Beth's Corps Experience

Чао Макадонија!

2005-10-27T01:44:00.000+03:00

Се Најдобро преку склики!

2005-10-25T01:34:00.000+03:00

This week a few of us are leaving Macedonia. I am heading home to be with my family for the upcoming holidays, Liz is headed to visit her friend in London and travel a bit and other folks are going to Russia to take the Siberian Railroad.

Its still hard for me to believe that this time has come to an end, especially considering the times in the beginning when i thought it would never end. It was bittersweet saying good-bye to my friends, in part because I have no idea when I will see many of them again.

Ajде Чао Драго Цемејство!

2005-10-22T00:52:00.000+03:00

Pictured here are my host-sisters and host-grandparents

Last weekend I went to visit my host family for one last time before I returned to the US. It was pretty hard to say good-bye, for a number of reasons. They have fallen on tough times, like a decade ago. Blatec, a village outside of Kocani, is a village in a region that is severly economically depressed with little hopes of climbing out of a long-term economic slump. All the factories have closed down and most villagers live off the subsistence agriculture products they grow in their yard.

It was hard knowing that things aren't going to get better for them anytime soon, and I am powerless to do anything to improve their current situation.

It was hard knowing that my friends that I have now grown to know and love (although I was not allowed to wash my hair on a daily basis and was strongly encouraged to eat chicken soup for breakfast) will be far away and difficult to reach.

It was hard realizing that this is the end of a very exciting time in my life.

New Friends and Last Minute Trips

2005-10-20T00:42:00.000+03:00

A new Northern American recently moved to Gostivar (well, a few months ago, but I just met him recently) and its been nice since Shaun moved to Veles to be a trainer for the MAK 10 volunteers.

He is here with through an internship with the canadian government, working for an NGO on human rights initiatives. Like I said, tts been really nice having another person from North America who I can relate to, but even better is that it isn't a Peace Corps Volunteer. Don't get me wrong, I love all of us PCVs, but the conversation is always so similar that it is refreshing to have a new and unique perspective.

We went to Ohrid and saw the sites. The weather cooperated with us this weekend, but the week before it was horrible!

Mom and Dad visit Macedonia!

2005-10-18T04:48:00.000+03:00

After my Brother's wedding I dragged my parents back to macedonia with me and it was an outstanding visit. I tried to pack everything in to their two and a half day visit, and I did a pretty good job, but it would have been better had they a few extra days.

We saw Skopje, visited with my landlords (pictured here), and went to the market in Gostivar.

2005-10-18T04:45:00.000+03:00

We also briefly saw Struga and Ohrid and then went to Lord of the Dance in Skopje (funny, we saw a celtic performance in South Eastern Europe).

Pictured here is me taking a picture of my dad taking a picture.

2005-10-18T04:11:00.000+03:00

This is me and my parents in Ohrid

Headed to Hungary

2005-09-27T23:48:00.000+03:00

I left Macedonia on Thursday, September 22 headed to Budapest for my brother John's wedding. John (number four in the Wager line-up) used to work for a large international law firm in Budapest and met his lady-love there over 2 years ago.

My flight went well, and I took an airport shuttle to my new sister-in-law's house and had wonderful welcome upon my arrival. It was outstanding to see my mom and dad, my brother and Brigitta. I hadn't seen my parents in almost exactly a year (I went home a year ago for my sister's wedding) and it was great to be with them again. Brigitta's parents were a riot, her mother was full of life and effervescence and her father has a dry wit I know I will enjoy in the future.

After dinner with Brigitta's family we went and had a beverage at a cafe near our apartment. When I woke up Thursday morning my water wasn't working in my apartment (as is frequently the case on Thursdays) so I am looking especially slick (greasy). Nice.

Pictured here (l to r: My mom, me, my dad, Brigitta and John).

We spent some time chit-chatting and catching up at thecafe and then headed back to our apartment. Our apartment. It needs description, but I want to keep my blog G-rated. John and Brigitta booked an apartment online for my parents and I to stay in because it would be less expensive than a hotel and that is the way he usually travels. It's a neat way to be a visitor, but also feel kind of integrated into the community. In an apartment you can sort of feel like you aren't a total foreigner, even though we are. Anyway, the apartment they booked on-line was NOT the apartment they ended up visiting and checking in to. It was spacious, but filled with crap. And I mean crap. Not like fecal matter, but like old Balkan-esque crappy antiques. If you're a PCV from Macedonia and you're reading this you know what I mean, doilies, figurines, ridiculous lights. But there were other interesting things in the apartment. Like Porn. Good God, there was so much porn all over the walls it was like a national lampoon's "My Son Is Marrying Someone From Another Country" movie. I won't go into detail, for that you can contact my brother, but I will say I felt bad for my parents. My mom mostly, but after a while I think we all just got used to ignoring it. I know John and Brigitta felt bad too, but now its just something at which we can laugh.

Explored the Castle district

2005-09-27T23:43:00.000+03:00

John and Brigitta were really busy with wedding preparations so the following day I played tour-guide for my parents. We went to the castle district via the subway and a bus. I got a real kick watching my parents on the subway, they seemed to really enjoy it. I have been doing a bit of international travel off and on since 1997 so I don’t get too stressed out anymore (especially after my experiences throughout the last 2 years here in Macedonia) but mom and dad really seemed to be enjoying it all and it was fun to observe them. When we got to the castle district we had a late breakfast and wandered around. We saw St. Matthais Cathedral, the Fishermans’ Bastion, had coffee with a breath-taking view of the city and enjoyed the day.

Pictured here are my mom and dad in front of St. Matthias' Cathedral.

Cafe Time

2005-09-27T23:34:00.000+03:00

Here are my mom and dad at the cafe at Fisherman's Bastion.

View from the cafe

2005-09-27T23:32:00.000+03:00

And this was our view of Budapest at the café

The big day

2005-09-27T23:31:00.000+03:00

The following day was the big event, John and Brigitta's wedding. I was not the official photographer (which is a very good thing) so I don't have the best photos, but I will post a couple from what I did get.

The ceremony was a civil service, but there was a definite air of something spiritual or something, it wasn't dry and boring (well, it may have been, but I don't understand Hungarian...but it didn't seem like it) and the woman presiding was very dignified. It was really nice.

Pictured here is Brigitta and her father walking down the aisle.

newly-weds

2005-09-27T23:29:00.000+03:00

And here is the newly-wed couple immediately after the ceremony

The whole group

2005-09-27T23:26:00.000+03:00

A Hungarian Custom (a Macedonian custom as well, I think) is to take a photo in front of the church with all of the guests. My mom and dad and I are on the bottom left corner...

The reception

2005-09-27T23:20:00.000+03:00

The reception was wonderful, it was held in a gallery, where a significant number of Brigitta's photographs were displayed (Brigitta is an artist). There was a great Jazz band that played and we were able to enjoy the music and relax. Afterward we had refreshments and cake.

