GOING POSHTA IN MACEDONIA!!

Adding to the List of Things that Macedonia Does Better than the U.S. must include the post office experience.  Gone are the days when the hardest decision was choosing the bird picture stamps or the ones with the tropical frogs.  This is now replaced by time-travel, inscrutable operations and entering a zen state.

First - Time travel.  Here in Gevgelija we have the city center and the main post offices.  The center post office is a small nondescript office between a bank and a T-Mobile store.  So far, so good, right?  This office only helps with letters and anything like a package is shunned like a plague rat.  The only place where a package can be sent or picked up, is - - 1960's Yugoslavia!  The main office is a massive concrete monolith replete with odd concrete projections that look like a spaceship model out of a B-movie set.  It has not been touched since the 1960's and all the efficient systems developed in that time are still in effect.  Upon entry, you are back in time, in a large room with marble slab floors, columns that rise 20 feet to a ceiling adorned with non-working blinking lights, and counters, many, many counters.  Behind the counters are many people, none of whom appear to work at the post office.

Now that you have entered an alternate universe, things get inscrutable.  Getting help takes some creativity.  There are no lines, so people tend to cluster around a counter window that seems to have a person making official movements.  If you show any sign of hesitation toward a window, others move in front of you.  Mailing items is not for the hesitant, the uncertain or the weak.  Once you do get to a window and present a package the reaction is usually one of surprise.  Each time is a surprise, so I believe the post office has like, infinite personnel turnover.  After the shock wears off a bit, the package is usually hefted, carefully observed, then left on the counter for a bit while other business is attended to. This inscrutable behavior seems to be to allow your package time to re-consider its surprise attempt at being mailed.  If the package shows no sign of retreat, then the weighing, re-weighing, stampings, looking up inscrutable information on lists on clip pads, more weighings, initialling, a group discussion and finally the application of labels.  You know that this inscrutable but important event is about to happen when the small paste container comes out.  All the paste containers that you used back in 3rd grade have made it to 1960 Yugoslavia, thank God.  The little brush thingy comes out, and, wait for it . . . . the serious pasting of labels commences.  For this activity alone, I want to work there.  After payment, which is different every time, even if the package is the same size and going to the same place; you exit the building.  I actually enjoy going to the post office and know I will get the hang of this.  Other people seem to be able to mail stuff.  I believe that achieving a level of calm and acceptance for things that are inscrutable is necessary.  Zen may be the answer.  

So - if you receive a package from Macedonia, consider the long process that has occurred inside a building that looks like a bad movie set and ends with the ceremonial gluing of the label.  Our mail process is a team sport that has twice the drama and all of the paste.   All you have are the tropical frogs.  Ciao,  Al

SPRINGTIME IN MACEDONIA

It's springtime in Gevgelija and it's absolutely beautiful. The sun is warmer, the breezes gentle (unless it's a windy day, in which case it'll blow you away!!), and all the traditional signs of spring are evident and I thought I'd share them with you!

First, as you can see, the flowers are beautiful! These flowers bedeck a stone wall on my way to school, and actually hide a yard that contains nothing but tulips and daffodils. The roses are out now; it seems early to me but I'll take it! We saw kiwi flowers today and the figs are starting to get plump on the trees.

And the storks are back!! Gevgelija and the surrounding villages are so proud of their returning guests.We have seven nests that I know of within five minutes walking time. The parents find their nests from previous years, do a little remodeling, place a stick with green leaves attached to serve as a warning that this nest is taken, and then sit and hatch four eggs that will become loud, chattering, indignant babies in about six weeks.We haven't heard them yet but have been told that we will! We also have like a zillion birds of eastern Europe that we haven't seen or heard before...it's wonderful!

And along with baby storks we also have puppies! There are a lot of street dogs here..they pretty much just sleep wherever they want, whenever they want on the streets...and sometime this lack of supervision can result in...pregnancy! This sweet little black lab mix who lives on our street choose to have her NINE babies in our back shed.  They were absolutely adorable but no one in their right mind has nine children at once, and after watching her trying to take care of these babies we know why! Now the babies have a new home and mom has a new yellow tag in her ear that means she's been fixed..and I'm pretty sure from some of the eyeball rolling she did around her pups that she's okay with that!

And last but not least, the fruits and vegetables are beautiful..and inexpensive. This display on our table is from our friend Maria's green grocery. Just about every other corner has at least one green grocery and the produce is lovely. It's a variety of fruits and veggies from Macedonia, Greece and Turkey right now. And like I said..cheap. These cost just under three dollars and are delicious!

Not sure what summer will be like but I can tell you that Allan and I are already looking forward to the next lovely spring we will experience here..come join us!

PEACE CORPS SLOVENIA!!

