As soon as we got there, we started up this foothill. We
just crisscrossed our way around until we reached the top of this little hill
overlooking the end of the canyon. One regret I have is that I never saw the actual
canyon! We ate a little bit there and relaxed before heading back down a
different way. This was our key mistake. It took a long time to get down because
there was no path at all. Well, it was totally overgrown. It was fun to forge
our own way a bit, but it was difficult going. I twisted my ankle a few times
and it still hurts now (May 28th) if I try to do too much with it!
We ended up right by the cars where we parked in the morning.
We then headed over and grabbed a coffee before heading home
to Skopje! I did get some awesome pictures of Matka and one good video!
I’ve been titling these the posts “The week between” but
really they are more like the two weeks and a weekend between travel. The weeks are standard- work at an NGO, work
on new TFA stuff, read, try to get too much done, etc.
On Saturday April 21,
Florozon (the NGO I am working with one day a week) along with the US Embassy
sponsored a “Keep Vodno Beautiful” preservation hike. Now I had never heard of
a preservation hike, but I was all for picking up some trash. This country is
literally littered with trash. Almost everywhere you turn there is something
there. People just don’t seem to care that much about putting stuff in trash
bins. Surprisingly enough Vodno was pretty clean on the path, so there wasn’t a
lot to clean up. But if you went off the trail at all it was covered, but off
the trail was steep drop offs and thorns and scary looking stuff. I went up
with Cecelia (from IWA) to start off the day. There was a really great showing
of people, both American and Macedonian.
The Ambassador and 2nd in
command came out, as (I think) did the Mayor of Skopje. They handed out shirts,
hats, gloves, water and apples to people. We, of course, started about 30
minutes later than stated. I got separated from the main group almost right
away (I was still with people, just not the main group). When I realized there
wasn’t a lot of trash, I just started putting it in other peoples bags so we
didn’t make MORE trash for the environment. The Ambassador and a few people got
really into it and were so running off into the side of the hills through the
brambles and everything. (since I had not been feeling well, and didn’t wear
pants that were capable of doing so, I just stayed on the path and tried to
find trash to pick up. Then it started raining, I stuck it out for about 30
more minutes before the others who had turned around were coming back and
caught up with us. They did collect a lot of trash though! Wow!
two of the three people that I work with at the NGO.
On Sunday, April 22
the American Corner was doing an Earth Day event at the zoo. Since I hadn’t
ever been to the zoo here, I decided to go. (This was on my list for a while,
so I was super excited to have an excuse to go!) Nevenka had also asked me to
take a bunch of pictures for them, because their camera was going to die. (I
took over 300 some odd photos, by the way!)
They had it set up so kids could go
from continent to continent to learn about the different animal species that
were endangered on those continents. Then there was a zoo tour. Then a prize
drawing! I went around and looked at a lot of the tables, but since it was all
in MK, also wandered around the area and looked at the nearby animals.
like a guina pig exhibit. like at a zoo?
Then
they offered a tour of the zoo. I figured I would go on it even though it was
in Macedonian because I might understand a bit and would get to see more things
at the zoo!
they even had the press there!
They have some cool animals there, and some famous one. The zoo
didn’t used to be in good condition, but they have seriously shaped up over the
past few years! But people still like to feed the animals things they shouldn’t-
like chips and bad for you stuff. After part of the tour, well most of it,
Gordona and I snuck back to meet Nevenka and grab a bite to eat. I din’t think
I’ve ever drank a ½ liter of water that fast, I was so thirsty! It was super
hot that day and I even got sunburned! When the kids got back, they had the
prize drawing with a secret surprise at the end- the last three kids drawn got
to go into the lemur cage and feed them!
(and I got to tag along so I could
take pictures!) When we first got in there, they weren’t having any of that
fruit stuff, so the keep went and got a package of raisons and they went crazy
for the raisons. I think we were in there for about 15 minutes or so? Towards the
end, as I was taking a picture, I felt this little scampering up my back and
froze.