Pictured here are Brigitta and John cutting their cake. After a bit more visiting and cake-eating the reception drew to a close and we left.

toastin time

2005-09-27T23:17:00.000+03:00

Here are my mom and dad getting ready to toast the bride and groom.

After the reception

2005-09-27T23:14:00.000+03:00

Later I met back up with Brigitta and John and their friends and we went to a Garden-bar type place. A popular hangout with the youthful crowd of Budapest, old buildings' courtyards are transformed into outdoor beer gardens with rockin house music and an awesome atmosphere. I met one of Brigitta and John's friends who was born on the Hungarian/Serbian border and we spoke a bit in Serbo-makadonski. Nice.

Pictured here are Me, Marsella (Brigitta's sister-in-law), Brigitta and John. What is the deal with the Wager red-eye?

The next day we had more family time and the following day Mom dad and I left for Macedonia!

Fresh Eggs!

2005-09-22T00:27:00.000+03:00

My eggs are so fresh some of them still have feathers on them. I wish you could see it better.

Time is flying out of control

2005-09-20T01:05:00.000+03:00

Last week flew by in what felt like two days. I can't believe how quickly time is lapsing, and I'm not gonna lie about it, this is a bad thing. I have so much work to do and the days are sneaking away from me.

I have more work to do with the sheep-breeders, a bit more help I promised to Land O'Lakes, a ton of admin stuff I have to do for Peace Corps and of course, that whole masters degree field paper needs HUGE revisions. Also, I am headed to Budapest this weekend for my brother's wedding...and my mom and dad are returning with me after the wedding (YEAH! Finally, I get visitors!). And the following weekend is a girls hike that has been planned (in theory for quite some time now) plus I need to visit my host family...MEH! The stress is getting me all riled up.

And to top it all off I am going crazy. Tonight, while cooking eggplant, I could have sworn I saw a little face staring back at me in one of the wedges.

Week in Review

2005-09-12T17:12:00.000+03:00

The past week went by in a blur and included surveys with sheep-breeders in the open air market in Gostivar with (while they sold their cheeses), a kick-off meeting with sheep-breeders from both Eastern and Western Macedonia regarding participation in a new program we are doing with the German technical assistance firm InWEnt, and a trip south to Struga in honor of the National holiday (People's Uprising Against Facism Day, September 8). Also, I got my hair chopped off. Yippee. Here are some photos.

Luli was conducting surveys with members of our association regarding their production and sales levels for this past year.

Luli and his buddy

2005-09-12T17:07:00.000+03:00

This is another sheep breeder from Gostivar. Luli wanted to have his picture taken with him because of his traditional (way old school) clothing.

I met with Sheep breeders

2005-09-12T17:01:00.000+03:00

We had a meeting about the project we hope to be implementing with a german organization, InWent. These guys pictured here are sheep breeders from Berovo, which is a town in Eastern Macedonia, almost on the Bulgarian border.

And they are sitting under the Macedonian Seal of Quality.

Liz scales the hills

2005-09-12T17:00:00.000+03:00

In observance of the national holiday "People's Uprising Against Fascism Day" I headed south to visit my friend Liz and see a bit of Struga I hadn't seen before. We went to the small fishing village of Radožda where Liz's NGO was giving a presentation on solid waste management. While there, we checked out a couple of churches which were high up in the hills.

Here is Liz in front of one of them.

cave church exploration

2005-09-12T16:57:00.000+03:00

Here we are at one cave church. The really good news, I have finally mastered the timer on my camera.

wild tomatoes

2005-09-12T16:56:00.000+03:00

Here we found some tomatoes growing in the wild. That's Macedonia for you.

crazy natural spoons

2005-09-12T16:46:00.000+03:00

On our way back we noticed these crazy looking gourd-zucchini type plants hanging from an arbor-awning. They used to hollow them out and use them as giant spoons I guess. I was told that they are for decoration only and they have a Slovenian name--which means natural spoon, but I forget what the word was.

typical scene in macedonia

2005-09-12T16:22:00.000+03:00

Walking through another village we spotted a house with some peppers drying from the balcony. This is a pretty typical scene in Macedonia.

interesting wildlife

2005-09-12T16:14:00.000+03:00

The following day (after I got my hair cut) we headed out to Sveti Naum, a village outside of Ohrid, to see the monastery and the town and hang out by the lake. Liz was able to catch me close to a couple of the Peacocks that populate the area.

Nice View

2005-09-12T16:01:00.000+03:00

And this is the sun setting as seen from St. Naum

Happy Anniversary!

2005-09-08T12:00:00.000+03:00

Its hard to believe, but I arrived here in Macedonia 2 years ago today. Wow. Congratulations to me and all my fellow MAK 8ers (who are still here, ha).

COS Conference Time

2005-09-05T15:32:00.000+03:00

We (MAK 8) had our Close Of Service conference last week. It was a bit of a whirlwind--a lot of information presented, a few activities that were on the brink of getting uncomfortably emotional and a lot of hanging out.

It all began with a ton of information about post-PC stuff like health insurance, dental and medical exams, writing our description of service, the really fun stuff. I found out we get to keep our PC Passports (which I am pretty fired up about) and we also found out that we don't get a living allowance for the last month in country because the first month we were at site they did the first and last month deposit--ouch! That is painful to the pocketbook. We also got a lot of information about post- service options for graduate schools and work opportunities. It was an information-packed few days.

In this picture we are tossing around a masking-tape ball, talking about ourselves. LOVE Ice breakers!

LtoR:Sarah, Holly, Declan, Hugo, Ian (and Alex's sandal).

I'm still culturally sensitive...most days.

2005-09-05T15:30:00.000+03:00

We also talked about our times here, things that were proud of accomplishing and things we've yet to do, but still want to. Then we discussed what it will be like returning: reverse culture shock, people not understanding (or caring) about how things were for us in the Peace Corps, and more. I got a little taste of that when I was home in September, and all my friends who were PCVs before have told me the same thing, so its not a huge surprise. People ask how your time was in the PC, but they don't actually expect much of an answer beyond "It was the toughest job I'll ever love." And I think most of us could go on for hours, given the chance...

In this picture we are making posters about things we've accomplished and what we still want to do, and we're laughing at pictures of ourselves during training.

Anyway, the conference was interesting, fun and at times a bit overwhelming and emotional. I think it only started to sink in for most of us that we will be leaving very soon. I have a new date to complete my service--much earlier than I expected, October 28! Just 8 short weeks away.

upcoming stresses ...

2005-09-05T15:27:00.000+03:00

And now begins the daunting task of searching for jobs. I feel a little out of practice. A lot of this is uncharted territory for this kid, too, because the jobs I have had in the past were all in Portland--most of them in the political arena (and that is a very small community).

