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Pauza the peace corps macedonia magazine

spring/summer 2008

spring/summer 2008 - 

Happenings May 9. The NGO of Sumnal and the acting

US Ambassador attended a picnic celebration held in the Roma community of Topana.

June 6-7. The

May. Schools across Macedo-

nia celebrated Patrionat with student dance and song performances.

June 23-27. Dan

and Jillian Kearney teamed up with the local chapter of the Blue Sky Youth Network to create and put on Healthy Kids Day Camp.  - pauza

Cultural Artistic Group “Goce Delcev” places flowers at the statue of Goce Delcev every year to honor him.

June 16-20. At IST

in Peshtani, LCFs and PCVs danced American style country line dances, the chicken dance, & did the limbo..... as well as Albanian, Roma and Macedonian traditional dances. July 6 - 11. Music and dance troupes from across the Balkans kicked off the summer in Ohrid with the Balkan Music and Dance Festival.

life and times in peace corps macedonia pauza staff

Aryn Bloodworth, managing editor Dan Kearney, managing editor Frank Hennick, editor David Whitford, editor Anne Schilling, editor Ben Long and Karen Schaan, layout and design

editorial committee Aryn Bloodworth, PCV Goce Spasov, PC Safety and Security Coordinator Michael Radmann, Acting PC Country Director

editorial policy. This publication, which bears the name of Peace Corps Macedonia and the Peace Corps logo, must adhere to certain editorial guidelines.

These guidelines re-

quire that all content in this magazine be in good taste, politically neutral and culturally sensitive. Content should not include profanity, advocate a specific religious belief, be insulting or slanderous, comprise the safety and security of any Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV), nor give the impression that the author is writing on behalf of Peace Corps or the United States government. To ensure that these guidelines are met, a committee made up of PCVs, Peace Corps Staff and Host Country Nationals (HCNs) will review articles for content.

submissions.

All PCVs and Peace Corps staff are welcome to submit articles to be published in Pauza. If you are interested in writing an article, please contact a member of the Editorial Staff. Submission deadlines will be announced. All submissions can be sent to [email protected]. Articles may be edited for length and content. Pauza

always

welcomes

PCVs

who

would like to join our editorial staff. If you would like to help with Pauza, please contact a member of the editorial staff or e-mail at pauzamag@gmail. com.

cover photo by Erin Gibbs photos submitted by Erin Gubbs, Rachel Whitford, Ben Long, RIch Smith, Michael Radmann, Dan Kearney, Tara Trepanier, Colin O’Hara, Ragu Bammas, Jackie O’Hara, and Mary O’Connor. Correction: In the previous issue (Winter 2008) we incorrectly titled Vince Drader’s article. The article was in fact not called Kings Throwing Stones. The correct title of the article was Kings Stowing Thrones, which makes much more sense. We would like to apologize to Vince for any embarrassment we may have caused.

Pauza

spring/summer 2008

features Habitat For Humanity Macedonia Offers Volunteer Opportunities to PCVs by Ritch Smith In-Service Training, Struga, April 2008

page 4 page 5

By Dan Kearney

A Quest to Learn Macedonian through Song

page 5

by Vince Drader

Singing with the Stars

page 6

by Tara Trepanier

Prayer page 7

by Colin O’Hara

They Don’t Think Like Clones

page 8

by Raghu Bommas

A Day in the Life of the Definitive Dobrovolec by Marc Ackerman

Running Against the Wind

page 9 page 10

by Jackie O’Hara

Facing the Unexpected: A passing in Kriva Palanka byDan Kearney

News from Local Economic Development: “Habits of longstanding are dogged by persistency.” by Mary O’Connor

page 11 page 14

columns

Happenings

page 2

Travelogue An Insiders Guide to Ohrid from Karen Schann Vo Kujnata Ben Long reviews Skopsko Silver Moon

Picture Dictionary

by Rachel Whitford

page 12 page 13 page 15

spring/summer 2008 - 

Habitat For Humanity Macedonia Offers Volunteer Opportunities to PCVs By Ritch Smith

At the April IST for MAK 12s, Ritch Smith and Mite Kuzevski, his counterpart, told the audience about the Habitat For Humanity program in Macedonia. Ritch is a MAK 12 and he is the first PCV assigned to Habitat For Humanity Macedonia (HFHM). Mite is the Coordinator for the Macedonian Habitat For Humanity Global Village program to bring international volunteers to Macedonia. Most PCVs know about Habitat For Humanity and many have participated in their projects. Many had expressed interest in getting involved in the HFHM building program. Ritch and Mite have worked with their organizations and the Peace Corps office (Skopje) and the HFHM have agreed to open HFHM volunteer opportunities to PCVs in Macedonia. The HFHM has two major projects: a New Builds Program in Veles and a Roma Housing Program in Skopje. In Veles, HFHM has a 3-year project to build a complex of 4 types of houses that will result in 62 new homes. This will provide simple, decent, affordable housing for families in need who are willing to partner in building their own and other Habitat homes. The aim of the Roma Housing Program is to improve the housing condition of the Roma community in Skopje, with a focus on Suto Orizari, through provision of micro-loans for reconstruction, renovation, and repair. The Veles settlement will probably be the site for most of the work for PCV volunteers, but they may also work in Skopje. As the program develops, details will be provided via All Vol Memos. If you are interested in volunteering or want to get email updates, contact Ritch at smith@ habitat.org.mk. To see more information on the Habitat For Humanity Macedonia projects, go to http://www. habitat.org.mk.

