Swiss Pickled....?

OK, I will refrain from commenting on the Swiss chocolate and Swiss cheese that I'm enjoying while here in Switzerland and instead share a new food. See those burnt orange cubes? Well, several of us tried them and couldn't quite figure out what they were, but they certainly packed a flavor punch of different spices (like cinnamon and ginger) and were delicious. Well, we asked the chef and she said they were pickled pumpkin! Who knew?! She then went on to say that they'd had a huge crop this year and she really doesn't like making the same things over and over and prefer making new and different things. So would you believe that the pickled pumpkin was an experiment? Oh that all my cooking experiments come out as good! Now... how to I talk her out of the recipe... hmm......

Switzerland, Starbuck's and Silence

This morning a colleague and I took off for a conference in Switzerland! I love Skopje, but I'm SO GLAD to get outta "Dodge" for a while.

I handed my vehicle off to another colleague who then dropped us off at the airport... of course it was as I was pulling out my passport for check-in that I'd realized I'd forgotten to give him the car documents! So I franticaly called him and luckily it wasn't too big of a hassle for him to turn around and come back... thank goodness, because he needs those documents to get some work done on the car while I'm gone! :)

Aside from that our travels went really smoothly. The skies were clear for quite a while and as you can see from above, the view was breath-taking! We also met a really nice couple of Macedonians who were sitting in our same row. Then once we landed I got separated from my colleague in the shuttle bus and so ended up having more time to chat with the couple who were quite delighted and surprised that I spoke Macedonian. Actually, it was quite amuzing to watch the faces of the Macedonians around me as they too were intrigued by this American who could speak their langugage! Fun stuff.... there's just something about being able to communicate with people in their own language... I find that I'm more aware of how comforting and encouraging that is especially now that I'm in a land where I know NADA... or neight (or however you spell that... in my defense, I took Spanish in high school instead of German...).

Anyways, it won't come as any surprise to those who know me well that after we purchased our train tickets our first stop was at Starbuck's! Three years ago this particular Starbuck's was just a teaser behind a barrier as it was just being built... so I was SO happy that it was open! "Hello, my name is Carolyn and I'm a coffee addict." Frankly I've been craving good coffee for several weeks... so you can imagine that I savored each sip!

Down on the train platform two other ladies arrived that we knew and who were going to the same conference! Due to unforseen circumstances (delayed flights, missed train) we all ended up on the same train. That was really nice! Especially as we had the next hour to catch up with one another. Thanks to Swiss timing, our ride was there waiting for us as our train arrived and then ferried us up the mountian to where I now sit typing this blog and looking out at the wonder that is a snowy Switzerland.

And I LOVE how quiet it is!! I'm a country girl at heart and so the noise of the city has always been something I've had to work to get used to. Something deep inside me relaxes when I'm in beautiful and peaceful places like this... been like that since I was a kid and we'd go camping every summer.... ::::exhaling:::: I'm so looking forward to this week. Yes, it will be some intense and deep training... but it's also a retreat... and I'm really looking forward to spending long and uninterrupted time with my King as I learn and He teaches me. =)

Thank you for praying for me during this time... I will update things as I can along the way.

Gorilla in our Midst!... Say What?!?!

Driving to work the other morning I nearly had a car accident at this intersection as I and several other drivers and some pedestrians were seriously distracted (and quite a bit amused) at this site! I just couldn't believe there was a mangled gorrilla on the side of the road and so took a double take (or two)! Ironically, he's only a block from the City Zoo. Buster (ya, I had to name him) was only there for one day, but it sure was a sight to see (and, YES, I just had to pull over, park and get out my camera). Just another day here in the Balkans! =)

I'd Rather be Shoveling Snow

As I'm huddled in the new office with no air-conditioning, lamenting the Skopje summer heat (and the sweat that comes with it), I can't help but dream of March in Wyoming and being snowed in for two days by "the blizzard of the season." [The picture below was taken at 5am after the snow had been blowing strongly and horizontally for 14 hours already!]

Oh it was so nice! Nestled in a warm log house with my drukarki (closest friends), cooking chili and cornbread, figuring out a puzzle, swooning over Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice and laughing hysterically at Nacho Libre taking off on his scooter. We also went out to play in the snow... yes, in the blizzard... we can only imagine the neighbors looking at us and collectively shaking their heads at our stupidity and muttering, "city folk."

