City of Consuls

This past weekend, I made my first trip out of site and visited the second-biggest city in Macedonia- Bitola.  Bitola is located about an hour’s drive south of Prilep on the same plateau called Pelegonia, and according to the census in 2002, has a population of about 100,000 people.  It is only about a half hour drive from the border with Greece and surrounded by one of Macedonia’s national parks, National Park Pelister. 

I traveled to Bitola with the president of AIESEC Prilep to visit the radio station and attend her presentation to one of the youth NGOs in the city, Together Macedonia!, which has its own Peace Corps volunteer.  Unfortunately, we arrived too late in Bitola to visit the radio station on Friday, but that did not prevent us from exploring the major parts of the city.  My first impression of Bitola- it is large and spreads along the river, making it unreasonable to traverse from one side of town to the other.  Bitola also has the reputation as the most fashionable city in Macedonia.  There are a few sayings about this city: 1) If a girl needs to buy bread from the store around the corner, she needs to do her hair, put on makeup, and dress up, or else she will not risk being seen in public and 2) Bitola is the city where guys take longer to get ready than girls before going out. 

My second impression of Bitola- it is a very beautiful city and looks like nothing I have seen so far in Macedonia.  Bitola is called the City of Consuls because historically it has hosted many consulates and continues to host a large number of European consulates in its city center.  Throughout the Macedonian and Ottoman times, many consuls set up shop in the city, bringing an international influence to its lifestyle and architecture.  Bitola is also known as the most European-looking city in Macedonia, especially along its major tourist attraction, Shirok Sokak.  Shirok Sokak is a wide street that runs from north to south through the city center of Bitola.  It used to be open to traffic, including horse carriages and cars, but at one point the street was closed off to traffic so that the consuls could stroll through the street with their families.  The event attracted so much attention that the city immediately decided to close off the street to all traffic, thus creating the beautiful pedestrian walkway people enjoy today.  There are many bars and cafes on the street that are a popular attraction to locals and tourists alike.  Despite the mildly cold temperatures (about 5 degrees centigrade during my visit), many locals were seated outside the cafes on Shirok Sokak, drinking coffee and watching (most likely, judging) the pedestrians stroll through the street.  It is a rather daunting, snooty aspect of Bitola, yet I would not blame the locals for hanging out in this beautiful part of town.  

The Clock Tower at the start of Shirok Sokak

Shirok Sokak

At the American Corner in Bitola

 Bitola also has the biggest claim to the Macedonian empire since it is originally the site of Heraclea, the ancient town founded by Philip II of Macedon (the father of Alexander the Great).  Visitors are able to visit the ruins of the ancient city, which is not too far from the city center.  I hope to make a visit to the ruins sometime this spring.

Friday night I met Ted before walking through Shirok Sokak.  It was great to see a Lozer again, and honestly it felt like forever since I last saw another volunteer from PST. We decided to go to a bar later that night (Instinct) to see Ted’s host father perform.  Unfortunately, Ted fell sick and was unable to join us.  Luckily, my counterpart’s friend was able to join and another PCV, Darko, joined us as well.  Ted’s host-father’s band was definitely the best band I had heard so far in Macedonia.  They are called B-52 (not to be confused with the B-52s!) and, in my opinion, were the perfect Genesis cover band, although they sang other songs as well.

On Saturday, I ate one of Bitola’s classic dishes- Chkembe Chorba.  Chkembe Chorba is basically the Macedonain version of menudo, a clear-based soup with tripe (stomach lining).  Just like menudo, the people of Bitola say that eating chorba after a night of heavy drinking will cure a hangover.  My opinion- it was a bit unsettling at first, but it could have definitely used some lime and Cholula sauce.  Afterwards, we headed to the meeting for Together Macedonia!  Megi, my counterpart, presented to the high school students AIESEC and the opportunities it provided to the youth of Macedonia.  Finally, we met with a local organization that specialized in preparing students for law school.  After 2 hours of drinking coffee and discussing, we decided to return home.

Presenting AIESEC to Together Macedonia!

