A-4 Paper and the GCF

This morning on my way to work I dropped into an office supply store to purchase some A-4 paper. When I asked which brand was the least expensive they suggested the yellow one at 220 denars. When she said this I was mid-reach to the brand that I usually buy as it has, until now, always been the cheaper one.

With my hand paused mid-air I asked her how much my usual brand was. When she responded with 260 denars I simply couldn't hide my shock and blurted out, "Seriously??? I remember when that same paper was only 190 denars!" Of course she was not basking in the same glow of disbelief as I and simply blinked and looked at me with a blank unmoving stare as if to say, "so?" Pause.... "Yeah, you're right," I said to myself, "it is what it is..." And then I purchased the yellow one...

Perhaps the price of paper is standing out to me more simply because we've tried to go as paperless as possible at the office. So it tends to be a while before I have to buy more paper.... Though it seems like we still use a shocking amount! Anyways, to help you understand my shock this morning as the realization of inflation and exchange rates dawned anew for me, let me translate this into dollars and cents.

Seven years ago when I first arrived, $1 was equal to 61.4 denars and a ream of paper cost only 190 denars. AKA $3.10

Today, that same ream of paper at 260 denars and an exchange rate with USD of 43.75 translates to $5.94.

That's a $2.84 price hike per ream! And that's just paper.... this makes me wonder what sort of percentage price increases there have been on other items.... items that our budget has to cover.... Sigh.... let's leave those thoughts for another day... All that said, though, it is a strong reminder to be thankful for the Lord's provision and to remember to thank everyone who's given to the GCF so that we can make these types of purchases that are a basic but necessary part of ministry. Thank you.

Walking to Work -- the unintended circuitous route

This morning I headed out into the muggy warm morning with no particular route planned, just that I'd head in the general direction of the new office and then see what I'd find. What I found was that I'd stumbled upon an area of town I'd never been in before. Honestly, it was quite shocking and a little disorienting! Here less than 1/2 mile from my place are some streets I'd never explored before.

At one point I was almost convinced I was lost... and I found I wasn't the only one either as I passed an older gentleman with hand on chin looking from building to street with a confused look that must have mirrored my own. We joined into an unspoken pact as we determinedly put one foot in front of the other looking for the glavna ulitsa (main street). Eventually he found another older gentleman who was obviously an old friend who pointed him in the right direction... and I surreptitiously followed! =)

Back out on the main street I was dismayed to find that I'd essentially been walking in a zig-zag pattern that zagged more than zigged and ended up parallel to where I needed to be. And here I thought I was walking on a diagonal line! Oh well. I found some new places, fun graffiti and interesting nooks and cranny's that deserve further exploration. But I decided to leave that for another day and purchased some bananas and peaches (amazing, btw, as they are in season) and walked the remaining five minutes to the office.

In the end, what should have been just a 20 minute walk turned out to be almost an hour instead. LOL. Gotta love the self-guided tours.

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I didn't have my camera handy to take a pick of the new and interesting graffiti, so the one up top is from last years GCF walk.
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Yes, it's the start of the new budget year and so I'm back on my feet and walking to work. It helps, though, that the new office is half the distance of the previous one. =)

GCF Walk: Blues Brothers & Little Gems

He looked at my camera, shrugged his shoulders, and said with a note of amazement: "This is the first time I am seeing these paintings." Zoran, my market guy, was really surprised to find out that they were only a small block away from his store in an alley off of a main street he drives every day to go to work.

Truth-be-told, I've walked and driven by that alley hundreds of times, knew the "Blues Brothers" caricatures were there, but never really paid attention to them. How easily we miss the little gems right in front of us because we're so quick to get from point A to point B!

As I've mentioned before, this GCF Walking has been good for me in that I've been more observant of the things around me. One of the things I've noticed a lot of is graffiti and random pieces of artwork. So, in preparation for my next tally I thought the "Blues Brothers" caricatures would be good ones as they were cool-looking and fit with my graffiti theme for my tally updates...

Imagine my astonishment to enter the alley and to find these gems of art right next to them! How did I miss them all these years?? There was a sign for "Blues Brothers" next to a door and I wondered if this was in fact a blues cafe or something. That brings us back to showing the pictures to my market guy, Zoran. He wasn't even aware of these paintings' existence nor that of the club. Needless-to-say he's intrigued and says he's going to investigate and get back to me about what he finds. What fun if it turns out to be a blues/jazz music club.

Again, like myself, Zoran has passed by this alley for years and never noticed these little gems that have been there all along. As I think of my life lately, how busy I've been in the office, how many late nights and how many rushed transits to work, I wonder how many gems I may have passed by in regards to people, relationships, etc? Just a little food for thought.

