WORK- IT'S WHAT WE DO....BUT NOW, FROM KATHY'S PERSPECTIVE!

Hello dear friends and family!  You recently received a blog posting from Allan, explaining what his work here in Gevgelijia with the Peace Corps looks like.  He has big projects, doing exciting things and making a big difference.  But when you join the Peace Corps they tell you that yours is a single story, that everyone's story will be different.  And they are so right!  Allan and I may live in the same town in the same house at the same time...but what we do for work is so  different!

First...what could turn a perfectly nice, Badger Mountain  climbing woman.......








Into a woman that looks like this......

       Peace Corps Macedonia!!

So my official title as a Peace Corps volunteer is Primary Level Teacher Trainer.  What that means is that I get to work with some great Macedonian teachers who teach English at the elementary level, introducing new ideas in curriculum, classroom management, and best practices.  But really, what that means, is that we get to learn how to have fun and learn English all at the same time.  I mostly work with first and second graders, so for many of them, this is their first experience with English.  We do all we can to make this experience fun...we sing, we dance, we make fruits and vegetables, pretend we are animals, we play games and we do lots of talking!

My regular school is a big one.  I have about 25 kids per class, so we are jumping around like crazy to reach all these guys.  My village schools that I work at are much smaller.... I am including a picture of the entire second grade class in the entire school! This is little Mrzentzi, a village about three miles from my other school, smack dab in the  middle of leek fields.  I love it there!

As a Peace Corps volunteer we also have what are called secondary projects.  These are projects that you take on in addition to your regular work, and for many volunteers these are the fun ones. I am busy.....I work with special needs students...

I work with Glow Girls, which is an international Peace Corps initiative promoting leadership skills in high school age girls......

I teach yoga to adult women and to teenage girls...this is one of my favourite activities because exercise, physical fitness, and health are not areas that women have much time to spend thinking about.  For all of my students this was their first foray in to yoga and I will say they are my JOGA BOJHITZI....translated means yoga goddesses!  

There is so much to do here!  I also have had conference for young women addressing positive self image and worked on the traveling camps that go around Macedonia in the summer times, bringing camp like activities and English language to youngsters.

But maybe the thing that is best are all the personal connections I have every day....I must say hello in English a hundred times a day, to students, to their families, to shopkeepers, to neighbours.  

I have 

been lucky here to work with  these amazing women,

to have an amazing Macedonian family,

                                   

                                 
                                 and to have Allan, my number one fan and supporter!  Zhivot e dobro!

When You Get Here - Head West

Hello again, this is Allan.  Liz and her kids were here for the past few, whirlwind weeks and I have to share just a small part of what we did.  With Liz, Henry, Alice and Gus here, things really heated up on the travel front.  We visited a number of places in Macedonia, then Greece, and finally a stay in western MAK in the small village of Janche.  We had an incredible time everywhere, but Janche was worth a separate call-out.  So, here is a bit about an amazing mountain village.  

Janche is a mixed village (Christian/Muslim) that hangs on a mountainside in the Mavrovo Region.  It is small, maybe a hundred persons, and is similar to many other mountain villages in this area.  Most were settled hundreds of years ago, the people raised sheep and goats, and they got along quite fine for a long, long time.  Now, people still get along fine, but visitors are the important crop.  Fortunately, their way of life is still important and we got to experience some of it first-hand.  We stayed in the hotel Tutto, run by Mr. Tutto, who works to restore many of the old buildings in the village using the old methods.  His place was new, and quite excellent.  Below is the view to Janche from our room balcony.

In the parking lot was this old Renault.  Nice paint job and nicer person striking a striking pose.  These cars, sans the sporty paint-job, are everywhere in Macedonia, still running, still hauling 2 people and as many chickens as will otherwise fit.  

The restaurant terrace at Tutto.  We ate there every morning, wonderful local food, fruit, honey and berries. 