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The Global Village program brings international volunteers from America and Europe to Macedonia but there is no organized local volunteer program. The PCVs will be the initial group of Local Volunteers and their involvement is the beginning of the development of an HFHM Local Volunteer program. Here in brief are some details about PCV involvement: •PCVs may be working with Global Village Teams, other local volunteers, or as a PCV Team. •Volunteering is a secondary project and can be recorded as such in PC reports. •PCVs will need approval from their Supervisors and Program Managers for volunteer time during work hours but are free to volunteer on weekends. •The PC Medical Policy will cover PCVs at the work-site. •Costs associated with the volunteer activity, if any, will be the responsibility of the PCV. •Work will probably start in June or July and the amount and type will depend on work-site status.

In-Service Training Struga, April 2008 By Dan Kearney

On the morning of April 18, 2008, MAK 12 wrapped up its first In-Service Training (IST). The four-day technical training event was held at the Hotel Drim on the shores of Lake Ohrid in Struga. In addition to the Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) from MAK 12, there were also a large number of their counterparts present for sessions on topics ranging from fundraising to team teaching to project plans. The sessions, which were often facilitated by PCVs and their counterparts, provided everyone an opportunity to learn new strategies for working at site and to share experiences in a rather informal setting. “Overall, the technical sessions were relevant and useful in sparking new ideas and giving perspective to our work,” said Mike Szymanski, a PCV session facilitator who is working in a municipality. “The non-technical sessions gave us an opportunity to learn more from each others’ experiences, network and plan with our counterparts.” Two of the most popular sessions of the week were not really training at all. On Wednesday, prior to the arrival of the counterparts, volunteers were treated to a class with Mitko Burchevski, a political analyst from the U.S. Embassy in Skopje, whose insights and remarks were lively and very well-received. The wide-ranging conversation touched on recent Macedonian history, last month’s NATO summit, the ongoing name dispute with Greece, and the cultural context for Macedonia moving forward. The next day, PCV Ritch Smith and his counterpart, Mite Kuzevski, gave a presentation on their work with Habitat for Humanity, which provides simple and affordable housing for less fortunate Macedonians. Enthusiasm was running very high after Ritch invited volunteers and counterparts to spend time working with Habitat during the summer. The IST also provided many MAK 12s with their first glimpse of Struga and Southwestern Macedonia. The official program provided a cultural tour of Struga, but some PCVs took the extra step and really submerged, er, immersed themselves in their surroundings with a midnight dive into the lake. Evelina Dodevska, the IST’s coordinator, was impressed with “the great team spirit that was present” in the planning and the presentation of the sessions. She added, “I hope that this workshop made both PCVs and counterparts realize how important it is to work together as a team and share their cultures and experiences towards a common goal.”

A Quest to Learn Macedonian through Song By Vince Drader Recently, I have been in a funk. I find it very easy to not study my Macedonian. There was a time when I would wonder what people were saying around me. I was inquisitive. Now, I find a quiet comfort in not knowing… anything. Lately, I sit around, gleaning what I can from the conversation around me, but past that, I don’t care to know half of what I hear. I don’t know why… maybe I believe what is being said is not worth knowing. I mean, it is usually about the weather, politics, or somebody’s cousin’s uncle’s dentist’s friend who just got back from vacation. Maybe if someone were talking about the meaning of life in Macedonian… then I would listen. Thus, I have been overwhelmingly apathetic to learning Macedonian. Don’t get me wrong, I go to tutoring, I talk with people, I even read a little, but there is no fire to learn or passion like there was in the beginning. I find it easy too, to find excuses: “Well, you see, I live in Skopje, and it is harder to speak with people and whah, whah, whah.” “Well, you see, we have been in training and I have a lot to do at work and blah, blah, blah.” These excuses along with my comfort in “not knowing” had driven me to a linguistic quarter-service crisis. Until… A guitar strikes a chord, puttering down the hip-hop scale. The beat drops, and while I am washing my dishes with A1 on in the background, I hear “ВРАТИ МИ ГО СРЦЕТО!” I peak my head from around the corner of the kitchen at the music video playing. It is a new hip-hop song from Lambe (a close friend of Tose’s, who many remember crying at Tose’s funeral). In the video, he is begging a girl to give him back his heart, from the seat of a red Renault, a two-door economy car (very different from our hip-hop stars that apparently need Hummers and Lamborghinis to win back their women). The beat is good, the melody is catchy, and so I look up the words. I feel like Lambe has something to say, maybe not about the meaning of life, but maybe something closer to what I want to hear—not more about weather or someone’s distant relative’s oral hygiene professional’s pet... twice removed. So I learn all the words—it is easy to do because it is catchy. I can repeat it in my head all day, and learn. I start listening to other songs in Macedonian; I even ask others who I should listen to. Then, a step further: I start translating my favorite songs into Macedonian. Says the Macedonian man when I sing, “САКАМ ГОЛЕМИ ГАЗОВИ И НЕ МОЖАМ ДА ЛАЖАМ,” the translated lines of the Sir Mix-A-Lot’s 90’s mega-hit,“At least he’s honest!” I did this during PST as well. In bed I would listen to music and think, “Now how would I say this in Macedonian? I Know! “АКО САКАТЕ МОЕТО ТЕЛО И МИСЛИШ ДЕКА ЈАС СУМ СЕКСИ, АЈДЕ ШЕЌЕР КАЖИ МИ!” Maybe it gets a few brows raised, but it’s how I learn. And an added bonus—I learn to sing in Macedonian. And nothing is better than going to karaoke and singing in the native language. Chicks dig it too. Hey, at least I’m honest.