After a few days in the city, it is my opinion that Bitola is the prettiest city in Macedonia. In a way, I am lucky to be so close to such a tourist attraction.  On the other hand, I am happy to live in Prilep, since living in Prilep reminds me each day of the work that is needed here.  I think it would be tough for me to feel like a PCV while working in a city that looks like a posh American suburb.  Yet holiday season is about to begin in Macedonia, and I look forward to visiting some other cities when the workload is light.

Bread on My Face

So last week, my host family invited me to eat with them one of the best meals possible in Macedonia- tavche gravche.  It is a dish that mainly consists of beans, but it so well cooked and spiced that it is super delicious (and usually cheap, if ordered at a restaurant).  As I was eating the delicious meal, my host mother offered me a dry pepper, which looks like the picture below.  She told me it was spicy, which I was super excited about.  So I instantly crushed up much of the pepper between my fingers and added it to my dish.

Tavche Gravche (an old pic taken in Veles)

Dried peppers

Well, spicy it was, and my face was sweating profusely.  I drank plenty of water, wiped the sweat off my face, and finished the meal.  Not long after, my face started to hurt, and I realized that I had transferred the capsaicins on my fingers to my forehead and lips.  As my face began to burn painfully, I excused myself and decided to wash my face with soap in water.  That did not help much.  As I returned, my host mother advised that I put bread on my face.  At this point I was ready to try anything, so she cut up some slices and I placed them on my face.

Well, at first it was soothing, but after laying the slices on my face for a few seconds, the burning sensation returned.  In a way, this remedy makes sense, as the bread would soak up the oils and sweat from my face.  Over time, the burning passed, but unfortunately my family thinks that I do not like spicy food (which is obviously not  the case!) due to this incident.  As I mentioned to my host mother, I learned something new that day!

Going Crazy with Boredom

So the first week in Prilep was a sure success.  I set a plan for myself and implemented it flawlessly.  The tactic: I acted as a fly on the wall and observed how my counterparts worked with each other and approached projects through the organization. This tactic involved a lot of listening, shadowing my members, observing, waiting, and basically doing nothing.  But a lot was learned in that short time.

This week’s tactic: learn as much as I can about the organization so that I can begin brainstorming, identifying organizational needs, build on strengths, and address challenges.  The result- a grinding halt on all progress.  Peace Corps prepared us for this experience in Peace Corps- success in Macedonia is built on trust and relationships, not on accomplishments.  I have the trust of my organization, but the efficiency expected in America is not here in Macedonia, no matter how hard I push it.  Peace Corps’ advice- sit around with the counterparts over coffee and sneak in questions about the organization and its goals.  But as somebody famously said, “ain’t nobody got time for that!”  I can see how some of the issues with the organization are causing frustration for its leaders, but there is nothing I can do to help if I know nothing about how they operate.

A week ago I had sent a questionnaire to the leaders of AIESEC Prilep, but I only received the answers from one member.  The president had promised me a package with information about the organization, which I will receive soon, and we will have a meeting later today to review what we need to tackle over the next two months.  Otherwise, I have spent much of my time at work hanging out with the members, studying Macedonian, and learning about the Foreign Service Exam. 

For those family members and friends who know me well, you obviously understand how this stopgap of work and ensuing boredom is driving me crazy.  My former boss once called me a tyrant (and he called my supervisor Attila the Hun) due to the amount of work we did and were willing to carry.  There is something about solving a problem and improving efficiency that beckons.  So with this helpless feeling of futility I finally snapped earlier this week.

Posted on the Peace Corps FB group was a thread about PCVs celebrating Christmas either the weekend before or after.  People eventually decided to host a celebration in Skopje on the 27^th and an event in Prilep on the 20^th.  I recently discovered this proposal and thought that it would be great to introduce the idea of a Secret Santa for those who would come to our town.  When I proposed the idea to the other PCVs in Prilep through FB, they were a bit wary.  One wondered how many would come to Prilep, where they would stay, etc.  Although I tried to answer, I honestly did not know!  Another PCV had originally floated the idea on the group’s wall, and I assumed that the PCVs in Prilep would simply carry on the tradition from the year before.  Didn’t they know all of the details about the event?  Over time, I was posting overtures through FB messages to the other Prilep PCVs and eventually sounded like a nutcase who had his back against the wall.  And all I was trying to do was propose a Secret Santa!!!

