WHERE am I going?

1:00 on Thursday October, we Veles PCTs gathered in our language learning classroom. We waited through a short introduction, holding packets of information with our future, and then tore into placement locations.

My future two years in… Bogdanci?  I started sifting through pages of municipality, school, and family information. The Bogdanci municipality has worked on recent water and park city projects, and their city report depicted an environmental focus. I learned my high school had a previous PCV and wants to continue developing English lesson planning and conversation clubs.  I read about my future homestay.  I started imagining life with a 34-year old host mother, 50-year old host father, and 9-year old host brother.  Ten kilometers from the larger city of Gevgalia in the Southeast of Macedonia, Bogdanci is near the Greek border with a mild climate with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.  I didn’t know how to react. It sounded great, kind of like my dream when I thought about Macedonia in the recruitment process. Still the unknown of it all was also a bit uncomfortable.

I remember knowing nothing about Veles before I arrived here, so after the unveiling, I waited out my initial shock.  After talking with the previous volunteer and other current volunteers in the surrounding cities, I know my experience will unfold when I am there and will be specific to me.  The Peace Corps often walks a fine line between general preparation and emphasizing that each volunteer has a very individual experience.

I will say my life in Veles feels like home now.  I am getting ideas for projects and using language in my community with strangers with greater and greater ease.  I am developing strong ties to fellow PCV’s and Macedonians here. All of this just before I visit Bogdanci, before I open up a whole new thinking realm related to my placement.  Ima Vreme they say, there is time.

 

I have included some shots of a trip to Skopje for the field day. We played Frisbee, ate snacks, and walked to the stretch along all the new government buildings and monuments.  I also photographed the school where we study Macedonian and have weekend trainings.  I wanted to share some visuals to help flesh out the stories. 

 

Weeks Four and Five- A Merry Life with Rodenden's

I am feeling more and more at home in Veles. Two birthdays (or Rodenden’s in Macedonian), a pita festival, and friendships through Body Jam classes have helped me anchor pride for my current city. My increasing language proficiency is also helping!

On October 1, the trainees in Veles came to my Ctavrevski household for some home-made American deliciousness, Macedonian drinks, games, and laughs.  My host mother, father, and brother worked with me in purchasing food, preparing food, and cleaning the apartment.  While I envisioned a mingling, snacking, drinking, slight dancing atmosphere, my host parents (rodenteli) set a table for 15! I roused the troops at the school and led them to my home. We sat, we ate, we drank, we played Uno with my rodenteli, and it was a lovely day of connecting home-life with my PCT community. 

The following Wednesday, we gathered in a similar way to celebrate another fellow volunteer’s birthday. These meals outside of the school and trainings helped make Veles home. In addition, hosting the other PCT communities in Veles for a weekend training - exploring the city’s national festival of PITA and seeing the other PCT communities observing Veles in awe- helped me see Veles with new eyes! (Pita is a pizza-like dish with cheese and meet and, in Veles, egg.) These shared experiences in birthdays and holidays deepen my comfort and sense of belonging here in Macedonia. Also, a fellow trainee and I, who often walk around the city together, made the mini trek across a footbridge and up the hill to a monument. A beautiful, structure embedded in a hill over-looking the city, this monument made for a mini-adventure and great conversation.

 

Also, I now have an established schedule for teaching Body Jam in Veles.  Six to twelve students gather every Monday and Wednesday at 6:00 for a sweaty, fun, dance workout.  Applying my dance teaching skills helps me feel purposeful, and dancing with others makes me feel connected.  My students are becoming closer friends and allies in my exploration of Macedonian culture.

Truly, my greatest teachers and support are my rodenteli.  They continue to communicate in significant, relevant ways that teach me language and that help me express myself in Macedonian.  We dissembled about 75% of their garden/farm at their nearby village, Otovitza, home. Working side- by- side on the weekends makes our daily interactions that much more meaningful. Last night, I went to Oro dance practice with them. (The Oro is a traditional Macedonian dance.) My rodenteli are fantastic Oro dancers. The music is in 7/8 time, and they are light and rhythmic in the various dance patterns. I enjoyed the experience, mainly because I got to see them so essentially in their element.

This week we learn our site placements for the two years of service. We also found out more about the language proficiency tools used to chart our language learning, a big key to integration.  Life is moving along. More to come!   

Week Two- Veles- Its an Ajvar Thing

Meet my host family in Veles, Macedonia- here is Boshe and Zaga at their home in Otavitza, a village outside of Veles. In addition to a cozy but tight apartment in the city, my host parents have a village home with an incredible garden where they demonstrate their agile craftiness in raising and preparing food. 

 

My first weekend, we visited the Sunday market- or Pazaar- and then were off to Otavitza to pick TIKVA- Macedonian for squash. Oh, did we pick tikvah- the pictures are only part of the evidence! Did I mention there is a beautiful lake nearby with hiking trails and lake-side cafes? A coffee before heading back to Veles was a sweet treat after a generous day of gardening.

 

The first week of classes, family meals, and adjusting to Veles would not have been complete without another weekend visit to our village home to make the traditional fall dish, Ajvar. Ajvar is a delicious roasted red pepper and eggplant spread that is typically served with feta cheese on bread for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Anyone who has tasted it will tell you it is decadently delicious, but I doubt they have had the pleasure of making it.