spring/summer 2008 - 

Singing with the Stars By Tara Trepanier While I was preparing a poster presentation with my seventh graders they insisted we YouTube Tamara, Vrcak, and Adrian over and over and again. If you haven’t heard yet, these are the members of the Super Group that represented Macedonia at the 2008 Eurovision contest. My students, of course, wanted to tell me all about them. I was okay with this as long as they told me in English. “Tamara is such a beautiful singer!” “I’m in love with Vrcak!” “You should see Adrian dance!” As they continued telling me about them, I started getting excited too. My students told me the group that Macedonia had voted to represent them at the Eurovision contest in Belgrade was multi-ethnic. Tamara and Vrcak are ethnic Macedonians and Adrian is an ethnic Albanian. How cool is that? What a great group of role models for youth around Macedonia to be excited about it. It is one thing for us, as foreigners, to try to facilitate tolerance, understanding, and friendship between the different ethnic groups that make up the mosaic of Macedonia. But the impact that a multi-ethnic group like this can have on youth all over Macedonia, by getting up on stage and singing together, is in a whole other league. You know the story about seven degrees of separation… well that happens to me a lot. So, when I found myself in a recording studio with Tamara, Vrcak, and Adrian one night a few weeks later, I wasn’t too shocked (though I was a little star struck). The president of the English Language Teachers’ Association of Macedonia (ELTAM) asked me to sing back-up as well as help the group with their English pronunciation. I said I’d be in Skopje the next day and would be happy to help, but it had been a few years since I sang; I did however have about fifteen years of choral experience. The next day a man named Saso called me to set up a time to meet with the group. He picked me up from the American Corner in Skopje a little after 8:00 p.m. Aryn Bloodworth had been at my presentation there so she came along too, but vowed not to sing. After waiting outside a residential apartment for a while, we finally had our first Eurovision sighting! After some quick introductions, we made our way down to the basement recording studio. I spoke in my best Macedonian and Aryn, a bit of Albanian, and to mix it up a bit, Tamara

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responded with Albanian greetings and Adrian in Macedonian, reinforcing my opinion of how awesome this group is. There was a lot of joking and camaraderie among Tamara, Vrcak, and Adrian, as well as with their music mixer and the man who had driven us. Aryn and I made ourselves at home. I asked if Americans were allowed to sing back-up on Eurovision tracks. (After all, wasn’t I from the wrong continent?) They assured me it was fine and threw me into the sound booth. I was more than a bit nervous and didn’t know exactly what they wanted from me, but I had a good time. They said something about my voice being the same color as Tamara’s and they were hoping for something a bit different, but I sang the chorus repeatedly anyway. I’m not sure it will ever hit a recording, but it was an interesting experience. After they released me from the sound booth, Tamara got in and started singing. Wow! If I’ve ever felt inadequate about my vocal abilities! She’s got some pipes! At this point, they asked Aryn and me for help on pronunciation and diction of the English lyrics—apparently, the final cut of their English version was due the next day. After we’d been there for a couple hours, our work was done except for a few rhymes and rifts they had left to mix. Adrian offered us rides home. I’m still in awe. It was all a bit of a dream. A couple of my students have since found out and are a little more than jealous; I think half of them believe I’m going to show up one day with the Eurovision crew at school. However, if that never happens, I’m confident that my students will have had plenty of television and radio exposure to the group this spring, as Eurovision-mania hit Macedonia once again. Way to go Macedonia… way to choose a multi-ethnic super group, a group whose members truly have a chance to step up as positive role models and promote ethnic tolerance and understanding!

