Merry Christmas, World...

As I head to bed on this Christmas Eve, I'm reminded of Christmas Eves of the past..
Snowy white Christmases in New Hampshire, walking home from midnight mass and watching smoke curl up from the chimneys into the starry night...


Climbing beloved Badger under a full moon with friends, knowing more friends and wine were waiting for us at home at the bottom of the hill...

Pulling white hairs from our poor dogs to leave evidence for the kiddos that yes, indeed, Santa did eat those cookies...

Listening to the ululations of the singers in the church in Africa as they danced down the aisle...

Wrangling lots of excited and exhausted babies to bed so that Santa could arrive sometime before midnight..

But tonight was one to add to the memories list..there is no Christmas here on the 25th of December because Macedonia is Orthodox Christian and celebrates Christmas here in January...but Allan and I were invited by students at my school to attend their Macedonian traditional dancing performance, and what a night of dancing it was...and how lucky we are to be have been able to witness the energy and excitement as these kids continue traditions hundreds of years old....and to realize that Christmas isn't just a day, it's a composite of memories and friends, the future and family..and so I wish you all, my dear friends and family, a peaceful and happy Christmas...

IT'S A DOG'S LIFE

DOGS LIFE
MAK knows how to build a tough dog. There are several kinds of dogs. There are guard dogs, street dogs, car dogs, working dogs and even a few house dogs.  At the top of the dog pyramid is the guard dog. These are refrigerator-sized dogs that are specific to this region and are to be given wide, wide berth.  They guard farm animals and property and can probably be seen from the moon. I do not like the guard dog.
Street dogs come in two sub-sets, the tagged and untagged. They are both strays of all breeds. The tagged group are those that have been rounded up, given some shots ,then turned loose again. The non-taggers are just plain strays. They are all pretty calm and stay out of your way and understand traffic. They have their own territories so you can say hello to your particular mutt every day in the same place. I'd say we see about 20 dogs in our daily walk to school.
Car dogs are a special set of dogs. Theses curs ride in barely running cars and wildly announce the car's presence and trajectory. Some ride in a box bolted to the back of the car.  The boxes have no holes or apparent opening. The only reason you know it is for a dog is due to the wild barking. When car dogs drive through town the street dogs go crazy, apparently due to jealousy but in reality the street dogs probably have it better.
Then there are the working dogs. This group includes house guard dogs and hunting dogs and these are kept outside at all times and either bark at car dogs, or at anything at all. No slight is too small to anger a working house dog.
The last group is the smallest and elite group - the house dog. These are small and fuzzy and are just like your dog except they probably eat worse food. This group is looked down upon by all other MAK dogs,  So, if you need a dog, swing by any MAK town and make your selection. I'd advise against the guard unless you really hate your neighbor. Let me know soon as the selections seems to change often.
Al

Negotino Smog, Dogs, and Blogs

Remember, priateli, anything written here is not Peace Corps policy....and also, do forgive me if you are getting this blog multiple times...it's still a bit of a mystery to me how to send this out! But I will say Allan is writing about a favorite subject after me so do read that one!

Reflection...We are leaving our home in negotino on Saturday for our new home in Gevgelia and lots to think about!

Both Allan and I passed out Macedonian language test...such a great feeling! We have worked hard, generally about six or seven hours a day and it feels good to have been successful in our test! It was not easy....you sit in a room with the tester for about half hour while she asks questions and since you don't know what the questions will be you have to be ready to talk about anything from food to family, hobbies to travel, shopping to shoes!! But we did it..yeah US!!

Time to say goodbye to our negotino priateli...all ten of us will disperse around Macedonia...we've had fun together! We also will need to make our farewells to slavitza and kocho....this will be hard! We love them! If we have been happy, well fed and well taken care of it's because of them! And a lot of language success is due to the fact that they speak no English and by golly we had a lot to talk about so Allan and I had to learn Macedonian and slavitza was pretty determined we were going to be able to communicate!! 

Time to say goodbye to Cafe Tina...the tiny store where we drink coffee during our school break and where the kids skipping school can blow smoke rings...goodbye to my fruit lady who always gives me an apple for free...to the lady who waits by her window for the Americanskis and comes out to talk to us when we pass...to the old,old man who walks past us and tells us what the day of the week is..goodbye to old tractors and young street dogs...to my students here who are so shy and so excited to say"Hello,Keti"..in ENGLISH!!...and just to this small, tough little town that had been so good to us!