I was informed Friday night that we would be leaving Veles at 9:00am to head to Otavitza. We packed the car, picked up my host aunt up the hill, and were off with 30kilos of red peppers and 10kilos of eggplant.  First, we washed each vegetable by hand. Boshe, my host father, assembled the wood stove in the cellar where its attached piping directed the heat outside.

 Then one- by- one, we roasted and turned and roasted and turned the peppers and eggplants until their skin blackened, sacking the finished peppers in the process. After letting the peppers steam for an hour in plastic bags, we pealed and seeded almost all the roasted peppers and eggplants. After roasting and peeling, we ground the peppers and eggplants and cooked the newly concocted mixture in a large vat over the same stove.  (Did I mention I have a host brother my age? You can see his picture below; he is eyeing the roasting. He was the official veggie grinder!) Many families stir for three hours by hand, taking turns. Luckily, my father rigged a stirring machine. So, we watched for three hours, chatting over coffee, as the pot bubbled, as each added oil and salt here and there after tasting, as we waited for the Ajvar to finish.

Oh yes, when it was just right, we carried the pot upstairs to the kitchen, where the jars had been sterilizing in the oven. One by one, we filled the jars with spoons, hovering over the steaming pot of red goo.  After capping the final jar to be filled, my family gleefully crumbled feta around the base of the pot and tore generous hunks of bread off, passing to eager hands. There is a famous phrase in Thailand about a fear; the bear may fear the cold water, but I do not. After learning this in one of my culture trainings, its application became clear as my family and I attacked the pot, fearless of the mess ahead. Scooping, scraping, rescuing every remnant of ajar, with our bread- and- cheese- sponge, into our hungry, no longer patient mouths, I relished in the beauty of this tedious, bonding process. 

Beyond Ajvar, life in Veles is coming along. I have anchored some solid running routes with room to wiggle and explore. I am scheduled to teach dance next week on my Birthday and am enjoying walking around the town- though I am mostly traveling from home to school and back.  The language learning is DENSE, but finding more and more competent communication strategies is empowering.  Monday I have my first HubDay reunion and trainees with the full Mak 19 group in Skopje, Macedonia's capital, on Monday.  I am excited to get out and about, to see my friends, to hear about their experiences, and to learn more about my role and preparation for service in December.

Week One- Tetovo- First Training Madness (9/20)

I am finally with my family for pre-service training.  Only one afternoon and night and I already feel so connected to my host parents. They are hospitable, welcoming, and in just a few hours have taught me a great deal of language with patience and diligence. It  makes me hopeful for future relationships.  Only one afternoon and night and it seems the last week is a lifetime away.

My journey started in Philadelphia. I arrived to the airport after a fulfilling evening of dancing with friends and an early morning at the Des Moines airport. Saying goodbye to someone for months at a time was a farewell I was accustomed to when I could envision the lifestyle I was returning to; while living in Thailand, I said goodbye to friends and family on a regular basis. This parting, an unknown life ahead of me and an established life in Des Moines behind, mirrored when I left for Thailand, the impending unknown, luckily with a less chaos. 

On the way to the Phili baggage claim, I spotted a young woman in a suit, pulling a carry-on, and then lugging two large suitcases off of the conveyor belt- I knew we were fellow trainees.  Bonnie, my first friend in the adventure, in addition to sharing snacks, reflections, and dance moves with me, made me smile with quirky, humble, exuberant, and selfless acts throughout training.

Training involved interactive activities introducing us to the history and current statistics of, three goals of, and ten core values of the Peace Corps.  One day of intensive overview, one evening meal, and we were off the next morning on our pan-Atlantic flights.  I was able to get a great run in through west Phili Saturday morning, stumbling upon some historic houses with big trees and rolling hills.  A lot of the travel was a blur, though I do remember the Vienna airport's reclining sofa seats. Finally, Sunday morning, we were welcomed with sunshine and the spirited Pre-service training staff at the Alexander the Great airport. Boarding buses, carrying loads of luggage, and taking transport to the Woodrow Wilson school just outside of Tetovo, we entered the next stage of our journey.  Here, at the Woodrow Wilson School and compound, our introduction to life in Macedonia and the Peace Corps took flight. 

 In Tetovo, the site for our first in- country greetings and trainings, I found my second Peace Corps connection grew.  Sarah, my roommate in both Philadelphia and Tetovo- an ultimate frisbee athlete with a mean strum on her baby guitar and a passion for clever, out- of- mainstream rap- became my first confidant. We also shared laughter, morning and evening thoughtful check- ins, and dance moves! Waking at 6:00, running loops upon 200 m loops around school's paved compound road, eating breakfast with the crew at 8:00, and starting sessions at 9:00, I plowed through informative introductions with the PCT's (Peace Corps Trainees).

Our first week included two evening trips to Tetovo, a city on the Western side of Macedonia with a predominant Albanian and Muslim population. We visited a rare, painted Mosque and learned in our first few days a lot about the Islamic influence on Western Macedonia, as many of the current volunteers who came to share about their experiences were from the area surrounding our initial training site.

It has been some time since I felt my curiosity so ignited, my sense of purpose so peacefully matched.  I can’t help but smile, as I sit with my Macedonian parents, typing, snacking, reflecting, and anticipating the growth to come!