 A street in Janche.  The one on the right is actually pretty fancy as it is paved with blocks.  I prefer dirt, but I guess there must be some progress after 300 years.  The mountains in the background hold many other small villages, some "mixed," others either Christian or Muslim.  Progress may have been made on paving some streets, but villages are still classified based on religion - exactly as they were 500 years ago.  

Some of the modes of transportation seemed almost as old as the homes.

 This house below was my favourite. It is very large, abandoned, made with variety of stones from the near-by river, then switched to mountain stone and back to river stone and shows great craftsmanship.  It does need a bit of work, however.

 Liz had a car, a rare treat for a Peace Corp person.  We went for a ride to a nearby town and hiked into Waterfall Duff.  I didn't name it - thats what it is called.  The hike in was easy and even a duffer like me made it fine.  It was a beautiful gorge trail for much of the way.




Waterfall Duff was beautiful, and this image does not do it justice.  It comes out of cleft in the rock, and falls in 2 sections for about 50'.  It is cold, cold, cold.   The upper falls came out of section of the cliff that was blocked by a huge bolder.  The lower falls was a fine cold, cold, cold shower.  Some souls braved the chill for a total mountain wake-up experience.

Kathy was the first in.  When you went in you could say no words.

We also went to St John the Baptist Monastery in the area.  It is old, around the 11th C, but rebuilt a few times over the turbulent Macedonian history.  We were not allowed to take pictures in the church, but this was the most impressive church we've seen in Macedonia and we've seen a lot!  

Here is Alice drinking from one of the several very large springs in the church grounds.  

 . . .to this.

St John chapel, looking across the valley. . .

Nearby is a seldom visited old stone arch bridge.  Some say Roman, but it is probably Turkish, and little is known about it.  It is an impressive span about 40' above a river, taller than many nearby trees, but only about 11' wide.  It looks like a path through the woods, until you realise you are on a slim, very tall bridge.  Not a rock out of place that I could see.  Excellent masons!

At the end of a hot day, a quick dip in the Radika River.  Cold and clear.

Finally, here we be.  This is a shot from our trip to Greece at our 42nd anniversary dinner.  Blue ocean, freshest seafood, beautiful wife.  This is fun!  Came and get some for yourself!!

Al

Absolutely UMAzing

Hello again, friends.  This is Allan writing to share another small adventure with you from Macedonia.  This time, about the village of Uma.  This village is near us in Gevgelija as the crow flies.  But this crow must fly straight up the mountains.  Uma is at about 1200 feet in steep forested terrain.  It is small village, maybe 50 people, most there only in the summer, and it is now used as a seasonal retreat for the homeowners.  The road is winding, gravel, with the last mile or so miraculously paved.


Uma is described as a Vlach village.  The
Vlachs are a small ethnic group here in Macedonia, with a distinct language and uncertain history.  For all you haters of history, this is your cue to plug your ears and go "watermelon, watermelon" while the rest of us serenely read on.  Vlachs are generally believed to have been local tribes that adapted to Roman occupation, and developed a romance language.  They preferred to stay in the more remote areas of the Balkans, and became herders that travelled with their animals.  Eventually they settled in remote areas and into villages.  There are several estimates of the age of the village of Uma, but the church is thought to be from as early as the 14th century, and rebuilt in the mid-1800s.  After all these years, Uma still does not show up on too many maps.

Each year, my NGO, the Apollonia Foundation, hosts artists from around Eastern Europe for a 2 week period.  This year there are artists from Macedonia, Greece, Serbia, Russia and Bulgaria.  Everything they need is provided and paid for by the Foundation; their only job is to create beauty.  They stay in the hotel during the week, and on the weekends, in Uma.  Much rakija is consumed, many art supplies are exhausted, and much beauty results.  Kathy and I hitched a  ride up the mountain to see this happen.  Here is a glimpse of art in action at 1200 feet.

Looking toward Mt Kozuf from Uma.  Storm coming in . .

Here is the bell tower, which appeared to be quite old.  There is also a shot of the rickety wooden stairs built into the walls, only to be used by the reckless or rakija-laden.

