Yesterday, August 28th, was a National Holiday in Macedonia, a new religious one in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At one time in Poibistip, when the mine was functioning at its full capacity, it was an important secular celebration for the mining community. There is an interesting pictorial history at the modest mining museum at the Cultural Center where there are photos of the miners in their miner dress-uniforms, with parades and other events conducted on this day. But sadly, the tradition has passed and it was a pretty quiet and hot summer day. I understand that there was an evening football game and an after-game dance at the football field (AKA soccer field) but I didn’t make it over there this year.
Unlike Americans, Macedonians don’t display their national flag on holidays. It’s a tradition that died out after the breakup of Yugoslavia. All over Probistip you can see the weather-worn flag holders on the light poles lining the main street and if you look closely you can see triple flagpoles hidden amongst the now 30 foot evergreen trees in what were at one time prime locations at the schools and public buildings. The senior citizens I have spoken with would like to rekindle the tradition but I’m not sure they know how to initiate the plan. So I have added it to my list of projects (along side of my original plan to get the Macedonian flag at school) and will seek out a few seniors to lead the way with me in the background.
So I took the first step yesterday and displayed my recently acquired Macedonian flag from my apartment window (see my pictures) and thus became the first and from what I can tell, the only resident in my neighborhood to do so on this holiday. Passers-by made comments upon seeing the dangling flag and maybe on September 8th – the next holiday- they’ll be a few more flags. I did check with my Macedonian friends beforehand, and they assured me it is totally acceptable to display the flag.
Correction: In my last blog I reported on the vendors selling melons and I inaccurately identified the round yellow melons as “boctons” but Alexandra informed me that the “boctons” are really the watermelons. She told me the name of the yellow melons but, surprise, surprise, I can’t remember it at this moment.
The door on my 35 year old refrigerator fell off last week. There were indications that this event might occur because it hasn’t sealed properly for the last few months and it was difficult to close. So my landlord, Dimchay, came over several days after my urgent call to check it out. While waiting an additional several days for the miester (repairman) that Dimchay was searching for to drop by, I propped the door closed using a kitchen chair. One can’t appreciate a functioning refrigerator door until one doesn’t have one. I dreaded having to get something from the fridge and was amazed as to how many times I needed something in the course of the day? And then have to put it back.
I didn’t think it could be repaired. The hinges were bent and worn and rusted out and the door was totally misaligned and it was missing washers and bushings. On Saturday morning Dimchay showed up with the refrigerator miester and after a cursory examination, they emptied it and hauled it away in the back of a Zastrava Coupe. I was left with the contents of the fridge scattered about the kitchen as they headed off to wherever, not really understanding exactly when they would return and wondering how long traditionally refrigerated food would survive on a 90 degree summer day.
They returned within the hour with the fridge with its newly welded hinges and replaced parts, ready for another 35 years of service. I really admire the way Macedonians fix things rather than replace them. They seem to be able to repair things that most of us in the States would discard believing they were not repairable. The newly hand-crafted hinges on my eyeglass frames, the perfect picture on my once useless TV, my now functioning Toshiba computer (without replacing the motherboard) give testament to their skill.
Although many of the public areas in Probistip are well-worn from time and weather, the town is kept meticulously clean by the public officials and private citizens. Every morning the women are outside sweeping up any discarded trash, fallen leaves, or whatever else doesn’t belong on the sidewalk or curb (It’s still quite common to witness people throwing chip bags, soda bottles, candy wrappers, etc. on the ground rather than in trash receptacles). The town street sweepers come by frequently with their wheelbarrows, branch-brooms, and six-inch wide shovels and the garbage trucks come by daily (or so it seems) to empty the dumpsters.
Individuals receiving public assistance are required to work (I believe four hours daily) for the town during the warmer months and can be seen weeding vegetation along the curbs and the sidewalks. Many of the public areas have been resurfaced, repainted, and repaired by various crews and so you can witness the pride that Probistipians have in their community.
Almost every tree in town is a fruit bearing tree. There are few maple, ash, oak or other decorative trees. In most yards now the trees are ripe with pears, various kinds of apples, plums, chestnuts, walnuts, kiwis, figs, pomegranates, and/or apricots. These will all be harvested as “winter food” and some will be turned into compotes and marmalades, while others will be stored in root cellars and barrels. Of course the grapes are almost ready for the mid-September harvest and the peppers for ivar are being harvested as I write.
The children return to school on September 1st but their class schedules are not finalized for several days/weeks. The teachers returned on August 18th and are required to put in two hours daily. During these sessions, the teachers get their rooms ready, attend meetings hosted by the director, get updated on the newest changes from the Ministry of Education, and find out how many classes they will have in the upcoming school year. Teachers need twenty classes a week to be full-time and due to the declining enrollment in Probistip, several teachers now find themselves for the first time, having to hustle for classes at other schools. 140 desktop computers are waiting to be installed in the classrooms but internet connections are not yet available due to its cost to the school.
The custodial staff ripped out the old laboratory sinks in Alexandra’s classroom (with a great deal of prodding from Alexandra and me), opening up much needed space and giving her many more classroom management options. For their efforts in prioritizing our request, I promised them a peach pie, which they settled for in lieu of their initial request for round trip tickets to visit America.
So I am off to the kitchen to fulfill my pledge, substituting a Lou’s Crumb Cake for the pie because the fruit vendor didn’t have peaches yesterday.
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