On another note, though, I have to say that I'm really thankful for locals like Zoran and his wife who teach me so many things about the language and culture as we interact every day. Would you join me in praying for them? Thanks.

*******

These past two weeks I've only been able to walk minimally due to heat, work responsibility, etc. I was able to drive a good bit, but now that the city's filling back up and parking spaces are once again non-existent at my apartment, my driving days are once again on hiatus. :(

All that said, here's the tally:

8.5 miles walking, 12 driving, Week's savings: $14.98
Sub-total for August: $23.43 and counting

Thanks for walking this walk with me.

Turn up the heat!

The office supply store owner walked in and asked his employees, with a touch of odd curiosity and disbelief in his voice, "Why do you have the heat on??" Not an odd question when you consider the outside temp was already into the upper 90's at 9:30am!

As I'd scurried around the store this morning to purchase binders, dividers and A-4 paper for the field office I'd thought it was a little warm, but since the AC-unit was on I simply thought it didn't work that well. Well, it turns out that the gals honestly thought it was on cool, but as the owner pointed out (literally on the remote) that they'd actually had it on heat! Then to add insult to injury, when he switched the AC back to cool it wouldn't kick in!

Le Le!

Honestly, the whole situation was very funny--especially since the government has been issuing heat-warnings for today through this weekend as the temps are expected to top 40C (100+F)... the poor girls were smiling, a bit embarrassed by the whole thing, yet you could tell they all thought it was pretty funny/ironic too.

I did successfully (though barely) hold my laughter until I reached the taxi and shut the door. Then it was all I could do to blurt out the news through my laughter to my driver. "Oh! It's so much cooler now," I chuckled while wiping the sweat from brow.

He too immediately burst out into hearty guffaws and commented that today of all days was not a day to make that mistake. "Ha ha! And they even had the front door closed so that the heat would not escape," he joked and then continued. "You will find the heat escapes quite nicely from my cab... it much cooler for you, I'm sure." I continued to fan my face as we chuckled about it all the way to the office. He's one of my regular drivers, so I'm sure we'll laugh about this for months to come. :)

Don't you just love those funny moments in life that happen so unexpectedly? It's great to have a really good laugh once in a while, and this one just made my morning. :)

On a side note, just to give you a GCF perspective on the items that I purchased this morning: Week 2 of my GCF Walk more than covered the items pictured. :) Thank you for your giving to the GCF that makes purchases like this possible.

Strange Fruit -- anyone know what it is?

On any given day while walking to work in Skopje I pass dozens of different fruit trees: pear, apple, plum, kumquat, apricot, peach and fig. Just to name a few. Then there's this tree. The fruit looks like miniature apples, but they grow in clusters like a cherry. For the last couple months I've watched this fruit mature--from blossom to the beginnings of little green fruit til now and the luscious ruby-colored orbs. This morning as I walked by it was quite tempting to try one... though I'm not that adventurous!

Anyone out there know what these are? And if they're safe to eat, do you think they'd make a good pie?

GCF Walk: Week 5 Reflections

Today is Saturday, my day to catch up on all things domestic. Besides cleaning the kitchen, mopping, re-arranging cabinets and changing sheets, I pulled out a stack of ALife magazines. I tend to hang on to them and over six years I've collected quite a few. It was time to purge. So, with the sounds of the Olympics and men's gymnastics coming from the TV as background noise, I started the project.

This week is a reflection less on a GCF walk than a pondering of those feet who've gone before me as well as those with whom I'm walking now.

At first I was just going to toss them all, but couldn't do so without perusing them and even clipping a few. As I leafed through the pages I paused on one story after another. Soon what started out as a quick project became a quiet-time of sorts: reading again the stories, challenges and prayers of so many and marvelling at the testimony and rich history represented therein. As I read on, pondering, praying, there were moments of tears and many smiles. Most often, though, my heart beat faster with a sense of passion, of call, of determination, of renewed desire to press on and to keep walking. Only half-way through the stack and I'm completely humbled by such a great cloud of witnesses, to be even a small part in this legacy of faith.

Now here's a confession: "I'm just a bookkeeper" is something I've often said... sometimes I say it just as a statement of actual job, but other times I've said it with meaning, having let in the lie that somehow what I'm doing is not real ministry... that somehow it doesn't stand up to the real work of my colleagues. Now don't get me wrong, there's no doubt in my heart that I'm exactly where Father wants me and doing what he's gifted and called me to do... it's just that working in the four walls of the office day after day I sometimes lose track of the bigger picture....