Prayer By Colin O’Hara Gostivar is a city of complementary opposites. What is my place here? Removed from it? Leaning to one side, or the other? Objective observer? Or partisan proponent? The truth is I am stuck in the middle. Right in the middle. One hundred meters to the south of my apartment is a 19th century orthodox church. One hundred meters to the north of my apartment is a 15th century mosque. They each have distinct and also distinctly similar messages. They each wake me up early every morning to remind me of this. At 5:00 am, in the predawn darkness, a lone voice calls out: “God is the greatest; I bear witness that there is no lord except God; make haste towards prayer; prayer is better than sleep.” The birds wake. The city shakes its slumber. And just a little while later, the bells of the church begin to ring. Another reminder, “Make haste towards prayer; thank you for another day.” They continue throughout the day, each issuing its own reminder; different mediums carrying the same message. On Thursday evenings, I am honored to share my time with joyous classes of eighth grade students. They come to my organization to learn English, though the classes often turn into Turkish and Albanian lessons for their teacher. These students may be learning some English, but much more importantly, we laugh together, we enjoy each other, and we share our culture in simple ways. There is that odd mystery of service: that I always seem to get more from them than I could ever hope to give back. I leave the class energized, and with nothing less than a huge smile. They leave the class very happy, and they keep coming back. I am humbled by this. One evening, I asked my students what sorts of buildings and places they have in Gostivar. In order to jog their memory, and to add a visual element, I drew stick figures on the board. This person wants to go shopping; where does he go? This person’s house is on fire, who does he need to call? This person wants to play catch with his friends, where does he go? This person is ill, where does he need to go? Market, fire station, park, hospital. Then I drew another person on the board, but something wasn’t right with it and I wasn’t sure what. I erased it, drew it again; it still wasn’t right. I turned to my class, confused. How do you draw a person who wishes to speak to God? Thankfully, after a few seconds inspiration struck. I clasped my hands together in a steeple shape, and slowly raised my eyes upward. After the hint, I looked back to the students, and was met with ten confused looks, and silence. Then one young girl smiled in understanding, and stretched both her hands out in front of her, palms towards the sky. Mosque, church. Everyone nodded in agreement. The girl who made the connection laughed, and said, “Teacher, we pray… we pray differently.”

spring/summer 2008 - 

They Don’t Think Like Clones By Raghu Bommas

“Clones will be good for society… they can become policemen,” Nik, a high school student, stated. The three students across from him didn’t defy him on this idea. They could have retorted that the clones would turn their backs on society (think Terminator) or that humans would hold strikes against the government for the loss of jobs, if not lower pay in the police field. Such is the challenge that these high school students are presented with in debate—thinking within time constraints in the most widely-spoken language on earth. And as any TEFL teacher or English as a second language learner knows, English is challenging in and of itself. It is not unusual to hear a нели

As the Macedonian educational system stands accused of not encouraging critical thinking, debate fills the void for those who partake in it. Students are pressed to think on their feet when cross-examined and when addressing arguments in their rebuttals. Despite my feeling that I have spoon fed the students a few times with arguments from an online database, my students have felt compelled to add more arguments and dig up data to strengthen their positions. There is a point of diminishing returns though, meaning that the more that data is expressed, the less it does for one’s argument. This was precisely the problem with our opposition in Bitola in a couple of instances—heaping mounds of data without having connected

[isn’t it so] or значи [meaning] slip out in the midst of a rebuttal or a cross-examination. It’s also not unusual for a student to just switch altogether into Macedonian to complete a thought. And it’s not unusual for the judge to penalize a team for doing so. This is debate in English after all. The format we use is named after a philosopher named Karl Popper and it has become popular in Eastern European and Central Asian high schools. “Originally created by the Open Society Institute (OSI) as a more flexible team debate format, Karl Popper debate […] focuses on relevant and often deeply divisive propositions, emphasizing the development of critical thinking skills, and tolerance for differing viewpoints.” (brought to you by Wikipedia) I will spare you the details and just point out that George Soros, the multi-billion dollar investor, is an advocate of Karl Popper’s work and through OSI, has supported this type of debate.

them to their points. There is only so much room for the regurgitation of facts and figures for time is needed to explain just how they support a team’s position. Given the time pressure and the requirement to think quickly to respond to the opposition, it becomes difficult to avoid grammar errors like make a research, born a child, there are evidences, and 42 millions of abortions. They understand though, that the fewer mistakes they make, the clearer they become in expressing their arguments and they fully accept corrections that are made in earnest. Of course, to focus exclusively on grammar mistakes is to be completely amiss of the overall objective of thinking and addressing others’ arguments. They have learned, for instance, that they can give in to the opposition on a point without fully conceding it and it is practically inconceivable that at this juncture, a student of mine would not address the “clone police-

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE DEFINITIVE ДОБРОВОЛЕЦ By Marc Ackerman

06:15 Morning pre-dawn hike up mountain to cross overlooking town. Scrub off recent graffiti. Contemplate Peace Corps mission as sun rises. Pick up discarded condoms and make mental note to investigate latex recycling opportunities. 07:30 Coffee. Although you’re admittedly incapable of divining the message in coffee grounds, you decide to interpret your fortune in the dregs... “You’re going to make a tremendous difference in the lives of innumerable persons today.” men” point made in support of cloning. This debate dates back to February 21, 2007, our very first. Over one year later, I am happy to report not just improvements in my group’s verbal skills but an increase in the level of interest in high school debate with the arrival of the MAK 12s. Also, MAK 11s Kelley Karnopp (Kochani) and Julie Gezon (Vinica) continue to be involved. Vince Drader (Skopje) brought his kids over to Kratovo, our town, in March and challenged us on the topics “Are beauty contests harmful?” and “Can the assassination of a dictator be justified?” Lotus Yu (Kichevo) was our judge and managed to be just as expressionless as Ben Long (Ohird) was (thereby lending credence to their disposition of neutrality) in our more recent competition on the legalization of prostitution and abortion that took place in Bitola. From Kratovo to Kathryn’s Krusevo, we shall go in May. I hope as our students get together for debates that they mingle, exchange contact information and then use it to start up businesses together, count on each others’ votes upon running for office, or merely date; networking sure does make for a good secondary goal. I just found out from a student that a couple of the Bitola students they debated will pay our puny yet прекрасен “Town of Towers & Bridges” a visit very soon. Thanks to everyone so far who has taken part in this activity, whether it was for seeking out the American Corner as a venue (Patrice), time-keeping (Miranda), grooming the competition (Heather and those mentioned three paragraphs назад), for housing in Bitola (Patrice, Miranda, Heather), or for judging (Ryan, Lotus, Ben, and a Mak 10). The biggest thanks, of course, goes to all of our students we have had the pleasure of mentoring.