Now I am looking for jobs in DC, I hardly know anyone there, and since I am applying from Macedonia this will undoubtedly complicate things. Part of me thinks I should just calm down and wait until after the holidays to go crazy with the job search. But then the other part of me that has been doing the "Rhetorical Job Search" since December of 2003 just can't calm down. I admit it, I am very uncomfortable with ambiguity in the future. Without a plan I am a nervous wreck.

Below are a few more photos from the COS Conference...

L to R: Liz, Michael and Kendra (aka Keni, a name given to her by her host family 2 years ago).

Eggs and the vegan do not mix

2005-09-05T15:23:00.000+03:00

Liz again--she is vegan and she always gets something on her plate that she doesn't eat. That night it was hard boiled egg decorated with a tomato hat.

chess club and its fans

2005-09-05T15:21:00.000+03:00

This is Me, Heather in the background, Evelina next to me (she is our training manager) and Shayne. The Chess and backgammon club were having a raging competition in the background. Woo-Hoo.

special bus kids

2005-09-05T15:19:00.000+03:00

Keith, Matt, Holly, Declan, Hugo, Ian, Dan

We were headed home on this mini-bus with broken air conditioning, no windows in some pretty darn hot weather. Yikes!

A visit from Matt and Hugo

2005-08-30T15:38:00.000+03:00

My buddies Matt and Hugo and Matt's fiancé, Vicki, explored the western part of Macedonia for their last bit of vacation. One of their last stops was in my quaint town of Gostivar. Gostivar may not be the most exciting or beautiful place, but for me it is outstanding because there are people living there, which was hardly the case at my last site. For me, Gostivar is seriously satisfying urban dwelling.

For Hugo and Matt's visit I decided a good way to see the place and get to know a little piece of life for me would be to come to work with me. We went on a field visit (which actually took us out of Gostivar, but we got to see a lot of the town from the car). We went to visit a farm in Kicevo where the owner is interested in building a new barn. Here is a photo of the a sheep from the barn.

Lunchtime!

2005-08-30T15:37:00.000+03:00

After chit-chatting with the farmers, checking out the sheep and the sheep dogs (there were puppies!) we went to Lunch at the place where Luli and I always go when we are in Kicevo. There is a waiter that works there who lived in Stuttgart and speaks german. Luli told him I speak German (which I hardly do anymore) and now the waiter insists on speaking to me in German. Its pretty funny. In this picture Luli and Hugo are enjoying their meals, and Matt is just watching them I guess.

The Beginning of the Vardar

2005-08-30T15:35:00.000+03:00

On our way home we were passing the village of Vrutok, where Luli was born. It is also the place where the Vardar river begins, the vardar is the river that runs through Macedonia. Luli took us through the village and showed us the springs that start the vardar. Me and Hugo are in this picture. He is a big guy.

Fish Restaurant!

2005-08-30T15:34:00.000+03:00

Before we went back to Gostivar we stopped and had coffee at a restaurant that is right next to a fish farm. They catch the fish for you, show it to you (while its still living) and then cook it up afterward. Here we are in front of the fishpond.

Baby Steps

2005-08-23T00:01:00.000+03:00

I forgot this happened, but I must report! Right before I departed for Istanbul I was doing some work in my apartment and I had the back door open to my deck. I heard a knock at the door and my neighbor Zora came in. She ASKED me if she could put her laundry up on my side. Amazing. I said of course and I thanked her for asking if she could use my side of the deck.

I win.

Turkey Time!

2005-08-22T00:26:00.000+03:00

My trip to Turkey was outstanding--getting there and back was not the most delightful (12+ hour bus-ride with a bunch of chain-smokers who have no regard for those of us who don't enjoy second-hand smoke) but the trip itself was great.

The goal of my adventure was just as much to hang out my friend from graduate school, Tamar, as to see the city of Istanbul. I lucked out in the very beginning because I was able to stay at the hotel where Tamar and her colleagues were having their annual staff retreat. She arrived 2 days prior to the retreat so we were able to spend a lot of time together--and the man in charge of her project has a soft spot in his heart for PCVs so he invited me to join them for their evening staff dinners and team building activities, which was great.

The first day we went to the Grand Bazaar and I watched Tamar and her colleague friend stump everyone while they strategized bargaining in Georgian. I don't know if you've ever heard the Georgian language, but it really sounds like no other language I've heard before. It was pretty amusing watching the shop owners bargain with them, Tamar and Nino have their system down to perfection. I just stood there silently trying to not give away the fact that I was American so if I did want to buy something I wouldn't be expected to pay really high prices. The building of the grand Bazaar was beautiful.

Pictured here is me and Tamar in the beginning of our Bazaar exploration.

corn salesman

2005-08-22T00:22:00.000+03:00

On our first day we also visited the gardens between the blue Mosque and the Aya Sophia (or Hagia Sofia as we it was referred to Frau Loos' art history in Salzburg). There were a lot of people lounging in the gardens drinking tea and eating corn that was being sold by a boy with a little corn cart (pictured below).

Hanging out in Asia

2005-08-22T00:20:00.001+03:00

The following day Tamar's friends wanted to head to the part of Istanbul that is considered Asia, they'd never been before and had already seen the other sites in their previous visits to Istanbul. I didn't object because I had the next few days to see the sites while they would be cooped up for training and meetings. It was pretty much like any other big city there with a lot of shops and stores and stuff. Tamar and I got to hang out a lot though, so that was great.

When we returned we headed out in our neighborhood--we were staying in Taksim, a newer area of Istanbul--and we wandered around, visited Starbucks (which made me a little homesick) and explored the our neighborhood.

Pictured here is Tamar and her colleague friend Kristina in an area about 15 minutes away from our hotel

we rested a bit in the gardens...

2005-08-22T00:20:00.000+03:00

Tamar and her colleague Nino pose in the gardens...

I got to know Tamar's work friends

2005-08-22T00:16:00.000+03:00

That evening everyone from the organization arrived and they had an orientation meeting and dinner. Afterward we went out for a drink and I got to meet Tamar's colleagues a little more in depth, they are a great group of people, she is lucky to work with such nice folks. Pictured here are her colleagues from Budapest, me and Tamar.

First day solo in Istanbul

2005-08-22T00:13:00.000+03:00

The next day the big meetings began as did my solo investigation of Istanbul. I decided in the beginning that I would take the bus as a way to cut down on travel costs (taxis) and when I arrived at the bus station it was a bit challenging but I managed a bus ride to the hotel. As I started to hop on the bus headed toward the Blue Mosque and Aya Sophia I noticed that this bus operated differently though--I couldn't pay, I had to use tickets. I tried to figure out what the deal was but I don't speak Turkish so I was a little concerned.