Being snowed in was not without it's challenges, though. The septic system backed up, but we were able to fix it by finding... er... the poor little mice family that had given their lives to clog it up in the first place. Also, a day after the storm while rushing outside to catch the snowplow before it bypassed our driveway... Whoop! Slip! Clunk! My foot slipped on the steps and Smack! went my back onto the wooden planks. I was up in moments, though, because if we didn't catch him to plow our driveway we'd be locked in for even longer. The driver kindly plowed our driveway and my back turned out to be no worse for the wear. =)
Ah! Good times were those spent with my friends on that road trip to Wyoming.

Sigh... the landlord just stopped by and snapped me back from my daydreaming of cooler days. The phone guys are here to install our landline. It's great to have the landline, but honestly, I'd rather be shoveling snow right now. =)

Customs and Lines

You see them, first time travelers, disheveled, wrinkled and looking as wide-eyed as a deer in headlights while trying to negotiate their way through immigration, aka. Customs. Many times I've wished they'd actually hand out a list of "Customs" for these newbie visitors if only to ease their nervousness.

Last week while waiting in the "Foreign Residents" line at the airport, I reflected back to when I myself was one of those newbies. It was 2001, just a year after the crisis in Kosovo and I was here with a short term group to help with humanitarian aid and teaching English. We'd been traveling for about 36 hours, which included an overnight in the Zurich airport, and arrived tired and very hot as it was 100+ degrees outside.

As we stood in the customs line, not really sure if we'd picked the right one, I felt as if I'd followed the rabbit down the hole into wonderland... or rather, "where am I again" land". Everyone around spoke a different language, there were strange sights, smells and, well, everything was different... I did mention this was my first time in Eastern Europe, right?

Anyways, what got me thinking about all this last week was due to the EXTRA TIME I had to wait and wait and wait in the customs line... and how 8 years ago when waiting in this same line I unwittingly started a tradition that continues to this day: I pick the wrong line and always seem to be one of the LAST FOUR people on the plane to be processed. Always. It's like Murphy's Law or something.

Yes.... I am writing a blog on this.... I claim sleep-deprivation and jet-lag! ;)

It never fails... each time I return to Skopje I end up picking the wrong line at customs... this time I thought I'd picked a good one as it was moving quickly and there were at least 30 people behind me. I thought, "Yeah, this looks great! I just may break the vicious cycle of wrong-line-picking."

Well, no sooner had I thought that than I noticed a group of "foreigners" (aka non-locals) being given the VIP treatment and being escorted to the front of MY LINE! (The people were arriving for some special event happening that was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture or something.) When all is said and done, I was again one of the last people to make it through customs. Even the 30 or so people behind me managed to maneuver to another line. :(

The upside of all this, though, was that due to the little green ribbon I tied to each of my pieces of luggage, an airport worker had removed each of my suitcases from the baggage claim belt and stacked them neatly on a cart! So when I got through customs (and walked by the table with the Swine Flu hand-outs) my luggage was ready to go! So, no complaints about waiting this time.

Besides, getting in the wrong line almost seems nostalgic at this point anyways. ;) My own personal Macedonian-entry-custom, I supposed one could say.

*******

Note: Some may wonder about me using this image again.... well, it's become a fond image for me to use with anything refering to waiting in line. So, as one tradition/custom continues, so does another. ;)

Cultural Clues for Living in the Balkans

As I was hurrying to blow-dry my hair before heading down to the store just to buy some eggs (so as not to shock the locals by being outside with wet hair), I thought it would be fun to share some of the cultural clues for living here in the Balkans.

