The big looming questions ever since I found out that I’d be moving to Macedonia have been where and what I’d do here and now, seven weeks into training, I’ve got some answers—working at the Pelister National Park in Bitola. For those not well versed in Macedonia’s geography, Bitola is in the south about 10 miles from the border with Greece and not too far from some of the country’s large lakes. People I’ve talked to have raved about how beautiful it is and how nice the mountains are, so it sounds like a place that I want to be. The city itself has about 95,000 people and is Macedonia’s second or third largest city, depending on who you ask. There are a few other volunteers in and about Bitola, so luckily I will have some help learning about my new home.
My work assignment is with the Pelister National Park, helping them to implement their management plan. Their website is www.park-pelister.com, if you want to get a feel for my new "office." I get to visit with my new colleagues next week and get my bearings in Bitola, so I’ll have a better sense of things then but my initial sense is that this is a good placement for me. I like that I’ll have both the city and the wilds at my fingertips and working with a national park will be an exciting new challenge!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Channel Swim
There are several ways that I’m trying to pick up Macedonian--naturally there are my language classes and studying, plus talking to my host family and other folks around town. Then there’s watching TV. My Macedonian host family is a lot like my American family in that we tend to sit around in the evenings and watch TV. However, watching TV to learn Macedonian is pretty tricky. First there are the programs in Macedonian, which tend to be news, dramas, or variety shows with lots of ballads and accordion. I don’t have quite the appetite for Macedonian ballads that my host family does but maybe it’s because I don’t understand the lyrics. Then there are programs in English with Macedonian subtitles. I find these programs pretty helpful but the pickings are eclectic. I’ve seen Prison Break (Season 1) and One Tree Hill, plus several movies from the 80s and 90s (particularly sequels) including My Girl 2, Coming to America, and Judge Dread.
From here, my Macedonian learning from television gets more challenging. Next in line comes programming from other countries dubbed into Macedonian. I’m getting drawn into a show called “1001 Nights” which is a Turkish show dubbed into Macedonian. Of course, it’s hard to follow when their lips don’t match the words. Then there are shows broadcast in their native language with Macedonian subtitles. There are several popular Spanish telenovellas, and nothing is much more confusing to me than hearing Spanish (which I don’t speak) and reading Macedonian (which is in Cyrillic). The Macedonians also have a lot of programming from Serbia because they understand Serbian—I however, do not. Apparently many of the neighboring Balkan countries can understand each other’s languages but they aren’t similar enough to me yet so I’m dependent on the Macedonian subtitles. I am trying to watch Serbian Survivor that just started a new season and has a Macedonian contestant. I also watched Serbian Wife Swap. They don’t seem to fight as much as on American Wife Swap and the wives always bring gifts for the family they are staying with but otherwise the premise is the same.
I have not seen any shows in Albanian, which about 25% of Macedonia speaks as its native language. My guess is that this is either because most Albanians speak Macedonian anyway or because the programming is done regionally and my region does not have an Albanian population to speak of. At any rate, I don’t know any Albanian but one of our training communities is learning Albanian in addition to Macedonian. Tackling Macedonian is plenty for me.
I understand that cable TV here is a whole other story. At my host sister’s house I did watch some MTV in English with German subtitles and I’ve heard that there is an entire channel devoted to fashion. Also, it would be wrong to omit the sports broadcasts which are primarily soccer but sometimes handball, a popular sport here that I’m still trying to understand the rules of.
So now you know that I’m not being a couch potato, I’m “studying.”
From here, my Macedonian learning from television gets more challenging. Next in line comes programming from other countries dubbed into Macedonian. I’m getting drawn into a show called “1001 Nights” which is a Turkish show dubbed into Macedonian. Of course, it’s hard to follow when their lips don’t match the words. Then there are shows broadcast in their native language with Macedonian subtitles. There are several popular Spanish telenovellas, and nothing is much more confusing to me than hearing Spanish (which I don’t speak) and reading Macedonian (which is in Cyrillic). The Macedonians also have a lot of programming from Serbia because they understand Serbian—I however, do not. Apparently many of the neighboring Balkan countries can understand each other’s languages but they aren’t similar enough to me yet so I’m dependent on the Macedonian subtitles. I am trying to watch Serbian Survivor that just started a new season and has a Macedonian contestant. I also watched Serbian Wife Swap. They don’t seem to fight as much as on American Wife Swap and the wives always bring gifts for the family they are staying with but otherwise the premise is the same.