As I prepare for my next home assignment, I do struggle a bit with what I should share. What stories do I even have to tell? I sure don't want to bore people to tears with refried beans. Then today, as I read the stories shared by my colleagues and the lives that have been touched because of their ministry, the Lord chastened me... He reminded me again that I'm here doing what He's called me to do so that they can do what they've been called to do... and together we are His team... it's His story and that's a story worth sharing!

Can you hear it? It's the sound of the "four walls of the office" crashing down and my again seeing the bigger picture.

Rather than simply tossing the ALife's, I had the idea to clip all the articles, life-stories and snippets of info or prayers related to our field and to put them into a scrapbook. I think I'll also add some quotes or short stories from my colleagues email letters. Then, to finish things off, I think I'll add several of my photos (if you haven't already guessed, photography is one of my hobbies). The end product will be a coffee-table book that I can go back to on those days when I may be discouraged, or feeling like the four walls are closing in, to remind myself of the bigger picture. It's also something I can take back with me on HA to share with you, to share His story.

Thank you for so patiently and prayerfully walking with me.

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GCF Walk: Week 5 Tally
July Total: $46.51
Aug So-Far: 8 miles, $8.45 and counting (it was a really hot week)

GCF Walk: July Tally & Reflections

It's a little hard to believe that July is already over. It's been interesting how people have gotten on board with this idea of walking in an effort to save some budget funds. I've heard from many people that they're experiencing a financial crunch as well and are looking for creative ways to save... and yet even amid personal difficulty we've seen more people give out of what little they have.... and it's humbling.

Out of all this, the "walk" and people's responses, it's reinforced for me more deeply the idea that we're walking this "walk" together... Each day as I've put tennie to pavement, driven or taken a taxi I'm reminded of those who have prayed for or encouraged me in my call over the years and am filled with gratitude. I know I couldn't walk this "walk" without you! Too I am humbled that I can take a taxi when needed because of those who've given so sacrificially. I think too of those who are poised to head out to the field, to leave so much behind to to answer a call to "Go" and those who are sending, supporting, praying for and cheering on these newbies... As we pray, give, send and go we're truly "Living the Call Together." :)

As mentioned before I will be continuing the GCF Walk through the month of August. The "GCF Walk" will be dropped, though, from the header and the daily tally will be dropped to a weekly one. This is to allow me some more flexibility with the different types of posts that I make. One series that I'm really looking forward to, though, is the one I'll be doing in September. You see, Ramadan (or Ramazan) begins on September 1st and runs through the month. My desire is to share a bit of the culture and local traditions associated with the fast like "Iftar" and "Bajram." :) Stay tuned!

As always, thanks for walking with me.

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Week 1: $10.78
Week 2: $18.33
Week 3: $8.60
Week 4: $8.80 (includes driving)
Total: 38 miles and $46.51

Would you be willing to match that savings with giving to the GCF?

Car Trouble & Helpful Neighbors

Yesterday when I got home I noticed this puddle underneath the gas tank of the mission vehicle. It was thinner than oil but thicker than deisel and smelled like a mix of the two. I'd done the GCF Walk to work yesterday and so it was parked in front of a neighbors market. When I asked the gal at the market if she noticed anything she said that it'd been leaking like that all day long.

As I mentioned before, I've been driving it a bit this week (until yesterday) and there was no leakage nor did I hit anything, so I have no idea what caused this. The upside is that it did prompt a very nice conversation with my market guy who was very courteous and helpful. As he was closing up last night he came over to the car to check it out for me. He urged me not to even try to drive it to the service place because it was опасно (dangerous) but that he'd help arrange for a пајак (or "spider" which is what they call the tow-trucks here) to get it to the shop first thing in the morning.

Thus, this morning I got to ride in a really big tow-truck to the car service place clear on the far side of town. I showed them this picture and then they called a taxi for me to get to the office (waaay too far for me to walk if I wanted to get any work done today... about 8 miles). Now at the office, I'm working away on the new budget-years forms while waiting for the shop to call and tell me the damage.

I am very thankful for my neighbors who I've gotten to know over the years and who were so helpful to me. I'm also thankful that this happened this week when it was easier to do something about it than last week when driving all over Albania. Please pray that this is only a minor thing and nothing major. Thanks so much!

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Aug 5th Update: Picked up the car today. They put a temporary patch on the holes in the fuel hose and have ordered a new one which will arrive after the summer holiday "godishen odmor." All-in-all it looks like it's a minor thing. Thank you for praying!

