Current emotions: I want some chocolate! Sleepy, nostalgic, content
Interesting facts I've encountered this week:
1. To be in a line in America does not apply to the line rules in Macedonia. It’s a free for all once you’re allowed to enter whatever it is you’re waiting for.
2. Between the hours of 12-3pm on Saturdays, you will find cafés full of people mainly drinking coffee, not alcohol. Day drinking is not common in Sveti Nikole and these hours are used to gossip about the night before. The name for this is pronounced, “Tratch coffee.” Sounds like "Trash coffee" to me, doesn't it?!
3. Track suits are a HUGE fad. You will see nearly everyone wearing matching jackets and sweat pants outside or in the home.
Happy Sunday everyone! Today has been very relaxing and my family seems to spend their Sunday as I do back in the States: cleaning when necessary, watching TV, and resting. However, my host mom does not stop moving-she’s always cleaning, cooking, and making sure their home stays tidy. She seems to be the last one to go to bed each night, making sure the cleaning and laundry are complete.
This week was spent studying a lot of Macedonian language. I had class every day for four hours, plus cultural workshops after on some days, so many times I’d walk home feeling as if my head was twice the size. We have learned very basic conversation-“how are you? What is your profession? Where are you from?” as well as fruits, vegetables, and numbers. My family watches shows that slowly help my Macedonian, such as the Turkish soap operas I think I mentioned in my last post. A typical day involves going to class, coming home and immediately changing into sweats since that is what my family does (heck yes!), watching Cila (soap opera) while doing homework as Nikole corrects me, eating lunch/dinner at 3 (always a delicious home cooked meal by my dear host mom), more homework and relaxing in sweats as we watch soap operas, even with my host dad. Some days I would grab coffee with friends-we are definitely known as the Americans with our book bags and water bottles, but we were warned of this and all we get are stares. Similar to how it can be back home. One of the workers at café we frequently go to speaks English so he is always our waiter-we told him we know how to order in Macedonian so doesn’t have to be our waiter anymore. Needless to say he laughed and continued to speak half English and half Macedonian.
Here are some pictures of Sveti Nikole that I've taken so far. More to come as I venture the rest of the town!
Interesting facts I've encountered this week:
1. To be in a line in America does not apply to the line rules in Macedonia. It’s a free for all once you’re allowed to enter whatever it is you’re waiting for.
2. Between the hours of 12-3pm on Saturdays, you will find cafés full of people mainly drinking coffee, not alcohol. Day drinking is not common in Sveti Nikole and these hours are used to gossip about the night before. The name for this is pronounced, “Tratch coffee.” Sounds like "Trash coffee" to me, doesn't it?!
3. Track suits are a HUGE fad. You will see nearly everyone wearing matching jackets and sweat pants outside or in the home.
Happy Sunday everyone! Today has been very relaxing and my family seems to spend their Sunday as I do back in the States: cleaning when necessary, watching TV, and resting. However, my host mom does not stop moving-she’s always cleaning, cooking, and making sure their home stays tidy. She seems to be the last one to go to bed each night, making sure the cleaning and laundry are complete.
This week was spent studying a lot of Macedonian language. I had class every day for four hours, plus cultural workshops after on some days, so many times I’d walk home feeling as if my head was twice the size. We have learned very basic conversation-“how are you? What is your profession? Where are you from?” as well as fruits, vegetables, and numbers. My family watches shows that slowly help my Macedonian, such as the Turkish soap operas I think I mentioned in my last post. A typical day involves going to class, coming home and immediately changing into sweats since that is what my family does (heck yes!), watching Cila (soap opera) while doing homework as Nikole corrects me, eating lunch/dinner at 3 (always a delicious home cooked meal by my dear host mom), more homework and relaxing in sweats as we watch soap operas, even with my host dad. Some days I would grab coffee with friends-we are definitely known as the Americans with our book bags and water bottles, but we were warned of this and all we get are stares. Similar to how it can be back home. One of the workers at café we frequently go to speaks English so he is always our waiter-we told him we know how to order in Macedonian so doesn’t have to be our waiter anymore. Needless to say he laughed and continued to speak half English and half Macedonian.
Here are some pictures of Sveti Nikole that I've taken so far. More to come as I venture the rest of the town!
My host sister, Maria, came home from Skopje on Friday so we have been spending time together this weekend. Friday night my family began the process of making ajvar (ay-var). It’s a traditional pepper spread that is made in various ways across the Balkan countries. Maria informed me her family adds mustard to bring out the flavors. Here’s how the process works:
My mom bought 30 kilos of red peppers (they’re in season here, so everyone makes this). That’s roughly 15 pounds. The peppers are roasted on top of a grill, turned frequently until most of it is soft and blackened. Once the batch on the grill is finished, they are immediately put into plastic bags and sealed to keep the moisture in from the heat. Once those sit, the bags can be opened and skinned. This is the part of the process I helped with. My host mom’s two sisters came over to help so it made the process entertaining and quick! They don’t speak English, so there was a lot of pointing and speaking slowly. The skin of the peppers came off fairly quickly. Once the skin was removed, we pulled the stem off, opened the peppers up and deseeded them. They scraps were thrown into one container and the skinless, seedless peppers were thrown into a huge pot. After every bag of peppers were emptied our job was done for the evening. The next steps I did not see, but Maria told me what her parents do. Her father puts the soft peppers into a machine that cuts them finely, similar to how meat is put formed into the consistency to make meatballs. The finely cut peppers is put back into the large pan where it is put back on the stove and fried. Oil, salt, pepper, and mustard are added as the peppers are constantly stirred for 2-3 hours. My host mom and dad took turns stirring it during that time. Finally, after the stirring time has ended, the ajvar is complete and my family filled dozens of mason jars with them. This shall last them through the winter and even after. Ajvar can be put on anything, especially bread with white cheese. I tried it the day it was made and it was hands down one of the best spreads I have ever tasted!