Hello dear friends and greetings from Ljubljana, Slovenia! Allan and I are having a fine adventure and want to share it with you.
So....this is Orthodox Easter weekend in Macedonia and we had some time off, so decided to fly to Ljubljana for the long weekend, and such a great decision that was. This is our first trip out of Macedonia and,I must say, we were sad to leave our new home. But once we got on the airplane, our love of travel came back to us!

Why Ljubljana?! Twenty years ago we hosted our first German exchange student for a year. Andre was a delight, and now,twenty years later, he is still a delight, living and working in Ljubljana with his wife, Shokouh. So we've had the grand tour of Slovenia.

Ljubljana is amazing...clean, friendly, convenient and inexpensive. Lots of bridges, castles, history, good food. Ice cream is the go to treat here..everyone but everyone walks around with delicious looking ice cream cones, may have to try one of them!

Yesterday we drove the hour to the Adriatic Sea. We walked along the coast from portoros to pirano, about three miles. The coast is beautiful, we could see both Italy and Croatia, enjoyed the walk and delicious coffee drinks!

And the towns! Castles, churches, bell towers...cute dogs, ice cream eating people, open air markets with wheels of cheeses and breads that are six feet long...all with the back drop of the Adriatic Sea.

And on the way home? Tons of bonfires burning in the dark! Everywhere you looked, from farm yards to town squares to the tops of mountains were huge bonfires! It seems that April 30th is the day to celebrate the end of winter and the arrival of May 1, or May day, and the Slovenians celebrate with bonfires and parties into the night. I was sad not to be invited to join in the parties, but now that I know when they occur, there's always next year!

Today...cave touring and castle exploring and that's enough about that because Allan and I need to get some food so we can get some sleep! Too much fun, too much adventure. As the slogan says..We feel the LOVE in sLOVEnia...Time for you guys to visit here and feel that love, too!

Little school in the celo

 I spend my Wednesdays at a small village ( celo) school...and it's a lot like being the teacher in Little House on the Prairie..only without handsome, problem solving Pa...

The school in Marzentzi, Macedonia is about three miles and another world from where I ordinarily teach. There are two classrooms, with students from first through fifth grade, all eleven of them..total!! I love it there!

I walk into the small hallway, where little heads are poking out the door to see the teachers who only come once a week...and one all the way from America!  We two visiting teachers chat in the tiny teacher's room with the two other teachers who work there every day..one teacher teaches first and third grade, at the same time in the same classroom; the other teacher teaches second, fourth and fifth grade. Now remember..eleven students total...so like fourth grade has one student and fifth grade has one student! Luckily, they are both girls and seem to get along swimmingly well.

I then walk into my classroom, where the sun is shining and with any luck the wood stove is cranking out some heat..this is a cold, cold, uninsulated building. The kids are so excited to see us, and I gather up my first class and head out the door to practice our English.

This is my entire first grade class! Now, before you think I've got it too easy, my next class has five second graders so send me some sympathy, folks! Marzentzi is a village famous(around here) for all the leeks they grow, and the leek field come right up to the play area, which consists of a small concrete pad, except on the side where the chickens have their homes. As you can see, my girls have animals I made and a barn Allan made, and we are working on naming animals po angliski. It's a wonderful place to learn our words, because, as you can also see, we have lots of living examples wandering through the school yard!

These sheep go by every time I've been there..no idea where they are headed...or why in the bottom picture the chicken is headed into the main door of the school, but I appreciate them because we get to yell "Hello,chicken!" or   " Bye bye,sheep!". And we get to yell it nice and loud, because 1) there's no one around to bother, )2 the animals appreciate our efforts and 3) we all know we can be better understood in any language as long as we are loud!

I wish you could all come experience this...it makes me giggle just to think about it and I'd love to share it with you!

Sweaty Tree Fun!!

 You may think that February 14 is Valentine's Day.  In MAK this day is Saint Trefun' s Day, pronounced kind of like "sevetty tree fun" -- and it is fun!  On this day you go out to your small vineyard with family and invoke St. Trefun to give a good harvest.  You start with bread made by your Baba.  This is special bread.  Note that she is also holding rakija.  All rakija is special in my opinion and a sure-fire way to get into the good graces with Trefun.

 You then go into your beautiful vineyard and pour wine on the ground in the shape of a cross.  I am not sure if Trefun likes this part as it seems to me to be hard to drink served like that.

But no matter, there is still work to be done.










The special bread is then broken and served.  The rakija also comes out. I am sure at this point that you have Trefun' s attention, I know they had mine.  The barbies are fired up and tables are set up in the vinyard

 Now for the fun part.  The eating sequence is rakija/vegetables/bread/more bread/much more rakija/stuffed cabbage rolls/bread/switch to wine/cheese and then the real meal is served.  The grills are cooking sausages, ribs and chicken. This is served with beer and at this point I had a direct line to Trefun and was begging for mercy.  After the meat, you guessed it, the baked potatoes were ready.  This is followed by dessert (honey cake), which, shockingly, goes very well with wine.