Cafe's & Coffee-Bars

This city is a very social city and especially on these summer nights you'll find people crowded around the outdoor tables in the numerous coffee-bars around town enjoying their drinks, conversations and the (sometimes) cooler late evening temps. In fact, there's a whole strip of restaurants and coffee-bars nestled under huge shady trees along the Vardar river where the Povardarska breeze (like the Deltra Breeze of the Sacramento valley) can temper the hot summer nights. There is also at least one coffee-bar that appeals to young families as it has a huge playroom for the kids... and serves a wonderful macchiato and relaxing ambiance for the parents.

My language teacher once commented to me that the coffee-bars tend to have English names and over the years I've noticed the trend. Names like "Hemingway," "Light," "Green House," and "Soho." Sometimes I do wonder at the names given, though, like "Bummerang" and "Pub Porta." Is it just me or does it just not seem right to go sit and have a coffee at the Porta Pub??

:::::Language lesson alert:::::

There is also a bookstore cafe called, "Magor Books." Now for those English speakers, that would be pronounced "major" but here it's spelled with a "g" because in Macedonian that's what makes the "dzuh" sound. The "j" here is pronounced like our "y" or "yuh." Confused yet? Well, lets put that principle to work on the cities name, Skopje. How do you think it's pronounced? Is it Skop-gee (with a short "o") or Skopyeah (with a long "o"). It's the later. No worries, though, until I came here I was pronouncing it the first way as well. ;)

:::::end language lesson:::::

There is one cafe, though, that is most like our Starbucks, imported beans and all, called "Broz." It's a popular place and is named after Marshall Tito. Inside the cafe the urban decor would rival even that of "Central Perk" and comes complete with old-style picture-sketches of ancient heroes on the wall (sadly they wouldn't let me take a picture so you'll just have to imagine it).

As this is one of the few places in town where you can get a cup-o-joe-to-go I made a point of stopping by this morning on my walk to work. Ahh... that chilled mocha in a styrofoam cup was so refreshing. I also purchased some of the imported beans and as I type this I'm sitting at my desk, getting ready to dive into another full day of bookkeeping and enjoying a cup of freshly ground columbian roast.

Ahhh. Now I'm ready to jump into the books. :)

Speaking of coffee, ordering a coffee here is not as complicated as in the US. Here there is one size, only a handful of choices and shared space (meaning no lines). A friend in Paraguay blogged quite eloquently about her recent re-entry experience in the US and the "simple" task of ordering a coffee. Judging by the number of comments there's a lot of us who can relate! :) [She's a great blogger to, so I thought I'd share.] :)

Thank you again for walking with me as we live this call together.

Day 16: $46.51 and counting.

Driving & Bookkeeping Change

Normally I don't drive a mission vehicle even if I have access because where I live it's near a miracle to ever find a parking place. It's gotten worse over the last year as well due to new buildings and police barricades for the embassy there.

However, the end of July and August are the exceptions as the city has emptied out for the people's "Годишен Одмор" or "Annual Vacation." Most people get a month off so right now the city's really really quiet... so much so that I can actually hear the "call to prayer" in the mornings and evenings from all the way across town.

Having access to the mission vehicle is a decent and welcomed option this week (and saves $2 a day) as since returning from vacation in Albania I'm buried in work and staying very late at the office each night working on on the accounting details associated with the changes to our field leadership structure. Having the option to drive home has been such a blessing... and your giving to the GCF makes it possible for me to drive it. Thanks!

Yesterday marked a huge milestone for me and the field books and I'm very excited to see things coming together. As you know, we are still one field but now made up of three teams. We still submit just one field report that includes all the details, however, each of the teams desired to have individualized reports specific just for their team. The most important one being the budget reports. We've been given a budget amount for our field from the GCF and that number subsequently gets divided between field-wide expenses (like for the field office) and then to team-specific expenses. Well, to make a long tedious Balkan-bean-counter story short, I was able to get all the budget information in yesterday and balance all four budgets! And thanks to QuickBooks (shocker that I'm admitting this, I know) the reports came together perfectly and I'm excited to share them with the team leaders!

Thank you for your prayers for me, the field and for this whole process that began back at Field Forum. The revised trial balance (sub-dividing things by team) and the individualized budget are significant steps for the field and the teams as they move forward and consider autonomy in the future. With these individualized budget reports they will now have a team-specific, accurate and detailed monthly reporting of their budget and expenses and how they are doing with regards to the bottom line. This information will be key in the budget planning for next year.