Then a man on the bus sitting next to a woman spoke up and asked me if needed any help. I told him my situation and he spoke with some girls that were seated behind him and they gave me a bus ticket. I was totally surprised. It turned out that the man, Mehmet was Turkish, from the Kurdish region, but emigrated to the UK twenty-some odd years ago. He was with his 3 daughters and his youngest sister, the girls aunt. I stayed on the bus not knowing exactly where to go and when we neared some mosques I asked the girls when I should get off the bus. They told me they were headed there too, so I should just get off the bus when they did, so I followed them. Once we arrived they asked me what my plans were and I said I wanted to see Aya Sophia and the Blue mosque and from there I didn't know. They told me just to follow them. We got in line to buy tickets to Aya Sophia and the Mehmet managed to get ahead of me in the line.

He came back to his wife, sister and daughters and then called me over to join them--he had bought us all tickets. From that point on they took me all around the city with them, showing me everything and not allowing me to pay for anything. At one point Mehmet told me he was surprised I was alone and told me to be very careful because people would try to cheat a young girl alone. It was really fun hanging out with their family, the girls were hilarious, they were 9, 14 and 16 and it was really funny to watch them interact. We first saw the Aya Sophia, then we wandered around the gardens outside the Blue Mosque.

Pictured here are Mehmet's Daughters the youngest (I forgot her name) Imran, me and Rose. We are inside the Aya Sophia on the stairs near the hallway leading to the second floor.

The Blue Mosque

2005-08-22T00:11:00.000+03:00

After prayer time finished we went into the Blue Mosque. We had to cover our head (which I thought made the experience a little more interesting) and the daughters began telling me how they were not at all religious and they didn’t like that women had to cover their head. It was interesting hearing this—and then Mehmet said the same thing to me a few minutes later which was kind of funny.

Pictured here is the blue mosque from the outside

inside the blue mosque

2005-08-22T00:10:00.000+03:00

And here is an inside view...

the tomb of Sultan Ahmet

2005-08-22T00:09:00.000+03:00

After the Blue Mosque we went into the tomb of Sultan Ahmet, the Blue Mosque's great Patron.

Pictured here are the girls and me inside.

walked around the hippodrome

2005-08-22T00:07:00.000+03:00

Afterward we wandered around the hippodrome, a large park with a number of monuments which served as the center of Byzantine life for 1000 years and then another 400 years during the reign of the Ottomans.

This picture was taken in the hippodrome after the girls put my scarf on my head the way the Kurdish people wear their scarves

time to go...

2005-08-22T00:06:00.000+03:00

Afterward we had lunch at a cafe on the street, wandered around some more and then took the bus back to Taksim, the part of town where we were all staying. I said good-bye once we arrived at our stop and I consider myself pretty lucky to have met such great people.

Pictured here are Mehmet's Daughters: The youngest (whose name escapes me,) Rose and Imran

Bowling?

2005-08-22T00:04:00.000+03:00

Once I got back I met up with Tamar and headed back into our neighborhood for a bit, then returned to the hotel to meet up with everyone. We then went to dinner and afterward bowling for staff team-building.

Pictured here is Tamar with her lucky ball.

basilica cistern

2005-08-22T00:03:00.000+03:00

The next day I headed out to see some more sites I walked from my part of town, Taksim, to Sultan Ahmet--the same place where I was the previous day. I wanted to see the basilica Cistern but first I visited a large park near Topkapi Palace and enjoyed the view of the Bosphorus. I then walked along the Bosphorus for a good hour and then decided I needed to hit my site before I got way to tired (it was really hot, too).

The Basilica Cistern was really cool. 336 columns in 12 neat rows. It was used to store water for the great palace and other buildings in the area, but was eventually closed and then completely forgotten about. It was rediscovered in the late sixteenth century by a scholar who was researching Byzantine antiquities--but the Ottomans didn't do much with it, and it in fact became a bigger dumping ground for everything including corpses (gross). Interest in the cistern rose again and restoration began in 1955 and again in 1960 and it was then better maintained. In 1985 it was totally cleaned and renovated and is now a hot tourist attraction. I think was my favorite site.

Pictured here are some of the 336 columns.

more columns

2005-08-22T00:01:00.000+03:00

And here is another view of the columns, I liked these.

On the Bosphorus

2005-08-21T23:59:00.000+03:00

Later that day I headed back and met up with Tamar and her colleagues. We then went on a dinner cruise on the Bosphorus which was outstanding!

Pictured here are Tamar and I at the beginning of the cruise.

Another photo from the Bosphorus Cruise...

2005-08-21T23:57:00.000+03:00

This was a great view...

then I headed home...

2005-08-21T23:54:00.000+03:00

Here is one last photo from the Bosphorus, the fortress at night

And then it was time for me to go home...

I awoke the next day feeling kind of funny--and unhappy because I had to leave later that day, and endure another 12+ hour bus trip. As the day wore on I felt progressively worse and ended up not seeing anything on my last day in Istanbul. Tamar came back and we hung out for a bit and then I had to head to the bus station. Once there I decided I should wait outside so I could get a few last breaths of fresh-ish air (since the bus would be utterly smoke-filled). I had a fine spot in the shade of the bus but it was pretty warm.

I should have realized that I wasn't particularly healthy at this point, but I didn't. After standing around for what seemed like 4 hours but was more like 30 minutes, I fainted, landing on my backpack and awaking to a large man who works for the bus company carrying me into the station and making me drink water. I drank a ton of water, ate more ibuprofen than anything else on the trip home and somehow managed to get back with only wretched stomach aches and nothing worse. Once home I became ridiculously ill which rivaled the time I had Giardia during training, welcome home. But I am fine now.

500 YEARS!

2005-08-07T21:22:00.000+03:00

I am soon headed to Turkey to rendezvous with my good friend Tamar from graduate school. Tamar is from the Republic of Georgia (Tbilisi, not Atlanta) and works for a Soros project there. I have a significant amount of vacation days left and I found out she will be there for a work conference, but with two days and every evening free, so we will be able to spend some quality time hanging out.

When she is stuck in meetings I will be free to scamper about the city investigating the sites on my own. I hear this may be better than if I were with additional people because I may blend in more, enduring less harassment from carpet salesmen etc. I don’t think I look particularly Turkish, but my time here in Macedonia has proven to me that my ethnicity is not an open and shut case. Everyone thinks I am from somewhere else, and the US is rarely a guess. Most commonly I am asked if I am Slovenian (in fact the men at the bus station all call me “Slovenka” which means Slovenian girl) but I have also been asked if I am Polish, Russian, German, French and many months ago a taxi driver in Skopje asked me if I was Turkish.

I will take many pictures and remember stories to delight you all upon my return.

The Wine & Cheese Festival

2005-08-02T21:56:00.000+03:00

The Wine and cheese festival finally happened (July 30 and 31) and a lot of the stress is now relieved. The event (or manifestation, as it is usually amusingly translated) itself was a success with 9 wineries represented and 11 Cheese producers (including 5 associations, way to go guys!) improving their name and product recognition and market position within the domestic wine and cheese sales market here in Macedonia.

