The merry, merry month of May continued!

The National Spelling Bee

The Big project for the month was the national spelling bee.  We had over 600 students from 5th to 12th grades qualify for the finals which were held in Skopje.  I was on the planning committee along with 4 other wonderful volunteers.  500+ made the trip to Skopje on a beautiful day to compete, spelling in English!  It was a madhouse, crazy, tense, and wonderful.  I am so impressed with how the kids did.  The US really needs to understand that as nice as it is to have a language that many people the world over understand, we really need to add foreign languages earlier to our curriculum.

Lillian, Claudette and me with the Stone Bridge in the background

Looking out over the Radika Valley at the Sv. Jovan Bigorski Monastery

Lillian had a friend visit from LA and we had a great time hanging out.  We showed her some of Skopje before heading out to the Mavrovo National Park and the most famous monastery in Macedonia, Sv. Jovan Bigorski. It is spectacular.

Finally I subbed for a friend and helped do a 3 day workshop on project design and management.  We worked with host country nationals who had been nominated by Peace Corps volunteers.  We had the group that could speak English fluently, and they were a wonderful group.  Thanks for making it so much fun and easy for me!

This weekend I'm heading down to Gevgelija for a 50th anniversary party for Peace Corps - 50 years altogether and 15 years in Macedonia.  Gevgelija is right over the border from Greece and a big agricultural area.  It should be great fun - wish you could be there!

The merry, merry month of May

The Girls from Gostivar, Kerry, Vjosa and me

Some of the food - Happie also made a delicious Indian BBQ chicken

May has been a busy month - both with work and with play.  It started out with a traditional May Day picnic organized by my friend Happie in Makedonski Brod.  May 1 is International Worker's Day in Macedonia and a picnic is the traditional way it is celebrated.  We went up to Peshna Cave - the time I had been there previously it was almost deserted.  This time the area around the cave resembled a carnival.  There were hundreds and hundreds of people who had come to picnic, and the roads were lined with cars, people, and vendors selling food, crafts, anything that could make a little money.  Our combi driver squeezed past everything to take us up close to the cave and we found a perfect spot by the creek.  There were about 15 of us - Mak 14's (the group I came in) and Mak 15's (last year's group).  We ate, climbed up into the cave, and celebrated in style - thanks, Happie.

The next week I went to a workshop sponsored by the German foreign aid group on promoting the Polog Valley - the valley that Gostivar is in.  It was so much fun!  I was treated like an equal participant and worked in a couple of the small groups coming up with ideas on what and how to promote the region.  Fortunately, one of the presenters was German, and he had a translator to go from Macedonian to English and back, so I used him as well.  The best part was working with the men that were there sharing ideas and know-how.  They were so gracious and inclusive of me.  I got to work with 3 young men on technological ways to promote the valley, which made me smile!  I feel like I am always scrambling to keep up with the latest in technology (did you know e-mail was out?  All the young people just use facebook to send messages!), but Peace Corps has definitely pushed my boundaries and helped me learn.

My interview on Macedonian TV was aired, and I've been recognized several times by Macedonians which is always fun.  Hopefully coincidentally, the embassy also offered us a workshop on talking to the media - it was so interesting and useful, if a little late for my debut on the news!  Anyway, they made a little clip that is posted among the embassy YouTube videos - I'll see if this link works: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH0zNaE1Lik&feature=youtube_gdata_player 

Hmm, after putting up this link I can't figure out how to debold this.  Rather than subject you to the rest of this in bold, I'll publish this and start again for the rest of the month.

среќен велигден

Monastery in Kriva Palanka

Ping Pong at the Firestation

Earth Day Cake at American Corner, Tetovo

I've been busy this past week, both working and having fun.  I went to two seminars, one on alternative energy, and another on Rural Extension Networking in the Western Balkans.  Luli and I have been talking about taking some of the farmers down to Greece for a course on cheesemaking in a way that would meet European standards, but after the conference we huddled and are going to try to do it another way.  Oh, and I was also on TV after being interviewed about volunteerism.  That's always fun because the local folks always get so excited when they see me after I've been on TV.  I also helped a fellow volunteer and friend who had been trained in Cherkeze, Joany Yi, with the Earth day that she had planned with the American Corner in Tetovo.

American Corners are funded by the State Dept., but employ locals to teach Macedonians about America in a variety of ways.  They sponsor lots of the events we do with the kids - like Earth Day, the National Spelling Bee, Model UN, Speaking contest, etc.  They also have a library stocked with American books and magazines, sponsor conversation hours for people wanting to practice English, and sponsor a number of other talks and events throughout the year.  There are 5 of them in Macedonia, all quite busy and successful.  They did a great job with earth day and lots of local kids were involved.