Thank you again for all the ways that you live this call together with us. And thank you for your giving to the GCF that makes all this possible. Thank you also to those who have committed to matching my GCF savings with giving. If you've not already, please let me know via comment (anonymous if you like) that you are pledging to match my savings with giving... it's a big encouragement to me to keep walking. :)

Day 15: $42.21 and counting

If you build it in a corn field... it won't float

Last week my friend and I drove from Berat to the seaside city of Vlore in Albania. It was a beautiful drive and at times the sites quite entertaining. One thing in particular that had us laughing for kilometers was a boat-house.

Now at this point you may be thinking, "OK, what's so unusual about that?" Well, you're not alone. Each person I told this story to had the same question... that is until I showed the picture.

You see, what makes this... er... boat special was that is was made of concrete, in the shape of a small cruise-ship (or gunner?) and about 100 miles from the sea in the middle of a cornfield!?! [Pictured below is the other side of the road that shows we're in a large valley (also notice the bunker in the middle... bunkers were everywhere, but that's another blog. :)]

Have you ever seen such a sight? It totally reminded me of the movie "Field of Dreams" and the famous quote, "If you build it he will come." There was what looked like a small restaurant next door to the, uh, boat-house so perhaps it will be a hotel someday? If you build it... overnighters will come? Tee hee.

This was such the funny sighting that I had to share. :) Thank you for continuing to walk with me here in the Balkans. Thank you too for your faithful prayer and giving to the GCF that enables me and others to serve here.

Day 14: $40.21 and counting

GCF Walk: Week 3 Update & Reflections

You'll notice by the tally at the end of this blog that my walking has dropped off significantly from last week. That was largely due to taking taxi's home because I'd stayed as late as 10pm (shhh... no comments) at the office working on year-end closing and set up for next year. This is normally a busy time of year for me with the bookkeeping, but this year it was made more complicated by the new field/team structure. The nice thing is that I'm now in a holding pattern for a week while I wait for various approvals and so will be taking next week off! ::::happy dance::::

Actually, a friend of mine needs to go to Albania to get some things from her apartment and has asked me to go with her. I'm looking forward to some decent hangout time and seeing a bit around where she grew up. Please pray for our trip as it's 600 kilometers (about 400 miles) to where we're going. I will be driving and Albania will be new territory for me. :)

What this means is that the GCF Walk will be taking a 1-week hiatus. When I come back there will be just three walking-days left in the month. That coupled with the fact that our organization will be evaluating things through August before deciding if they need to make the 10% pro-rata cut, I've decided to continue my GCF Walk through August. Please seriously consider praying and matching my walking-savings with giving to the GCF. If even two people match me, between the three of us it means $100. Just imagine what would happen if several more matched? Thank you for walking and praying with me.


Here's a break-down of what I've learned so far:

1. Carry a backpack instead of a purse... your shoulders won't hurt as much
2. You never know what gems you'll find when you slow down a little
3. A picture can start a contact
4. Taking a taxi is not a bad thing (especially when it's stormy)
5. The city is full of smells, both fragrant and repulsive
6. You never know what doors a whim will open for you
7. Seasonal shopping is a must (watermelons rule)
8. Street signs can give you an idea of what's important to the community
9. Macedonia has some cool culture
10. Drink lots and lots of water
11. The cats are taking over the neighborhood
12. Language learning can be fun when "hotaps" and "pektopah's" abound
13. Blisters hurt and so do my feet and it's no fun scraping gum off a shoe

See you when I get back from Albania. I'm bringing my camera so you can be sure I'll be sharing any gems I find along the way. :) Thank you for praying.

Week 1: $10.78
Week 2: $18.33
Week 3: $8.60
Total: 35 miles and $37.71

Hotaps & The Pentagon Cafe

On one of my first days of walking I came across a cafe named, "Pentagon." Macedonian's like the US right now because of the support for their constitutional name, but really? Naming a cafe after, well, the Pentagon? Perhaps they're catering to the influx of embassy workers (the new embassy is huge). But then I saw that even the tables were in the shape of pentagon's and the chairbacks reminded me of the building in DC as well. Heck even the brickwork, though 6-sided, seemed to fit with the theme! When I saw that I laughed out loud.... and pulled out my camera. My colleague suggested that if the cafe's not named after the Pentagon that perhaps it got its name from the cool-looking tables the owner found in a furniture store. You know, that's probably more likely. I'm intrigued and half tempted to stop there for a coffee and strike up a conversation with the barrista just to find out which it is. ;)