I have not seen any shows in Albanian, which about 25% of Macedonia speaks as its native language. My guess is that this is either because most Albanians speak Macedonian anyway or because the programming is done regionally and my region does not have an Albanian population to speak of. At any rate, I don’t know any Albanian but one of our training communities is learning Albanian in addition to Macedonian. Tackling Macedonian is plenty for me.
I understand that cable TV here is a whole other story. At my host sister’s house I did watch some MTV in English with German subtitles and I’ve heard that there is an entire channel devoted to fashion. Also, it would be wrong to omit the sports broadcasts which are primarily soccer but sometimes handball, a popular sport here that I’m still trying to understand the rules of.
So now you know that I’m not being a couch potato, I’m “studying.”
Friday, October 16, 2009
At long last--photos!
If you check out my Picasa photo stream on the right side of the screen, you'll finally see some photos from my first month in Macedonia. I was able to upload these pictures using the wireless internet at the Irish Bar in Kumanovo. Yes, I know, that sounds 1) weird and 2) not very Peace Corps. But, we have what's known as a "hub day" every other Friday in Kumanovo. Hub days are when all the volunteers in my group get together for common training. Afterwards the usual stop is the Irish bar because it has ample seating and free internet. However, I am being quite antisocial spending all this time posting photos so I'll let the pictures speak louder than words.
Monday, October 12, 2009
On the weekend, I...
never know what we are going to do. As a person who likes to make plans and schedule, this is one of the more difficult things about being a trainee in Macedonia. This weekend I watched my host sister's wedding movie (both DVDs) and the video of her son's christening. The christening was not so surprising but the wedding was pretty fascinating. First of all, there is a lot of people dancing in a circle, hand-in-hand--in front of the groom's house, in front of the bride's house, at the reception, and probably some other places I'm forgetting. There was also a lot of bread involved--many times they took circular loaves and tore them apart and ate from them. I'm guessing this is about the circle of life and sustinance for a new life together but that's just my guess. I also enjoyed the part where the wedding couple gave gifts to their family--they would toss them in the air several times the way we sometimes shake a present before we open it. Katerina, my host sister, said tossing the presents is meant to give the couple many children but when I'd asked her mom Victoria why earlier she said, "I don't know." I don't know, coincidentally, is one of my favorite responses to questions here. I may know, but probably I don't know the words to answer and it's easier to reply, "I don't know." We really are learning a lot of new words but a Macedonian this weekend told us we are up to a 2 year old's level of Macedonian. I don't know many verbose 2 year olds so you can imagine where we're at.
Saturday was also Katerina's 24th birthday and we celebrated at her house with a plethora of snacks and beverages. I felt bad that she was doing all of the cooking and cleaning during the celebration but she seemed to enjoy herself nevertheless. Afterwards I went to the local pizza joint with some fellow trainees and assorted host relatives for beer. It's the place we frequent the most because the beers are very affordable, $1.50 for a large bottle.
On Sunday, I visited my host grandparents so I could see grandpa make rakija (Macedonian moonshine). Almost every home here has a setup similar to his--there's a drum that a fire is built in with a clay element on top where the grapes are put in. As the liquid is cooked out, it goes through a water cooling tank and then drips into a collection tin. Eventually I'll get some photos up of this but maybe not until I get to my permanent site. The deal with internet here is that everyone is limited with how much they can upload or download per month, so although my internet availability has improved I don't want to eat up all of their capacity.
In the evening, Katerina had a performance with the local folk group she participates in. She and another gal did all the singing and there were dancers. There were also 2 groups of muscians, singers, and dancers from Slovenia (which is between Austria and Croatia, in case you are behind on your geography like me). Everyone in my trainee class came to watch and it was really entertaining--I would have paid good money to go but it was free.
Anyway, that about sums of the weekend--spontaneous but busy. Oh yeah, and my host dad got a pig that he started butchering in the basement yesterday. It's about 100 pounds of pork, so I think I know what we'll be having to eat for awhile!