07:45 Text Peace Corps duty officer, informing him/her that you’re about to shower and will be unreachable for the next ten minutes. 08:00 Translate today’s Дневник into English, then into Albanian. Then translate this week’s Newsweek International into Macedonian. And Albanian. 08:45 Respond to Peace Corps Admin. e-mail calling for volunteers to assist in program to teach English to endangered trout in Lake Ohrid. 08:50

Use your Internet to research ways in which to rely on the Internet less.

09:10

Stop off in town square to dance the оро with Roma children while singing.

09:20 way.

Cross to opposite side of street to avoid danger of fraternizing with Embassy-looking types headed your

09:30 Initiate new project at your NGO: Commence partnership with the Macedonian Orthodox Church for printing Bibles on recycled paper. Invite local Поп to your apartment for на гости tomorrow. 11:45 Decline invitation to volunteer’s birthday celebration in Skopje for the upcoming weekend in favor of слава at the home of the баба of the woman who works part-time at the пошта (never learned her name). BTW, the birthday celebration in Skopje was for YOU. 14:15

Get a head start on next Trimester Report, due in 14 weeks.

15:30 Organize pick-up 5-on-5 basketball game, in which you act as referee. Each team comprised of one Macedonian, one Albanian, one Turk, one Roma, and one Serb (Game ends in a tie.) Decline offer to join your new friends for a quick Горско afterwards, explaining that you’re “taking it down a notch.” 17:00 Bi-weekly Macedonian language lesson with Todor the Tutor. Tonight’s topic: continuation of topic from the last 70 language lessons – cultural diversity. 18:15 Shop for gift for your PST host family, eventually purchasing the All-in-One pig slaughtering kit (“It defenestrates! It decapitates! It depilatates! It eviscerates! It commiserates! Just in time for Велигден!”) 19:00 Sewing circle with your counterpart and her colleagues. This week’s project: an attractive, hand-knit, flame-retardant cozy for your distiller. 20:30 Dinner at home. Continue orderly and methodical preparation of each recipe listed in Јади! Јади!. Tonight: ‘Praz Surpraz.’ Feed leftovers to any stray animal willing to take a chance. 21:15 Patch holes in neighbor’s whitewash with Kraft Marshmallow Fluff received in recent care package from home.22:00 Transfer TV from your apartment to home of poor-but-honest shepherd on outskirts of town. Install satellite dish on corrugated steel roof by moonlight. 23:15 Prayer before bed: “I’d like to teach my site to sing in perfect harmony; I’d like to buy my site a Coke and keep it company.” KRAJ

spring/summer 2008 - 

Running Against the Wind By Jackie O’Hara

When I came to Peace Corps, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to continue running, which back home is one of my biggest hobbies. I had heard horror stories from friends who served in the Peace Corps in Africa, who terrified children to the point of tears when they went running because they thought there was a ghost running through their village. Running is my favorite form of exercise, both for my body and my mind. Being in another country and in a smaller community not so familiar with running, I knew it would be a challenge trying to balance my love for the sport with awareness of cultural differences. I also didn’t want my running to be a complete mystery to the people in my new community, so I tried to find a way to involve others in my activity. I have heard some interesting myths about running since being in Gostivar. At a meeting in January my students asked me what I like to do with my free time. I answered, “I love to cook, read, travel, swim in the ocean, watch movies, and run.” “RUN?” All four of the young high school girls present seemed stunned and confused. “But your legs will get big like a man’s.” “You sweat.” “You won’t be able to have children.” “We don’t run here, it’s bad for you.” “People laugh at people who run.” All the meanwhile, the girls were staring at my legs, sizing them up. “How do you exercise?” I asked them. “We do situps or we don’t.” In the gym in our town, I observed first-hand some different cultural views on exercising. Women exercise wearing sweaters, turtlenecks, and in full makeup. They would bounce from machine to machine, and never run for longer than 30 seconds, perhaps out of fear of breaking a sweat. I must have looked bizarre to them, running on the treadmill for thirty minutes at a time! The good weather was approaching and I was eager to run outdoors, in our beautiful park. I had had a few conversations previously with a young woman in our town who knew that I ran and wanted to run with me in the park. Her thinking was just the opposite of my high school students; she told me

