I Will Survive

This is the outside wall of Stari Grad (Old City) Kotor, Montenegro. This is in the evening and I thought it was very cool. There is this stone wall that goes up the mountain and I am not sure exactly why it was built due to the grade of the mountain. I remember telling Dao that if she wanted to hike up to the look out, she was on her own. It was unbelievably hot - the warmest place on our travels. I would guess it was in the 90s or low 100s outside. Dao laughed when I told her she was on her own because she had no intention of getting heat stroke :0)

Hello! I'm back! What a week! Maria came on Wednesday and Manuel arrive late Thursday evening. We had a fantastic time. On Wednesday, Igor, Maria and I walked around downtown Skopje. We introduced her to Macedonian fast food - Igor and I had hamburgers (the beef is more like spiced mincemeat, I think) and Maria had toct (pronounced toast). Toct in Macedonia is pressed bread with ham, mushrooms and cheese in the middle. It is very thin and makes a good, quick, cheap small meal or snack. Maria also had her first Skopsko (Macedonian beer) and then we walked around, went to have delicious pizza, then home. I also have a wonderful boyfriend because you will never guess what he got me for a gift...an espresso cup with Tito on it!!! Now, the Tito series is not just photos :) Thursday, we went to the Old Bazaar and walked around, went to the Museum of Contemporary Art then to Shankley's, then to pick up Manuel. I actually took pictures of Skopje and will upload them as soon as I can. Friday, we had lunch with Dao, went up to Kale (pronounce Kal-lay) then met up with Igor and his friends to go to a cafe. It was awesome then on Saturday, we rented a car and went down to Ohrid :) I finally made it to Ohrid, where everyone says you have to go when you come to Macedonia. On our way down there, we stopped in a predominantly Albanian city, Tetevo, and saw the Painted Mosque. It was the first time in my life I have ever entered a mosque. I am glad we stopped there - it was beautiful and Manuel and Maria got a glimpse of a city that is not Skopje or a tourist resort, like Ohrid. After coming back on Saturday, Manuel had to leave so Maria and I took him to the bus station. We then walked around and ended up at Shankley's. I met up with Igor and then all of us headed to a bar called The Saloon. For those of you who know Boulder, CO, it loosely reminded me of the Dark Horse. Then, at 11:30 Sunday morning, Maria's car came to pick her up and I spent the afternoon cleaning up, grocery shopping and meeting up with Igor.

So now I have to figure out how I will get my work done by tomorrow. I have that desk research...and I haven't begun writing...and I will be out all afternoon at 2 different meetings. The first is conference on social inclusion (perfect since that is what my desk research is about) and the second is on the Human Rights Based Approach to development work. Maybe I will come back to work after the last meeting and stay late. I could turn it in tomorrow afternoon...I am so tired. Entertaining is fun, but hard work and I haven't caught up on my rest. Oh well. My parents come on Sunday and I will be able to rest before their arrival!

I have no real fashionista updates other than I do not anticipate seeing men in capris any time soon. The weather is cool and those are decidedly summer wear...

Nostalgic

I am exceedingly, almost annoyingly content here in Skopje. This place is my home and I love just walking around, listening to my ipod. I met my friend, Sabina, last night and we had way too much fun and conversation. She is my the friend I met when I went to the mountains on the Albanian border. She is a citizen of Macedonia, home visiting her family but she works in Denver. Sabina has the feeling we are going to end up working together one day and I hope her hunch is right. Time will reveal all.

I was chatting with my friend who is returning to Penn for the fall semester and I realized that part of me would like to be returning to Penn for the fall semester. So much has happened in a year. I moved from Denver to Philly, learned more than I ever thought possible and suddenly, I find myself in Macedonia. It makes me wonder where I will be next year. Or even in six months.

Adding to my nostalgia, I decided to begin to write my memories from childhood. I wrote down all the remembrances from when we lived in Malawi and flew back to the States. I was age 1 to 4 when we lived there. I know seeing the man with polio on his porch is why I do what I do today. I experienced a heaviness in my chest when I saw him.

Duty calls, friends. I am going to make a table on outputs and indicators for our domestic violence proposals. Try to not get too jealous.

Adios and 6 Applications!

This is a sign in the small village we stayed in near the Albanian border. I think the man we were staying with made this sign.