My Cheese guys were actively sampling and selling their products which was very exciting to watch and some previously unknown wineries got their name out there so that was a success.

Unfortunately, a main goal of mine was not achieved. This was the second "annual" festival and it was supposed to be a chance for the sheep breeders to plan the event themselves, with coaching from an aid project staffer and myself. Well, that didn't happen exactly as planned.

It was pretty much all done for them and they learned next to nothing, which is really frustrating to me. As I write the report in the next two weeks (I like that I am charged with that responsibility, huh?) I plan on being brutally honest regarding exactly what happened so this DOES NOT happen again. I have also consulted with the aid project staffer with whom I collaborated and I am pretty sure he understands my problem with the whole thing and we agreed that when he returns from his vacation we will write a DETAILED action plan, complete with calendars, contact info, activities, arrangements with government officials etc., so the sheep-breeders can replicate the event (God willing) next year. All in all it was a great event, but I am still left with feelings of disappointment.

Here the Fonko Winery is setting up their booth.

Regional Folk Dancers Provide a Bit of Entertainment

2005-08-02T20:49:00.000+03:00

Shortly after the festival began a group of folk dancers from the region dazzled us with their beautiful dancing and music.

Milazim samples his cheese

2005-08-02T19:40:00.000+03:00

Milazim is one of the best members, he is very active and a stellar participant in all of our trainings. He sold all of his cheese both days, what a superstar!

Crowd Pleasing Cheese from Gostivar

2005-08-02T18:49:00.000+03:00

Another Favorite Sheep-breeder of mine is a man who everyone calls Uncle Reshat. Mr. Reshat is a cute little sheep-breeder from Gostivar who knows his trade like nobody else, and he is an active association member (which makes me like him even more).

Here he samples his product to a cheese connisieur, Patty, another PCV in Struga.

Scotch tape isn't THAT strong

2005-07-29T22:28:00.000+03:00

The Wine and Cheese festival was on July 30 and 31. Before the fest we had a press conference in Ohrid, the city where the festival would be held.

My colleagues wanted to hang this big banner up with scotch tape, I tried to tell them it wouldn't work. I hate to be always be the Nay-say-er, but sometimes the people I work with are silly, or at least have way too much confidence in the strength of scotch tape.

Barbeque Time

2005-07-29T21:31:00.000+03:00

My neighbor Shaun, his lady-friend Vanessa and I barbecued the other night. It was delicious and exciting because we finally made use of our outstanding balcony in authentic BBQ style.

Here are the masters at work.

Watermellon watermellon watermellon

2005-07-29T21:28:00.000+03:00

I caught this shot as Vanessa was enjoying the smallest watermellon we could find. Yum.

No title for this one

2005-07-29T21:25:00.000+03:00

I caught this walking down the street in Ohrid about a week ago. I have no words to explain it.

Architecture and Brotherhood and Unity

2005-07-24T00:45:00.000+03:00

Although in rapidly deteriorating condition, this building is a good example of Macedonian architecture in the early days of Yugoslavia--before architecture went the way of large nondescript concrete monstrosity after large nondescript concrete monstrosity.

If you look closely you can see a lovely hammer and cycle inside the star and greenery.

Parks and Partisans

2005-07-23T11:59:00.000+03:00

Here's a little memorial to Tito's partisans who liberated Yugoslavia (before it was Yugoslavia). Behind Mr. Partisan is a what was once a nice little park, that had many large shade-providing trees. The new mayor systematically cut down all the trees within a month of his inauguration and most recently had all the plastic kiosk stores that surrounded the park torn down. Business owners aside, I think everyone is happy the park perimeter is free from profuse purveyors of purposeless products sold from plastic palaces.

That said, its unfortunate the city had to lose all its trees. Word on the street is that a new park will be built in place of the old park, but I am pretty sure at least some of the trees could have been saved in the process.

Name this Picture

2005-07-22T13:21:00.000+03:00

Can anyone guess what this man is doing?

Day of Sheep Breeding

2005-07-12T02:45:00.000+03:00

Sunday, July 10 was the day of sheep-breeding. A few agriculturally-oriented aid organizations assisted the sheep-breeding community in organizing a celebration of Macedonia's traditional agricultural pursuit.

In this picture an old sheep breeder was handing me a very cute (but a little hard to handle) black and white lamb. I wanted to take it home.

Wrestling Contest?

2005-07-12T02:40:00.000+03:00

The days events began with some traditional music played by sheep-breeders, which was followed by a sheep milking contest. After the sheep milking there was a wrestling match between 2 large men who were coated with vegetable oil. I am not well informed about that tradition, but I got a lot of photos of the ritual dance.

I had a horrible view of the sheep milking contest, but was luckier with the wrestlers. Here are a couple still shots of some of the ritual dance.

More of the dance-ritual

2005-07-12T02:35:00.000+03:00

Parts of it were a little like a sun-salutation, although a bit less theraputic I think...

It seemed kind of slick...

2005-07-12T02:30:00.000+03:00

and how is it that they don't get all sunburned?

Sheep Shearing Competition

2005-07-12T02:15:00.000+03:00

The wrestling match was followed by a sheep shearing contest and afterward some dancing by the sheep-breeders and various members of the community (and not me, phew!). An award ceremony in which the best milkers, shearers and winners of a cheese-tasting contest were awarded cash prizes. It was an amusing and interesting day and I think the sheep-breeders enjoyed the events.

Pictured here are some sheep-breeders shearing as fast as they can. Awards were given based on both timing and artistic impression (I am not kidding).

Another Sheep-Shearing view

2005-07-12T02:13:00.000+03:00

All the sheep looked naked afterward.

Just me and my big brother...

2005-07-10T01:42:00.000+03:00

As I said my brother John was in Sofia, Bulgaria and I went to meet him. We spent some quality time tromping around the town and catching up. We were able to check out the local sites (which includes churches, parks and monuments (and restaurants that we don't have in Macedonia!)

Here is John in front of one of the churches in the center of Sofia (but I left all the tourist info with him so I am not certain what church it is).

We went to a Mexican restaurant

2005-07-10T01:38:00.000+03:00

Actually we went to three. Or tried to go to three. The first one was not really Mexican at all, but the name and graphic led us to believe it was. We had an appetizer and beers there the first night and although it wasn't Mexican, it was still pretty good. When I went to Austria a few weeks ago I was really fired up to drink some delicious beer, but because I was sick I didn't drink anything that didn't have some healing power (meaning no delicious beer). But I got my fill in Sofia. Yum.