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that she knew about the health benefits, and said that she had always wanted to run but lacked someone to run with. This was my opportunity! We discussed how great it would be to create a women’s running club. She told me she knew plenty of women who wanted to run, but that the biggest problem was finding a running partner to stay motivated. We created flyers and recruited women. On March 2, 2008, at 10 am in the city park, five young women from our town and two Peace Corps Volunteers showed up for the first day of our running club, which we called Come on Girls!. We stretched properly and began our “Walk to Run” program. They did it: a little bit of jogging followed by speed walking. All eight of us proudly jogged through the park on a beautiful Sunday morning. As we approached a corner of the park that is near the main road, some young guys said something to us as we jogged by and laughed. I feared this would discourage the women or make them feel uncomfortable. I asked them later how that made them feel and they so proudly stated, “Who cares, we are running and doing something good for ourselves while they smoke.” One night, two of the women and I even met at night in the rain because they really wanted to run. I saw something in these women that made me proud to be running next to them. As uncomfortable as it was to pass large groups of high school students hanging out in the park mimicking our motions and laughing, they kept running. They were proud. Our running club has not met in a few weeks due to the weather and other events, but I am determined to continue. I still run in the park, five mornings a week, rain or shine. As I pass by the groups of high school students laughing at me, I approach them and tell them I’ll race them, or I invite them to join me. The old men look terrified as I pass by and I get little smiles from some older women. I don’t think most people here understand why I run, but in talking with my running club women, I have inspired them to begin running and they inspire me to continue.

Facing the Unexpected: A passing in Kriva Palanka by Dan Kearney

Mid-March brought a great tragedy to our town. A young English teacher at the high school who was also my counterpart died suddenly. Her name was Alexandra and she was twentyeight years old. She had been in the hospital, but there had been no indication that it was anything life-threatening. Three days prior to her death, Alexandra had sent me a text message about her classes that I was covering. Things seemed normal. Apparently, the situation deteriorated quite rapidly. The town was devastated. Alexandra was quite popular— bright, outgoing, quick with a joke. Now her picture can be seen all over town, part of those traditional Macedonian death announcements posted on so many telephone poles. It reads: “On 17/3/2008 died our beloved wife, daughter, sister, and daughter-in-law.” There’s even one posted on the main entrance to the high school. These announcements will remain up for one year or until the weather tears them down, which ever comes first. The day of the burial was difficult. The teachers gathered at the high school and walked together with flowers to the house of Alexandra’s parents. Jillian and I joined them. At the house, it was something like a wake. We lined up, along with others who had come to pay their respects, and filed in slowly. It was an open casket, which I have to say neither Jillian nor I were really prepared for. Everyone lit a small candle and placed it in a large bowl of sand beside Alexandra’s body. The hardest part about this was seeing the students. Alexandra’s class (she was their advisor of sorts), a group of 25 sophomores, were there together and really shaken by the whole thing. Hearing their sobs as they exited the home was probably the day’s nadir. During all of this, Jillian and I felt a bit awkward—we really hadn’t known Alexandra all that well—and because we are still relative newcomers to a very tight-knit community, we feared that perhaps we would be seen as imposing a bit. But really, I don’t think anyone gave us much thought one way or the other. A few hours later came the actual burial. By our estimate, at least one thousand people gathered for this event (the town’s entire population is only 15,000). A small brass band played a song as the casket was moved from the house to the hearse. The song’s tone surprised me—it wasn’t a dirge, but was al-

most upbeat. It contrasted enormously with the swelling procession walking behind the hearse. Then it was on to the burial: the band played a short number, subsequently replaced by a chorus of sobs clearly heard in the quiet of the cemetery. Many gathered there came forth to throw dirt on the casket before departing. The event was full of familiar faces: the woman who sells us our vegetables, our neighbors, and the guy who cut my hair and who once told me how much he admired Alexandra and how lucky I was to be working with her. Many from our town, especially friends, family, and coworkers, grieved very publicly that day. There were dramatic outpourings of despair and loud wailing and sobbing at both the home and cemetery. But like a severe spring storm that is gone as quickly as it arrived, the collective sadness soon dissipated and things felt back to normal within a couple of days. At the high school, where many of Alexandra’s closest friends work, there were smiles and laughter by the end of the week. From my vantage point, it appears as though a great emotional cleansing occurred that day. By holding nothing back, grieving friends and family were able to let go all the more easily. And it happened so quickly. A little over twenty-four hours after her death, Alexandra was laid to rest and the most intense grieving was over. This contrasts a good deal with the traditions surrounding death in America, particularly when compared to Catholic families, in which the customs surrounding death are rather drawn out. During Pre-Service Training, we had sessions on Macedonian traditions, such as birthdays and weddings. I don’t recall if funerals were mentioned, but it’s no matter. This was less about the cultural differences between funerals at home and those here, and more about witnessing anguish in a small town. A true small town, where most people never leave except to attend university two hours away and then surely return. Alexandra had done just that and her family is undoubtedly known by every other family here. She will be missed.

spring/summer 2008 - 11

Travelogue

The Insiders Guide to Ohrid By Karen Schaan Summer is finally here and it’s a safe bet that many of you are interested in heading down to Ohrid at some point over the next few months. Well, Pauza has you covered. We asked Mak 12 Karen Schaan to provide us with some insider advice on the best places to eat, drink, site-see, and sleep.

You can start at any point, but be sure not miss these must-sees:

Lodging: The easiest way to find a bed is to simply walk around town and look for any home with a blue sign out front that says “Rooms to Rent.” Just knock to see if they have availability. In the summer, almost everyone rents out rooms and many people will find you on the streets before you even have a chance to knock on their door. Expect to pay around 15 Euro per person, although you can find cheaper if you’re willing to hunt. If you are coming on a holiday weekend or in July or August, it is best to book ahead. If you have a car, then consider staying in one of the lakeside villages such as Pestani, Trpejca, or Elshani.

