A trip to Albania / Kocani life

After my last posting, two days later I moved into my new place in Kocani. I already love the place, but I'll get to that later. Anyway, I barely had a chance to get settled (though my landlord made every effort to help, like installing a new laminate flooring in my kitchen/living area the same day I moved in), before I left 3 days later for Pogradec, Albania to attend a week-long Youth in Action program training course on Sept 19. The topic of the course was "Give Voice to Minority Youngsters." I was invited to go by my work counterpart, though normally these training courses involve only European citizens. Therefore, it was a fascinating opportunity for me as an American to not only see 'how they do things here' but also meet people from 12 different countries in both Western and Eastern Europe.

Pogradec Albania, short walk from our hotel. Lake Ohrid from the Albanian side. 

Most of our 7 days (well 8 total to include travel) were spent at the hotel, usually outside or by the park area along the lake. We had great weather and it was a good social atmosphere throughout. I did wish though that I had reviewed some of the basic Albanian I learned at our language IST in June, because the hotel staff was friendly and couldn't say much to them other than thank-you and good morning.

After the training sessions concluded for the day, we had chances to see a little more of Pogradec at night, as well as an 'intercultural evening' where each participant (or groups of participants) prepared a table spread that included food, drinks, and a short video presentation about their respective countries. Rather than try to put something together for the US (I was fresh out of Twizzlers and Jack Daniels), I joined up with my counterpart's Macedonia table. Egregious as it was that we had no ajvar for sampling, we nonetheless still had some domashna rakija, smoki, and ressani. It was, naturally, 'timeless.' Other tables included variations on the raki/rakija concept. For instance, Turkey has raki, but it is much more like Greek ouzo in taste than Macedonian rakija. Both the Bosnian and Albanian rakija were closer to the Macedonian variety, though of course јас секогаш повеќе сакам македонска ракија во секоја прилика. That being said, it was great to sample the other types, along with the great food that people either brought or prepared.

Outside of the training course and entertainment, I kept up with my running schedule, which also helped me get to know Pogradec a little better. I couldn't help but snap a few photos with my phone:

Pogradec from the hill above the town. 

Looking north along the coast of the lake from the hill. 

In the process of one of my morning runs, I managed to trip on a rock and went tumbling over into the dirt. Luckily no major damage aside from a few scratches, but I did tweak a muscle or tendon on some rock when I hit the ground so I took a day off two days later. Yep, I apparently needed to have a really painful following day of running in order to have the common sense to take a day off. 

Once we finished up the training on the 27th, I made my way home and immediately set out to get my new place livable...or more specifically, get my kitchen stocked so I could start cooking. Three days later I've got an adequate spice collection and some full cabinets of cooking supplies. As a testament to that, I've cooked meals at home the last four nights, the first time I've had a chance to do that in about a year and a half. Since I generally have ample free time most days (running in the morning and work till 5ish...that is my life!), I get the strong feeling that cooking will become my new hobby. In the past, I've intermittently enjoyed cooking, usually only when I'm making my favorite foods or cooking for guests. Now, it's going to be a major way to pass the time, so I might as well finally get into it for real. After all I am part of the Bonwich clan, so I'll start looking for the Macedonian Cooks Illustrated. 

Beyond the kitchen, I went for a walk yesterday and I realized that I live in a really nice part of the city. I am basically at the northern edge of town, so I'm just a few steps away from the road that leads to the dam/lake area 'Gradce' and what I think is one of the nicest outdoor areas in the region, Osogovo mountain. So naturally on my walk I took some photos, and here are a few that give a good perspective on Kocani and the surrounding area:

The Kocanska Reka (Kocani River), near my house

Looking back  to where I live, one of those houses down there.

Change

The word "change" is clearly a word that has a whole range of meanings, and differs based on the context or even on the personality of the person who uses it. It can be good, bad, or somewhere in between. It's a very applicable word for slogans, protests, homeless people, political campaigns, or even for proposed invasions of sovereign nations. For me, it is less a word I use rather than something that has defined me of late. In the past four or five years, I've had a nearly continuous succession of 'big' changes where either voluntarily or involuntarily the status quo needed to, well, change.

