The Week Between Travel Part 2

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 2^nd 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 Making in 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!

See you around the globe!

Holocaust Museum in Skopje

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 even  know 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 other  Jews 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.

St. Patrick's Day Weekend!

The weekend started on Friday when four of us went to see Swan Lake at the Macedonian Opera and Ballet. Jen came over from Tetovo to join us for the lovely weekend. We met up with Aryn and Claire around 8pm to go see the ballet. When we arrived, we discovered that we had second row seats! SECOND ROW! For only 400 MKD/$8.56 USD, so yea, anyone else get that good of a price this weekend?

This weekend, I was reminded of how many people I now know in Skopje and how much of a “big village” this country is. I saw Daniel & Anjie and Sarah & Marissa there. Neither of which I really knew were going.  Then the next night, I ran into a few other people I knew at the Irish Pub.

After the ballet, we went out to this delicious kebab place in Charshija/Old Town. We found it when Hyun, Chris and Ryan were in town. They have traditional Macedonian food. Including Tavche Gravche, kebabchina (meat sausages), shopska salad, ajvar, pindjuar. The meat eaters had some of the kababchina. The rest of us had everything else on there. Eventually a few other friends joined us for a drink. In true, Macedonian style, it lasted from 10:30 until 2am ish. We decided to not go out that night, so that we could go out on Saturday for St. Patrick’s day!

So the next day, Jen, Erin and I went up to Old Town/Bit Bazar to look for some things to fix our toilet and some yarn for Erin. We were able to find both and green mascara!! And we got Jen’s knock off purse fixed! Then we found dishes for our apartment. Erin and I have some old plates that are breaking in every which way. Then we caught a bus back and I was exhausted. I think I did too much this day. Erin had to work, so Jen and I went to this new Thai place to pick up take out food! Yummy curry, that is more hot than flavorful, but still good. When we got back, I ate some food and then promptly took a nap for two hours.

Then we got ready and headed out to the Irish Pub! It was packed, but we arrived at the right time to get a small table. There was a bunch of us! Nevenka, Aryn, Jen, Erin, Gordona, Jen’s co-worker, and  Vancho. And in true Macedonian style, we saw other people that were there that we knew! So much fun, even though they didn’t have any Irish Cream. How can an Irish Pub not have Irish Cream on St. Pat’s Day? But we had a lot of fun sitting at talking to each other! At the end of the night, Nevenka/Erin/Jen/Vancho went out dancing, but I was still exhausted, so I went home! Such a spoil sport. But I was thinking ahead to staying healthy for the next weekend.

See you around the globe!

First Few Weeks Of March

On 3/5, the American Corner had an “in-reach” where they had a local middle school come in. I did the “Big Cities in America” presentation again. It was a bit hectic and rushed and I thought I had 30 minutes, but when I got there they told me I only had 10, but I needed to include everything. So I probably spoke too fast and they probably didn’t get any real information. Kids here are hard to read. They just stare and don’t really respond to your questions…But then they took a quiz about the state capitals and put together a puzzle. See pictures here.

On 3/7, at the American Corner, there was an event for International Women’s Day, where two Macedonian women and an US Embassy worker talked about being women in their professions. I can honestly never say I have felt a stronger need to discuss what feminism and women’s rights mean and how much that is truly needed in Macedonia. I had visited a few different NGOs that were discussing women’s rights, but I never know how much of the common woman’s views were similar to what they were like in the US in the early 1950s. Many of the women there thought is was normal and good for women to stay home and be mothers. And that, that was all they were supposed to want. And that there was nothing wrong with that. Or that when a woman CEO was treated as if she was only there to get coffee for the men, that she was just supposed to accept that and no one protested that she had been placed in a degraded position. Other women were talking about how they should always be a mother or a wife before they pursue their other goals. Also, all feminist are man hating people who only want women to rule the world. (By the way- this is totally wrong. Feminism is fighting for human rights and the idea that everyone should be equal regardless of sex, ethnicity, skin color, sexual orientation, or any other potential discriminatory quality. Feminists don’t all want only women to rule the world, although some do, but so do some men. Feminist generally just want everyone to be treated equal in the shortest definition of the word.) I left there totally saddened and enraged over the injustice that these women will face, and wondering how I could make a difference. I wish the American Corner wasn’t moving this year, so that I could do a workshop on what feminism and women’s rights is actually all about. You can see pictures here.