Audrey is en route to Iceland as I type and I am sad she is gone. While her last official day was Friday, she was in for part of the day throughout the week. I really respect Audrey's calm, strong demeanor. She taught me a lot and was very patient with me and for that, I am grateful. I hope that our paths cross again in the future.

Now, to completely change subjects, I have applied to six jobs this week! Not bad. The jobs are located in: UK, DC, Colorado, San Francisco and Baltimore. I had this "duh" realization that while my passion lies in women's empowerment, I can bring gender mainstreaming to any job I hold. The majority of the positions deal in one way or another in women's issues and I am cautiously optimistic about my future. It feels like I am shooting in the dark when applying - a lot of these organizations are new to me - and who knows if they are genuinely looking for someone or are just advertising to jump through the hoops. I think I am off to a good start looking for a position. I am also in the process of entering my resume and info on various websites of international organizations - like OSCE so they can offer me a job when one opens up here in Skopje :)

I can't believe I am going to be gone for 2 weeks. I leave for Sarajevo Sunday evening, if all goes according to plan. Boban and I are calling the bus station in a few minutes to get the details on my illustrious bus ride. I will be so tired when I get to Sarajevo. I can hardly wait to be a history buff again in such a historic city.

Adopted

I returned from Pehcevo (pronounced Peh-che-vo) yesterday and it was quite a wonderful weekend. I have been adopted by Bea's family. I met her brother, George, and her mother, Lenche. On top of that, I met many cousins and friends and it was quite a weekend. It really put a fire under me to learn Macedonian so I can communicate with my new family. I had homemade Macedonian food, which is delicious and I had rabbit for the first time! It was also good :) We are going back to Pehcevo in a few weeks and I am hoping my Macedonian is improved by then! Here are some pictures:



Me and Bea










George and Me








My Macedonian Mom, Lenche








The Gun Show (Pop, Me and Boban)







The 3 Ivanchos






Zazko and George

Pictures, Part II and the friend update

Hello! I hope you had a great weekend. As some of you may know, we had elections here in Macedonia on Sunday. They were early elections, called by the current conservative PM. Many in Macedonia feel that these elections were called so Nikolai (that is the PM's first name and how I refer to him) could consolidate his power. You can imagine the email I received from the US Embassy: "Do not go to political gatherings or demonstrations. Avoid crowds. Etc." So Friday, after work, my colleagues and I went out for a drink and after the drink, I had to walk home the ONLY way I know how, which happened to be going through one of the Albanian party's gatherings! Oh if my Embassy had seen me...I would have been in trouble. Obviously, I came through totally fine and while there was some violence in Macedonia, Skopje was relatively peaceful, except for the honking and flag waving of the winning conservative party.

I know you are dying to know about how things went on Wednesday. Long story short, Jessica and I got along very well, but have not seen each other again but I have a new Macedonian friend named Bea. That is not her full name, but it is what her friends call her. I met her on Friday night at a coffee bar and she has adopted me. We went shopping for pants on Saturday and last night, she introduced me to some of her other friends. I am so happy. My life is not all Animal Planet All the Time any more! Hooray! Her birthday is this weekend so I am knitting her a skinny scarf. I really hope she likes it - she won't be able to wear it for a few months since it is already in the 90s here.

Ok, I promised more pictures so here they are!


Old part of Bratislava
Emily and Violeta from Kosovo
Zamira, Boban and Milica In the Cuban Restaurant in Bratislava





The Cathedral Slovakian Mexican food
The Castle on the Hill



Audur, Boban, Emily Boban and Milica
Team Macedonia!!! Skopje Belgrade

My Fellow American

I don't have much time to update so what I will say is that I am quite excited to meet a fellow American Peace Corps volunteer. She is enthusiastic about showing me around Skopje and including me in the Peace Corps family - hooray! I have not met her yet, but tonight, we are going to her NGO, which works with Roma families by helping them keep their children in school. The Roma children are putting on skits and celebrating the launching of a new education initiative. This is also exciting for me because I have only seen Roma in passing - they collect plastic bottles out of the garbage and recycle them. It is estimated that 80% of Roma are unemployed. However, one must keep in mind the vast informal economy in Macedonia so this number might be artificially high. Ok, back to meeting Jessica. Tomorrow, I hope to update you more on what I am doing for my project, once I get my mind around it a bit more. Cheers!