After heading into the Peace Corps roughly 12 months ago, I thought that this pattern might deviate, since typically volunteers spend most of their service, aside from pre-service training, in the same location. But recently I made the decision to make yet another change. On Saturday, I will be moving from my site Obleshevo to the nearby city of Kocani to work full-time with a youth-focused NGO. My reason was simple: I did not want to look back on my Peace Corps service a year from now and wonder why I didn't do enough to make things better. I came to the realization that the only meaningful or potentially meaningful work I had was in a town 10 kilometers away from me. I was spending a few days a week commuting on my bike from Obleshevo, trying to find something, at the least some type of organization that was interested in working with me to offset the days I spent wasting my time and motivation simply 'checking in' at a place that probably at best looked at me as some sort of shiny (or skinny) American hood ornament. I don't think I will ever truly understand why my previous work site wanted a Peace Corps volunteer.

As I spent more and more time in Kocani, and steadily less in Obleshevo, eventually it became increasingly obvious to me that I had to make a big change, but in doing so it would affect more than just my own situation. I had tell my host family in Obleshevo that I am moving Kocani, and it was probably the toughest thing I've had to do since I came to Macedonia a year ago. I was so worried that they would think I'm leaving because I'm not happy with living with them or some other reason. I worried about their financial situation and how my departure would affect that. Thankfully, they were very understanding, since they understand the challenges I've faced with respect to my work situation. I could not have asked for a better host family during my stay in Obleshevo. I'll never forget their generosity and some of the great experiences we've had together, and I plan to stop by from time to time, for a coffee or, more likely, rakija with some meze.

But now I go back to my personal experience with change. In a way, here I am again, crumpling up the piece of paper and starting over. On the other hand, I can make the argument to myself that I'm building on what I've already started, cultivating the friends and connections I've made over the past few months, and finally becoming part of the community in Kocani. I don't think I 'wasted' my time in Obleshevo. I feel like I did what I could given the situation and given who I am as a person. Maybe I could have been more persistent on some things, or held back my personal feelings and tried harder to work with people who clearly had no interest in working with me. Maybe I should have gone 'na gosti' more in my community, learned a few more things, and maybe a future project could have emerged. Maybe I should have gone out to the fields more with my host family, and made more of an effort to learn about farming techniques and crop cultivation. Maybe I should have embraced the fact that the only 'need' I could find in the community that I could help with was adult English class, and maybe I should have turned that into my main occupation as a volunteer. There are a lot of maybes. But I left them unfulfilled, because they don't fit who I am as a person, my current and future career interests, and they are not what I wanted to get out of this 27 month experience. So instead, I made a change. It won't be perfect. I expect bumps along the road, frustrations, and plenty of challenges. But nevertheless, making this change gives me the best possible chance to look back in September 2013 and have no regrets. 

Break from the heat

Well it's late August, and I haven't written a new blog in almost 3 months, so I figured now was as good a time as any. It is still very hot outside, generally sitting around 100 degrees most days, though I think are supposed to get a break soon after the current heat wave.

Since my last posting, not a whole lot has changed for my life here in Macedonia. I'm still living with a host family in Obleshevo, my primary work site is the same, but I've got another 3 months under my belt in my service. In those three months, I came to the conclusion that the status quo was not acceptable to me, and I did not want to look back on my time here at Close of Service and have regrets about what I could have done to improve my experience. So I've made some changes, the biggest of which is taking advantage of the fact that I live 9 kilometers from Kocani, a town with roughly 30,000 people. Sure, Kocani isn't much like towns of the same size in the US (I'd love a movie theater or a bowling alley), but what is most important is that it has more work opportunities and more people. In the case of the former, I started working with the regional office of a national farmers organization in late June, and I've had a very positive experience thus far. I've been invited to several meetings and topical workshops, including the organization's general assembly meeting in Skopje back in July. It is refreshing to feel that my contribution and experience is valued with this organization, and I hope for more collaboration in the future.

