Wrap-up & Enjoy

Me as the Apple Fest Princess--Read On...

Things are slooowinnng doowwnnnnnnnn.  The hard and fast reality is that I only have 5 more weeks left in my service, so the name of the game is "wrap-up and enjoy."  In the wrap-up column, I handed off leadership of my baby, the Environmental Committee that I helped establish, and attended my last Volunteer Advisory Committee meeting.  With great relief after straining my brain to estimate how many people I have worked with over my service, I turned in my last activities report to Peace Corps.  And the American Corner asked me to present about my college experience, which was a fun trip down memory lane and I think there are some potential Huskers here. 

As for enjoyment, I took a wonderful hike led by the intrepid Robert, another volunteer living in the southeastern corner of the country who patiently endured all our dental care questions (he's a dentist) on the 9 hour trek.  Check us all out in more of those famous "glamour shots."

Robert, Kerry, me, and Jane at the summit

You don't want to know how I got up there

Pensive pose between Bulgaria and Macedonia (with Greece behind me)

Then I traveled to nearby Resen for its apple festival, which had the cutest kids selling delicious baked goods and lots of musical performances.  And, of course, there were apples--apples to eat, apples on costumes, apple growing awards, all that good stuff.

How can you resist their charm (and the quarter/cookie price)?

Hane (Helene's son visiting from America), Helene, and Michelle (volunteer in Resen)

Trying the goods

Singing group in traditional costumes

Though sadly and strangely, there is no Macedonian version of apple cider.  I think I'll drink a gallon of it next fall, to make up for missing out on that deliciousness for the last couple years.   Increasingly my mind is creeping towards the realization that all my food and drink cravings may soon be satisfied and in anticipation of that, I've started counting calories (awesome online program for this--Lose It) to try and return to my pre-Macedonia weight.  And how soon will I be home?  In 100 days! 

Making It To Krushevo

Jane and Ellen strike a pose in Krushevo

In Macedonia, the journey tends to be half the adventure.  For instance, take last Friday when Ellen, Jane, and I decided it was about time we visited the town of Krushevo.  I called the bus station the day before to confirm the time but when we showed up then, it turns out the van really leaves an hour later.  Oh well, it gave us time to grab tost, the Macedonian version of a panini.  Once on our way, our van gets flagged by the police, forcing everyone to get out for about 5 minutes and then get back in to continue on.  Why did we get stopped?  Who knows.  Then, 15 minutes later, our van broke down.  Luckily this happened on the edge of a town, so when I driver wandered away and didn't return for awhile, we started walking around town asking about taxis.  The third person we asked called a taxi for us and once again, we were on our way and arrived at our final destination. 

Our first stop was a museum devoted to Tose Proeski, a Macedonian singer who died in 2007 at age 26 in a car crash.  Tose's following was huge, something I might liken to Elvis except in addition to his music he was also known for his humanitarian work.  As an outsider, I cannot truly appreciate how beloved Tose was but I have seen people brought to tears by the memory of him.  For a clip of him performing a traditional folk song, click here.  At the museum they have many artifacts from his life, from costumes and musical instruments to the more unusual like his dental floss, nunchucks, and murse (that's man-purse for the uninitiated, something that is totally acceptable here but still makes me shudder to see men carrying).  At any rate, it was fascinating to see how tribute was paid to this recent icon who is remembered practically as a saint.

Next came some of what we call "glamour shots" (fun photos) in front of a memorial to the Illinden Uprising of 1903, a short-lived independence from the Ottoman Empire.  The memorial's strange and large visage brought to mind the Death Star to us and Ellen impressed us with her ability to hum the Star Wars music.

Jumping for joy at having finally made it to Krushevo

Afterwards, we killed time before our next van ride by drinking coffee and watching the Macedonians cheer on their national basketball team.  The national team signed on a player from New Orleans, Bo McCalebb, giving him Macedonian citizenship although I read that he really only knows some cuss words in Macedonian--not that I'm saying that's a bad place to start in terms of learning the language.  McCalebb has received much of the credit for the team's great performance in the European Championships and the team got a heroes welcome when the returned to Skopje on Monday. 

Townspeople watching the Macedonia basketball game against Spain

Lest this post go on and on, I can say the rest of the day went smoothly and was capped off a stop at the country's one and only Thai restaurant.  I am hoping that the next time I eat Thai food will be in Thailand on my trip home but I haven't booked anything there--yet. 

100 Episodes!

This is my 100th blog entry, which if I were a television sitcom I'm pretty sure would involve a giant sheet cake and possibly a special live episode but since this is just a blog there's much less fanfare. Nevertheless, I'm proud that I've reached the triple digits and have essentially averaged about a post per week since I started this blog. My life is not that exciting so that I managed to put something together that often is quite a feat. And although I sometimes feel like only my parents read this, I've actually had over 5,000 page views, including from places like Russia and Latvia, so there must be a few other folks out there curious about the life of this Peace Corps gal in Macedonia. 

Yesterday, 9/11, was obviously a solemn anniversary for Americans but for me it also marked two years time since I started the Peace Corps. Truthfully it pleases me that I have a good memory to associate with a day that conjures many sad remembrances, that the tragedy of that day did not stop me and many other Americans from trying to make friends with people from foreign lands.

In the aggregate, these two years have gone very quickly. There were days themselves that seemed never-ending, but I have had an enjoyable and memorable time that makes me sometimes feel reluctant to move on to my next sitcom, which will probably be some strange combination of West Wing, Sex in the City, and Saturday Night Live. Although it eases my apprehension about what may come next to think that it could possibly be that dramatic and entertaining! 

Nothing Better than Pleasant Surprises

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"--in thinking of how to summarize my day yesterday, this line from A Tale of Two Cities immediately came to mind. The "best" part was that I was doing one of my favorite activities, hiking. I climbed a mountain peak with the great hiking club Pelister, whose members are always patient with my language skills and careful not to leave me behind (which is good because seriously, I think two people from our bus got left behind). Since I had done this hike last year, I was not expecting it to be all that different but there were some pleasant surprises like...

Being one of the first Pelister members at the top and not the last

Seeing these people who carried their baby 4 hours up to a mountain peak

And stranger yet, seeing this house cat carried up the mountain (held by my Pelister buddy, Stevo)

Kerry and I proving there's nothing more American than making trail mix

As for the worst of times, that was the bus ride home where instead of singing pleasant folk songs like last year, people decided to scream them instead. Seriously, two hours of yelling inside a bus. I try to respect cultural differences but this was literally painful, inducing a big headache. I told my seatmate that the ride home was my worst experience in Macedonia and he chalked it up to Americans being cold and not embracing the Mediterranean celebration mentality. Perhaps, but I think I wasn't the only person on the bus not enjoying the "entertainment." Thankfully it was a day where the best outweighed the worst and that's about all a person can ask for, no matter where she is.