Lozovo!

So the Orientation Week for Pre-Service Training has come and gone, and all of us MAK18 volunteers have been placed with our homestay families for the remainder of PST.  All 35 of us were divided between 4 towns- Romanovce, Kratovo, Lozovo, and Probishtip.  Those who are learning both Albanian and Macedonian were placed in Romanovce.  Lozovo hosts all Community Development volunteers, Kratovo hosts all TEFL volunteers, and Probishtip hosts a mixture of both.  As the title of this post describes, my site placement for PST is Lozovo!

I was hoping for Lozovo and was stoked to be place in this town.  Lozovo is a town of about 1,000 people (my host brother-in-law says that there are five hundred houses in Lozovo).  Despite its small size, it is the capital of the municipality.  The staple crops of Lozovo are wine and tobacco, so I call the town the Sin City of villages. 

The last day of Orientation was Saturday, September 21.  All of the MAK18 volunteers boarded two separate buses to take us to our towns/ villages.  Our bus dropped off the Romanovce group before heading south to Lozovo.  As we drove south and away from Kumanovo (the biggest city in the area), we abandoned the urban sprawl for rolling hills and bucolic surroundings.  I am excited to live in a small town for the next ten weeks since I will likely live in a larger town or city during the remainder of my service after PST since I am assigned to community development work.  

Our families greeted all 8 of the Lozovo volunteers at the main restaurant/ banquet hall in town.  My host mother, Jagoda (pronounced YA-go-da) welcomed me with her grandson Milan.  After we enjoyed a few beverages at the restaurant, Jagoda, Milan, and I walked back home to meet the rest of the family.

Welcomed by my host mother, Jagoda, and my host nephew, Milan.

Jagoda is helping to cut Vedran's (her grandson) hair for the first time!

Jagoda (the name means strawberry in Macedonian) and Ile (EE-le), my host mother and father, live in a beautiful one-story house on the main road, Marshall Tito Street.  They have another house attached to the main house, and they use the basement of the house to prepare foods (for example Ajvar and tobacco; expect another post about these later!) and to store their preserves.  They have a son about my age, Aleksander, who lives in the capital, Skopje, and he works as a banker.  Their daughter, Emilia, is married to a sergeant in the Macedonian army (Blagoj), and they have two sons, Milan and Vedran.  Emilia works in town as a nurse.

The yard of the house is surrounded by a plethora of vegetables and crops that Jagoda and Ile grow.  There is a large plot of tobacco in the back that they are just beginning to harvest.  They also have a few vines of grapes (with which they make their homemade brandy, or раќа, pronounced Ra-kya).  They also grow tons of peppers, squash, apples, cabbage, leeks, beans, and so much more!  They have a dog, who is tied up in the yard, and a cat, which I have not met yet.

I doubt I need to mention it, but my host parents are such a welcoming pair!  Ile showed his excitement by immediately bringing out his раќа when I arrived at home.  We had a large lunch, which consisted of roasted peppers, chicken with rice, bread, and Makedonska salata (sald with tomatoes, peppers, and onions).  Jagoda and I have so much in common when it comes to food.  We both love hot peppers and beans, so she is excited about the meals she plans to cook for the next few days.

After lunch, Blagoj, Jagoda’s son-in-law, escorted me on a run on the country road.  The scenery on that road was amazingly beautiful, and I look forward to using it for my daily run over the next ten weeks.  When I returned, I showered quickly and we were visited by Ile’s mother and sister.

After a light dinner at night, Jagoda, Ile, and I talked some more before finally heading to bed.  I have internet here, so I hope to keep constant updates and contact with those back in the States.

I already love my host family and village, and I am excited for the adventures that await in Lozovo.