(Earlier e-mail) I was wondering why so many Macedonian women were hitting on me so I asked my Macedonian friends if this was a custom that we were not informed about. They told me that married Macedonians wear their wedding bands on their right hand and not their left hand. So I struggled to get my wedding band off and after having it on for more than 35 years it took me three days. I had to suffer through the experience of having beautiful Macedonian women buy me drinks at the local café and try to convince them that I was already married. It has been a truly trying time but I now wear my wedding band on my right hand and no longer am I subjected to the onslaught of these beautiful Macedonians.
After class today I sat in the plaza and was munching some popcorn from a street vendor (10 denari which is about $.40) when all of a sudden I hear my name yelled out, “Michael!”. It was Toni (short for some long Macedonian name) whom I had met briefly on the second day during our marathon visits to our host families. Toni came over and sat beside me and proceeded to talk to me in very understandable broken English and Macedonian. Toni was born in Negotino and he seemed to know everyone that passed by. He would wave people over to meet me and he would tell them that I was in the Peace Corps and I would shake hands, giving the formal greeting and then listen to Toni tell me the life story of each person I met. Everyone was pleasant and I felt at home, sitting in a plaza with many of the older men in the community, chitchatting with nary a women in sight as the women were home preparing the evening meal , ironing underwear, making ajvar, and sweeping up the fallen leaves. I am somewhat convinced that Macedonians are on the right track when it comes to gender roles. Jesse would love it here.
Macedonia would not rank high in the eyes of animal rights activists. People do not let pet dogs into the house. As a result, and without any lease laws, dogs roam freely throughout the village and in the center. Sadly, many dogs are abandoned and wander aimlessly searching for food and waiting to die from disease or starvation. Few animals, if any, are neutered resulting in a new generation of unwanted animals on a regular basis. Homeless cats are everywhere.
At times these dogs can be somewhat threatening. On my second day of my practicum as I was walking to the school to which I was assigned, I noticed this little ratty dog sitting in the middle of the path upon which I was walking. As I approached, he started barking and began running toward me, but I figured he had a Napoleon Complex and that his bark would be worse than his bite. So I continued walking toward him and he kept charging, growling and barking and attempting to nip at my heels. I was able to keep him from getting to close by occasionally stopping and staring at him. I continued walking toward the school with this runt of dog barking at me from behind. I wasn’t too concerned until I got to the next intersection and looking to my right, noticed a battalion of charging and barking canines rapidly bearing down on me, alerted I presume, by “little rut” who in reality I will now call Scout Dog. Thankfully, a baba (grandmother) who heard the commotion, yelled something at the dogs and they reluctantly halted. As they slowly retreated, I could swear that one of the last dogs in the pack, looked over his shoulder, grinned, and mouthed the words, “there will always be a next time”. I now watch for Scout Dog wherever I go.
I am typing this on Thursday evening because I have no language class tomorrow and because the instructor took our language workbooks so she could see how we were progressing. There is no language class tomorrow because we have a Hub Day in Komanavo. This is a day when the trainees from each of the seven host family villages, all 35 of the MAC 13 group, travel to the Hub City for a day of training relevant to all of us. I am in the Municipality of Negotino and we have the furthest ride (90 minutes) to Kumanavo. The Peace Corps provides the ride to and fro.
On Saturday (no language classes) we have a Field Day in the capital city Skopje, sponsored by the PCV’s from MAC 11 and 12. This a day planned solely by PVC’s and provides us with the opportunity to meet all the other volunteers in Macedonia. It’s a social event at which we can informally talk to others who have the experiences associated with having been in the country for a year or two. We will travel using public transportation (a bus) for the first time so it will also serve as a training event for us rookies. I understand it’s about an hour ride to Skopje.
I’ll let you know how everything worked out in a future e-mail. The pictures today include a picture of the walkway along the “river” that I take on my way to the internet café to send these e-mails; a picture of the location where I encountered Scout Dog; a picture of the café alley where we sit drinking espresso or macolattoes (?) during our 30 minute break from class; and a picture of our five person training group (Brittany is taking the picture). The two individuals on the right are the Peace Corps Macedonia Safety and Security Team that had come to our site to conduct a class.
I am saving this e-mail on a flash drive and will try to get it out as soon as possible, but as I’ve mentioned before, there’s no telling when I will get to a place that has a computer available. As usual, all my love.
Mikey
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