On 3/8, there was another event at the American Corner: “Dreams for My Daughter, Dreams for My Mother.” It was supposed to be a mother/daughter thing, but they invited me along to contribute to the conversation even though my mom was half way around the world. We had a good conversation. Julia, the US Ambassador’s daughter who is living here was supposed to come but she was super sick, so she wrote a letter to her mom. It almost made us all cry she is such a good writer!  See pictures here. (Have I mentioned how I like the fact that the American Corner takes a million pictures and posts them online so I don’t have to?)

On 3/14, I had an International Women’s Association meeting. These meetings have two components: a social hour and an actual meeting. At the social hour, sometimes we have someone selling stuff (like make-up this time), or we play a game. And then there is a meeting where they tell us about the upcoming events that they have going on. After the meeting we usually go to lunch. This week’s lunch was at Shanghai, one of two Chinese restaurants in town. Neither restaurant is good, actually both are pretty bad and have no good food. But they are nice people. Then I went over to the Opera and Ballet to buy tickets to Swan Lake. After that successful outing, Cecelia and I went to her house, where I met her kitty that I agreed to house sit this past weekend. The kitty kind of reminded me of Koshka, a little skittish (she did warm up by the end of the weekend).

Like this past week (3/12 to 3/16) all I did was lay around and recover from being sick the week before. And other than that, I basically laid in bed or sat on the couch recuperating and trying not to get sicker. I did go work at the new NGO, but that is part of what made me feel worse and stay in on Friday!

See you around the globe!

Exploring Skopje with Mama

On Wednesday we decided to go up to the Millennium Cross where you have amazing views of the city of Skopje. You can catch a city bus for 25 MKD to the top of the mountain. Then there is a cable car that you can take for 110 MKD to the actual top.

However, we missed the first bus up there, so we decided to go to the City Museum right across the street from my apartment. They have a lot of stuff from the timeline of the city- tons of clothing and pictures! There was also a little exhibit of the Culture/History of money and how it was used for decoration. Then it was up to the top of the mountain! The views were incredible!


It was also super cold, and I found out that my boots are not waterproof anymore! We stopped in the little cafe at the top for coffee and tea. I was using the tea to warm up my frozen toes! We then caught the cable car back down the mountain and the caught the conveniently timed city bus back home. We went and grabbed a bite to eat at Aladdin. Falafels and potatoes! So delicious!

We went to the Mother Teresa Museum. It is built in a three part style. The bottom is an open air amphitheater, the second floor is a museum, and the top floor is  church. It is supposed to symbolize the three stages of her life, or something like that. Then we went to have hot chocolate (MK style).

Then it was to the American Corner where she had a presentation about Child Abuse Protection in the US. It went very well. There were a few interested people there. There was a good discussion. I learned a lot about protection in MK. There are a few foster type houses in MK, but not many. There is not a social services type of organization that systematically watches out for children in MK.

ACS-Facebook Photos

After the presentation, Mama, Nevenka and I went out to Plazza de Torres. It has a much more active atmosphere than Anja’s and is usually very very busy. It’s also much louder than Anja’s. Mama and I got a Mozzarella Sandwich and french fries with cheese. (Mama has noted that we eat a lot of cheese here in MK). We stayed there talking for a few hours over a bunch of topics. Finally after a 3 hour dinner, Mama and I went home and went to bed.

See you around the globe!

Mama's in Skopje!

My mom and I had a really great time while she was visiting here. We went to Tetovo, Ohrid and, of course, Skopje. I will do my best to tell you what we did and where we went, but we did have a some what relaxed visit.  Mama arrived on Sunday afternoon and Anjie and I went to pick her up at the airport. Her flight landed right on time!

Then we went back to the apartment where we just kind of hung out and unpacked a bit. Then we went out for dinner and tried to register her. I was told that with my snazzy new “lechna karta” I could register people at the local police station without my landlord present. Well, when I went down there with Mama, they asked for my lease. We went back got it and then came back. Then they said I needed “my Macedonian.” I told them that I could register with out him, so I called Gazmend real fast. As I was calling him, the nice lady that helped us the first time (before we went back to get the lease) just came over and registered us. And then handed us the white card, smiled, and told us to have a good day.

triumphal Arch, did ya' know that it was in Skopje?

For dinner we went to one of my favorite locations for dinner-Anja’s! Anja’s has this great atmosphere where you can talk, and relax or watch whatever sporting event is going on.  We had a шопска салата (shopska salad), “homemade” sandwich, french fries with cheese (supposed to be feta, but it doesn’t taste like it at all!). We also had palachinki/crepes with eurocream, banana, and whipped cream for dessert. After dessert we went home and to bed!