We become official Peace Corps volunteers on Friday..swearing in, lots of officials, excitement, emotion...and our real service begins! Thanks for being part of our journey!!

Blog- odaram

So blagodaram is thank you in Macedonian, so the title of this little missive is a play on that...because we are definitely saying thank you to everyone for our new home...Gevgelia!

Allan and I are just now returning from a three day visit to our new town. Gevgelia is smack dab on the border with Greece. It was really warm when we were there with lots of sun and palm trees...a pedestrian walking area through town,a little library, friendly people and small shops.  Allan works in, of all things,a casino! The Swedish casino owners turn some of their money back into a foundation they've started. Allan will be working with both environmental awareness issues and possibly in programs dealing with special education that this foundation advocates.  Lots of excitement and enthusiasm with this foundation!

And I have a lovely elementary school. I will be working with a teacher who teaches English language to ninth, fifth, and first graders. I taught first graders today..We covered basics such as counting to ten, naming five colors, heads, shoulders, knees and toes, and of course, sitting criss- cross applesauce!  Lots of fun, enthusiastic five and six year olds.

And our new house...We have a sunny upstairs...large living room, dining room with piano, kitchen, two bedrooms and kitchen...and three, count 'em three!!!!..outside porches! Our downstairs owners are just as nice as can be, have already enjoyed a meal with them, had lots of nice visits, and looking forward to many more...

We are indeed happy, blessed, excited and rarin' to go!  Love you all, come visit us....nie ke ce vrakame vo  petti Dekembri! Priatno!

More Macedonian Musings..

It's fall here now..we've had a lovely lovely fall so far. Lots of sunshine so far and leaves on the trees are colored and starting to fall and the air is crisp..but not clean! Our dear little town has a major air pollution problem. Between two mountain ranges our cold cold air sinks right down over the town and collects all the wood smoke, yugo car exhaust and cigarette fumes..the air is pretty gray, I'm afraid. Hoping for some of that fine tri cities windiness, so tri cities friends, please send some our way!

It is cold now and houses are not insulated so it's going less comfortable.  Allan and I hit the hay early just to get warm...sometimes it's quite a bit cooler inside than out, because there is no central heat or insulation in the rooms, usually just a small wood burning stove in the kitchen..but walk out that kitchen door into the rest of the house and you'll notice that huge temperature change!

Allan and I are still in the training phase..We go to school still pretty much all day for language..and love it. It's hard work, but as we walk through town we are able to talk to people, successfully negotiate stores and bus stations and restaurants!

Next week we head to our new home in Gevgelia, just for a few day site visit. I understand it is warmer..sounds lovely to me already! Hearsay has it that it is considered part of Mediterranean Macedonia....only an hour from Thessalonika and the Aegean sea! It is also where the refugees cross the border from Greece...Allan and I are ready for the next phase of this life!

Time to head home...slavitza will have ruchek ready and I think tonight will be stuffed peppers! Yum...these Macedonians and their peppers..it's a love affair I can get behind!

Again dear friends, thanks for all your support!

A Walk Down What One of These Days Will be Memory Lane...

But for right now is called our walk to school each day! And while this may sound like a dull topic it is anything but! Allan and I leave our house every day at seven thirty and head down the hill. Sidewalks are a mystery here...sometimes there are sidewalks, sometimes there are cars or tractors parked on them and sometimes they just are not there for fifty feet or so. Today we passed the old woman who sweeps her small section of sidewalk every day with a broom made of twigs and that is only about 18 inches tall. This is the norm so you really have to bend down to sweep..not sure why but it's common. She told us in Macedonia that she was happy today and I understood her!

Next we head down the long steep concrete steps past homes and structures that are still here even though they date from the ottoman empire.  Every morning and afternoon we pass one man who makes rakija in his courtyard..We dobro yutro him in the morning and dobar den him every afternoon....and yesterday we were rewarded with an invitation to enter his courtyard and share rakija and aijvar with him, his wife and their world's oldest dog...and we had a hoot....no angliski on their part and weak makedonski on ours but we still managed to have a great visit. Of course Allan couldn't feel his feet after one tiny drink of the rascally rakija but he didn't seem to mind! And it's also amazing how fluent one becomes in a language after rakija!