Since I already had my camera out, I also took this picture showing a "Нотар" sign. Now as you just read that did the pronunciation go something like: hoe-tap? And did you think perhaps it was a hotel? Actually, it's written in Cyrillic, so the sign really says, "Notar." Surprise! Another sign you'll see a lot of around town is "Ресторан." "What's a Pek-toe-paaa?" you ask? Well, it's a place you eat at. Again, with the Cyrillic letters it's actually pronounced, "restoran." Things like this make reading signs loads of fun and I must confess that I quite enjoy referring to them as hoe-taps and pek-toe-paa's. ::::mischievous snicker:::: ;)

By now you're probably realizing that even though I tease about things with tongue in cheek, that I do so in love as I really do enjoy it here. As I walk the city streets and take in the sites and sounds, the culture moves just that much more deeply into my heart. I love that there are Pektopa's and Pentagon cafes... it adds to the charming character of this lovely city. And of the people? Well, I cannot say enough or speak more highly. I will say this, though, that as I walk the streets my heart and prayers turn more often towards them. :)

Thank you for sending me here to the Balkans and for walking and praying with me.

Day 12: $37.71 and counting.

Stray Cat Strut

Strays are a fact of life in the city and I've gotten to know many of the dogs quite well as I've traveled through their territories over the years. On the most part they are kind, shy little things that are wary of being kicked, but quick to share bright eyes and happy wagging tails when given a kind word or attention.

One of my favorites is a black lab with a white neck who I like to call "Pepe." He was the sweetest ever and loved to play, but he's moved to another neighborhood so I don't see him as much anymore. BTW, no comments about me nick-naming a dog after a skunk. ;) There is another dog that I refer to as "Butch" that leaves everyone alone except this one homeless man who collects plastic bags in our neighborhood. Yap yap yap! Butch will not leave the gentleman alone! The guy finally got fed up with it and "adopted" another stray and walked with him on a leash. Butch leaves him alone now.

One of the funniest things I've seen has been a stray waiting at a crosswalk, looking left and right, before negotiating the busy street. Now the first time I saw this I thought it was just that particular dog and a fluke. But over the years I've seen this many times. On the way home on Monday I saw it again. This little guy ("Whitey") got separated from his buddy, who'd nonchalantly crossed at the crosswalk just moments before, and now was stuck. He looked right, left, walked down the street a little farther, looked longingly at the other side, looked right and left again, and finally gave up.

There used to be several stray dogs in my neighborhood and in the time I've been there I've seen several come, puppies born and, sadly, also seen many go from a harsh winter, disease or from catching the car they were chasing. One of those who has gone (disappeared, really) was the alpha male. He was a big fluffy brown mix of a dog that exuded power over his minions and had too much to do to pay any mind to passersby who were willing to give a kind word. He's gone now, though, and it seems no dog has stepped up to replace him. And those left seem perfectly happy to tolerate the growing numbers of cats.

Ah, yes. Cats. I did title this sad silly little blog "Stray Cat Strut" after all. You see, for the last couple of years an organization has come from Switzerland (?) to help with the problem of strays. They gather them up, vaccinate, "fix" and tag them before returning to their neighborhoods. I think it was easier for them to catch the dogs than it was the cats because I've noticed a decreased population of dogs and liters (literally) of cats. This has been expecially noticable on my walks as I've encountered dozens of kittens learning the art and street-life skills of dumpster diving and scraping from the now numerous older population. It's going to be interesting to see what happens when they take over the neighborhoods.

Life for the stay is hard, but several animal-loving locals do feed them and give them water, taking care of them. Occasionally, though, a stray gets a break and someone takes them into their home. On my block a little stray puppy, the only survivor of his litter, was gathered up by a young women in her 20's. "I will take him home and care for him," I heard her say to her friend as I walked by. Then there is Dandylion, a little fluff of a kitten that my colleagues found on a street corner curled up next to a piece of bread. Well, he (yes, he) batted those baby-blues and captured the kids' hearts who in turn gave eager/hopeful looks to their parents who gave in and brought the kitty home. This little fluff-ball now has a loving family and is thriving. :)

Thanks for joining me on this walk through the city, discovering the furry little critters and their quirks. (And no comments about it being just a little bit pathetic that I pay so much attention to the strays... I'm an animal-lover... I can't help it.) ;)

Day 11: $35.56 and counting.

HOT cold HOT cold HOT...

On my walk this morning I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw "39C" on the digital temp display in front of a bank. (OK, for the US folks, that translates to 102F... aka. HOT). And it was only 8:45am! It was a lllooooonnnngggg hot walk to work this morning. With the 50+ humidity sweat was dripping into my eyes (not pleasant!) after only 1 mile. At one point when passing a local car wash I was tempted to go in and beg them to turn the hose on me (like the guy on the front page of the local paper).... I resisted, though, and then walked through a sprinkler by "accident".