My mom bought 30 kilos of red peppers (they’re in season here, so everyone makes this). That’s roughly 15 pounds. The peppers are roasted on top of a grill, turned frequently until most of it is soft and blackened. Once the batch on the grill is finished, they are immediately put into plastic bags and sealed to keep the moisture in from the heat. Once those sit, the bags can be opened and skinned. This is the part of the process I helped with. My host mom’s two sisters came over to help so it made the process entertaining and quick! They don’t speak English, so there was a lot of pointing and speaking slowly. The skin of the peppers came off fairly quickly. Once the skin was removed, we pulled the stem off, opened the peppers up and deseeded them. They scraps were thrown into one container and the skinless, seedless peppers were thrown into a huge pot. After every bag of peppers were emptied our job was done for the evening. The next steps I did not see, but Maria told me what her parents do. Her father puts the soft peppers into a machine that cuts them finely, similar to how meat is put formed into the consistency to make meatballs. The finely cut peppers is put back into the large pan where it is put back on the stove and fried. Oil, salt, pepper, and mustard are added as the peppers are constantly stirred for 2-3 hours. My host mom and dad took turns stirring it during that time. Finally, after the stirring time has ended, the ajvar is complete and my family filled dozens of mason jars with them. This shall last them through the winter and even after. Ajvar can be put on anything, especially bread with white cheese. I tried it the day it was made and it was hands down one of the best spreads I have ever tasted!
Yesterday, Saturday, was spent doing homework and visiting Maria’s two friends at a cafe who I had met last weekend. I really enjoy spending time with them and they speak enough English to have a conversation. Even though I have no idea what they are saying when all three of them speak to each other, I know hearing mostly Macedonian will only improve my language skills. That night we headed to Shtip, a town about 20 minutes away from Sveti Nikole. Stip was having it’s annual festival called Pastramjlijada (Prasta-mil-i-yada). This translates to a meat pie they made there similar to Shepherds Pie (I think-I’ve never had Shepherds Pie so I could very well be wrong!). We each got our own upon arrival paired with local red wine. The pie was basically bread with flavored pork. It was good, but I had so much bread yesterday I thought my buckle would fly off! After conversing there over good food and wine as well as listening to the live performances, the four of us headed the middle of the festival to get closer to the stage. There, we spent the next 2 hours or so dancing and singing to the Macedonian and Serbian performances. There were about 3 songs in English that we all knew and as soon as they started playing, of course the 3 of them looked directly at me and laughed as I sang and danced expressively. They were probably thinking “typical American!” but obviously I would sing if I knew the words!
Later, Maria described to me that most of the songs existed when Yugoslavia was still a country. I took note of how many people of all ages knew the words to the songs and she told me that they were old songs from Yugoslavian artists when the entire area was one country. The songs are still sung today because so many people of all ages can relate to them and know the words. It was a very interesting dynamic to understand, but I really enjoyed listening to music that everyone enjoys. I couldn’t think of many concerts back home I could go to and see older adults singing along as well as 20 year olds.
We ended the night riding a spinning ride that seemed a lot less scary on the ground. Maria and I screamed and laughed the whole time-we probably looked like the biggest babies! Also, referring to the line comment from earlier, we had to push our way to the front to get a seat. I’ve never seen such eager children to get somewhere! It was like a fight to death. But keep in mind I am not saying the Macedonian way is right or wrong, but it is different. Different is key to use when describing other ways of life. Overall, it was such a great night full of Macedonian food and culture.
Tomorrow, Monday, all the Peace Corps volunteers are spending the day in Skopje for our first “Hub Day.” This just means we have workshops and are all together for them, so our Sveti Nikole group will be picked up at 6:30 am! L Goodbye for now, I am joining Nikole and Maria to have coffee with their Baba who lives below us!
XOXOXO
-R
Later, Maria described to me that most of the songs existed when Yugoslavia was still a country. I took note of how many people of all ages knew the words to the songs and she told me that they were old songs from Yugoslavian artists when the entire area was one country. The songs are still sung today because so many people of all ages can relate to them and know the words. It was a very interesting dynamic to understand, but I really enjoyed listening to music that everyone enjoys. I couldn’t think of many concerts back home I could go to and see older adults singing along as well as 20 year olds.
We ended the night riding a spinning ride that seemed a lot less scary on the ground. Maria and I screamed and laughed the whole time-we probably looked like the biggest babies! Also, referring to the line comment from earlier, we had to push our way to the front to get a seat. I’ve never seen such eager children to get somewhere! It was like a fight to death. But keep in mind I am not saying the Macedonian way is right or wrong, but it is different. Different is key to use when describing other ways of life. Overall, it was such a great night full of Macedonian food and culture.
Tomorrow, Monday, all the Peace Corps volunteers are spending the day in Skopje for our first “Hub Day.” This just means we have workshops and are all together for them, so our Sveti Nikole group will be picked up at 6:30 am! L Goodbye for now, I am joining Nikole and Maria to have coffee with their Baba who lives below us!
XOXOXO
-R