We then head across the town square...lots of stay cats and dogs hanging around. Some of the dogs have a yellow tag in their ear that indicates that they've had their shots and are considered safe, however that begs the question about the dogs who don't have the yellow"earring"...friends or foe? We walk slowly across the square as that is where we have our pirated Wi-Fi, so we listen to the emails we wrote the night before ping their way to you, friends...ping, ping, ping and they're off!

Almost there...We greet our gevlek seller. Gevlek is a baked ring of dough dotted with sesame seeds, the circle is about eight inches across, looks like a big skinny bagel and costs about thirty cents. The gevlek seller stands on corners with a little cart and we enjoy chatting with our seller and occasionally indulging in this very Macedonian treat!

And while this may sound quite mundane it is an adventure every morning....car dodging, sign reading in Macedonian with Cyrillic letters, greeting people in a different language and just absorbing the sights and sounds...I must say this is  a great way to start our day.....now it's eight and we are at school..time for Turkish coffee and gevlek..eat your hearts out friends!! Priatno!

Super Mak!

Things that mak does super....
Peppers made every which way, roasted, grilled, stuffed, in soups, as spreads..all super!
Corn nuts...Allan had his first bag of this local made snack and says they're super.
Cheap food- a big meal is five bucks for the two of us and that includes a glass of good red wine.
Rakija-this brandy/jet fuel is local made hooch. It is fifty percent alcohol and good but an acquired taste.Many people make it in their garages and it is a cash crop for many folks.
Cafe society- you can sit as long as you want over a coke. Dressing in track suits help and Allan is currently scoping out his choice of style now.  Internet is free which is helpful as well. Many people smoke so mostly we try to get a table that has pro-my-a....(drafts) to help.
Promya-this is the word for drafts and if you get in one you will die. You will also die if you sit on bare concrete, the ground, stone or any non wood surface.
Death notices -probably from promya- but obits are put on a piece of paper along with your very stern photo and stapled to a tree and they are everywhere throughout the city. Having your picture on a tree is a very bad thing!
Driving with impunity is common here and may result in your picture being on a tree!
Seriously loving it here....learning lots, language studies amazing and we are sleeping like babies!

Once again, Peace Corps disclaimer..and if you ever have a specific question, holler!!

Negotino News!!

Remember..this blog in no way is reflective of the Peace Corps..and it's Allan's turn to write, so here he is!

A stroll thru Negotino.
Kathy and I take a lot of walks thru town and here is what we see. First, dogs and cats, lots of both. Nearly all are strays and they give wide bearth. Some of the dogs sport ear tags which mean they are strays that have had some shots as opposed to just plain old strays.  No one pays them any attention and it is not good to be dog in MAK and even worse to be cat. This is as opposed to guard dogs which are well cared for and not to trifle with.  Not too many run of the mill hounds around.

Houses are mostly block and ceramic tile and concrete construction mostly 2 stories.  Often construction is a long term process, I'd say a decade in many cases.  I am a big fan of do it yourself and this is ground zero for that!  One awesome feature of every house is a pergola. These are metal frames with a metal-spaced roof. They are planted to grapes, kiwis, vining flowers.  The area underneath has a table and chairs and often has an outside kitchen of sorts. These are great spaces and I've got good ideas for Boise.

The streets wind in all directions with narrow alleys. Kathy and I often walk around at night and people are out visiting, making homemade brandy, roasting peppers over wood fires or fixing stuff. The alleys are dark and uneven and we are close to the family action.  It is pretty cool. The town itself it pretty worn but trying to kick-start itself by developing wine tourism. Good wine here but the municipal scenery is an acquired taste. It is however, growing on us.
Kathy and I are doing great and are learning a lot about MAK and ourselves. We appreciate hearing the news from all y'all so drop us a few lines from home.

Aijvar the Magnificent!

Hello friends! We have now started our second week in Negotino and our language class and all is well.Thought I'd catch you up on what our weekend looked like!

I must admit that both Saturday and Sunday we slept in a bit...a rare treat and much needed. But our days were busy and fun..lots of homework, some room cleaning, Allan made ruchek on Saturday for the family, which simply means he made lunch....and while it was delicious it was not received all that enthusiastically, because he is a man and and a man does not not not belong in a kitchen even to bring in a dirty dish! Since Allan thinks this is a fine thing I'm thinking it may be hard to break him of this bad idea!