I went and visited another friend in Kriva Palanka in the northeastern corner of Macedonia over the weekend.  This was a weekend of meeting people and visiting.  On the way to Kriva I had an hour lay-over in the bus station and met a New Zealander traveling around the Balkans.  She said that far and away Macedonians were the friendliest people she had ever met, and I had to agree!  Since it was Easter Weekend, it was a fun time to visit Kriva.  Linda showed me around town and we stopped in and visited the fire department.  She's written a grant to help them rehab the building, and it was great meeting the firemen and seeing the before version of the building.  One asked me if I wanted to play ping pong and I think was surprised when I said yes!

That night we dyed Easter eggs in preparation for the big day.  The dyes here are different than ours - stronger colors (and I think, probably less washable out of kids clothing),  Some of the eggs I saw were spectacular.  They don't have egg hunts, they have egg wars - smashing each other and the eggs with their eggs.  I also got to talk with the kids in my classroom at world-wide school.  I've been very lucky - I have a great class and it's been so much fun to be able to talk to them and get letters from them.  They told me all about their projects that they had done after I had asked them to do something for the 50th Anniversary of Peace Corps and the European Year of the Volunteer.  They did a fabulous job - really talented kids.  What would I do without Skype?

Traditional village dresses from area of Kriva Palanka

The next morning we headed up to the monastery above Kriva Palanka.  I don't know how many monasteries there are in Macedonia, but there must be close to 100.  As you travel through the country, you see them everywhere scattered high up on the hills.  Most no longer have monks living there, and several have been rehabbed to be tourist attractions and hotels.  The one at Kriva is one of the biggest and most famous.  It has very nice rooms and would be a great place to stay.  Cost - 10 Euros per night per room - interestingly, in Macedonia the charge per person, not per room.  After touring the monastery, we sat down to have some coffee at the cafe overlooking the monastery.  A little boy was running around with a shirt that said New York on it, so I asked him if he lived in NY or in Macedonia.  His father answered in English that they loved America.  We struck up a conversation - he told us all about the traditional dresses and antiques that were in the cafe, as well as the history of the monastery.  He was from the area, but currently lived in Skopje.  After talking we sat to enjoy our coffee, and in a few minutes the little boy showed up with two bags.  His dad had gone down to the gift shop and bought us icons of Sveti Joachim and some incense.  That is just one example of how sweet and nice the people of Macedonia are!

After the family left, another man came and sat down in the table next to us.  It turned out that he was a major in the Vt. National Guard and is currently based at the embassy.  Vermont is the sister state of Macedonia, and all the states with a sister country have a guard member stationed at that embassy.  We had a lovely chat about spring in New England and places to visit in Macedonia.  It was a lovely afternoon.

Afterward we went back to Linda's I napped in preparation for the big event that night.  At midnight between Easter Eve and Easter, Macedonians go to their church for a ceremony.  The pope (that's what they call Macedonian clergy) chants a liturgy, they toll the church bells, and the people, all holding lit candles, walk around the church 3 times.  You are entitled to a wish for each time around the church.  Men must light women's candles and vice versa.  I was surprised to see who was in the crowd - unlike church events in the States, the vast majority of the crowd were young people in their teens and 20's.  There are probably a couple of reasons for this:  one, in crowds, Macedonians tend not to form orderly lines and crowds just surge forward to get to where they want to go, and two, after the ceremony all the young folks go to the disco and party!  Linda and I circled the church with our candles, being careful not to trip or to catch anyone on fire (she was warned to watch out for her hair), but decided against the partying.

Springtime in Makedonija

Lillian and me

Matka Canyon

Inside the cave

Kayak racing

Woo, woo, new things in the blogosphere.  I can label may pictures and have them in different places!
Macedonia is gorgeous in the spring.  My storks are back nesting just outside of Gostivar, the weather is warm, mountains are changing from a nubbly brown to a soft variety of greens, and everywhere trees are blooming.  It is such a joyous time.

I've been taking advantage of the weather by getting out and seeing things.  Last weekend Lillian and I went to Matka canyon just outside of Skopje.  It made my heart sing - gorgeous!  We took a boat ride up the lake to a cave.  Our boat was piloted by a very nice young Albanian man, so I got to practice some of my Albanian with him  As you can see by the pictures, the cave was spectacular as well.  We sat lakeside at the restaurant in the canyon and had a lovely meal - though not the fish we were hoping for - and headed back down to watch the slalom kayak event that was being held.  A most satisfying day.