This is my elevator. Yes, I am going through the door to push the elevator button.

See you around the globe!

Aqua aerobics

For the month of November, I, along with Nevenka did Aqua Aerobics 3 times a week. There were some striking cultural differences. And I would like to make clear that these are just differences rather than a judgement on either culture.

What we would do is catch a cab to the sports center, go into the changing room, quickly change and go into the pool. The workout would last for about 1 hour, but Nevenka and I would do some laps and stretches before and after.

There were a few similarities. (1) the instructor can be brusqe “Quicker! Stop being lazy!” “Get those arms up!” (2) the people working out (in this case all women) complain about doing said exercises.

But the differences were more striking to me. The main one that I remember is the changing rooms were mixed gender-like men and women can go into the same room, change in the same dressing rooms, and shower in the same showers. I know this sometimes happens in the US (Ally McBeal comes to mind. Bonus points if you know the reference), but I’ve never experienced it like this at a gym.

The pool was very cold, every time too! They tried to say it was for better work-outs, but I hated it! Even when moving, you were still COLD!

Also, people were very concerned about the wet hair and getting sick. (this is also a difference that I have noticed- people are very concerned about my short sleeves, or no socks when wearing heels, out in winter. This is not specific to the gym, but rather to the country. People are really concerned about being cold. I mean I often am cold, but not because of my lack of socks with heels of ¾ length sleeves.)

The Usually Dead Week Between Christmas and New Years

Was actually a lot of fun.

I was able to work at the NGO, and do some more research on Tuesday. Then I was able to hang out with some of my new friends at their houses throughout the week. Even some video games occurred. But that was more of the girls pressing random buttons and the guys actually playing. but, hey we won once or twice!

On Wednesday, the DCM (second in charge at the Embassy) hosted a "Holiday Reception" for the Public Affairs portion of the embassy and local contacts. I was finally able to meet Brian, the guy in charge of the section that deals with the Fulbrighters. And a few other contacts were possibly made to meet more NGOs.

Horseback riding!

There is a website over here like is like Groupon or LivingSocial, and they had a deal for a horseback riding! I called everyone up and asked if they wanted to go, and since they did I tried to buy it.

But the website wouldn't take my credit card, since it was a US card. But there is an option to pay in the banks using a little blue form. So I went to a bank and filled out the form accordinly, all but the spot for the MK social security number. When I get up to the cashier lady, she says I can pay in a bank if I go to the bank that the company uses since I don't have the Social Secuirty number.

So I go to that bank and wait in line, and then they say I can't pay because I am a foreigner! A new law passed on Sept 1 for banks. If you don't have a bank account, then you can't pay at a bank. If you aren't a citizen, you can't open an account. Since we have special staus here, we can't open accounts. We don't have foreigner staus, and thus can't open accounts.

So I emailed the company with the horseback riding, and they agreed to honor the agreement that they had. So we were all set for Sept 10!

You have heard of Jen, Lizzie and Justin, but I am not sure I ever told you about Mary or Stephaine! Mary is a Fulbrighter in Kosovo teaching English. Stephanie was an intern at the US Embassy this fall semester, and I met her at an Embassy event. (I was smiling at someone and they smiled back and I thought to myself- she must be American! She was!).

We met up on the 10th and caught a bus out to Gorche Petrov (a part of the larger city of Skopje, kinda like New Orleans has parishes, Skopje has districts). Where we were to meet the guy in front of the European Eye Hospital- I know interesting!  I of course took some pictures while we were waiting:

 

Then we walked a little bit over to where they had the horses ready. The guy was super nice, and joked with us a lot! Before we could go up the mountain, we had to "practice" with one of the horses. Walk in a circle, stop and go. Oh and get on and off! It was harder than I remembered! I volunteered to go first and had fun trying it out. Then everyone took a short ride. He then assigned us all a horse and we took off to towards the begining of the trail. I was on Micky!

When we got to the bridge that you saw earlier, we all dismounted and they walked the horses over the bridge for us. We then remounted and took off. We didn't dismount until about 2 hours later! We rode up Vodno towards Saint Panteleimon - Dolno Nerezi, a well known Monastery. We passed some older buildings that looked a little bombed out, but were just old and falling apart. We also passed a cemetary on the way up. When we got to the top, we had coffee at the restaurant and then headed back down. on the way back down, we even gallopped! But here are the pictures! And a video to boot!