On a related note, my purchase of a bike a few months continues to pay dividends. I've gotten used to not only biking into Kocani for work, but also for socializing and spending time with friends. I've sort of fallen into the routine I had when I was studying in Monterey, where I also just had a bike for transportation. I've even found my preferred 'parking spot' next to the T-Mobile store in the center, while in Monterey it was next to the Admissions house. Also like Monterey, I usually bring one shirt to sweat in on my bike, since it is hot outside by 9am and without shade, and then change shirts when I get to town. Thankfully dress codes aren't too strict so I can get away with shorts and a polo during the summer. For the return trip in the evening, unfortunately I have to use my bike helmet as a windshield against the waves of mosquitoes that seem determined to prevent my return. It's probably too much information, but I generally have to wash a few of the 'casualties' off my arms when I get home.

Beyond my immediate surroundings, I've been traveling as much as possible this summer, whether on vacation, assisting in Peace Corps projects, or just simply getting out to see more of the country. Unquestionably, my 8 day trip to Thessaloniki and the Greek islands of Santorini and Naxos was the highlight. But there were plenty of other great experiences/memories, which I will bullet below instead of summarizing in full:

• the view from the balcony window of Lake Ohrid at Hotel Biser in Struga during Language IST (inter-service training) in June

• sleeping in a tent for 6 nights while serving as counselor during Youth Men's Leadership Project (YMLP) youth camp in July

• watching as three really big шарпланинци shepherd dogs invaded our camp at YMLP one morning looking for missing sheep. Talking around 80 kilos or more for the biggest...thankfully they weren't aggressive!
• Sunrise at the Bylazora archaeological site near the town of Sveti Nikole, before starting a long day of digging/picking/wheelbarrowing in July 

• an epic multi-course lunch in Veles with new friends I met through the Farmer's Federation general assembly meeting in Skopje (July)
• 3 trips to Starbucks in 24 hours while in Thessaloniki
• My first spin in the ATV on Santorini, making me realize it was the best idea ever, and I had to rent one every day on Santorini (I did, and on Naxos too)
• Driving an ATV down to the Santorini port to drop off a friend. Long and windy road, but amazing views

• Sunsets in Oia and Imerovigli

• Doing a risk-of-death assessment before jumping the rock in Ammoudi Bay on Santorini

• Cruising the beaches on the south end of Naxos and randomly stopping to go snorkling with my 5 euro kit

• Climbing Mt. Zeus on Naxos island before doing a sanity check and turning around (wearing sandals and bouldering with no human beings on the trail). Then playing The XX on my phone to calm the nerves while descending (still fell about 3 times)

• Swimming in the Bregalnica River on Ilinden Day in August and not dying from some awful bacterial infection shortly afterward
• Seeing my first movie in a theater (Dark Knight Rises) since I was in Kazakhstan last summer. Much easier to understand when not dubbed in Russian.  

I could probably come up with at least a few more highlights, but I think the ones above pretty much cover my first summer in Macedonia. For the upcoming fall, the most notable event for me will be the Istanbul Marathon in November. Despite it being my first-ever marathon, I am not just satisfied to simply 'finish' the marathon, but I have a specific goal time in mind too. So of course I've got a plan and I'm totally geeking out with my iPhone's GPS app to track my pace, mileage, altitude etc...yep, big surprise (if you know me well enough). Regardless, it is really awesome to have a goal that will occupy my mind and energy until November, and then a month later I'll be back in the US for Christmas. In the mean time, I face the hard part of pounding the pavement, surviving close-calls with crazy Macedonian drivers (and angry dogs) on the village roads, and the inevitable perplexed stares from farmers...

Пауза for the summer

This week I had my last adult English class in Obleshevo until September. Since I will be busy soon with Peace Corps training, camp, and my own planned vacation, it was best to take a break for two months until I am back to a more normal schedule. We had been going strong since the end of January, starting in both my village of Obleshevo and neighboring Cheshinovo. Unfortunately, once the planting season started in April, it became more and more difficult to make the class feasible in Cheshinovo, and it was complicated by the fact that I struggled to get a ride most days to the school where I was supposed to teach. In Obleshevo though, the attendance numbers were very consistent and it really helped me get to know some people and their abilities in English. Being the nerd that I am, I created a graph of attendance:

