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!
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Monday, October 12, 2015
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!!
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!!
Saturday, October 10, 2015
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.
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.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
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!
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