Thursday and Friday I was down in Ohrid to do a presentation for the Mak-15's.  It was fun to hang out a bit with them, and to my surprise my friend Ilmi from Gostivar was also at the hotel for a UN Development Program presentation.  We got together with some of the other volunteers in the evening for a relaxed drink and conversation.  Friday morning I walked up to a cave church with Kerry.  A woman was sitting by the cave and spoke to us in Macedonian, then, hearing my poor attempt at a response, asked if we spoke English.  She was a police inspector from Gostivar who was vacationing in Ohrid, and before we left she had invited us to coffee at her house after she returned.  She was very sweet, and pointed out the magic eye for making wishes in the roof of the church entrance.  Macedonians and Albanians are the most hospitable people I know.

After taking leave of Kerry and Mimi, I continued up the hill.  The weather was pristine with no wind, and the view over the lake and over to the mountains in Albania was breathtaking.  I've mentioned before that the River Drim starts at one end of Ohrid and continues, unchanged despite its path through the lake, on the other end.  As I gazed down on the lake, I swear I could see its path as it wound its way through the lake.  A butterfly came and landed on my collar, and brushed my cheek with its wing as it took flight.  I hiked to a place that overlooked a village and could see villagers working on their gardens and the ground coming to life in the warmth of spring.  Days like this sustain me though the harder days that inevitably are there as well.

I hope all is well with you.  It is very odd writing a blog - you never know who is reading it.  Sometimes I wonder if anyone is, and then someone will pop up and tell me they've been following it right along.  So, dear friends who might be reading, thank you.  You all mean a lot to me.

Some days in the life

It's been a crazy month - well, a crazy year for me so far. The Sheepbreeder's Ass'n is pretty quiet in the winter, so I frontloaded a lot of my vacation time. Besides my Africa trip, I flew to NYC for a 4 day weekend to celebrate my daughter turning 30! Yep, hard to believe, Kacy is now 30. But more about that later - first, Macedonia.
The picture above is of my friend Nicola above the village she lives in, Istabanje. I visited for a weekend and had a great time. As you can see, Istabanje is both small and located in a beautiful spot. I am really enjoying wandering around Macedonia and seeing a variety of places. Eastern Macedonia is quite different than Western Macedonia. It's almost entirely ethnic Macedonian and Macedonian Orthodox, so there is no call to prayer to measure your day by. It looks less prosperous and while hilly, does not have the towering mountains we have in the Polog valley. But it's beautiful in its own way and nice to visit.

It's an interesting time to be in Macedonia. The political scene is heating up - there have been multiple protests and rallies, and the government has been forced to call snap elections. The political gamesmanship is on! According to the Framework agreement signed after the uprising in 2001, the majority Macedonian party must form a coalition with the majority Albanian party. Political parties here are huge - in a country where official unemployment hovers around 40%, many, many jobs are political appointments, from the principals at schools, to all government workers, to professors at colleges. When one party loses and another wins, there is a terrific turnover as old party members are swept out and new appointments come in. If you don't belong to a party, it is difficult to find a job. So everyone is marshaling their troops and trying to get undeclared people into their party by offering incentives. VMRO, the party in power, won by a huge majority last time and tried to capitalize on its current strength by calling immediate snap elections. SDSM, the main opposition, countered by having the head of the elections committee resign and by walking out of parliament, which meant that nothing could happen. The dates haven't been set yet for the elections, but they will undoubtedly happen sometime this summer. From what I hear, VMRO and DUI, the main Macedonian and Albanian parties, will probably be elected again (wouldn't you vote for your job?), but people are hoping that they will have a smaller majority so they can't ride roughshod over everyone else. We'll see.

The picture above is Kacy and Chris on the Highline Trail in NYC. It's one of my favorite places. They converted an old elevated train track into a park, and people love it. It's a great place to go for a walk. You definitely get a different view of the city from above - you notice all the old facades and decorations on buildings, and it has a great view across the Hudson River and down to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. And, this being NYC, it's also famous for a hotel that straddles the park where people like to show themselves off in the buff! Kacy's party was fabulous. Udi had found a wonderful bar that gave us the space in the back and served delicious hors d'ouerves. Lots of Kacy's friends came and it was great to visit with them. The best of all, though, was the sweet speech Udi made to toast Kacy. I was so glad I was there.