Since I'm not a teacher and had no experience teaching prior to this class, I think the main accomplishment here is that I still had people coming to the class in good numbers all the way to June. It took me some time to get comfortable and adjusted to the idea of teaching, but once I got past that it really became a fun experience for me. I looked forward to my Obleshevo class each week, and after a few months I knew that the adults wouldn't keep showing up if they thought they were wasting their time. I tried to make it entertaining with games and activities every now and then, and I learned a lot that I'll be able to use when I start up classes again in September. As of now, I'm planning to have two groups in Obleshevo separated by beginners and intermediate/higher. It will give me a chance to focus mainly on my immediate community and I won't have to worry about how I'll get there in the evenings because the school is across the street from my house. For any of my students reading, thank you for making things fun for me and I hope you all have a great summer.

My last class for the summer. There were a few other regular students who weren't pictured but attended most every class.

Possibilities

It's a been a few weeks since my last blog post, and it's a rainy day on the weekend, so I figured I was due to write something new. The situation at my primary work site continues to frustrate me, but I'm working on some possible solutions, so hopefully something will come out of that. However, despite that and the infrequency of my postings lately, I've had a lot of interesting and fun experiences that have exposed me to some of the cultural traditions in rural areas of Macedonia and my area in particular.

To start, on the 1st of May (Labor Day here), I went with my host family on a picnic (излет) to the the man-made lake Gradche north of Kocani.

Lake Gradche (also called Dam Gradche "брана Градче" because of the dam at the south-end of the lake)

Going on picnics for May 1 is by no means limited to my area- it is a national holiday, so people from all over Macedonia head to the hills and mountains for a day out in nature. Given my affinity for the outdoors, May 1 is already one of my favorite holidays here. So for our picnic, we set up near a fish restaurant south of the dam, and grilled sausages and cuts of pork while sitting around chatting and drinking rakija. On our way back I had a chance to walk inside an old water mill called a воденица which uses the hydropower from the adjacent river to grind up grains to produce flour.

Sitting at our picnic in the shade.

A few days after May 1, another holiday took place called Ѓурѓовден (St. George's Day) and it is tradition in the village of Sokolarci (about 5km from my village in Obleshevo) for the people to hike up the hill behind the village to the monastery (also St. George) and enjoy a day outside with friends and family. I also learned it is common for people who grew up in Sokolarci but moved away to Skopje or other places to return for St. George's Day. One interesting thing about the monastery is that it is on a pretty steep hill, so it involves roughly 200 meters of elevation gain to get to the top. For some people from the village, it was perhaps a day to consider quitting cigarettes.

 On the way up.

 View from the top looking across the Kocani Valley

I did note while I was there that I not only saw people driving their gas-guzzling tractors up the hill, but saw at least two SUVs as well. I felt like I was back home at that moment. Like in America, I think these same people the next day complained about the high cost of gasoline. But overall I had a good time both at the monastery and spending time with some coworkers who live nearby.

Another aspect of life this time of year in my area is that it is planting season for many vegetables, rice, fruits, etc. Given the importance of farming to the livelihood of the vast majority of people who live in Obleshevo, I wanted to get some first-hand experience and try to help out on the fields. So the following weekend after St. George's Day, I went out to my host family's нива (field) to plant peppers. And of course Dundo the dog came with us because he likes running around or sleeping while other people do work.

Preparing the бразда (furrow) for planting. That jug in the back is filled with water. The tractor creates the furrow while it is filled with water. This didn't work. We ended up using underground water from a hose instead.

The field. We planted peppers for about 3/4 of this by the end of the day. 

We arrived at the field around 9am and worked until 4pm, with a few breaks for water and/or sips of rakija. I have to say I was completely exhausted by the end of it. It was sunny and warm, and I spent most of the 7 hours bent down over the furrows to pack the расад (seedling) into the muddy furrow. Since I had minimal to no experience with anything related to farming in the US, I definitely gained a considerable amount of respect for people who farm for a living, and even more so for people like my host parents who are not only schoolteachers but also head out to the field in the afternoon. My hamstrings were sore for a week afterwards.

Instead of taking the next day to rest, I took up an invitation to go hiking with some friends, with the plan to reach the big antenna at the top of Plachovica mountain. Given how frequently I stare at the mountain (directly south of my village) and wonder what the view is like at the top, it was about time that I found out. However before we got there, we had stopped at some really interesting places along the way (and some not-so-interesting places in the middle of nowhere when the car started overheating).