The Second night we scouted out the second restaurant but didn't look too promising so we then proceeded to the third one. It was interesting. I had a burrito that was pretty good but there were no beans or rice on the plate, only a creamy garlic sauce and straight up tomato sauce. But it was still good. John's meal came swimming in the same unorthodox (for Mexican food) sauces but also a pretty good margarita and the Sangria was tasty. On our way back to the hotel we decided we would try out the chips and salsa at the second "not too promising" place. The sangria was good there too.

Our waiter at the 2nd restaurant took this photo of us (notice the mask in the upper left corner).

Chess match observation from far away

2005-07-10T01:30:00.000+03:00

and one of the onlookers strongly resembled Shadow Stevens...

Hop, Skip and a Jump to Sofia

2005-07-08T02:04:00.000+03:00

My brother John had an unexpected meeting arise in Sofia and since it is only a 5 or so hour busride away from where I live I couldn't resist the temptation to take advantage of some qaulity time with the bro. I ended up arriving about 10 hours before him so I got my lay of the land, found our lodgings (and some pink bowling type sneaker shoes, sweet!) and some wicked blisters all before his arrival. Will post some photos once we take some!

The honorable, gracious, most respected lovers of intellect and imparters of knowledge...

2005-07-05T02:13:00.000+03:00

If you are a regular follower of the blog (or a friend or family member) you have heard about Luli. Luli is my sometimes-crazy-always-funny colleague. He is the coordinator for the sheep-breeders association--its mostly he and I that work together for the organizational development of the association. Luli studied agriculture at University and is studying human resource management for his masters degree...but in the meantime he is getting a special certification in mechanized animal husbandry farming something. For the last few months, on days we have meetings in Skopje, Luli usually tacks on a meeting with one of his many professors and I get a little exposure to Macedonian University life.

Now I hate to generalize as much as the next PCV, but from my experience and observation it seems that University Professors here see themselves as God's gift to academia and the students suffer for it. I received an outstanding education at a small liberal arts college, the University of Portland (Go Pilots!). I benefited from close relationships with many professors--I cannot imagine having an experience where I didn't feel a close connection with my professors. My situation in graduate school was also similar; although Western Michigan is a huge school with over 30,000 students, my graduate department was small and I knew my professors very well.

Well in Macedonia it seems quite a bit different. I have heard many students talk about how the professors like to make students wait for hours for a quick chat about a paper, demand students write their papers emphasizing techniques or theories they like rather than allowing their students to explore the divergent theories, and I have been with Luli more than five times when his professors make appointments and then don't show up (not to mention the fact that some students purchase their grades!).

Today Luli had to meet with one of his professors and I went with him to wait inside the building because it was so darned hot outside. I was shocked to see the professors "office hour" was at 12:00 on Monday only. Yikes! Luli managed to squeeze in first but I think I counted about 27 students waiting to meet with the Great Professor. It was really eye-opening. I took this picture right as we were leaving the hall, (Luli is right in the center) there were about 10 students behind me and many more on either side of us. I must say I feel very fortunate to have had the educational opportunities I have had (thanks mom and dad) with professors who are more concerned about their students learning than how much they are revered.

Selfish in the Macedonian Language

2005-07-05T02:07:00.000+03:00

себично, на Макадонски Јазик...

I must start this rant off with a foreword. I LOVE my landlords. They are wonderful. Koce, the Dad is hilarious and is always lightning quick to respond to my apartment that seems to be always needing attention (2 weeks ago it was termites, last week it was a window I broke, this week it's the door on the wardrobe/closet--and I think I can hear termites again...). Slavica, the mom is adorable. She always wants to practice speaking English and she just so cute. Marija and Ana, the daughters are really kind and ask me to hang out with them a lot, its really just a great family.

BUT, the building we live in is shared by Koce's older brother and his family. They are good people, but I have become ridiculously frustrated with a recurring problem I face with the woman of the house. It is all centered around drying the laundry.

Living home every day is only the brother of my landlord and his wife, but they have two grown children who both have spouses and one grandchild. They come home every weekend and proceed to do all their laundry. The way our building is divided my landlords live on the first floor. Shaun's Landlords (the brother of my landlord is Shaun's Landlord) live on the second floor and Shaun and I live on the third floor. Our Apartments are divided half-way and we both have big balconies. There are also 2 additional balconies on the other sides of the houses on both floors.

Shaun's landlords insist on using his balcony (and the hallway right outside his apartment) in order to do their laundry, where as my Landlords do not come up the stairs with out asking if they can either while I am passing or via phone call. A quick word about the laundry, I have no way to understand how in the heck they need to do so much laundry. Its insane really.

Anyway...

My frustrations began when the little round plastic bucket that my clothespins were in disappeared from my balcony one day this past spring. All of my clothespins were then mixed in with Shaun's landlady's clothespins. I didn't think it was that big of a deal so I just considered them communal clothes pins, particularly since Shaun's landlady considers my balcony as communal, she hangs her laundry on my side at least once a week (and had very noisy clogs, and likes to hang it out at about 7:00 on Saturday and Sunday mornings...clip clop clip clop).

About a month ago I had just returned from a longer run and I was stretching (and really sweaty and gross) and Shaun's Landlady came into my apartment (I had the back door open for some fresh air) and made me escort her outside. She then began taking my clothes off of my laundry line (kind of throwing them at me) and showing me that I was using her clothes pins. She then showed me that mine differed from hers in size and she separated them for me. I was
frustrated because not only was I being forced to interrupt my stretching and my newly clean clothes were being thrown on my sweaty person, but I was being told not to use her clothespins, while this woman was hanging her laundry up on my side of the balcony (which is divided by the way, by a two and a half foot wall). I told her I had no problem using only my clothespins but that I thought I had more--and I asked her where the purple basket went, to which she responded "We will find it." I then told her that the side of the balcony that is mine is only for me and she needed to stop using it. She said ok. Two hours later my side was covered in her sheets and clothing. When she returned a few hours I reminded her and she apologized and said it wouldn't happen again.

Pictured above is Shaun's side with most of the crap they need to dry.

selfish...continued

2005-07-05T02:03:00.000+03:00

So I had been working on a big proposal three days before and was still working on it through the weekend and I needed to get some air that night to clear my head. I headed out on my balcony and found all of my laundry lines full with yet more of her family's wash. At this point I was just angry so I went downstairs and asked he what she didn't understand from our conversation from before. She immediately told me she would move her clothing. It is just ridiculous. She has the audacity to tell me not to use her clothespins, yet takes over all of my balcony space to dry her clothes. I thought this was finally settled (although I have taken down three of the lines to dry my clothes and only put them up when I need them) but Sunday her crap was all over my balcony again. Its just irritating. How anyone can be so selfish is hard for me to comprehend. And all of this would never have been a problem if she simply would have asked.

