How's Tetovo?

This is easily one of the most annoying questions that I have been asked in the past month-and-a-half.  "How is Tetovo?"  Given that I am absolutely horrendous at small talk, this question is the embodiment of that dark art, yet so open that it makes every conversation awkward.  I compare this to what my former colleague once mentioned about the question "How was the honeymoon?"  The people who ask this question expect only a positive answer, and in the end they do not really care about the minutia about that trip.  And the same goes for "How is Tetovo?" which is why I consciously avoid asking the newly-sworn-in volunteers the same inane question regarding their new sites. 

This question is also annoying because potential responses may be a personal comparison of Prilep to Tetovo, which nobody cares about, or a description of my activities, which are bit of a struggle at this point.  So, in case anybody who reads this blog cares about what Tetovo is like or how moving to a new site upon an extension feels, I am providing an update of the most significant activities in the post below.

The New Batch

On 4 December, the newest group of volunteers in Macedonia, the MAK20s, officially swore in.  The ceremony was a formal event right in the center of Skopje.  The ceremony took me back to two years before, when the MAK18s were excited to step into our new roles as PCVs.  The most touching part of the ceremony was the Turkish ambassador's to Macedonia speech.  He was a late addition to the ceremony, as he tagged along with the American ambassador, and he recounted all of the PCVs that made an impact on his life when he was growing up in Turkey.

This ceremony was also a shift in my schedule, as my duties as a Community Economic Development trainer was finally coming to an end.  Overall, the experience was formative and reminded me how much I learned about community development through my time here.  While I could have always done more to be a better trainer (and of course, I was also limited by my work starting up AIESEC Tetovo), I enjoyed all that our CD was able to accomplish over the 11 weeks.  However, now that I am no longer required to be in Skopje on a weekly basis, I am enjoying my low-key lifestyle again. 

CD Trainers 

MAK20s after Swearing in

Throughout my whole service, I have tried to keep as many arms' lengths away from the PC staff as possible.  This has nothing to do with them- they really are an amazing staff and we are lucky to have them.  But I often prefer the Ron Paul style of PCVs, taking a more libertarian approach to my service here.  If I am struggling at site, my first reaction is not to contact Peace Corps but to figure it out and use local resources until the problem is solved.  Second, I just like feeling more isolated from the Peace Corps staff.  It was easier in Prilep when I was a 3-hour bus ride away from the office.  This preference is probably the only remnant of my original ideas about PC service.  It may just be my effort to feel like I am isolated in the bush in Africa and maximizing integration in order to contribute effectively.  Serving as a trainer definitely maximized my contact with the PC office, so I hope to stay off their radar until I COS in the spring.

Unfortunately, with the addition of the MAK20s , we are also losing our Country Director, Corey.  She has decided to leave early and return to the United States into retirement.  Everybody is very sad to see her go, and many of us believe that we hope in vain for the following PC Country Director to be just as great as she was.

Wishing Corey farewell!

The Grind

So here it is, an update on my effort to jumpstart AIESEC Tetovo.  Things are very slow, for many reasons.  After moving to Tetovo, I thought that I would finally be more flexible for work with the organization, since I now lived a short kombi-ride away from campus.  However, a handful of planned meetings and educations were thwarted by random Macedonian and Albanian holidays that kept presenting themselves at the last minute.  It always seems that nobody knows about a holiday until the day before, which makes prior planning and scheduling frustratingly difficult.  Also, the seminar that we planned to host in December fell through as the team that applied to run the project could not find a time to meet.  We are postponing the project until March, and I am continuing to keep my fingers crossed.

On the meetings were scheduled successfully, attendance continued to drop, which further demotivated me for my work here.  What makes this endeavor most difficult is that I am essentially working alone on all of the operations for AIESEC Tetovo.  When I proposed to help AIESEC Tetovo, I asked to specialize as a team leader for Talent Management, focusing on member development and recruitment.  However, my counterparts are essentially the leadership board in Skopje, and I have become the point person on all local operations in Tetovo, including external relations and marketing.  Most of all, I really miss having a team on campus on which I can rely and provide me with support, as was the case with AIESEC Prilep.  But we are opening applications for Vice Presidents of AIESEC Tetovo within the week, and if enough people apply then the organization will have a stronger body leading it. 

Thus, work in Tetovo has been slow and difficult.  For example, we have finally gained permission from the university to promote the internships to the students, but the request for a partnership with the Career Center was submitted about a month ago!  Yet, I have developed a rather solid disposition for being able to trudge through difficult times, which is helpful when work is slow.  Also, any free time I have in the office is dedicated to writing applications to graduate schools (which is another reason why I am not writing so much on this blog, since I am busy writing essays during other hours of the day).

Integrating Again

So yes, Tetovo is culturally different, which makes for at least some sort of a culture shock.  But the most impactful change of moving to this town is its size.  The estimated population of the Tetovo municipality (including the surrounding villages) is 120,000, or twice the size of Prilep.  Thus it is very difficult to meet people outside of work, and I feel less like I am making myself a home in Tetovo and more that I am just visiting the town temporarily for work (the latter of which is essentially true, but not necessarily enjoyable).

So I have fallen back on one of the most essential Peace Corps resources- the company of other PCVs.  A MAK19 with which I worked the past year through YMLP (Dave) recently moved a few houses down from me, which means that we often spend the dark, polluted Tetovo nights chilling at his place, often with other PCVs.  In the past month we have done plenty of nerdy things- one of which includes his creation of a Macedonian version of Risk.  In short, hanging out with PCVs on an almost-daily basis is a gigantic shift from my time in Prilep, where I would see my sitemates maybe once every two weeks or so.  My general absence from Americans in Prilep was due to being so occupied at night, either working out at the gym (I exercise in the mornings in Tetovo, since my gym here has a shower, and the shower at my apartment is virtually useless in the morning), or watching Turkish soap operas with my host mother.

AIESEC Tetovo Team Building

Risk Macedonia, created by Dave

Dave celebrating the holidays in Tetovo

Some of the few remaining MAK18s at Thanksgiving dinner

I do not regret spending so much time with Americans during the remaining months of my Peace Corps experience.  Living in Macedonia as a PCV is a major divergence from the American life typical for young professionals.  During my first two years of PC, I essentially lived at home (albeit on my own floor), changed my life to be more culturally appropriate, and focused on building relationships with HCNs in Macedonia.  With the end on the horizon, watching movies on a weeknight and cooking dinner with other Americans feels like I am regaining the chance to live the alternative lifestyle I may have lived if I had not joined Peace Corps.  And I continue to interact with as many locals as I can during the day.

Responding to such a short, open question like "How is Tetovo?" is anguish, but living here is not so bad.  In a few months, I will no longer live in this town, so I may as well enjoy the inquiry for a brief moment.