The news reports that a cold front with temps in the 20s (70s) and high winds should hit today. As I walked to work you could feel the turmoil in the air as the leading edge of it had already arrived. Even though it was hot I'd inexplicably find myself hitting a pocket of cooler air on occasion. The breeze too was another mixed bag as it would carry at times warm stale air and then later be edged with a chill. The local papers headline really described it well, "The weather's playing games with you: Hot-Cold!"

It's now some four hours after I started writing this blog and the wind has picked up significantly, dropping the temp a good 20F (6C). Ahhhh. It's supposed to be much cooler today and tomorrow before heating up again by the weekend. ::::chuckle:::: One thing's for sure: I'll never get bored with the weather here--such variety. I'm glad I'm packing my umbrella for that walk home today! :)

When it does get hot here in the city it's nice to know there are drinking fountains available at various points all over town. This is something I've always appreciated about Skopje's city plan and have gratefully quenched my thirst on several occasions. Uh, that is until this morning when I saw this sweet-looking stray with paws resting on the brim and mouth planted right on top of the water-source lapping up as much as she could. (Poor thing was hot and very thirsty!) I just may make sure to carry a bottle of water from home from now on!

Thank you for taking this walk with me.

Day 10: $33.41 and counting

The Galichnik Wedding--Travelogue

The Galichnik wedding is a major cultural event that happens every year in the days around St. Peter's day (July 13th... aka yesterday) in a small mountain village for which the wedding is named. Several years ago I travelled with some friends to see the opening dances of the celebration. It was quite an experience.

To get there we drove through some amazing landscape behind Mt. Mavrovo including a high dry desert-like place that reminded me of California. There at one point we saw hundreds of fluffy off-white sheep descending the hills with the voice of the shepherds guiding them. It was an amazingly gorgeous gentle and flowy site. Even though they were sheep, it gave me an visual picture of perhaps what Solomon meant when he said, "Your hair is like a flock of goats decending from Gilead."

After coming up out of the high valley the road took us through twists and turns of heavy forest until finally we arrived in the small village of Galichnik, nestled there in the mountains. It was a very quaint village with one main street through town and the homes tucked away on dizzying slopes.

Like the old dirt road that once led to the village, life is hard and twisty for the locals there. In the winter times they can get snowed in for weeks and months. There's not much to attract tourism throughout the year either and I read recently that as a sad result the one and only hotel has had to close. The one day a year the village seems to rely on for it's survival is the Galichnik Wedding and the hundreds (thousands?) of people who come to see it.

The people of this village try to earn a living for their families back home as migrant workers for most of the year. Some work as far away as Germany. Though each year they all try to make it back to their families by the middle of July, on St. Peter's Day. This is a greatly anticipated time as the village looks to the road to see once again the faces of their loved ones, and, for the young women, the young men they whom they will marry. This is how the Galichnik wedding was born over a century ago.

Back in the 70's the dirt road was paved and this long-standing tradition was made into an official cultural event in an effort to draw in tourism as well as to preserve the heritage of songs, ceremony and dance of the region. Dances like the "teshkoto" (Тешкото) "a symbol of the difficulties and invincible clever people much suffered but always successfully passing over the various troubles in the period covered with a web-net" (quote from MyMacedonia). All the participants in the wedding ceremony and events are dressed in the traditional national dress of the area.

My friends and I were there for the first day of this 3-day event. As we'd arrived early we sat at a local cafe and enjoyed good conversation and coffee while breathing in the fresh pine-scented mountain air. Ahhhh. While sitting there a couple people came up who knew one of my friends. They are from Galichnik and like many others had returned home for Petrov Den. We joined them for a nice walk along a mountain trail with some breath-taking views.

At one point we came across a rock that had an indentation in it. They said it was "God's footprint" on this place of earth. There was more to the story, but sadly I've forgotton it. I did take a picture of it as you can see. :)

Late into the summer day you begin to hear the rhythmic percussion of the drums echoing through the mountains. Young men had been practicing their dances earlier in the day, but with these drums you knew the main procession was coming and that the ceremonies will soon begin. Spectators gather in the stone ampitheater above the main village fountain and at the base of the church while dozens of men and women in national dress of reds, golds and beige take their mark.