Part 2! There is only a link for the second one beacause blogger and youtube are being stupid!

 

Thanksgiving Day- Maceondian style!

Thanksgiving in another country is always interesting. Don’t believe me? Check out my last Thanksgiving abroad! If you really want Turkey it is often hard to find in other countries. It is even harder if you don’t eat turkey but want some delicious Tofurkey! However, with a little work you get some pretty awesome memories.

As stated before, Jen was already here. So when we work up on Thanksgiving morning, we started cooking. Did you know how hard it is to make stuffing by hand? Well, if you had pre-made breadcrumbs it might go a whole lot easier. Or a fork or blunt object to break the bread (as a note, you shouldn’t use your vitamin c tablets- they will break). But you can always have fun with your new apple corer.

Then Angie and Aidan picked us up at about 12. We then got a tour of their house and decided to play some games with Aidan and Eliana. We played matching game that uses two pieces of a plastic animal like memory. As well as snakes and ladders.

 

And did I mention MICROWAVE popcorn?

 

 

We even found the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on live stream via earthcam.com. The kids were super interested!

 

When Lizzie and Justin finally arrived, we immediately sat down for dinner. Yummy yummy dinner!

 

Then Naum came over later and we just sat and talked. Also, Daniel’s landlady and her daughter came up for some dinner.

 

All in all it was a pretty good Thanksgiving. I felt much more connected this time than I have the last few years. I think it was the sense of family that enveloped us as soon as we entered Daniel and Angie’s house. The friendship that they are willing to share with us is amazing. As Jen says- IIE  (the people who run Fulbright) are like a friend dating service- they hook you up and make you tons of friends- all over the world!

Saturday Experiences!

Today started  with a earthquake.

No really. An earthquake. But we couldn’t figure out if it was actually an earthquake or not.

 I had just woken up and was actually going to the bathroom when the toilet moved side to side for about 2 seconds, like if a someone was doing work or something.

About 30 seconds later Erin came out was all “Did you feel that? Do you think it was an earthquake? I was lying in bed and suddenly was moving.”

We go to look it up online, but nothing shows up, so we shrug it off.

 Later, I am looking on Facebook (which is horrible right now and has changed beyond use. So that is super annoying!) and see Daniel post that he felt his first earthquake today and that someone else posts that they didn’t feel it but everyone is talking about it!

I do the normal thing and google it. And find that yes it was actually an earthquake! Oops! It was a 4.2 magnitude about 37 miles southeast of Skopje. From what I can tell it was 8 miles underground? I have no clue how to read this stuff: US Geological Survey.

However, after that Jen came over and we went exploring!

We started off at the City Museum (the one near where I live) which had an exhibit from Japanese artists. It was pretty cool-lots of interesting more modern stuff and some really good ones. The other half of this old Railway Station is a museum of the city itself. Everything on this side was in Macedonian. But we had fun trying to translate stuff.

They had the first lift in Skopje (if my translation is correct). Old clothing and photo albums from Communist times, really old stuff from Romanesque times, and set up of some 50’s and 70’s style houses. Complete with yarn loop thing portrait of some guy:

Then we walked down Улитса Македонија (Macedonian Street) which is apparently celebrating 100 years today. Which meant lots of people there and even some in period dress:

Then we went to the Mother Theresa Museum. Did you know she was Macedonian? No, well neither did I! They have a museum here dedicated to her and her life. It’s kinda cool.

Then it was off to Plaza de Torres for lunch.

We then headed off to the National Gallery of Macedonia in this old Turkish Bath. It had a lot of really cool art work and architecture. See:

We then went off to Chartija (old town) to just wander around and go to the Bit Bazaar, or a market full of stuff. Want anything? Go to Bit Bazaar. Clothes? Bit Bazaar. Food? Bit Bazaar. Accessories? Bit Bazaar. Bathroom plumbing? Bit Bazaar. It’s cool to just wander around.

Then we went off to meet up with Erin and get some boza. However, we first went to see this jeweler that Erin uses for silver filigree. And ended up at tea with him for about an hour. He was super nice.

We tried to get boza, and did, but then we had to rush to go meet Vesna, Jen’s ride home.

Then home and relaxing. Then a surprise going out until 2 am with Ognen who wanted to forget that his aunt had just suddenly passed away.

 We went to old town and hung out there. After a while we went to the street celebration and danced to 1950s to 1980s music which was apparently really popular in Yugoslavia!