• Yellow lights can mean either "go faster" or "go" depending upon which color comes next (red or green respectively)
• Parking on sidewalks is normal
• Ladies, don't get in the front seat of a taxi or the driver may try his best pick-up line on you
• Keep your shoes clean at all times (keeping a brush by the door is handy)
• Leave your shoes at the door (hostesses will provide slippers if needed, or you can bring your own)
• Have house shoes (slippers) available for your house guests
• Air-conditioning can give you a head ache and is the cause of neck and back pain
• Drafts (aka cross-breezes) will make you sick
• Ladies, don't sit on concrete without a sweater or cardboard beneath you or your ovaries will dry up
• Going outside with wet hair will make you sick (even if it's 100+ degrees)
• Being outside with wet hair won't make you sick if you're on the beach and swimming
• If shopping for produce at the supermarket be sure to have them price it for you BEFORE going to the checkout
• Paper or plas..er..pennies?? Thanks to a new law, produce baggies and check-out bags are paper (and with no handles!)... if you want plastic in the produce section: SOL; plastic at checkout? 3 Denars please. This applies everywhere: corner stores and even fast food places. So I'd suggest bringing your own bag. Must say, though, this is very green. :)
• Please don't talk loudly while walking in public or yell across the street to your buddies
• Don't make eye contact and smile at everyone you walk past; however, if you know the person, be prepared to stop, shake hands and chat for a couple of minutes... a simple nod of recognition won't do
• When in the outdoor market it's not necessary to answer each vendor with "no thank you" when they offer a "povelete?" [ha ha... I did that one a lot when I first got here and even now after 6 years am tempted...]
• Bring flowers or chocolate or some other small gift when visiting someone for the first time (or after a long time). Just be sure the flowers are in uneven numbers. Even numbers are reserved solely for condolences and funerals.
• When visiting, be sure to shake hands and greet each person in the room starting with the oldest and/or most important person.
• When people come to visit, be sure to immediately offer them something to drink (juice, coffee, tea... water as last resort) and put out something salty (like nuts) and/or sweet (chocolate or cookies) on the table.
• Salty and sweet food items are usually kept separate.. not served on the same plate (no sweet potatoes with that turkey!) and in buffets are usually placed on opposite sides of the table or on a different table altogether.
• Spitting in public is against the law and could cost you €50.

Now that you have some cultural clues for the Balkans... Come visit me and we'll put them into practice! =)

Making Ajvar for a Team Meeting

Yesterday Christine and I drove down to Bitola to hang with some colleagues and to make a local specialty called Ajvar (pr.. "Aye-var"). When we left Skopje it was sunny with a kiss of warmth in the air, but halfway to Bitola the sky opened and it began to rain. And rain. And rain. I also realized it was high time I changed the windshield wipers as the harder it rained the harder it was to see!

Arriving in Bitola we got right to work on coring and roasting 75 kilos (aka 165 lbs!) of vibrant red peppers. Oh! Wish you could smell the wonderful fragrance that they make as they're sizzling on the stove. We enjoyed some great conversation and laughter under a patio umbrella as the rain continued to come down. (Cracking walnuts for roasting also in pic below).

Their landlords would pop in one and another at different times to say hello and to watch us Americans try our hand at a Balkan specialty. Mark let me take over roasting while he and his landlords son chatted over by the apple tree (while sampling a few fresh from the tree as well). I really enjoy roasting the peppers, though usually it's the men who do it. At one point I was roasting and Christine and Becky were coring as Mark brought us more peppers. I can only imagine how odd that must have looked to the locals! ;)

About 6:30 the gals and I left Mark to the roasting and headed to the church for women's bible study. Christine and I were put a little on the spot to lead the song-time... um.. in Macedonian. I must say that was a first for me. Usually I'm leading songs in English for the International Church, but this was a really great experience. Afterwards we all had some great discussion times about living our lives as lights to those around us. We ended with prayer for our families and then the gals and I returned home to find that Mark had just finished roasting the second bag of peppers.

Today we have 25 kilos left of peppers to roast as well as a bag of eggplant. This batch of peppers will be a bit different, though. You see, one of the discussions we had yesterday was if coring the peppers before roasting is better than leaving the stems on for roasting and coring and de-seeding afterwards. Every Macedonian will tell you something different (even about peeling... sweat the roasted peppers in a plastic bag but peel them while they're warm vs. sweat them overnight). Anyways, today we roast with stems and will compare our experience with yesterday. :)

Mark and Pattie are joining us today as well and we'll be having a team meeting while roasting and peeling peppers. I must say, this will be the funnest team meeting I think we've ever had. ;)

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

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.

Piles & Piles of Watermelons

Each day on my walk I pass by several street-vendors and right now they're piled high and wide with kilos and kilos of watermelons grown right here in Macedonia. Welcome to the land of seasonal fruit!

First out in the late spring were the strawberries. A couple weeks ago it was cherries. Right now it's apricots. And all summer long??? It's watermelon. Sweet. Juicy. Watermelon. Also known as Љубеница (Ljubenitsa). Honestly the best I've ever had has been right here in Macedonia. (And they're not even seedless.)