In retrospect, my reaction to this small snafu was a reflection of my frustrations with my work situation overall.  I know nothing, and even when I try to propose an idea or project, I understand that I cannot even discuss it since I do not fully know how the organization operates.  An idea is only helpful if it can be implemented successfully within the organization. For example, while a Secret Santa sounded like a great idea, I made the mistake in assuming that the idea of hosting Christmas in Prilep was accepted by all of the volunteers here.  One volunteer would not even be in the country, another had no interest in hosting guests, and the original idea that was floated was, in the end, and empty gesture.  Sure, I could have avoided a lot of embarrassment if I had asked for more details, and yet the minor crisis also could have been averted if the other volunteers had notified me.  In the end, this incident was silly, but reconfirmed my initial thoughts about work- learn as much as possible before I act. 

So my tactic for the next weeks- improve my patience and continue to observe and learn, no matter how painstakingly long it may take.

Roma

Officially making up 5% of the population of Prilep (according the the 2002 census) is the Roma people.  However, their true representation of the population in Prilep is probably much higher than it was 11 years ago.  Many people today still know the Roma under the term “gypsies,” but Roma is the politically correct term (decided upon at the World Romani Congress in London in 1971). 

Unofficial estimates number the Roma population in Macedonia to be about 260,000 people (at its highest estimate), which would suggest that Roma make up about 10% of the population.  Most Roma in Macedonia live in the larger cities of Macedonia, including Kumanovo, Bitola, and Prilep.  There is a municipality in Skopje called Shuto Orizari that is majority Roma.

Ethnically, the Romani people emigrated from Northwest India as early as the 13^th century and settled in Europe.  Some believe that the Roma first immigrated to Egypt before arriving in Europe, thus picking up the name “gypsies” since they were seen as people coming from Egypt.  Since their arrival in Europe, they have settled all across the Western civilization, traveling from Anatolia to the Balkans, to Central Europe, to Western Europe, and eventually to the US.  As a percentage of the population, Roma compose a large minority (over 10%) in countries like Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania. 

Depending on the community, Roma typically live in their own neighborhoods or in squatter communities, usually close to a city or a larger town.  The unemployment rate for the Roma community is typically larger than the national average, and many in these communities face hardships that other communities typically do not face.  For example, in Macedonia, Roma are typically pressured to marry at a young age.  Thus, many had not completed secondary school, though universal schooling and changing attitudes toward education may be changing these trends.  In some Roma communities, there are issues with vaccinations of children and registrations of births.  According to some anecdotes of Peace Corps volunteers, some children are not registered months or even years after their birth.  Many Roma avoid registrations or interactions with the local authority for fear of discrimination.

On Thursday, I had my first interaction with many Roma in Macedonia.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, one of my counterparts is collecting surveys from primary schools to analyze the demand for foreign teachers in the classrooms.  Results from the surveys show that many students learning English, German, or French in the classrooms would be interested in having a foreign teaching assistant at their school.  Yet, the data was exactly opposite at one of the primary schools, which was predominantly Roma.  Students at this school often mentioned that having a foreigner in the classroom would be helpful to learning the language, but the large majority of the students preferred to not have a foreign teacher in the classroom.  This result was mind-boggling to both my counterpart and me.

My counterpart was distressed because she had attended this school only a few years before and wanted to help in any way possible.  When she had attended, the Roma made up only 10% of the class.  Now, about 90% of the children in the classes are Roma.  She had mentioned that many Macedonians in the area are sending their students to other schools because they do not want their students to be in the same classrooms as Roma.  However, she mentioned that she treasured her experience at this school since she had the opportunity to interact with a people that she otherwise would not have met.

I feel blessed to interact with the Roma community in Prilep so early during my time here, even if I had only visited the primary school for a half hour.  There is already a Peace Corps volunteer in Prilep who works with the Roma population, but I will likely not have any direct contact with the Roma given my volunteer assignment.  However, while Macedonia has its diversity of problems, the problems in the Roma community are reflections of abject poverty that other PCVs often witness every day in other countries.  I must focus on my primary duty, which is working with my organization.  However, I will try to keep the Roma community in mind, and I hope to somehow change people’s attitude toward the community.  The more that people think like my counterpart, the better Macedonia will be as a whole.