Spring Bouquet

Ok, I'm calling this the spring bouquet entry because it is a wild collection of random happenings from this spring.

Ashley and I visited our friend Ivona who had her first child, a baby girl. By tradition here, there is a mandatory lock down for about 6 weeks after a baby is born where mom and child do not venture out and nobody visits. Then, after that period, there is sort of an "open house" where people are encouraged to come by and meet the baby. Here we are holding baby Ilina.


I went hiking yet again, this time a group hike to an area about 30 minutes outside of town called Mariovo. Jane and David joined me and about 150 locals participated. The low point of the hike was when we saw a guy chuck his granola bar wrapper down the hillside. I told him (in Macedonian), "Don't throw your trash on the ground," to which he responded, "There's no trash can." Well duh, there's also not a prodav (store) selling granola bars but somehow he had one. Anyway, I actually responded, "You have a backpack," and when he just kind of shrugged and I called him a budala (fool). Luckily the hike ended on a higher note with a local specialty, tavche gravche (baked beans), served at a monastery and a nap in the sun before we hiked back to the buses. David and Jane dining at the monastery pictured below; more Mariovo photos here.

That Macedonians are perhaps the kindest people on the planet was proven yet again for me on Friday. I needed to get my stitches removed and rather than trek to the capital, Peace Corps found a doctor in my city to do the procedure. Well, as is typical here where it's all about who you know, Dr. Alekandar is actually a classmate of a doctor that worked temporarily at the Peace Corps office. He lives just down the street from me and he drove me to the hospital, took out my stitches for free, and drove me home--all that for a complete stranger and on a holiday, no less. I didn't think getting stitches removed could be enjoyable but when Dr. Aleksandar told me his first stop when he visits family in Ohio is Papa Johns pizza, we got into a great conversation about America's best fast food. Maybe I should open a Papa Johns in Bitola, since pizza restaurants are very popular already. The hard part would be deciding whether to serve the tomato sauce on the side (as is done here) or serve it American style, right on the crust.

And finally, here are some pretty pics from around town. I am obsessed with the hand door knockers like the one pictured, they are all over town. I have one that I bought in Syria, so I'll always have a reminder of calling this area home.