Doesn't this picture just simply make your mouth water?!? It was taken a couple years ago by an SPD district short-termer. Many thanks to J.Kennedy for sharing this photo. :)

Last night I enjoyed my first mouth-watering taste this season right before worship practice. Some friends were in the church kitchen having a late lunch and offered me some of their lovely fruit. It was soooooo good. Even better, though, was the easy chatting about the weather (aka how HOT it's been), if and where we're planning on going on vacation this summer and about stone dolls and waterfalls and other places of interest around the country. Good times.

The next crop of seasonal fruit that I'm looking forward to are the figs that will fill the vendors stalls next month. But that's another blog. Speaking of other blogs, the idea of eating and cooking seasonally was blogged quite eloquently by a colleague and friend of mine. You can find it here.

Passing these piles and piles of watermelons each day I'm inspired and further motivated to pray for the day when we'll see piles and piles of an altogether different type of fruit. Will you join me?

Thank you for walking and praying with me.

Day 7: $22.66 and counting.

The Tongue King: a little tongue-in-cheek

In honor of Euro 2008 and with tongue firmly planted in cheek, I'd like to share with you about Lällekönig (aka The Tongue King of Basel, Switzerland)... Basel being one of the venues for the football (aka soccer) finals.

"And there is the tongue king," Val stated proudly while gesturing towards the figure prominently perched upon the "Greater Basel" building with its' gaze and... er... tongue projected across the Rhine towards "Lesser Basel."

Seriously?? I thought she was kidding at first, but, no, there he was looking like a cat with a hairball or rather a dog with peanut butter! Apparently there's quite a rivalrous history between two sides of Basel... obviously... I mean, one side went so far as to mount a mechanical head in 1640(!) that uses a clock mechanism to constantly roll its' eyes and stick it's tongue out at the other side. I wonder if the designers snickered mischeviously? I wonder if they had any clue that it would still be there almost 400 years later?!?! (See video at end of blog... ok, it's a replica, but the original is in a museum.)

Oh please... :::gasping for breath::: give me a moment while I have a laughter break and can't type.

OK, in honor of Euro 2008, let's take it out of the historical city rivalry realm and put it onto the soccer... er... football field... Each night I hear the passionate "YEEAAAAHHH!!!" cheers or disappointed "ohhhh!!"s from the dozen or so coffee/sports-bars around my apartment building... and I can always tell who the locals are rooting for and who they are... uh... sticking their tongue out at.

Last night they were disappointed that Russia lost to Spain... and before that when Turkey lost to Germany (yet they cheered for Croatia against Turkey... hmm..). Makes me wonder who they'll cheer or jeer for this Sunday at the finals.

Anyways, thanks for joining me in the stretch of an attempt to tie the "Tongue King" to the Euro Finals. Now enjoy the video of the Lällekönig and laugh with me. :)

Stopped by the police... a fun experience. Really.

Driving back to Skopje from Kosovo on Friday with CQ and two potential workers in the car I got pulled over by a popcicle. (The police don't tail you here with lights and sirens, they simply hold up a red and yellow popcicle-looking thing and you're expected to immediately pull over.)

I greeted the officer with one of the five Albanian words I know, "Mirdeeta," and then proceeded to look completely lost as he started asking me all sorts of questions in Albanian. At that point I nervously (not scared nervous but "I don't know what you're saying" nervous) said, "Um... I'm sorry, I don't understand" then smiled helplessly.

"Oh!" he said with an equally lost look of "how am I going to get across what I need" before his look changed to quizical and he asked, "Ameriski??"

"Yes, I'm American," I said as I began digging for my papers.

Wide went his smile as he leaned in and pronounced with gusto, "Documents?? No Problem!" and waved for me to be on my way. "Sank you Amerika!" he said. I responded with my best attempt at saying "Guzuar Pavarsine" aka "Happy Independence." My pronunciation was totally pathetic, but he gave a gracious smile and another, "Bush Amerika sank you" and sent me on my way.

As we drove away Rob commented, "Wow, it's one thing to hear about it, but another all together to see it." (Referencing the love for Americans in Kosovo right now.) It's true. I'd heard about it, but this was my first experience with it... and it made getting stopped by the police a fun experience.

Pic from: www.veplast.com.ba/Products.htm