:50 am. As he departed by taxi, I left for a walk, because I couldn’t imagine what I’d do alone inside my house! It was a lovely day with blue skies dotted with white clouds. I walked about for 2 hours, across town and finally on an open road to the next village. I greeted everyone, including a few people in their yards or out hanging out the laundry. A couple people knew where I was staying and seeing their faces light up when I said hello made it easier to keep at it, even as I met a few who gave me blank stares.
On my return I washed my clothes for the first time since I came to Macedonia, as my host Mom always took care of laundry back at the village. I have no working washing machine – which is not a problem, yet when my landlady saw me hanging my wet clothes on the line, she insisted that I go down and use her washing machine the next time I wash. Hanging clothes to dry in the sun gives them a nice crisp feel.
At about 2 pm, I met my language tutor and to my delight soon to be walking partner. Both of us need the exercise and just as I need a partner to motivate me to get up, get dressed and go out every day – rain or shine for a walk, so does she. On my return after walking her halfway home, my landlady was waiting for me to take me along to visit her friends. It was a busy Sunday and I am off to bed.
As a PCV, I am still unable to comprehend the necessity of a continuous internet connection. Yes everyone in Macedonia is connected, so it is understandable that it is not a luxury. Though I have my laptop to journal as well as to blog, I decided not to get a connection and spend those evening hours in the community instead of on the internet. Learning to cook for one (just myself) is difficult after raising a family especially as memories of cooking for myself during college and before marriage colored my vision. The first and the easiest item I have settled on is the boiled whole-wheat grain cereal I wrote about earlier – simple, yet a good whole grain bread substitute doubling up as a breakfast cereal. Albeit it takes longer to cook than the cereal in a box, it is far more satisfying and very nutritious. With the availability of a wide array of vegetables, vegetable soup with cabbage as the mainstay is my next choice. Both can be made in quantity, once every few days. I have not yet found whole wheat flour in the local store – may need to pick it up when in Skopje. I hope to make chappatis, poories and paratha on weekends to have with yogurt and other Indian style vegetables.
Shopping will be at the small vendor stands and at the local “prodavnitsa”. There is no word to distinguish between a small neighborhood grocery store with a medium sized store or a supermarket, other than calling it “malo” (small) and “golemo” (big). The main store in town is a medium sized, split-level store grocery, hardware and clothing store. The grocery section is on the main floor and the mezzanine with clothing and household dry goods. Below the mezzanine is a hardware store that also included household appliances, such as stoves, washing machines, refrigerators etc.
Prem’s presence also blunted the shock of living alone and made settling in easy for me. He will know understand my ramblings about my place now that he has seen the beautiful mountainous region my house is in. Friday evening, we not only ate with my landlady, but also met her extended family.
The next day, we walked about and purchased fruits and vegetables and odds and ends not only at the ‘prodavnitsa’ but also at the small neighborhood shops.Gave me an opportunity to introducing myself as a new resident of the town. Though there were big gaps in language, we understand each other and giving a nice feeling of getting along and being welcomed. Along with our purchases we were also offered refreshments at the small shops, reminiscent of shopping in stores in India. Lunch with my colleague was scrumptious with a variety of traditional Macedonian dishes– local trout lightly battered and fried; palachinka (crepes, layered with serenje; burek (flaky pie filled with cheese); sarma (cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and meat); fresh baked white bread; ajvar (pepper-paprika relish) to name a few. Served with home made sour cherry compote and topped with a variety of desserts, including baklava!
Later that evening, we had another round of hospitality at my landlady’s home with freshly baked hot ‘tikva’ a squash similar to pumpkin and used by other volunteers to make pumpkin pie! It was too late in the day for setting up my landline telephone – internet connection so we left it for later. A common expression in Macedonia is “ima vreme” there is time!
Soon it was Sunday and after breakfasting on the whole grain cereal, it was time for Prem to leave! It was only 9:50 am. As he departed by taxi, I left for a walk, because I couldn’t imagine what I’d do alone inside my house! It was a lovely day with blue skies dotted with white clouds. I walked about for 2 hours, across town and finally on an open road to the next village. I greeted everyone, including a few people in their yards or out hanging out the laundry. A couple people knew where I was staying and seeing their faces light up when I said hello made it easier to keep at it, even as I met a few who gave me blank stares.
On my return I washed my clothes for the first time since I came to Macedonia, as my host Mom always took care of laundry back at the village. I have no working washing machine – which is not a problem, yet when my landlady saw me hanging my wet clothes on the line, she insisted that I go down and use her washing machine the next time I wash. Hanging clothes to dry in the sun gives them a nice crisp feel.