 Bargala- an archaeological site containing an ancient Roman/Byzantine town from the 3rd or 4th Century 

 A monastery from around the 11th Century a short walk from Bargala. 

Sveta Petka, a beautiful monastery in the middle of Plachovica. 

Bargala in particular was extremely interesting, not just for its relative size and history, but also the fact it was devoid of people aside from the four of us, and it seemed well-preserved. According to friends who studied archaeology (somehow I have two of them in my village), Bargala was once an important city in its heyday, not far from the Roman road called Via Egnatia that served as a major transportation route from the modern-day Albanian coast to Constantinople.

After Bargala and a brief stop at Sveta Petka, we eventually made our way to the start of the trail to the antenna tower (called Turtel). It took us about a 90 minutes from the start to reach the antenna area. It wasn't overly strenuous, but a nice hike with lots of beautiful scenery. Living in a flat valley with few trees and greenery makes you appreciate forests and plant life a lot more.

 The trail.

 The view from the top at about 1650m. To the right is Kocani.

The antenna that I see from my house everyday, up close. Kinda creepy in a sense because the facility appeared abandoned. They should film a horror movie there. 

So I finally made it up there. Now my new goal is to get to the top from Obleshevo by foot. It is roughly 30km roundtrip, so if I leave home early enough I should be able to get back by early evening. That'll be another blog post.

I am realizing now this is a really long post, so I am going wrap things up on my experience from Спасовден, which celebrates Christ's ascension to heaven 40 days after Orthodox Easter. In Obleshevo, there is a tradition on the evening before Spasovden and the following day to spend the day visiting friends and relatives. For me, I went to a friend's house the evening before, and then spent basically the entire day on Spasovden visiting people. I really enjoyed it all, particularly because a lot of the conversations involved discussing the cultural differences between how young people live in the US versus those from villages in Macedonia, along with particular family relationships.

Typical food on Спасовден. Since you are visiting different people all day, the best tactic is to snack lightly so you don't pop by the end of it. Same goes for drinking rakija/beer...

Finally, to wrap things up, I finally bought a bike yesterday. It is a second-hand hybrid bike that I can use on some rougher terrain and I naturally took it for a spin yesterday out to the village of Lepopelci and back. I was pretty darn happy to get out on a bike again. I've missed the freedom to extend my range a bit here...no more having to rely on buses or rides from people for short distances. Going hiking and exploring just got a lot easier. Lots of possibilities, all of them good.

 Looking down at the flooded rice fields near the village of Lepopelci. I dumped my bike by a tree and hiked up a hill to get this view. 

In case people aren't aware I'm an American, my bike gives away the secret. 

Crossing borders

For the first time since arriving in Macedonia over seven months ago, I got my Peace Corps passport stamped, and headed into Bulgaria for a weekend in Sofia. It was the natural first choice because it's cheap (only about 10 dollars one way via 15 passenger van) and close (from the border town of Delcevo only 2 hrs to Sofia). I went with a good friend and fellow PCV who lives in Delcevo, and we stayed at a hostel called Hostel Mostel that is a short 10 min walk from most of the main sights in Sofia. Naturally, the first thing we did after arriving at the hostel was go here:

We couldn't help it. We were both hungry and wanted some reliable American fast food. Sure, Macedonia has a few McDonalds' and other unpleasantness, but no Subway. Heck, I don't even prefer Subway when I have the choice between that and Quiznos back in the states. But for whatever reason, Subway was the perfect way to start our trip. After that we decided to wander the streets in search of some of the well-known cathedrals and churches scattered around the city center. 

Sveti Georgi Church

Ivan Vasov National Theater

Russian Orthodox church

The colossal Aleksander Nevski cathedral, built as big thank-you to Russia for helping liberate Bulgaria from Ottoman rule in the 19th Century. 

