Monday, June 27, 2011

Rants and Raves


Back in my America days, I was a big peruser of the website Craigslist and I seemingly utilized every category on the site save one: rants and raves. As the name implies, it's a section where people can expound on what's driving them crazy, bad or good. But since I have my own blog, I'm going to post my first rant and rave here instead.

First the rant: what is going on with American leadership?! I read the news and yes, I know the federal budget is in a bad way but the extreme tightening of the purse-strings is starting to be felt on my side of the planet. First, my group of Peace Corps volunteers who are finishing up our 2 years of service were told that, due to budget cutbacks, only a few people could do a yearlong extension. Yearlong extensions are optional but hugely beneficial--you have people who are already trained and integrated into their communities voluntarily choosing to give another year of their lives to work practically for free. My group being full of extremely dedicated and bighearted people has many would-be extendees who will be literally turned away. The annual cost of a Peace Corps volunteer is less than $50,000; the annual cost of a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan: $425,000-$1 million, depending on whose figures you use. By cutting one soldier, all the extendees could be paid for and then some. I'm not trying to pick on the military but since both have corps serving overseas, it seems like not an entirely unfair comparison.

The money troubles continued when the U.S. Embassy declined to fund the Boys Leadership Camp that Peace Corps runs every summer with the Red Cross and YMCA. Oh, and did I mention we learned this less than 2 weeks before the camp is scheduled to start? In this case, for with 0.0001% of the Federal Treasury money spent on bank bailouts, we could have taught 80 young men how to be leaders in their communities and foster positive change from within. It brought me to the verge of tears to think that the boys I've been mentoring since March might be denied this capstone to their leadership training. Enough messing around, American leaders--it's time to step up and get our funding priorities in proper order.

Luckily, there's a rave: no matter what the American government does, the American people are AMAZING. Learning that the embassy funds fell through, we quickly posted a request for funds online. The call went out from me and the other volunteers here, looking to raise almost $5,000 in less than 10 days. And you know what? IT HAPPENED, and in under a week at that. I want to personally thank everyone who dug deep and made a contribution. Particular thanks to my friends who forwarded the fundraising request on to their friends--I was humbled by the generosity of people who are complete strangers and may have never heard of Macedonia before that message reached their inbox. You all represent the nation that I'm glad to call home.

We'll only be able to have half as many boys at camp as planned but I'm looking forward to meeting and working with the best and brightest from all around Macedonia. Expect more raves about these future leaders soon!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Кашкавал


Sometimes when I take photos here, I jokingly tell people to say кашкавал (cheese) which isn't a practice here but they get it (usually) from watching American movies and laugh, making for good pictures. I personally have taken over 4,000 photos in Macedonia and yes, you can thank me for posting only a small selection here. Extrapolating this to the 70 volunteers here, you can imagine that we had some good choices for assembling a photo exhibit honoring the 50th Anniversary of Peace Corps worldwide and 15 years in Macedonia.

The exhibit was recently on display in my city and whether it was the photos or the homemade American treats that were the main draw, we had a good turnout for the opening. Sadly almost nobody came to the other two days the photos were on display so lesson learned--no cookies, no crowds. Bitola was well represented within the exhibit, including a photo of me taken by Lauren and photos of Ashley and Helene taken by our sitemate, Phil.




A local TV station covered the event and then invited me to their station for a live (LIVE!) broadcast to discuss the exhibit and volunteerism. I was very fortunate to have Zoki, a high school student interning at the American Corner, acting as my translator. I posted a clip from the interview here (taped directly from my TV, hence the quality or lack thereof) and you can watch the news story on the exhibit (with Zoki's voice humorously dubbed over mine) here.

I was on the committee that helped select the exhibit photos and I think it is a nice representation of the variety of activities that make up a volunteer's Macedonian experience--working with the kids, dining in people's homes, dancing the oro, the whole crazy shebang. For those who cannot see the exhibit in person, I encourage you to virtually check it out here.

**Photo credit for some of the photos above to the American Corner Bitola.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

This was Yugoslavia?


After my family's visit to Macedonia, my parents and I flew on to Zagreb, Croatia to spend a week exploring Croatia and Slovenia. Almost immediately I was thinking, this was Yugoslavia too? Compared to Macedonia, Croatia was so clean and the buildings were in much better condition. Slovenia was even a notch above that in terms of appearance, plus in the capital city there were so many people cycling that it rivaled Portland or Copenhagen. Lacking an explanation for the discrepancy, I developed my own theory called the "neighbor effect." Slovenia, perched close to the meticulous Austrians, were influenced by their neatness and outdoorsy-ness which melded into the Slovenian culture. Croatia has a lot of Italian visitors and I perceived them both as cultures with lively people and good pasta. And who's around to influence Macedonia but Greece, which despite being part of the EU is still run-down. Can Greece and Macedonia be the next Slovenia and Croatia? Maybe, but not anytime soon in my opinion.