All of a sudden I had a lemur on my shoulder, just chillin’. After the
event was over, we went a looked around the rest of the zoo before heading home
to just relax. It was a long day!
the scraf was more "too little too late sun protection" than actual cold because it was still really hot!
On Tuesday, April 24,
I was invited to go to a mime event by Marissa. Since I had never been to a
mime performance, I decided to go. (I mean how many times do you ever get
invited to a mime performance?) We met up for dinner at Kaj Marshalot, where I
had been wanting to go. It was supposed to be decked out in old communist memorabilia
and they were supposed to be dressed as pioneers. (they weren’t and it wasn’t)
but the food was still yummy! We ended up having front row seats at the performance
and little did I know, that didn’t bode well for me! (or it boded extremely
well, it just depends on how you look at it…) Marissa knew the guy who was
preforming, he comes from the same small island in Maine that she lived on
before joining the State Dept. We saw Avner the Eccentric preform. And
he was AMAZING! Oh my gosh, it was so much fun! If he is coming to a town near
you, go see him.
So- a mime performance, what exactly is that? Well, I’m sure
youtube
can help, but, basically they preform wordless comedy. They do tricks, they
make a fool of themselves, and they let you relax. He kept making faces to me, because I happened
to be sitting on the aisle and was a girl I think. But it was fun! I even got
pulled up on stage once! And there is video to prove it. No pictures though.
After the performance, we hung out at the reception before
heading to our respective homes.
On Wednesday, April
25, two fun things happened. I got to give a presentation of my research
findings and go drink Macedonian wine! I had been approached by the Center for Research and Policy Makingin Skopje to give a
talk about my research. It was great! I had a wonderful presentation (click here to see a picture and a short article about it) and great conversation
with the participants there. I got to talk about the ways I think the
government should be more involved in non-governmental organizations in
Macedonia. I mentioned how more money
should be spent, but if they can’t spend more money, they should be more
active. The actual politicians should set an example and be more active in
organizations that they care about. They will be able to lead by doing, which
is so important in a culture that doesn’t seem to really volunteer.
Then it was off to the International women’s Association annual
Wine and Cheese tasting event. For 500 MKD (about $10) you could drink all the
wine and eat all the cheese from around Macedonia that you wanted! So worth it!
Lizzie, Justin, Erin, Aryn and I went over there. We ended up meeting up with
Angjie who was working the event and got to enjoy a lot of yummy (and a few not
so great) wines. We had a blast and ended up staying until it was over. When we
got back to the center, they wanted to grab a bite to eat, so we tried to go
find an open place. But those places that say they stay open until one am? Well
they close their kitchen at 11pm, go figure jerks. So no food. But sleep!
On March 21, I went to with IWA to the Holocaust Museum in Skopje. I didn’t know anything about the Jews in Macedonia. I didn’t evenknow MK had Jews in here. I thought it would be appropriate to share some history with you about the Jews in Macedonia. I’m summarizing here, but I have a booklet that I will be brining home if you are interested.
The Jews who were in Macedonia before WW1, were Sephardic Jews. Or Jews that had been deported from Spain in 1492. They moved around an were kicked out of many other countries before settling in the Balkans. They settled in Bitola, Stip, and Skopje in Macedonia. They became thriving parts of their communities. Not often forced to live in ghettos like the otherJews were in other countries.
During WW1, the Bulgarians occupied the current Macedonian area. They signed an agreement with Germany to deport all of their Jews, but they only did so in the occupied areas, not in Bulgaria proper. Jews were denied Bulgarian citizenship, forced to wear a yellow star, banned from banking, civil servants, pharmacists, and doctors.
After all of this, the Bulgarians signed the Dannecker-Belev agreement, where Bulgaria agreed to deport all Macedonian Jews to death camps. On March 11, 1942, the Jews of Bitola and Stip were shipped off to Skopje were they were interred for 11 days in a tobacco factory with only one toilet for over 7,200 people. And they were not provided food until 5 days in. Roughly 165 doctors and foreign citizens were released. On March 22, 7,144 Jews were placed in cattle cars for transportation to Treblinka death camp.