The highlight of our days were the two na gostis we enjoyed. And what, you may ask, is a na gosti? In simple American terms it's a social gathering, and an extremely important part of Macedonian culture. This is a people who want to feed you and give you gallons of coffee....one tiny cup at a time! Our first na gosti was at the home of one of the volunteers in our group and involved lots of drink, chips, bread and aijvar. Our second na gosti was spontaneous..We were walking with our host mom and went by a friend's home...and once again were treated to drink, chips, bread and aijvar....

Which brings us to the star of today's blog..aijvar!!  Take like a zillion red peppers....roast them over a wood fire in your driveway area, peel, put them in a huge cast iron kettle, add a little salt and a little oil, maybe an eggplant and voila, stir over the wood fire for an hour and a half, pop into used mayonnaise jars and enjoy until the next year! Everybody makes this stuff and you have no idea how amazing entire neighborhoods smell as you walk around. This is an extended family event and one that will be sorely missed by us when we are no longer here in Macedonia. And you eat aijvar several times each day...breakfast (poyadok), lunch (ruchek) and dinner (vechera), and if there's any hungry time in between its your go to snack!

All hail Aijvar the Magnificent! Love hearing from you all and priatno!

rocking the rakija!

Hello dear friends! I need to comment before I start that my blog is in no way, shape or form reflecting official Peace Corps policy..it is just mine! Now with that disclaimer out of the way....let it begin!

Allan and I and eight other volunteers arrived in negotino last Saturday where we were met by our host mom,slavitsa, who had a taxi deliver us and our two hundred plus pounds of stuff to the home she shares with her husband,Gotscha.  They are a lovely couple a few years younger than us and have gone way out of the way to make us comfortable.

Let me tell you what a typical day looks like, four days in.Allan and I wake up about 6:30 and take a shower...Slavitsa turns on the hot water heater for the bathroom before we get up and once were done the water heater goes off, until time for tomorrow's shower. This is the norm, electricity is very very expensive so we don't heat water just to let it sit there.

She serves us breakfast, Turkish coffee and bread, salami and cheese and olives. Allan and I walk about twenty minutes to the school where we have language lessons for four hours. After that we usually head for a quick cold drink in a cafe as there is no internet at home..this way we get our electronic fixes and catch up....

We then head for home and do homework.yes, we look like kids...We sit at the table together, scratch our heads over vocab and tense and Cyrillic alphabet while meanwhile Slavitsa corrects us from the kitchen.....da,da,da, or nay,nay,nay! She gets really excited about our language...and talks to us for long moments and then asks us if we understand! Not yet, but we're getting there!

And what is she doing while we do homework? Making ruchek, which is a heavy lunch served at four o'clock! After we eat and the four of us chat Allan and I either walk or go check out Gotscha.....because we live in the rakija making neighborhood and he is the reigning king of rakija!!! We have probably twenty 55 gallon drums of fermenting grapes in our garage that need attention....and by golly, they are getting it! Stirring, mixing, heating, distilling..our garage is a happening place!

And thank God, the end of the day is now near...the end of our days are about eight...go to bed, read til nine, sleep like babies until 630...repeat..and by golly, we are having a hoot!

So much more to share....but by now you may be as exhausted as we are, so will save! Thanks for all your comments and support..it is so appreciated!

Orientation is done...but which way is up!!??

What a week it's been! We have had orientation this week....so starting at seven Allan and I would make our way down to the cafeteria, greet the other volunteers and prepare for classes from nine to seven! What did we talk about? Why, everything from security (theft, assault, wild dogs) to how to get t mobile dumb phones to setting up bank accounts to cultural diversity to my favorite, language classes! These classes are amazing...the teachers patient, the students earnest, the language pretty difficult but man, does it roll off the tongue when you finally get it! We all 45 of us can tell each other our names, say the different times of day, order in a restaurant, as long as the only choices are pizza, hamburgers, sandwiches or Fanta!

And tomorrow is another day...wait, that one's been used before! Nonetheless it is another day and a big one! We got our training sites today and Allan and I and eight volunteers will be going to Negotino,a small town smack in the middle of...wait for it...wine country! Sheesh, leave one wine country for another! Apparently many families grow their own grapes and make rakija,a strong(like 50% alcohol) brandy type drink. We will meet our host families..I hope they are looking forward to meeting us as much as we are looking forward to meeting them!