•Antique Theater – Built around 2,000 years ago. From the theater, follow the road up the hill towards the fortress.

Restaurants: Ohrid is teeming with café bars, pizzerias, fast food joints, and traditional Macedonian restaurants. Some recommendations for traditional food: Antico (in Old Town), Dalga (on the lake in Old Town) and Belvedere (across from the lake in the new part of town), which has indoor and outdoor seating with traditional music and some of the best spicy pinjur in Macedonia. For mouthwatering miniature-sized baked goods, stop at the new Romanian bakery Fornetti, next to the Irish Pub. Young and hip Macedonians hang out at Kadmo Café Bar, but any spot along the water in Old Town or near the port are worth visiting for their people watching vantages.

•Kaneo – Head down the steps from Plaosnik to Kaneo and St. Jovan, one of the most photogenic spots in all of Ohrid. If you are up for more adventure, follow the paths you see by the lookout point above St. Jovan. The paths take you to a secluded beach, which can also be reached by boat from Kaneo for about 100 denars per group.

Nightlife: It’s hard not to find the nightlife in Ohrid, all you need to do is walk around Old Town. For live music, visit Jazz & Blues (a.k.a. Duck Café) in the new part of town along the lake. Another favorite of volunteers is the Jazz Inn near St. Sophia and for those of you who like to stay out ‘till the wee hours of the morning, visit Cuba Libra, also near St. Sophia. Major Sites: A walking tour of Old Town will take about two hours.

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•St. Bogorodica Perivleptos – Atop the smallest hill near the Antique Theater and Upper Gate, there is also an Icon Gallery across the path.

•Fortress of Tsar Samuel – The 30-denar cost to enter the fortress is well worth it for the incredible views, though there isn’t much to see inside the fortress walls. Then take the wooded path down the hill. • Plaosnik – Overlooking the lake, this area features a beautiful, newly built church and an active archeological dig.

•St. Sophia – Heading back into town, don’t miss this church (or the banana split of the same name at the restaurant across from it).

Ohrid Day Trips:

Vo Kujnata

After you have visited the major sites in Old Town there are plenty of other options for day trips arouand Ohrid. Some popular options: #1: St. Naum: The most popular is clearly the trip to St. Naum, which is located about 30 km southward along the lake. You can go by boat (400 denars round trip, leaves around 11 am, takes 1.5 hours each way and boat stops for about 2.5 hours in St. Naum), by taxi (500-700 denars one way, about 30 minutes), or by bus (100 denars one-way). While there, don’t miss the rowboat tour up the Black Drim Springs for only 100 denars per person. Make sure to ask the rower to let you off at the end for a few minutes so you can visit the small building housing the natural springs. You can also stay the night at the monastery there (35 euro for a double room with a mountain view). #2: Ohrid and Prespa Lake Drive: Forbes Magazine rated this as one of the 20 most beautiful drives in Europe. You will need to hire a driver for this for around 60 euro and it will take 5-6 hours. Be sure to have the driver head towards St. Naum stopping at the fishing village Trpejca for lunch by the water. After lunch, drive through the Livada Pass. From there you can stop and hike up to a viewpoint and see both lakes at once. Around Prespa you can take a boat ride to the Island Golam Grad, stop at the Bird Sanctuary, visit the Ethno Museum in Podmochani, and many monasteries along the way. #3: Adventure Activities in Kuratica: About 20 km north of Ohrid is the small mountain village of Kuratica. Among the offerings: donkey safaris (don’t forget your helmet), mountain biking, and jeep tours. You can also enjoy a traditional meal prepared and served in the home of a local villager. #4: Hiking: There are several trails and roads leading from Ohrid to the villages high above the lake. Head out towards the Sports Complex and you will see a gas station. Walk to the other side of the station and you will see a sign for Galicica National Park and some amazing stone steps. Up these steps, you will find another sign with information about different hikes in the area. A personal favorite is the hike up to the village Velestovo. This takes about 2-3 hours but you can make it longer as there are dirt roads and paths that lead high above Velestovo. The views this hike provides are bar none. Additional Information: 1. http://www.ohrid.com.mk/ (Official site of Ohrid and has pictures of each beach under the Riviera Map tab) 2. http://www.visitohrid.com.mk/ Lists a few places with Villa Germanoff highly recommended by many volunteers at only 60 euro for up to four people. Also, if you prefer a hostel, check out the following website http://sunnylakehostel.com/. 3. For good write-ups of each site on the walking tour: http:// members.virtualtourist.com/m/6117e/6e6c1/4/. 4. For more information about adventures in Kuratica, email [email protected] or [email protected]. Phone: 075 607 705 or 046 266 306 5. Lost in Ohrid Custom Tours: 50 euro total for group up to 20 people for 1/2 day walking tour of Ohrid. Contact Katerina; web: www.lostinohrid.com; phone: 070672423.