No one returned.
A total of 900,000 Jews and approximately 2,000 Roma were killed at Treblinka. There are fewer than 100 known survivors. The only Jews that survived the holocaust in Macedonia escaped the country before the round up or were hidden by other locals. Some joined the military to fight off the invaders.
Of the nearly 8,000 Jews in Macedonia only 350 survived.
There is a small Jewish community that survives in Skopje, the others all immigrated to Israel or Palestine.
A car they were transported in, mostly from Stip.
The Macedonian Jews were the only Jews to have a photographic catalog taken of them.
This is the memorial inside the museum. It is 7,144 different strings of beads showing the burning bush of the bible. It also states "remember" in both English and Macedonian.
Last Thursday, I went to Negotino. It is a small town about an hour and a half southeast of Skopje. The population is about 15,000 according to Wiki. I traveled with 4 other women from the International Women’s Association in Skopje. There is a charity there called Poraka Negotino that the IWA supports. Poraka Negotino was established in 2003 by a group of parents striving to create a better life for their children with special needs. They service adults however, not children. The state stops supporting special needs individuals when they turn 18.
When we went, they were having a celebration for their anniversary/disability day (? Not really sure, but we were invited). When we entered the Cultural Hall we were greeted with chocolate and a pin with their logo on it. Some of the people who attend Poraka were dressed in traditional gear.We were then seated in the front row and saw this:
After a few minutes, a bunch of people both volunteers and attendees came out and spoke about the institute and why it is important. Then they morphed into a choir and sang Poraka’s song. They were pretty good.
Then the director came on and spoke about …well I really don’t know, she gave the speech in Macedonian!...but I’m sure it was all “Thank you for coming here today, We are very excited to have you, and we want you to enjoy the show.”
The founder’s daughter than came on and played a song on the violin.
Then there was the play! It was a traditional folk tale from Macedonia. About these two tricksters who go around lying and cheating and get away with it because they are so clever. That is what we got out of the story with some English in the booklet. Don’t know how there is moral in there but….who knows.
Afterwards there was a small cocktail reception where you could buy some of the stuff the attendees made in the Day Center. I bought a Christmas card and a necklace.
Anjie and I had talked about staying later and seeing the sight of Negotino, but since there were only 4 of us in the car, we decided not and just went back with the others!
Also, I figured out how to wear the socks and shoes they have for sale all over the place!
On wed (10/12) Anjie and I went to the IWA meeting in the morning, Anjie picked me up. This time it wasn’t as helpful- not as many people or as many willing to talk and socialize as the first meeting. Like less than half of the original number. But they told us about the stuff they were planning on doing this week and are trying to get organized (Christmas Party, Shoe Shopping at a factory trip, next year’s fundraiser, dinners).I have volunteered to try to help with the Christmas Bazarr- it seems fun! And bought a cookbook. Then it was back to the apartment to try to rest up, organize the blog and my pictures and try to contact some NGOS. I called one, who will not be mentioned, when I asked them about my email they went “Oh yes, we got it.” And then “Oh we are so sorry! We will get back to you soon.”
Face palm. Really? REALLY? You get the email and read it and see that I am just asking for an hour or two of your time to talk to you about your work! I figured you would want that.
On Thursday (10/13) I contacted Gazmend and said that I couldn’t reach any NGOs and that my institute had basically abandoned me in helping. He gave me a list of NGOs that the US Embassy has funded in the past two years, and emailed 3 NGOS directly (with me CC’d). Within 2 days I had four meetings set-up, including one on Friday (arranged on the same day! WOW!). And as an update (10/20) I have about 4 other meetings set-up and 3 of them are willing to let me volunteer! Life is sweet! I love it!
And I will be updating you on a few of the meetings that I have had and will be having!
