Busy bee

I am a week away from a full month of being in Macedonia and boy has it felt longer. Next week we are planning on celebrating by having a small cookout, while we still can, before the cold weather sets in for the long haul.

Oh, by the way, let me know (aka email me) if you ever want to Skype. I’ve been able to touch base with a few people this week and it is a great thing for me. It reminds me that America is still there and makes me feel that I am just away for a little while. It helps to be able to talk to someone as if really no time has passed since I last talked to that individual. Let’s keep that rolling.

This week I feel like I am finally hitting some sort of schedule for myself, which helps me to feel grounded and makes it easier for me to focus on the tasks at hand, which really is learning the language and spending time with my family. So, I have been waking in the morning and running for various lengths of time with a longer run, about an hour, happening on Saturday or Sunday. Then it's time for class and after that home for lunch.

I normally eat what I consider breakfast and lunch alone. I am pretty sure my host parents do not eat breakfast during the week and the kids eat something in the morning after I have left for class. Lunch for me is around 12:30pm. The family does not eat at that time because the main meal in Macedonian houses does not happen till 4pm and I usually cannot wait that long. So I try to eat just a little around noon and then eat again around 4pm, though today it wasn’t until 4:50pm. Then a smaller amount of food - tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese - comes out around 8pm or so for people to munch on as they please, but I try not to eat that late.

We eat a lot of tomatoes and cucumbers and peppers. I never realized that one group of people could consume as many peppers as Macedonians do. But on the flip side, most all of the food I consume is grown on the land around the house or the farm plots near my host mother’s mom’s house, around the corner. So far I have helped the family pick grapes, apples, and peppers and have helped to make ajvar, a pepper spread that can sometimes have eggplant in it too. For the most part all the food has been good; I think I have only passed on one meal.

So, after the main meal we often go over to the host mother’s mom’s house or someone from the family may come here (like her sister, husband and the cousins). This is called на гости and really it’s just the act of going and visiting people. This is something I have always felt uncomfortable doing back home, just going to someone’s house to sit around and talk, and really to talk about nothing much all. It would always make me apprehensive cause I would think about all the other things I should or could be doing at the time, instead of just sitting around and talking. I am starting to get a little more accustomed to the practice now, though it is difficult not really being able to fully engage in the conversation, but each time there are more and more words I can pick out. Oh and an important part of these visits is having coffee, the female host always makes the coffee and serves everyone. Soda and rakija, locally brewed whiskey, is also an option, though the men are really the ones who do most of the drinking of alcohol.

Something that I really need to try to do is spend regular time with one of the Albanian families (while I still can) and listen and try to speak the language with them. The house I am in now speaks Macedonian and so I really only hear Albanian in class. So that’s a goal for the next week. This weekend is more Community Development training and the chance to see other training communities. I’m excited about getting to see more parts of the country.

Update: I went with Enid to her house today to hear Albanian in action. Though most of what I heard was way over my head, it was good just to practice hello and good-bye and say "mire" a lot. The golden moment of the visit was when he walked us over to the bee hives and pulled out a frame from the hive and gave us fresh honey from the comb. Shume mire!













making ajvar

Enid and host dad

the comb

The Fruit of Life

going to pick grapes

Tomorrow will be my 29th birthday and for a moment in time I wanted to be 28 for another year, stalling the aging process, but really there is no point in even thinking such things.

Today after school I went with my Мика to pick grapes for вино at баба's house. Most of the work was done by the time I got there, late in the afternoon. While we were working I was trying to think about whether I preferred planting or harvesting. What I concluded is that I enjoy both aspects of farming, planting because it means new beginnings, and harvesting because you are rewarded with the fruits of your labors.

Tomorrow is a HUB day in Peace Corps lingo, which mean all thirty-six of us gather from our four language communities and have a full day of workshops. We will be in Kumanovo again, where orientation week took place. I am hoping some people can hang around afterwards and celebrate with me.

циао

first birthday gift, socks from баба
because my feet were cold

In a family way

view of side yard from house

I have been in Macedonia for a total of two weeks, yet it already feels as though months have passed. My days are filled to the brim with new experiences and a vast amount of information, making my days feel as though they transcend the standard twenty-four hour period. In order to remember all that has occurred I am looking back through my journal, notes pecked out on my phone, and pictures that are now on my hard drive.