At about 2 pm, I met my language tutor and to my delight soon to be walking partner. Both of us need the exercise and just as I need a partner to motivate me to get up, get dressed and go out every day – rain or shine for a walk, so does she. On my return after walking her halfway home, my landlady was waiting for me to take me along to visit her friends. It was a busy Sunday and I am off to bed.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Becoming a Volunteer
Though I left home on September 12, I was officially sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer on Thanksgiving Day. I was an invitee from the time I was given an assignment, then became a trainee when I left home for Washington and only now on completion of language and culture training, I took the oath to become a volunteer.
Swearing in for our group coincided with Thanksgiving Day and to our delight we were blessed with a turkey dinner, complete with stuffing brought to us from stateside. Our host country families with our help, were responsible for the other offerings at the table – a true meaning of thanksgiving between the Macedonian and American people. My family took “shopska salata” a salad made with a mix of tomatoes, cucumbers, small macedonian onions and peppers, salt, and oil and the mix topped with “serenje” a local cheese.
The location of the ceremony was a banquet hall in a small village on the other side of Kumanovo, the city closest to our training site. During training, the staff arranged transportation and as our group of volunteers was scheduled to leave home almost 2 hrs before the start of the program, my family decided not to come with the group, but later in time for the ceremony. It worked out for the best, as everything has so far because “mojot soprug” (my husband) Prem was here in Macedonia to witness this memorable moment and join in the Thanksgiving meal.
It was a wonderful day, sunny and not too cold and the banquet hall was very elegant from the inside. The tables were laid out by the name of the training site and with the head table facing the stage – which was just an open area. Just before the start of the ceremony we, the volunteers, were assembled in single file along the stairway down to the main floor. After the arrival of the PC Country Director and his guests, the American Ambassador and the Macedonian Minister of Education, we walked in a single file into the room towards the front and sat down in alphabetical order, at an angle to the stage and the head table, facing the room.
The program started with the singing the two national anthems and after some speeches, we took the oath, that was followed by a more speeches, including a thank you given by two volunteers, one in Macedonian and the other in Albanian language. We filed out, again in a line and received our PCV certificates from our individual language and cultural training facilitator.
The meal was not as orderly as the first part of the ceremony, but that too was okay. Our table had enterprising families, bringing in “rakia” “vino” and “hot peppers”. The hot peppers a contribution from my family who like them as much as we do.
After dinner, the six training groups presented a 5-minute thank you to the families and pre-service training staff, many groups using slideshows, including our group. I also had written a poem and here are the first two verses.
“We are but passing ships in the night –
A bright star * guides us from the darkness to the light.
Mired in an unknown stony bay
Learning a language to steer us away.
Seven souls with no common plans –
Reaching out for an end; now in sight,
Leaving behind those helping hands
With sadness clouding the light.
After dancing and merry-making, we were done and on our way to our sites!
Swearing in for our group coincided with Thanksgiving Day and to our delight we were blessed with a turkey dinner, complete with stuffing brought to us from stateside. Our host country families with our help, were responsible for the other offerings at the table – a true meaning of thanksgiving between the Macedonian and American people. My family took “shopska salata” a salad made with a mix of tomatoes, cucumbers, small macedonian onions and peppers, salt, and oil and the mix topped with “serenje” a local cheese.
The location of the ceremony was a banquet hall in a small village on the other side of Kumanovo, the city closest to our training site. During training, the staff arranged transportation and as our group of volunteers was scheduled to leave home almost 2 hrs before the start of the program, my family decided not to come with the group, but later in time for the ceremony. It worked out for the best, as everything has so far because “mojot soprug” (my husband) Prem was here in Macedonia to witness this memorable moment and join in the Thanksgiving meal.
It was a wonderful day, sunny and not too cold and the banquet hall was very elegant from the inside. The tables were laid out by the name of the training site and with the head table facing the stage – which was just an open area. Just before the start of the ceremony we, the volunteers, were assembled in single file along the stairway down to the main floor. After the arrival of the PC Country Director and his guests, the American Ambassador and the Macedonian Minister of Education, we walked in a single file into the room towards the front and sat down in alphabetical order, at an angle to the stage and the head table, facing the room.
The program started with the singing the two national anthems and after some speeches, we took the oath, that was followed by a more speeches, including a thank you given by two volunteers, one in Macedonian and the other in Albanian language. We filed out, again in a line and received our PCV certificates from our individual language and cultural training facilitator.
The meal was not as orderly as the first part of the ceremony, but that too was okay. Our table had enterprising families, bringing in “rakia” “vino” and “hot peppers”. The hot peppers a contribution from my family who like them as much as we do.
After dinner, the six training groups presented a 5-minute thank you to the families and pre-service training staff, many groups using slideshows, including our group. I also had written a poem and here are the first two verses.
“We are but passing ships in the night –
A bright star * guides us from the darkness to the light.
Mired in an unknown stony bay
Learning a language to steer us away.
Seven souls with no common plans –
Reaching out for an end; now in sight,
Leaving behind those helping hands
With sadness clouding the light.
After dancing and merry-making, we were done and on our way to our sites!
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