Saturday was also Katerina's 24th birthday and we celebrated at her house with a plethora of snacks and beverages. I felt bad that she was doing all of the cooking and cleaning during the celebration but she seemed to enjoy herself nevertheless. Afterwards I went to the local pizza joint with some fellow trainees and assorted host relatives for beer. It's the place we frequent the most because the beers are very affordable, $1.50 for a large bottle.
On Sunday, I visited my host grandparents so I could see grandpa make rakija (Macedonian moonshine). Almost every home here has a setup similar to his--there's a drum that a fire is built in with a clay element on top where the grapes are put in. As the liquid is cooked out, it goes through a water cooling tank and then drips into a collection tin. Eventually I'll get some photos up of this but maybe not until I get to my permanent site. The deal with internet here is that everyone is limited with how much they can upload or download per month, so although my internet availability has improved I don't want to eat up all of their capacity.
In the evening, Katerina had a performance with the local folk group she participates in. She and another gal did all the singing and there were dancers. There were also 2 groups of muscians, singers, and dancers from Slovenia (which is between Austria and Croatia, in case you are behind on your geography like me). Everyone in my trainee class came to watch and it was really entertaining--I would have paid good money to go but it was free.
Anyway, that about sums of the weekend--spontaneous but busy. Oh yeah, and my host dad got a pig that he started butchering in the basement yesterday. It's about 100 pounds of pork, so I think I know what we'll be having to eat for awhile!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Etiquette Lessons
Mostly through trial and error, I'm learning proper etiquette in Macedonia. Early on my fellow trainees and I caught on to taking off our shoes at the door when we enter any homes, including our own. I know lots of people do this in the states but I've yet to see a Macedonian household that doesn't have some sort of closet or rack or space near the doorways for shoes. When I was unpacking, I knew that I couldn't put my shoes on the floor so I tried having them on plastic bags on the floor of my room. My host mother took one look at them and then proceeded to start clearing out two shelves of what I call the "shoe closet" near our front door for my footwear.
Dining is another area that elicited some surprises. I know, all I do is talk about food but seriously, it's a big deal here. The main meal for most families here is lunch, which my family usually eats around 3 pm. I thought I would starve waiting that long but I've developed a system that works pretty well. I have some cereal in the morning, fruit during the breaks at school, and then the big lunch at 3 o'clock and snacks like popcorn, fruit, or cake in the evening. At lunch, we each have our own bowls for things like soup but if there's a salad (and their usually is) the typical approach is for everyone to dig into it in the center of the table. We also don't have bread plates (bread is possibly the most popular food here) but put it directly on the tablecloth. One of the biggest differences is that drinking does not correspond directly with eating here. For instance, I grab my own glass of water to have with lunch but most of the rest of the family doesn't have any beverage or possibly something like beer or rakija (the local brew) as they finish eating. One Macedonian told me that drinking while eating interferes with digestion. They do tend to be thin here so maybe that's the secret but I'm not totally convinced.
I'm writing this post at a local internet cafe as young boys (maybe 12-16 years old) shout at each other and play video games. The main difference from the states is 1) they aren't just playing from home and 2) several of them are smoking. I can't say this is very condusive to my writing and it's almost lunchtime so that's it for now.
Dining is another area that elicited some surprises. I know, all I do is talk about food but seriously, it's a big deal here. The main meal for most families here is lunch, which my family usually eats around 3 pm. I thought I would starve waiting that long but I've developed a system that works pretty well. I have some cereal in the morning, fruit during the breaks at school, and then the big lunch at 3 o'clock and snacks like popcorn, fruit, or cake in the evening. At lunch, we each have our own bowls for things like soup but if there's a salad (and their usually is) the typical approach is for everyone to dig into it in the center of the table. We also don't have bread plates (bread is possibly the most popular food here) but put it directly on the tablecloth. One of the biggest differences is that drinking does not correspond directly with eating here. For instance, I grab my own glass of water to have with lunch but most of the rest of the family doesn't have any beverage or possibly something like beer or rakija (the local brew) as they finish eating. One Macedonian told me that drinking while eating interferes with digestion. They do tend to be thin here so maybe that's the secret but I'm not totally convinced.
I'm writing this post at a local internet cafe as young boys (maybe 12-16 years old) shout at each other and play video games. The main difference from the states is 1) they aren't just playing from home and 2) several of them are smoking. I can't say this is very condusive to my writing and it's almost lunchtime so that's it for now.
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