Some Macedonian differences....morning coffee is served in hard clear plastic cups, light switches get pushed up to turn off, you have to push a switch down to turn the hot water heater in our bathroom on an hour before you need it to get hot water, toilet paper is not common in bathrooms and so you bring your own...but don't flush it, place it in the special basket!!

We all went into tetovo last night, got tours of the world famous Painted Mosque and also of an Orthodox Christian church..both absolutely beautiful! Also enjoyed another shopska salata, my new favorite food!

I miss you all and so so so look forward to better communication...very little free time and almost non existent WiFi.....And a lot of people using it at the same time.....so remember how much we love you and love to hear from you and stay posted!!

Day One.....Boom, Done!!

When last you heard from our intrepid heroine she was a- trembling in her boots, preparing to go meet the other 45 Peace Corps Macedonia volunteers..and boy, she is so glad she did! I have had the opportunity to meet some of the coolest people ever..a pretty even divide of men and women, ranging from 22 to 68, from all over the United States, and let me tell you, they all have come rarin' to go! Such enthusiasm, such inclusion, so much fun and kindness....these are definitely not middle schoolers!!

And now we have completed day one. The director of Peace Corp Macedonia welcomed us as did the deputy ambassador for the US embassy in Macedonia. We've had Macedonian folk dancers show us some fun dances. We've started language lessons with the Cyrillic alphabet. And tonight we got in vans and drove to Tetova, the town our school is in. Allan and I walked with two experience Peace Corps volunteers and seven other volunteers to a great restaurant.....wine, shopska salata which is a mix of the freshest tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs ever, topped with a most delicious white cheese, fried zucchini, chicken breasts wrapped in bacon and stuffed with cheese, French fries topped with white cheese and some sausage like links...all for about five dollars..and it was delicious!!

Ahhh, Macedonia....the part we are in is very mountainous, with lots of sharp peaks and crags and covered in forests. It is quite rural and there are like a zillion cabbages growing in the fields.  There are small villages tucked way up in the hills; you can see the red roofs of the houses and the white spires of the minarets used to call the Muslim population to prayer. The people of Macedonia are famously friendly...I do look forward to meeting and working with them!

And now, it is time to hit the hay.   One of the volunteers is going to offer a yoga class at 6:00 in the morning and I am going to be there. A few of us did yoga yesterday afternoon and the stretch was wonderful after the plane rides.  Once again,I miss you all, but rest assured that Allan and I are happy as clams!!

Let the wild rumpus begin!

At the end of every school year, the kids and I would say"Let the wild rumpus begin!"from Maurice Sendak's "Where the wild things are" ... And now I find myself saying it to start an adventure. Allan and I are here in Washington,D.C.with about a half hour until we have our first official Peace Corps meeting and meet our fellow volunteers headed to Macedonia!

And oh, what a mess of emotions I am right now! I'm so proud of and excited for Allan and me doing something that honestly took some bravery, so sad to be leaving family and friends and grand babies! We will miss so much....watching these grand babies grow, coffee from my own coffee pot in my own house in my own mug, the ease that being comfortable in your own surroundings brings. We will gain so much....meeting new friends, learning a new language (yup, Macedonian), watching ourselves grow (mentally, not physically, I hope, although the food looks terrific there!).

Time to brush my teeth, put on my brave face and head to our meetings....thanks again for all your kind words of support!!

And we're off!

It's early Saturday morning and I'm enjoying a lovely cup of coffee in Boise, Idaho...and thinking of the roller coaster that has been Allan's and my life this past year! We applied to the Peace Corps, jumped through numerous medical and paperwork hoops, packed up forty years of married life, retired from jobs we loved, welcomed two new grand babies to join the three we've been enjoying for a few years, felt sad to realize that we won't be here to meet our next grandbaby due the end of September...and have just returned from our farewell tour, driving 4,383 miles to say goodbye to family and friends,as well as taking a quick trip(and a total of seven airplane rides) to say goodbye to family on Saint Croix!

And why, you may ask?? Next Thursday Allan and I head out on a most amazing adventure! We've been accepted to be Peace Corps volunteers in Macedonia! What will we be doing? Where will we be living? What is the food like and what language will you speak there? And you're there for two and a quarter years?? These are the most common questions we've been getting and I can assure you I wish I could answer them! So this blog will be my method of processing all the new experiences we'll be having and answering these questions...so I hope you'll follow along and share our adventures with us!

A shout out to all for all the love and support we've been getting...you'll never know how much we've appreciated it!