Ice

On my day of departure to the USA from Macedonia, Prilep received its first major snowfall.  It was gorgeous, and since Prilep only saw snow twice last year (during which the snow never stuck for very long) I solemnly left assuming that I would probably miss Prilep in its winter-wonderlandness.

On the return flight over Macedonia, I was pleasantly surprised to see all of the country blanketed in snow.  The situation was no different in Prilep- the city looked more winter-ey than I had ever seen it before.  However, walking home with my large suitcase was no pleasure.  All of the side roads were covered in ice.  At first I thought that the small back roads leading from the bus station to my place were the only ignored parts of the city after the winter cleanup.  However, after trekking through the city over the subsequent days, I discovered that besides the main thoroughfares, all of the roads in Prilep were covered in a half a foot of ice.  The square was covered in ice.  The entrance to most buildings were covered in ice.  Everything was covered in ice.

Since Prilep is a city with a sizeable elevation shift, and since sidewalks are pretty much lacking, icy roads should be a major hazard.  Yet some how people got by.  Cars continued to drive along these newly paved lanes, and old people scuttled along like penguins to buy their basic needs from the local shops.  For a week the temperatures stayed low and the ice stubbornly remained.  However, it was after the thaw that I discovered how inefficient the response to winter is in Prilep.

About a week ago, as the ice melted into slush and puddles, people started to utilize their shovels and ice picks.  No, not ice picks as in making a martini.  Ice picks like prospecting for gold.  People started to hack away at the softened ice covering the entrances to their homes and businesses.  Encouraged by this activity, I decided that I would join in.  So after returning home from the gym, I asked my host mother for a shovel (лопата, lopata in Macedononian) and ice pick (казма, kazma) and decided to hack away at the ice in front of our house.  The ice exposed to the sun was easy picking, but as I started to attack the ice hidden in the shadows, the work became increasingly more difficult. I also tried to create a path for my host mother on the main road, but I gave up halfway, especially since I started developing a rip on my palm.  Many of the pedestrians passing by thought I was crazy picking the ice on a public street, but my resolute determination was reinforced by a handful of these gazers slipping on that same ice.

How I feel during this Prilep winter

Additionally, being away for so many days while Prilep experienced prolonged frigid temperatures evidently destroyed my bathroom.  My host parents discovered one day that water was leaking through the ceiling of their bathroom.  Ascending to my bathroom, they discovered that the ice in the toilet had frozen, and the water was overflowing and leaking out onto the floor.  Something must have been amiss with the pipes to the shower, since the cold water would not function for a week or so upon my return.  The shower has since been fixed, but for some time I resorted to bucket baths, a chilly alternative in my unheated bathroom, but overall not such a horrible experience since I typically shower after working out (when my body temperature is high enough to fight off the cold).

Experiencing snow and ice in Prilep really made me appreciate Chicago’s ability to clear the snow in the winter.  Not only am I surprised that Prilep’s snow plow does not pass through all of the majors streets or lay salt on them, but it perplexes me that people do not shovel their snow as soon as it falls.  Instead, they exert even more energy trying to pick and shovel away the ice days later.  According to my counterpart, this is the longest time in five years that ice has stayed in Prilep for so long.  Juxtaposed to last year’s winter, this one feels like a new experience, and I cannot wait for all of this ice to melt.

Back in the Mak

As many family and friends know, I have returned to Macedonia to continue my service.  Unfortunately, after the initial tests and discussions, the doctors had decided to move my father’s operation to a different hospital.  This means that the operation has been postponed for an unknown amount of months, and thus we had decided that it made more sense for me to return to Macedonia than to wait indefinitely.  Obviously, this decision is not at all what I had expected, and my frustration with the way that the doctors delivered this news only adds to my general disdain for doctors and the American health care system.

Overall, it was great to see my family, especially my father, during the tail end of the winter holidays.  Despite my first two days alone at home (well, with my cat), most of my time was spent with my family.  My brother invited me to bring in 2015 with his friends at a Wicker Park bar, I enjoyed so much good Mexican/ Chinese/ Japanese food with my family, and I was able to run outside without worrying about stray dogs.  And to answer the question most people ask of those returning to Western Civilization after an extended period of time, yes, I did eat at Chipotle once.

My brothers and me in front of the tree

NYE 2015

With my father, stepmother, and the rest of their family

Being home for a brief period of time was definitely enjoyable.  However, the most eventful part of the trip was definitely the flight back to the States.  I had booked a flight with Austrian airlines, which unfortunately departs from Skopje at 4.30 in the morning.  Thus, after a one-hour delayed bus ride to Skopje from my site (which broke down en route from a flat tire), I stayed up all night to catch an early flight to Austria, connecting to Zurich, and then flying to Chicago.  Unfortunately, just before flying I contracted a cold, and 24 hours of consciousness made the thought of staying awake for so long unbearable.  Upon exiting the plane that left from Skopje, I was reminded how small Macedonia really was.  On the transport shuttle, I ran into my PC program manager, who told me that the Macedonian Ambassador to the USA was also on our flight.

After landing in Zurich, I experienced bad luck that I rarely have while traveling.  Not only was my flight to Chicago delayed due to the snowstorm passing through Central Europe, but there was no indication from which gate my plane would fly.  Thus, sick and at this point awake for about 24 hours, I meandered around the airport aimlessly for hours, too sick and too tired to read, but too restless to sit and stare at the falling snow.  By lunchtime, I decided that I may as well force myself to eat something, and after choosing a small meal, I experienced my first culture shock of returning to the Western world.  I had no idea how many Swiss Francs converted into US Dollars, but when I saw that my meager meal cost 27 Euros, I thought to myself how many days of food I would be able to purchase in Macedonia with that money.

I was also surprised that I would run into a Macedonian during my time in the States.  My brother ordered an Uber car (my first time using it since it was not very prevalent in Chicago over a year ago), and we discovered that our driver’s name was Todor.  I had a feeling that he was Macedonian, and through circumlocutory language I was able to confirm his ethnicity and start our conversation in Macedonian.  Overall he was flabbergasted that we met, and he even commented on my Prilepski dialect.  

In many ways it felt good to be back in the city in which I spent almost all of my life.  But returning to Macedonia has not been difficult, especially since I feel that I have adapted to the culture and lifestyle so well.  Of course, I worry about my father’s health, and seeing him again gives me faith that he will stay strong until I finish my time here.