At this point the bride and groom tie a flower boquet to the top of a Macedonian flag, which is then displayed prominately on the grooms house. Bang! Bang! Bang! The grooms father (?) fires the shotgun into the air and the dance of the mother-in-law begins where she leads while holding flower-decorated bread on her head and a pitcher jug in her hands. Next follows the teshkoto dance mentioned above. Teshkoto means "the difficult one" and we could see why... among the dances amazing moves is a balancing act on the drum. After this there are more dances and then the bride is taken to the three fountains. We missed this last part, though, because it was well beyond dusk and we needed to get back to town. My hope it to make it back to see this whole three-day event perhaps next year.

Below is a video from my first visit there in 2003. It begins with the sound of drums echoing in the mountains and then moves on to show some of the dances.

Here's some sites with more info on this cultural event:
http://www.culture.in.mk/story.asp?id=4029
http://www.tripology.com/travel/vacation-macedonia-destination-wedding-traditional-galichnik-wedding-in-macedonia-421/
http://www.mymacedonia.net/links/galichnik.htm

Day 9: $29.11 and counting.

GCF Walk: Week 2 Reflections

Highlight of the week include meeting that nice family and when I went back to deliver the photos they invited me to sit and enjoy some juice, some other fruits of their garden and some really enjoyable conversation. They've even asked me to visit again. I see the beginnings of a nice friendship. :)

Lowlight of the week was sweating my hair wet both to and from work each day as a heat-wave descended upon the Balkans. Though even that was made into a fun moment because I came across this little gem of graffiti. It perfectly captured how I felt and just what I wanted to do on those very hot days! :)

Thank you so much for taking this walk with me. It's been really interesting and encouraging to hear from people about how they've been inspired to think of creative ways to save some $$ as well. Honestly, it brings new meaning to "Living the Call Together." Let's keep up the good work! :)

Week 1: $10.78
Week 2: $18.33
Total to date: 27 miles and $29.11

Would you be willing to match that in giving to the GCF?

Street Signs With Significant Names

In contrast to the US where street signs are prominently displayed on street corners and the numbers spray-painted on the gutter, the street signs here are not so easy to find.

They are a navy blue with white lettering and typically posted on the sides of buildings, gates or fences. The numbers are small squares in the same coloring. The trouble is that they're not so easy to see from the street. However, now that I'm walking to and from work each day I'm actually finding them!

Something that has fascinated me about the different signs are the names that they bear. Here's some examples of the types of people, events and places the streets are named for:

"Hristo Smirnenski" - a famous Bulgarian poet from the early 1900s

"Ivo Lola Ribar" and "Partizanska" for a Croatian man and a group Yugoslav communists that fought against the Axis powers of WWII

Revolutionary leaders like Vladimir Lenin ("Ленинова") and Gotse Delchev (led revolt against Ottoman Empire)

US Presidents Franklin Rosevelt ("Fr. Ruzvelt") and John Kennedy. I've even heard rumors about naming a street after President George W Bush as a "thank you" to the US for recognizing Macedonia's constitutional name.

Notable days in history like the Ilinden Uprising of August 2, 1903 where revolutionaries siezed control of Krushevo from the Ottoman Empire. It was summarily crushed 10 days later but in 1944 on that same date the state of Macedonia was born and became part of the Yugoslav Federation.

October 11, 1941("Oktomvri") which began Macedonia's fight for freedom from Bulgarian occupation

May 9th for WWII's Victory Day when the Germans surrendered to Russia

Religious holidays like July 13th ("13 Јули") known as Petrov Den or St. Peter's Day.

"Havanska," "Vashanska," "Oslo" and "Londonska" are in a neighborhood where all the streets are named after cities of countries that helped Skopje to rebuild after the devestating 1963 earthquake that leveled about 70% of the city.

From the different names of streets throughout the city one gets a pretty good idea of what things, events or people are held of high cultural import to the locals. As I pondered over this while walking to work this morning the song "Where the Streets Have No Name" by U2 kept coming to mind. Bono apparently wrote it in response to the fact that in Belfast one could know what religion a person was simply by knowing the name of the street on which they lived and longed for a place where the streets had no name.

For some reason that song, the idea of a place where the streets have no name, makes me think of heaven as such a place. I like the idea that the great street of gold would have no name because the Name above all names will be there. Yet the gates will have the names of the 12 tribes of Israel and the apostles' names will be inscribed on the walls' foundations (Rev 21:12-14). So I wonder if the streets may have names after all? Ones that, like those here in Skopje, testify of the City's import, it's values, it's culture. Names like "Faith," "Hope," and "Love." Or maybe they would be descriptors of the One like "King of Kings," and "The God Who Sees." Who knows... One thing I do know is that I look forward to walking those particular streets every day for eternity. How about you?

Thank you for taking this journey with me.

Day 8: $26.96 and counting.