 

As we wandered around, we definitely noticed several similarities and differences between our experiences in towns/cities in Macedonia and Sofia. For differences, we noted that Sofia is not lacking municipal funding for public cleanliness and trash clean-up. A lot of the city streets were completely devoid of trash and even graffiti. Also, we saw roughly 3 stray dogs over the course of 2 full days in the city of 1.2 million. Next, Bulgaria's EU membership creates a whole different range of choices in stores, restaurants, etc. that we haven't seen in places like Skopje. This is not always such a good thing. While seeing Subway for the first time was a welcome sight, it was on its way to the American model of having one every 1-2 city blocks. McDonalds already achieved that in Sofia. Not welcome. I'll take a banichka or pleskavica over that any day. 

Benefits of EU membership. I appreciated it. 

However, the similarities were obvious as well. From the standpoint of language, Bulgarian is the closest to Macedonian of any language in the Balkans. This is result of a lot of shared culture, tradition and history, and I'll spare the lesson on that (and spare myself screwing it up and pissing off either a bunch of Macedonians, Bulgarians, or both). Regardless, the language similarities helped us get by a little easier, but we also found many people in the city spoke English, not unlike Skopje. Our food choices for "Bulgarian cuisine" were basically identical to what we'd normally find in Macedonia. Their version of a shopska salad (probably the most well-known Macedonian salad) just includes some sliced green pepper in addition to everything else. I didn't get to try any Bulgarian rakija, but I do know that it wouldn't be domashna (homemade) due to EU regulations so I don't think I missed much. Then again having homemade alcohol in a big city like Sofia is a recipe for hospitalization or losing a kidney. 

After spending most of Friday walking around, we ran out of things to do and decided to book a day trip for Saturday through our hostel to the famous Rila Monastery in western Bulgaria. We were pretty beat by the evening and planned to just crash at the hostel early so we'd be well-rested for the long car ride to the monastery the next day. Instead, we found ourselves walking into a nightclub with some new friends from the hostel at 11:30pm where we paid the equivalent of $10 for open bar all night. 

The club. What could go wrong with open bar all night and a tour the next morning?

Fortunately, the next day we managed to wake up in time for our tour and we were off on the road to Rila Monastery. It is located in the middle of the highest mountain range of Bulgaria and was built in the 14th Century, named after Sveti Ivan Rilski. Near the monastery, we visited a church and the cave where Sveti Ivan lived in solitude for roughly eight years. 

Ivan's cozy cave dwelling.

Church next to the cave.

After the cave we arrived at the monastery and had a few hours to walk around. Unfortunately, we had no tour guide, so we missed out on some of the historical vignettes. I found out today from the owner of the burek shop in my village that at one point the monastery itself was divided between Bulgaria and Serbia, or at least between the two Orthodox churches. But regardless, it was beautiful and well worth a trip even without a tour guide:

The mountain backdrop was pretty stunning.

Eventually we made our way back on the road to Sofia, but not before a few photo opportunities worth sharing: 

Looking back towards Rila.

We made it back to the hostel and decided, for real this time, that we were going to take it easy for the evening and just go get dinner at a place called the Ale House. All I can say is, go there. The food was great, they have beer taps at your table (refill yourself), and it wasn't overly expensive. For example, my friend got a delicious wild boar for about 10 dollars. 

Good beer. 

On Sunday we were scheduled to take a bus back to Macedonia at around 8pm, so we decided to walk to the bus station in the early afternoon to get our tickets and just take it easy after then. Well, we found there was no bus to Macedonia at 8pm. Somehow the Macedonian bus system managed to screw us over even in Bulgaria! With no other real option, we got bus tickets to Blagoevgrad (the closest major city to the border with Macedonia) and hoped to find a cab driver to take across the border to Delcevo. We found a cab driver, no problem. But he neglected to mention that had no green card to cross the border until we actually got to the border. With no ride on the other side, we were basically going to have to walk 10km to Delcevo and dodge random wild animals and crazy drivers on the main road. But by blind luck, a cab driver was waiting on the Macedonian side of the border after just dropping off someone from Skopje. And the best part is that he recognized me because I had taken a cab with him before in Obleshevo, and he yelled over to us to come with him. So essentially, all it took was for us to cross the border into Macedonia before everything was right with the world again. I don't know what that means or whether it makes any sense, but I definitely have Mite the taxi driver's phone number saved now. 

Home.