Finally, Trefun must have heard me as the food torrent ceased.  We wandered about, me still speaking to Trefun, and the others admiring the vineyard and other vegetables which grow here year-around.  We then packed up and after 5 hours of fun headed back into town.  I think Trefun is a fine Saint and apparently a great admirer of the grilled meat.  For this, I thank him mightily.  We also thank mightily the Popova family for the honor of including us in this tradition.  Trefun  surely appreciates this fine day and their hospitality.  I know that I do.
Al

Merry MAKs-mess!

Adding to the list of things MAK does better than the US must include winter holidays.  In the US, kids get out of school and max out their parents credit cards, then return to school a short while later.

In MAK, there are a LOT more moving parts.  For example, kids are out of school mid December and do not restart until late January. This allows plenty of time for the 6 events during this season to be thoroughly prosecuted. Here is the seasonal hit parade:

1.  Christmas. Santa is here too, but only as a minor retail prop. Santa here seems quite shy and frequently has smoke breaks. He is properly suspicious of children and dogs. December 25 is a non-event and not even the shy Santas get a break as they work on this day and for a week after.
2.  New Year.  On this day the shy Santa gets his time as he has delivered small presents to kids.  People that want to go out get their finest sequined clothes on and go to a bar.  It is a long night and the streets are littered with lost sequins and the remnants of fireworks.

 3. Boshik... It starts with a family meal with no meat.  Before the meal begins, everyone takes some food outside and God is invited in.  Fish, salads, bread, wine is served. The bread has a coin baked into it and whoever gets it is lucky for the year but the payback is they have to throw a party next year. This is January 5, 6 and 7.  On the 5th, you go to a bonfire and drink wine and listen to music.   There are  fireworks and singing.  The next day you return the earlier favor to God and go to his house for church service.  This is a 3 hour deal as conversations with Him are not brief.  Also, God is not in the furniture business so there are no chairs in an Orthodox church, so you stand.  It is really quite beautiful as the mass is sung.
4.  Old New Year.  This is on January 13 on the old Gregorian calendar.  On this night kids put on masks and go around to houses and sing. You then give them a couple sausages. We gave out candy as yes, we had no sausages.  People use up whatever left over fireworks they may have, fuelled apparently, by sausages.
5.  Name Day.  January 14 is a big name day. This the day when a Saint died. Apparently the 14th claimed a lot as many Saints have this day.  If you are named after a name-day Saint, this is your day too so you must think Saintly thoughts and give out candy which I think is in the Old Testament.
6.  Epiphany.  This is on January 19th.  On this day the priest blesses the river, and throws in a cross.  People must be quite taken with this as the men leap into the river to try and find it.  If you find the cross you get a lot of luck plus bragging rights.  I suspect the river bottom is riddled with crucifixes and those less lucky. The Vardar river is big, fast and cold.

Everyone is now cold, exhausted, sugared up or sick of sausages so school resumes on January 21st.  I believe this is a much better way to spend the holidays. A lot more food and far less time returning stuff you don't want. And, if you're feeling lucky, you can try the river!
Al

Cafe Society

L

"Let's take a coffee!"  When you hear your MAK friends say this, the only answer is "yes".  In Macedonia, coffee is serious business as well as dang good. They have been brewing coffee well before Starbucks came along and ruined it for us. It came with the Turks about 600 years ago. 

The traditional way to make coffee is the Turkish (or Makedonski) style. Here you take a small pot, like one of the old pots below and boil water. Then add some finely ground coffee, this is almost like powder.  Add this to the hot but not boiling water, stir. Do not let this boil or it will look like one of those coke and Mentos experiments from elementary school!  Add sugar and stir while having a very serious look on your face. The pour it all into a cup. Milk is for sissies.  It is quite good.  The important part comes now. You must talk about things, anything, but not about work. Work is for sissies and can be discussed later when you are not doing important stuff like drinking coffee.  If you have not finished your discussions the only option is another cup of coffee, maybe with a cake. Not a sweet cake, that is for sissies. Maybe a cake with dark chocolate. 

Soon you will finish your important work because if you take 3 coffees you will be crazy and do no work at all. That is ok, because you did the important thing by taking coffee with your colleagues. I think America needs important coffee like this and less frou-frou coffee like Starbucks. 

If you are frou-frou like I am sometimes you can get a cappuccino like the one above. Excellent as well but mostly for tourists or the feeble. When you visit you must take a coffee with me and tell me how you have been. We have time!

Al

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