So here is where the amusing vocabulary lesson comes into play. The word for selfish is себично (pronounced say-beech-no) the middle syllable kind of sounds like the b word that rhymes with witch. Ce in Macedonian means everything. So a very useful pneumonic device is to think of someone as selfish, they are "everything bitchy." The situation is just irritating, although I do get some laughs out of it (when I don't have a laundry basket of wet clothes and my lines are taken by the neighbors).

Pictured here is my balcony with a bunch of their crap on my one remaining laundry line. Ugh.

Updated (finally!)

2005-06-29T12:01:00.000+03:00

So I finally updated (and back-dated according to events, I am so tricky) my blog to reflect the whirlwind that was the last three months. Time flies during the second year of Peace Corps Service. I have about 4 months left here. Its unbelievable how quickly the past few months have passed. Also, Happy Birthday Maggie!...and I hope you all enjoy the new sleek pink look.

Off to Innsbruck

2005-06-26T22:47:00.000+03:00

June 25 was the Tirol-Speed Marathon and Half marathon. In March I signed up to run the halfer, but I was plagued with ridiculous allergy problems all spring, which put a dent in my training schedule. I finally was feeling better a couple weeks before the race and I was certain that I would be able to run at least about three-quarters of it.

We left for Innsbruck (via Ljubljana) on June 22 and of course, I started to catch a cold on the road. By the 24rd I was a sneezing, coughing, achy, stuffy headed Nyquil commercial waiting to be filmed. I was unable to race and was really disappointed. Running through the alps would have been amazing and it was so beautiful there, but I guess it just wasn't meant to happen. I would definitely like to do it another time though. I took this photo from the train from Ljubljana to Innsbruck. The views ofthe mountains are amazing!

Sheep-Breeders may get more assistance

2005-06-19T22:45:00.000+03:00

In November and December we worked with a German organization, InWent, to set the foundation for the sheep-breeders associations to establish for profit companies, like LLCs or Western Style cooperatives.

Last week we met with a consultant from InWent regarding their current programs and we have been working on submitting a proposal for a three year collaboration with InWent, LOL Macedonia and the Eastern and Western Regional Associations. I spent most of this week working to put together the proposal and budgets for submission, after extensive consulting with the sheep sector field agents and the institutional development manager at LOL-MAK.
We wait to hear back…

Final PDM for the Sheep-Breeders

2005-06-01T04:42:00.000+03:00

My good buddy Kendra came all the way from Del čevo (almost on the Bulgarian border) to help me facilitate the final PDM for the western regional sheep-breeders association. Coming off of three PDMs delivered in rapid succession I was rarin' to go (really I was rarin' to be finished with PDMs) but I couldn't have done it without Kenny. In this final session with the sheep-breeders we covered writing an Action Plan, a budget, and how to conduct monitoring and evaluating projects.

If anyone is curious why sheep-breeders need to know how to design and manage projects, I will tell you why (soapbox time). In a period of increasing donor dependence, Land O'Lakes sees teaching the sheep-breeders associations the valuable skills of project design and management as a vital step toward sustainability and financial independence.

With the skills acquired at these workshops, the sheep-breeders will be able to better prioritize their needs and design projects to manage those needs. After participating in these workshops they have the skill and confidence to implement and effectively manage their projects, the know-how to anticipate pitfalls throughout the process, and the knowledge to evaluate the impacts (I hope anyway).

In the photo above is one of my favorite members of the western regional Sheep-Breeders association, Gjuro. He is working on putting together a hypothetical action plan (with coaching from the other participants, not pictured)

Kumanovo Kids

2005-05-24T04:41:00.000+03:00

The Next PDM Shaun and I facilitated was in Kumanovo--we worked with Jeff, another MAK8 volunteer. This workshop was for a youth NGO and it was one of the most exciting because the participants were eager to learn the information and put their ideas into some sort of solid form. Working with (relatively) optimistic young people is motivating too, especially after our experience with older farmers and some slightly disillusioned Peace Corps volunteers.

In general the PDM workshop went well. There were frustrating times however, because the workshop fell immediately following the graduation of the seniors, many of whom were supposed to participate. The kids were frequently showing up late (or not showing up at all) and bringing their little photo albums, which inhibited productivity. I actually had to tell a girl that she needed to put her photos away if she wanted to take part in the workshop. It definitely provoked memories of teachers telling us to "stay on task"; from this experience I was also reminded that my patience with adolescents wears thin quickly.

In the photo above are two of the participants, Emilija (she was a superstar) and Angel. They were working on designing goals and objectives for a project that involves an art colony for artistic young people in Kumanovo.

The following two days Jeff , Shaun and I facilitated another PDM for the American corner in Bitola. This one was for any interested NGO folks. We had 20 registered. 15 showed up on the first day. 11 showed up on the second day (but not the same 11 from the previous day) and by the time it was finished I think we all were ready for a big break. This stuff takes is draining! Shaun then went on vacation to Turkey with Vanessa almost immediately after, but I had one last PDM to finish...

Special Visitors!

2005-05-16T05:17:00.000+03:00

Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez and EMA director Jay Katzen came to Macedonia on a tour of the Eastern Europe and Mediterranean region. We had a nice visit and discussed the challenges and highlights of serving as volunteers in Macedonia.

We toured the city of Tetovo and visited the painted mosque...it was my first time inside.

Pictured here are Shaun and I inside the well known Mosque. It's interesting, ne li?

More PDMs

2005-05-03T04:38:00.000+03:00

Vaness and Karen present their poster, part of the "visioning" activity
Originally uploaded by Bethywager.

May began with the Project Design and Management workshop for the new (not that new) MAK 9 volunteers. The workshop took place in the beautiful tourist village of Kruševo (the home of Macedonian Pop sensation Toše Proeski) and the weather was pretty darn nice too. Shaun and I had the pleasure of working with Kendra, another Mak 8 and Laura, a Mak 9 with some PDM experience. The MAK 9ers did a great job of learning the material and we (the facilitators) noticed a lot of growth in teamwork and comprehension in the two day extravaganza. Good Job MAK 9!

International Labor Day

2005-05-01T05:22:00.000+03:00

The first of May is international Labor day (which is celebrated pretty much everywhere but in the US) and Macedonian tradition is to go for a picnic in the hills.

Shaun and I have a new friend, Trpe, he works at a local grocery store...and DVD rental shop...and the local radio station. He asked for some help putting together a proposal to reformat the radio and we are currently working on that. He invited Shaun and I to head to the hills on Labor Day. Trpe spent much of his youth hanging out with his grandparents in this village.

Pictured here is me drinking a brewski with Trpe's girlfriend in the background.

Trpe's Grandfather

2005-05-01T05:13:00.000+03:00

This is Trpe's grandfather (or dedo in Macedonian) hanging out in his village house.

PDM Madness Begins

2005-04-26T04:36:00.000+03:00

3 members of the WRSA work on goals and objectives
Originally uploaded by Bethywager.

