Wherefore Art Thou ?

When I awoke on Wednesday morning, I immediately realized that I was once again living in MY OWN domain. “Wherefore art thou my sweet Lee B.?” There are no longer half-full coffee cups abandoned in each of the three rooms. I find a horizontal surface, no longer cluttered with the concoctions fabricated to hide, suppress, inflate, deflate , accentuate, diminish, cover, uncover, remove, straighten, curl, color, highlight or otherwise improve what God gave a woman when she was born. I proceeded to check my e-mail without waiting for my turn to use my computer. It was back to normal – normal being a relative term.

But then I realized that my best friend (and wife to boot) had departed Macedonia for the warmer climes of Egypt to meet up with her best friend since high school, where they will see for themselves if there really are camels, pyramids and sand in Northern Africa.

(An aside: When my Macedonian acquaintances and the students were asking me where Lee was going, I would respond in Macedonian that “she was going on a vacation with a friend. I was unknowingly using the word “priatel” which is the masculine form for “friend”. Many a Macedonian and quite a few students initially looked a little confused at such an American tradition of letting one’s wife go on vacation with another man, but they accepted it as the way we do things in our country. Once I realized that I should be using the word “priatelka”, (meaning a female friend) people seemed to respond without the quizzical look on their face.

While Lee B. was here, we had a wonderful time. We were wined and dined by the families of my counterpart (Alexandra), my tutor (Jasmina) and my colleague (Dobchay). We visited my wonderful host family in Negotino and got a tour of Kocho’s vineyard. We were given a personal tour of the ancient city of Kratevo by Trichay, a news journalist who lives in Probistip. We picnicked in the beautiful mountain village of Lesnevo. We quickly toured the cosmopolitan capital city of Skopje (the weather was too warm) and stayed with Michael F.(PCV). We visited the lakeside town of Dojran and stayed with Phil (PCV). We were invited into a neighbor's apartment to spend an hour conversing in languages that none of us understood but with each of us comprehending what the other was talking about. We drank home-brewed rakija and wine. We spent hours together at outdoor cafes (not during school hours) drinking expresso and beer (not together) and talking with Maceonians who wanted to practice their English. We sampled Macedonian cooking at local restaurants where you could order an appetizer, a salad, a bountiful entrée, drinks, coffee and dessert for less than $8. We rode on buses, in taxis, and in privately owned vehicles. (How come you ride ON a bus but IN a taxi or IN a car?)

We accomplished all of this in addition to spending hours at the school with the students who seemed to be infatuated with Lee, especially the girls who had many questions to ask an American woman. They were somewhat disappointed when they learned that she had to go back to America so soon but relieved to know that she would be returning again in the autumn.



The three goals of the Peace Corps are: (1) To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and woman. (2) To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served and (3) To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

Goals two and three were positively and unquestionably addressed with Lee’s visit to this land of beauty, hospitality and friendship.