A day after I returned from NY, I headed down to Thessaloniki on a business trip to Perrotis College, a part of the American Farm School. The people there were fantastically gracious and hospitable. We stayed on campus in a very luxurious new dorm and ate at the student cafeteria. You know you're in Greece when a cafeteria serves calamari to the students! One afternoon my friend Tracy and I took the bus to downtown Thessaloniki and ate at a cafe on the waterfront. That's a real Greek salad above. I had that and moussaka - absolutely delicious. The weather was gorgeous and Mt. Olympus shone snow-covered as a backdrop. What can you say? Magical. Friday morning we went out to a farm to meet one of the graduates. He has started an agro-business producing grape leaves for dolma, as well as making dolma and other goodies. They make something with every part of the grape plant - it was wonderful to hear about successful, thoughtful, and sustainable entrepreneurship. When we left he gave us a big pan of freshly made dolma. On the way back Luli and I stopped at the Popova Kula winery, enjoyed a glass of wine, and stuffed ourselves on dolma. It is a good life!

Hardest thing about being a Peace Corps Volunteer

Right now we're compiling a list of the difficult things about being a Peace Corps volunteer in Macedonia. Mostly they're a reflection of the funny things that are different here that we have to deal with every day, but for me the most difficult thing is none of those that are listed. The most difficult thing for me is being so far away from my parents. In some ways, I'm lucky. Both my parents are still alive at 92 and 89, but since I've been in Macedonia they've declined precipitously and for the most part I can only watch from a distance and call them every week or two to talk. I know it wouldn't be much different if I were still in the States, but being so far away makes me feel extra helpless as I watch these two wonderful people disappear.

I talked to my mother the other day. She's being engulfed by paranoid delusions, where everyone is trying to take everything from her, including her money, clothes, husband, respect, and even her children, and in a way, age is taking all those away. Usually there is a part of her that can be present and at least for awhile talk about reality, but our last conversation had no connection at all. She couldn't hear anything I said, and so translated it all into her delusions. I doubt that there is a heaven or hell after we die, but I can tell you for certain that there is a hell possible while we live, and my mother is currently in it. This bright, capable, vain, headstrong woman is living a life of fear. She's surrounded by caregivers but feels unsafe constantly. Whether it is the result of overuse of medication or a natural deterioration of the brain, it is terrifying to watch.

My father, while in the throes of dementia, at least seems more content. While he doesn't ever really know where either of us are, it doesn't seem to upset him greatly. He knows who I am and that we love each other, and that seems enough. When he was young he wanted to be a hero. He joined the Air Force before WWII because he knew it was coming and became a pilot, but while his brother flew bombers in impossible raids, he trained other pilots. But he was a hero in so many other ways. He saved his brother's life when his brother was getting into trouble - not that he told us, but our cousin did. He saved my life when I was little. He taught me all I know about good leadership. But being a hero is costly - you have to be right, you have to be in control, you have to be a man, and you can't be emotional. I always loved my father, but in many ways I liked him better as he aged and gave up his hero status. It is how I know he wants to be remembered, though, like the picture he had hung in the house for so many years of him standing, dressed in his flight suit and holding his helmet, beside the fighter he had just flown. And he will always be my hero.

I love them both and miss them.

дуф

Gordana, my friend and Macedonia tutor, took me up to the mountain village, Duf, that her father's family came from. Duf is high in the mountains of Macedonia, about 2000 meters up. Like many mountain villages, no one lives in Duf year round any more, but people have maintained or newly built some homes and come up for celebrations, weekends, and when it's hot down in the valley. Gordana's house is to the right - and to my surprise it wasn't primitive, but had gas, electricity, heat, and creature comforts! We took a short hike out to the viewpoint above. It was so good to be walking out in the woods and the views were spectacular. The Albanian name for Albania means eagle's nest, and that's what Duf reminded me of - being on top of the world looking down. People probably initially moved up there during a war to avoid the marauding armies tramping through the valleys, and they were able to scratch out a challenging living in that high isolation. They must have been in fantastic shape hiking up and down the mountain to get into town for anything! Although no one lives in mountain villages like Duf any longer, it retains a strong hold on family hearts, and they maintain the ownership of their land. Gordana, too, loves it, although she was born in Gostivar and never lived there on a permanent basis. With many young people leaving the country or moving to Skopje to try to find work, I wonder how long that attachment can be maintained.

We're also getting the first hints of spring - the early crocuses were all over. I saw snowdrops blooming, their heads bent over glancing at their home soil. Home is a powerful draw, and soon I will be back in NYC for Kacy's 30th birthday. It will be good to see them.

After returning from Africa I went to our mid-service conference. If I don't extend, I would only have 9 months left to serve. It is hard to believe that the time has passed so quickly. I may extend, though, and spend one more year here. There is still much to do and see. But for now, I am eagerly anticipating the beauty of the Macedonian spring, and all the fresh fruits and vegetables that will soon be in the pazars. Yummmmmm, fresh and local, succulent and ripe when you buy them, not a week or so afterward!