My parents and I were all pleasantly surprised by the natural beauty we encountered. An early stop was Plitvice Lakes in Croatia, which has been making all sorts of lists lately like "beautiful places to visit" and top 10 most beautiful waterfalls, and it lived up to the hype. Sure, I fell up to my ankles in mud during my rush to pass the mobs of school children and we had a run-in with one power-tripping school teacher, but other than that it was completely delightful. Slovenia was gorgeous literally top to bottom, from the breathtaking Julian Alps to the ginormous Postojna cave. I tried to take a run around Lake Bled and kept stopping every couple feet to take a photo. Check out some of the results and other trip pics here.

Mom and Dad were good sports about my quest to indulge in cuisines not easily found in my neck of former Yugoslavia, like sushi and Indian. I also ate truffles for the first time and they have a new fan. Another delight was rakija made from cherries, offered to us by a lovely Croatian couple whose guesthouse we stayed at in the town of Motovun. Through them, I discovered that if I spoke Macedonian they could largely understand me and vice versa with their Croatian. I'm guessing it's similar to Spaniards talking to Mexicans but it was a pleasing discovery to know that my Macedonian comes in handy outside of this Vermont-sized country. In Slovenia, the language was more like Macedonian swirled with German and having studied both languages it was both interesting and wholly confusing so I stuck mostly with English.


I'm inclined to agree with my parents that the scenery on this trip was at times reminiscent of Italy, particularly the coastal towns of Piran, Slovenia and Rovinj, Croatia that we visited. Unfortunately the prices rivaled Italy too, particularly Slovenia on the euro. Thankfully I had my generous parents around to make this trip possible. No really, thank you Mom and Dad!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

My family, live and in person!


It was pretty trippy to open my front door and see my mom, dad, brother, and sister-in-law all standing outside. But there they were, come to see me in Macedonia! We started the visit as one must, toasting with rakija and eating ajvar. My family was a greater fan of the latter than the former--rakija takes some getting used to. Those who know me well will not be surprised that this sitting around business was short lived and soon we were literally running around so I could show off my home away from home.

The running began with a rousing game of Ultimate Frisbee with the American Sports Club. My family was rightly impressed with how well spoken and polite the kids are, while my dad got a kick out of being told that no Macedonian man his age would play sports like he was. And I forgive my dad for hip-checking me to the ground--I'm pretty sure I know where my competitive streak comes from.


The favorite site we visited, by my family's account, was either ever-lovely Ohrid where we got a great tour from David or the scenic vineyards near Demir Kapija where we drank wine with Zach. In addition to David and Zach, my family got to meet several other volunteers that I was happy to introduce as good friends that I've made here.

Not surprisingly, it was the people part of Macedonia that seemed to most impress my family. They got to visit my host family in Sveti Nikole, who really rolled out the welcome mat with a lunch feast prepared by my host mom. Going there I was nervous that relying primarily on me as a translator might make for a long, quiet visit but it wasn't a problem at all, particularly since my host dad just cracks joke after joke, language barrier be damned, putting everyone at ease.


My landlords also had us over, giving us a homemade walnut liqueur at 9 AM and of course feeding us despite my protestations that we would have eaten before our visit. In my brother's words, on comparing his week in Greece and then in Macedonia, "I especially enjoyed seeing Macedonia, the people there are really nice." A special shout-out to my brother, Teddy, for getting his private pilots license last month. Even though I told him it worries me to have him up there flying, I'm glad he's pursuing his dream.

And lest you think that's all we did, you underestimate my ability to cram vast quantities of sightseeing into a single week. We also saw two archaeological sites, went to a lovely village in Pelister National Park called Malovishte, shopped at the open-air market where I get my produce. visited a monastery and 3 cave churches, and toured the capital, Skopje. Kudos also go to my sister-in-law, Jenny, for presenting at the American Corner about how to become a U.S. university student.

Tired yet? I was, but still I am so happy that my family came to visit me. For one, Macedonia is a wonderful country that deserves more visitors. Secondly, it will be nice to have people at home who really have a sense of what it is like to live here for two years and serve as a Peace Corps volunteer. And finally, they are the only guests from home that have made it all the way to my doorstep--it was far, I know, but I hope it was worth it. For those who haven't made it all this way, feel free to check out the photos and you can virtually tour with us.