The last week of April and the beginning of May proved to be hurried and hectic because of Project Design and Management trainings. We conducted four PDM workshops through Land O'Lakes for sheep-breeders associations, one PDM for the new group of Peace Corps volunteers (MAK 9), another for a local NGO affiliated with the Dutch "IPK" (interethnic Project Kumanovo) as well as a PDM for the American Corner, a support organization for NGOs in the southern Macedonian city of Bitola.

Shaun, my usual partner in crime, and I conducted almost all of them together, working with a few other folks off and on. Two PDMs for regional Sheep Breeder associations in Eastern and Western Macedonia were the first, coming off our recent experience with the participants from the OSCE workshop. We planned to scale it down since this was new information to the sheep-breeder participants and it would be the first time they had heard most of this stuff. The first day we learned rather quickly however, that we did not scale it down enough. In four hours we were able to cover only two topics. Afterward we drastically re-tooled the program and schedule for the following workshops we would do with the sheep-breeders. With every additional workshop we did our presentations and their comprehension improved. Yeah for learning from experience!

Global Youth Service Day!

2005-04-19T02:45:00.000+03:00

April 15-17 was Global Youth Service Day (or as we sometimes call it, Sticky Mouse day).

GYSD is a 3-day period sponsored in part by the Disney corp. Shaun and I applied for a grant to do a project in January and our project was selected! We were among 3 (or was is 4?) projects implemented in Macedonia over the 15-17.

Here in Gostivar we organized an environmental workshop and a park clean up. We were pleasantly surprised at how well everything went! We have had some experience in the past which made us doubt how well it would go, particularly the part about working with youth (since neither Shaun or I have much experience with the youngins...) and all hell tends to break loose when T-shirts are involved.

Anyway...we wanted the activity to be inter-ethnic (with both Macedonian and Albanian kids and facilitators) and it worked really well. The first part began with a game in which the kids would chose what corner of the rooms to go to based on what they thought the correct answer to a question was (for example, the north corner would be one answer to a multiple choice questions, the west corner another choice, etc.) The kids responnded really well and we were surprised at their knowledge of environmental information.

The next portion of the day was a couple skits where we demonstrated a few ways in which you could reduce the amount of waste--for example, not taking a plastic bag when going to the store (it is crazy how all store owners almost DEMAND that you take a bag when purchsing even the smallest of products). The last portion was creative...we asked the kids to draw posters which would illustrate 4 things they would do to make Gostivar cleaner and greener. Pictured above is one of the little girls who participated. The kids were great, very enthusiastic and inspiring.

I think the thing that for me was the most poignant, was what happened when the kids were presenting their posters. We had done the first session (with the questions and answers in the corners of the room) in both the Macedonian and Albanian language. Once the kids were done with their posters we asked them to present them to the big group, and without even asking they presented the posters in both languages. I was surprised, and very impressed.

Then we proceeded to the park clean-up. Gostivar is not the cleanest of places in Macedonia. Apparently before independence in the early 1990s the park and streets were very clean, thanks in part to a centralized (and well financed) public enterprise that took care of the garbage. Since independence things have sort of detiorated and now the garbage is not regularly picked up and people seem to have forgotten when garbage actually goes. Not everyone has forgotten, but certainly MANY people have. I cannot count how many people I have personally witnessed throwing a cigarette package, a gum wrapper, a chips baggie, a hamburger wrapper on the ground. Its really pretty sad. Anyway, we cleaned up both sides of the park (on two sides of the river Vardar) and it looked better. For how long it will last I cannot speculate, but rest assured there will be a need for a similar project next year.

Until both people remember that their little pieces of little have a big impact, and the local government can come up with a better way to deal with solid waste, the garbage situation will continue to have a negative impact on the community...but maybe a few more clean ups can at least make us feel better about the situation.

Project Design & Management and NGO Capacity Building Workshop

2005-04-10T02:42:00.000+03:00

On April 8 and 9, me, Jeff and Shaun facilitated a workshop for educational oriented NGOs in Skopje for the OSCE. This was the second workshop Shaun facilitated, and the first for me and Jeff. It was interesting and fun. Most of the participants were already a little familiar with how to design a project and I think this served as a comprehensive review. We tried to make the sessions enjoyable and as interactive as possible so we were not just standing at the front of the room lecturing (because that can get REALLY BORING).

Pictured here are the participants listening to directions right before we play the "NGO Capacity Game"

The Good & Evil Party

2005-04-03T02:33:00.000+03:00

During the first weekend of April my friend Shaun's girlfriend threw a Good and Evil party in honor of her birthday. We were supposed to bring something good or evil to eat or drink (we brought good food--vegetables, home-made hummus (Liz made it) and pretzels.

We were also supposed to dress up as something good or evil, which we also did. There was a photo posted, but I removed it due to the questionable political nature of my costume (no, I was not George Bush).

The party was great and it was good to get out of Gostivar for a social event, and it was one of the most creative ideas for a party I have heard of in a while. Some of the costume highlights: Shaun and Vanessa went as Nuclear and Wind power. My friend Angie was an American Tourist, Kaitlan was a sports-fan...also in attendance was a Taxi, a devil and an angel.

The Dog Bite

2005-03-24T02:31:00.000+02:00

Do you remember when I got bit by a dog? This is the same kind of dog that bit me, a sharplaninec (pronounced SHAR-plan-ee-nets), a sheep breeding dog found only in Macedonia. Scary, huh? I will probably be able to get a much better photo of one this summer once we head to the hills and hang out at the Bachila...but for now you must be satisfied with this photo.

Went to Visit Heather...but she was not home.

2005-03-20T02:30:00.000+02:00

Angie and I are Wardens for the Gostivar region (meaning if something bad happens we are kind of responsible to get all the folks in our area assembled and accounted for) and we needed to visit all the volunteers in our region. My counterpart Luli needed to go toward where we had to do our visits so he took us. We went to Heather's village but we were unable to get a hold of her before we left because all the phone lines were down. Unfortunately we went to her village the day that she leaves to go to another nearby village and teach at a satellite school, what a bummer, we totally missed her. Heather's village is awesome, its like a scene out of the Sound of Music. Pictured here is Luli (in front, being a spaz) and me and Angie. The village is surrounded by these mountains. Its beautiful.

LAMBS!

2005-03-16T23:48:00.000+02:00

Most of our field visits take place in the summer when the sheep are moved from the lower elevations to the mountains where the soft white cheese (think feta, but from sheep milk rather than goat milk) is made.

One of our sheep breeders is looking to get some credit to build a new barn and today we went on a field visit to check out his current barn. And we got to hang out with the sheep! It was really fun...

In this photo my colleague Luli wrestles a lamb.

I thought it was goats that ate clothes...

2005-03-16T23:42:00.000+02:00

In this photo I am surrounded by the little lambs (and one of them thinks my pant leg tastes good).