Right now I am in the community called Romanovce, it is five kilometers from Kumanovo, where I spent my first week during orientation. I am living with a family of four, Aco and Biljana are my host parents and Eleonora (8) and Leonid (4) are my host sister and brother. The town is a mixed ethnic, rural community, meaning there are Macedonians and Albanians that coexsist harmoniously in the town. Romanovce is rural in the fact that there is one main paved road through town and three or four paved roads off that which lead to dirt driveways of the houses within the community. Every household has some combination of chickens, pigs, cows, and goats. And everyone has at least one guard dog that springs into barking action if you cross onto the property.

Romanovce has a primary school, two corner shops, and a café where we get coffee during our breaks in our language lessons. I have language class Monday through Friday from eight in the morning till noon. Albanian lessons are Monday and Tuesday and Macedonian is on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Looking back I remember how funny and embarrassing it was trying to help my host father get my two huge suitcases in their car and how my host mom sat squished in the back next to all my stuff. Fortunately we made it safely to the house, but I vowed to myself to try to downsize my belongings, at least by the time I am ready to head back to the US.

I am so thankful for my host family. They are funny and loving, taking me in as if I was truly one of their own. Many nights are spent at the dining room table, where I am working on my Macedonian homework, Eleonora is practicing her English, and Aco is tending to the work he’s brought home. My host mom has tried to feed me either ice cream or chocolate every day since I’ve been here. She has also let me make her coffee, my-style, in the French press I brought from the States. My first weekend in Romanovce was spent with aunts, uncles, and cousins over at our house and then again at the maternal grandmother’s house on Saturday.

I am blessed to feel as comfortable as I do with my family. They have made me feel as though I am truly an older sister. I tease and play with the kids and the babas pinch my cheeks. My host mom is wonderful about making sure I feel included and taking me along to all the various activities. I hope to learn as much as I can about the culture and language from my host family.

host father attempting to put my bags in the car

going to grandmother's house

Arrival

The time has come, I am in Macedonia, me and all the stuff I have packed. It's great so far. I have been able to rest this afternoon and got in a two hour nap. Tomorrow we get started right off the bat with language lessons and safety information. I have already pulled together a group of people for a quick run in the morning, mission accomplished. Above is a picture of the brand new airport that just opened a few days ago.

When we arrived we were told that we are part of a very important time: It's the 50th anniversary for the Peace Corps, the 15th anniversary of PC in Macedonia, and the 20th anniversary of Macedonia's independence. So lots of reasons to celebrate this year.

I remember some one asking me what side of the road people drive on. Well, inquiring minds can rest easy, it's the same side as America.

Since I've been here we've basically just ate lunch and then dinner, they had a time where we could ask current two year volunteers any questions that were on our minds and now some people have waked into town, others (like me) are online, and there is a group outside in one of the cabanas playing cards.

Well, that's all the info I can squeeze out of my brain for the time being.

I love and miss you all so much!

Refections and absorption

two loves i made last month

Yesterday I began reading blogs, facebook, google searches, and my Peace Corps material (again) in order to learn more about Macedonia, my future home for twenty-seven months. Let me state for the record, along with everyone else who lays claim to the same statement, the country is gorgeous! I am excited just to see the landscape, but the people are suppose to be so giving as well.

I feel as if I could read endless amounts of information on all things Macedonia, the Balkans, and Peace Corps. Here are some of the sites I have been visiting: Candy's Blog, a current volunteer, Lew, who will be part of my team, the Facebook Page that Lew set up for our group, the Peace Corps Journal Facebook Page, and the Peace Corps Wiki. I am going to do my best to bounce around all these sites and glean as much info as possible. There is a ton though, and I must say it wears me out. I am also referencing the Welcome Book and have begun making a master packing list, making sure to mark if the item still needs to be procured. Feel free to read any of these and send me your notes! This will save me time and sanity ;-) I have also reserved three books off the Peace Corps reading list for Macedonia. I hope these are a better read than the first book I tired and then failed to read.

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The thing I love about summer, well my last two summers (I'm including this one), is the freedom to do what I want when I want, like bake bread. I find that even though I have no "schedule" I some how manage to fill my time, especially with the things I enjoy. I have been in the kitchen more which has resulted in bread, hummus, pizza, and quinoa and chickpea dishes. My mom recently reminded me of the fact that I just part of the tradition of sharing meals with the people I lived with and was curious if I was doing anything like that now. The answer was no, but as of Sunday that will change. Though the eight or so girls that I will be eating with once a week do not all live with me, they live near-by and I see them all at least once a week. Each week a different person will cook and play host and I am glad to be incorporating shared meals back in my weekly rotation.