Skopsko is ready for summer with Silver Moon By Ben Long This time around In the Kitchen, we won’t talk about how to make something, but rather about something I usually have in my kitchen: beer. I remember hearing that one of the first words we would learn in Macedonia would be Skopsko, the most popular of the Macedonian beers. While it may not have been the first word I learned, it has certainly stuck with me. So when I saw a new brand of Skopsko at my favorite café, I had to give it a shot. And then tell you my opinion of it. So here is my short review of the new Skopsko Silver Moon. One of my friends told me Skopsko Silver Moon was a light beer, but it’s certainly not a light beer in the American sense. It’s not quite as heavy as traditional Skopsko, but I doubt it has any fewer calories or lower alcohol content as its older brother. Silver Moon is billed as having a “pleasant, soft taste” and as being a refreshing party beverage. The soft taste part is right, and if it’s really cold, it is certainly refreshing on a hot summer day. The bottle also claims that it is produced by the original recipe (of Skopsko, I assume), but the differences to traditional Skopsko are pretty distinct, if not overwhelming. Basically, this is a light lager. It’s kind of like a Macedonian corona. It’s not very hoppy or bitter, and its definitely on the sweeter side. It would probably be good with a lime (if you could find one). This is the kind of beer that would be great really cold on a hot summer day. I could see definitely drinking on of these on a summer afternoon in July or at a summer nightclub. That doesn’t mean there isn’t anything wrong with this beer. First off, it comes in a clear glass bottle (which isn’t returnable), which could explain its somewhat bland taste. Also the comparison to Corona isn’t all that accurate. I could imagine the people at Skopsko imagine this as the Macedonian Corona, but it strikes me as having more in common with Miller High Life. Finally, it’s not cheap. A bottle will run you 120 denars at a café and at Tinex you’ll pay 65. That’s is more than twice as much as a traditional Skopsko at the grocery store, and about fifty percent more at a café. My final verdict on this beer is that it’s a welcome change of pace and it’s nice to see a Macedonian business trying something new. Its not overwhelming different, but it’s a step in the right direction, and as a summer beer it worth a shot. But the price tag might make you think twice about ordering a second round.

spring/summer 2008 - 13

News from Local Economic Development:

“Habits of longstanding are dogged by persistency.” By Mary O’Connor This ponderous title refers to my tendency to think in terms of man-hours of labor. As an extreme example, you may remember this conundrum of modern economics: How much money has to be on the sidewalk for it to become profitable for Bill Gates to spend the time it would take to pick it up? This raises all sorts of other questions, but my point is that in trying to work in local economic development, man-hours of labor can be a useful yardstick. I tried using the amount we pay our tutors, but realized that this was not practical after trying to work up a price for a local, hand-knit, full-length, amazing-looking coat/sweater creation: $982. I have no doubt that this one-of-a-kind garment, marketed well, will indeed sell for easily twice that amount with a bit of world capital. But as a direct purchase from the creator of the garment, it could set up some unrealistic expectations on the part of the knitter. I recently conducted another “pricing research project.” The souvenir sector in Krusevo has growth potential for a variety of happy and sad reasons. I had the idea that souvenir candles could provide an easy source of local income for the small entrepreneur in Krusevo. Though an avid consumer of candle products before Peace Corps, scarcity and cost has restricted my use to church candles here adisappeared in the United States, replaced by the unfortunate flickering bulb at the push of a button, my candle needs were well met here, with the added satisfying presumption that the money and my own prayer were somehow falling in the positive realm. So having been only a consumer, it seemed fitting to attempt a bit of fabrication prior to suggesting novelty candle production on a larger scale. I talked to my honey man, who directed me to the house of the wax woman. She was expecting me, which I took as a good sign. A widow, she was happy to chat for a good long time over

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coffee and sweets prior to a tour of the offerings. I had expected that the wax would be the solid equivalent of the honey; that is to say, the finest and highest quality. (Macedonian honey is the best honey I have ever tasted. I use it in any and everything requiring a sucrose-based additive.) But rather than a golden mass of bee-building material, her goods looked like ancient wheels of grey-brown cheese. After affable negotiations over the commodity and promises to return for a visit, I carried a two and a half kilo wheel o’wax home. The production was a successful improvisation, in that I did not burn down the house, destroy any domestic inventory, or injure any living beings, and I produced two tiny candles in two hallowed-out orange skins. This took me about four manhours. Though they looked convincing, they failed to stay lit. Still, I was greatly encouraged. If a complete novice can produce candles in four hours, this could be a viable cottage industry. Realizing that the wax was the collected remnants from church candles added an appealing environmental aspect to the potential marketing strategy for the Krusevo candle. I thought it best to conduct some casual research before general release. In talking to a neutral but very knowledgeable Macedonian about this idea, he seemed to think that there could be some trouble with the church. It might be seen as an intrusion of an income stream. Perhaps, but I think the candles could be sufficiently different in form and appeal so as to present a complimentary, non-competitive product stream. The mind reels with speculation. Having invested time and energy to date, I will continue to nudge it forward in Krusevo and report back to you in the next edition of “News from Local Economic Development.”

Picture Dictionary

pa{kanat

duwa

mu{muli

cveklo

{ipka

tikva

jaba~unki

kosteni

orev

balka

rodokva

pe~urki

celer

rokvica

kromid i luk

compiled by Rachel Whitford

spring/summer 2008 - 15

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