The inside of the church.  The frescoes were amazing, and looked to be in a very early style.  The columns were uniquely decorated unlike I have seen before.  Writing was in old Greek.  Only dim light and the overall result was one of incredible beauty.  

Hand rail on interior balcony

Ceiling beams, painted of course.  The ceilings on either side the length of the church were molded, colored wooden squares.  Too much to take in it seemed.

Many of the frescos depicted the travails of various saints.  It was tough duty being a saint and you were apparently tested in any number of creative, vindictive ways.  Here is probably St. Daniel trying to work things out with the lions.  I think this one turned out OK, but many other depictions ended badly.

We who are about to make art, salute you!

Making art is hungry work.  The Foundation Director got everyone off to a good start in the typical Balkan way, rakija and salad.

No starving artists in Uma.  Also no unhappy artists either, as the rakija was there to create visions.  We enjoyed beautiful vegetables, grilled meats, wild mushrooms and wild boar.  Quite a vision in itself!

This is Leo.  Five years old and smart as the dickens.  He was our flower guy, and also had some sweet martial arts moves.  

Uma, now just summer homes.  

Still a few older homes too, waiting for a return of their owners.  

 Below is Kathy, making her own art.  She is finishing up an embroidery design for one of the grandkids outside the church walls.  My contribution was food consumption and scratching the ears of the village dogs, which were plentiful.

Our favorite village dog, called "Maga" but really answered to "Hey"

Any truly amazing day must include time to rest and soak in all the beauty.   The artists have continued to perform their essential work.  It will be displayed at the Hotel, and some will be left behind to decorate the rooms.  Come see it for yourself, and if you have a car we'll show you the way to Uma.
Al

Mankind is my business!

Zdravo, this is Allan again.  Adding to the list of things Macedonians do better than the US must include the operating of their small retail shops.  Or, more specifically, fishing for customers in a much more relaxed and social way.  Most businesses in the small towns are small businesses.  Often they are small storefronts that sit beneath apartments or homes and the store is owned and run by the person living above.  So in many cases, it is a very short commute for the store owner.

My shirt shop.  Just opening up.

It is also common that many stores offer the same or very similar items, even if they are in close proximity.  For example, in my 6 minute walk to work, I pass 13 stores that sell either clothes, shoes or clothing accessories.  Now for the fun part.  Owners of these stores, instead of scheming like Scrooge on how they might prevail upon the competition,  appear to take a more relaxed approach to capitalism and coffee is the way this is accomplished.

When the chair appears outside the store it means that they are open.  It is early AM in this shot, before the adjacent shopkeepers set up their own chairs in a retail power-cluster.  

It s a common sight to see store owners sitting outside, drinking coffee, smoking and chatting with the adjacent store owner for long periods.  The coffee is always in real cups, no insipid plastic is allowed.  Local cafes are kept busy supplying these small groups with coffee, and waiters can be seen carrying trays of coffee down the street to a group of owners who are discussing kids, family, politics - pretty much anything but business.  They have the time as there are relatively few customers.  Should a customer appear and disrupt this reverie, the store owner will take a temporary leave and come into the store.  At times the store keepers are in the group across the street, so it is not always easy to figure out where the person is that can help.  It is not unusual for a store to go out of business.  Should that happen, the windows are covered over with newspaper, painters work like crazed monkeys, and voila! - - a new store opens usually selling the same things, and the cycle resumes.

OK, the gathering has begun.  The owners of these 3 adjacent women's clothing stores have staked out their spots.  Actually, the last store with the brown door is my barber.  He walks to get his own coffee and does not keep up with women's fashions.

So I think that this coffee-fueled form of capitalism is far superior to our own version.  The small town MAK approach of drinking coffee and socializing until the money is all gone really is more civil.  If, for some reason, a shop should close, there is another one next door where the coffee is hot, the goods wait patiently for purchase, and the shop-

keepers keep up with all the news.  I like this method, and we know all the shopkeepers.  You need to come over for coffee, and perhaps a shirt.  Ciao - - Al