I also broke down and re-joined the YMCA, I needed an exercise option that provided more than just running, mainly I signed up to have access to yoga classes, but I also need a place I can go to whenever there is down time, where I can get in some extra work (out of the heat too). I am so glad to be doing yoga on a regular basis, I've already gone three times this week. It's good for my soul and keeps me energized when tackling my to-do list. Oh and I almost forgot! They have a pool and so I'm back to swimming laps, get this, in a real lap pool! I have missed this so much and prefer a pool to the endless pool machine at Rutgers. So, joining the Y equals a happy Mary.

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Other than that my life has been fine, though I feel like all my friends are in the midst of hard situations, some circumstances are just the result of the way of life and some are self-inflicted. I have been struggling with what one does when situations are out of your control (aren't they all?) and all I can do is offer them up to God. Especially the ones that are self-inflicted, no amount of acting as a bystander or yelling will actually get someone to change their negative position. All I can do is continue to be there and occasionally try to offer a voice of reason. I must say, I've been in that same spot so many times myself and in the midst you do not want to listen to any one, even when you know they are right. One day, though, when all energy is gone, that still small, constant voice will breakthrough and shine the light of redemption and maybe, just maybe a part of that voice will have been yours.

Wash me clean, inside and out

Girl Talk

A light afternoon shower is falling over Nashville today, thwarting my plans to wash the dust of Bonnaroo from my car. So, instead I am taking the time to update the blog, over pizza and a latte.

I got back in Nashville yesterday afternoon after spending six days in Manchester, TN at Bonnaroo, an outdoor music and arts festival attended by 85,000 people. This event is typically viewed as primarily a hippie event with lots of drugs involved. Though the line-up continues to become more diversified every year (and this year was the 10th anniversary).

This was my fourth Roo ('05, '06, '07 and '11) and just as fabulous as all the former ones I attended. I got to see Kopecky Family Band, Best Coast, The Drums, Sleigh Bells, Matt & Kim, Ray Lamontagne, Florence + The Machine, My Morning Jacket, Arcade Fire, The Low Anthem, The Black Keys, Girl Talk, The Head and The Heart, Amos Lee, Cold War Kids, Robyn, and Beirut.

My highlights were seeing My Morning Jacket and the Black Keys from the first row, dancing till 4am at Girl Talk and finishing out the weekend hearing Beirut for the first time. I was surprised to hear that Eminem put on a good show and was many people's favorite. Of course I was sad to miss Mumford and Sons, but since I work at the festival, which enables me to get paid to be at Bonnaroo, some sacrifices have to be made.

As always, Bonnaroo is as much as going to see good music as it is building community with other festival-goers. A memory I will always carry with me from this year's event is from Sunday morning, when all ten paid staff and volunteers for my Pod were just sitting and laying around in the grass talking and laughing together. No one was running off to see a show and even though only two of us were "on the clock" at the time we all were taking turns helping patrons with any questions that needed answers. I love how Bonnaroo brings strangers together and builds a sense of family between individuals. I think I value that magic more than the music.

I think I've almost washed all the glitter from my hair and body, my car is unpacked, and the majority of my laundry is done. I'm glad to be back to sleeping in a bed and having access to running water, but I will also be looking forward to the next time I can make it to the Roo.

For a few more pictures take a look at my flickr.

Let me come home

New Jersey was nice enough to let me leave the state as long as I promised to come back one day soon, but I've heard it's been raining non-stop since my departure.

I made my way to Nashville taking a slower pace than normal and still getting in at a reasonable time. I'll be here for the majority of the summer, living similarly as I did last summer. My days will be filled with faces I love and adventures I'll cherish, while making sure I still attempt some form of a responsible adult existence.

I finished my semester at Rutgers Camden with a few close calls as always, but I did well if I do say so myself. I gained a vast amount of information in a short amount of time and soon I'll have the chance to apply this material while serving in Macedonia. Speaking of which, I was required by the Peace Corps to resubmit my dental review and after a bit of cajoling I was about to get the Camden County College Dental School to poke at my teeth, take some X-rays, and even clean them! I am grateful to the wonderful ladies that helped me get that task complete.

I will have to catch up on life this week. I am just posting this because it was an entry I started about two weeks ago...