Shalakin My Head

Went to the store tonight to buy some hairspray... well, I ended up asking for whipped cream for my hair instead! You see, the word for hairspray is "Laq" and the way I remember the word is to think about shaLAQ'n my head... but then if you accidentally shorten that word (like I did tonight) you end up asking for "shlak" (шлаг) which is the word for whipped cream. So that's how I ended up asking for whipped cream for my head!

Gotta love language bloopers! They are pure entertainment (especially for my local friends). =)

Billboard... of Death!

Sometimes a billboard is so striking that I just can't resist taking a picture and sharing it. This one, complete with "death" holding not only the sickle but a checkered finish-line flag, is no exception. The message?

"Drive rashly, arrive prematurely!"

Wow, that makes for quite the billboard statement as well as a comment on driving in Skopje. Just maybe defensive driving is in our future, then, rather than offensive. That'd be a nice change. =)

Language Woes & Getting the Wrong Medication

As I type this my arm is still sore and sporting a nasty bruise from the IV that was stuck into it earlier this morning. Doctor visits are usually all in Macedonian and used to be a confidence booster for me and language learning... but thanks to a serious miscomunication I learned the hard way that I've got a ways to go.

My specialist in the US always told me that with my mix of allergies and asthma I should never take a drug that is related to Penicillin as it will always make my asthma much worse. I thought I'd communicated this to the doctor succinctly on Monday, including mentioning a popular brand of antibiotic that I musn't take. She assured me that what she was prescribing me would be OK.

Well, the next day, Tuesday, after taking the third dosage I just wasn't getting any better. Infact, my asthma was worse and headed towards acute. So I pulled out the package to do some reading.... only to find I'd been taking the exact thing I couldn't!! I was bewildered because I'd told her I couldn't take that... but then I realized that I must have said it wrong or something, or she thought I said I could instead of couldn't.

A quick call to the hospital and explaination to the receptionist resulted in her calling the doctor and then getting me hooked up with her cell phone number. After a lengthy conversation, and my asthma getting worse by the moment thanks to the anxiety I was feeling about taking the wrong med, we agreed that I should run down to the corner pharmacy (aka Apteka) and explain the situation, show them my prescription and then have them call the doctor. 20 minutes later, and a few tears of shear relief, I was sliping/sliding my way on the iced-over sidewalk in the figid night air and back home with the new antibiotic in hand.

This morning I went back to the hospital for a check-up with the doctor. After listening to my lungs she informed me that I needed an "infusia" and I thought maybe it would be breathing through a nebulizer for a while (an airiated-misty form of recieving medicine into the lungs). Nope. It was an IV and oooww was it painful! If I'm not better tomorrow I'll have to get another one. Please pray that I'm better and don't have to!!

Talking to the doctor both on Tuesday and again today it was clear that we'd just completely misunderstood each other. I'd thought I'd been clear and so had she, but in language learning you learn that that's not always true.

Lessons learned:

1. When going to the doctor always make sure there is a translator available to make sure that my "flawless" Macedonian is actually not flawed. And so that what the doctor is saying is completely clear with little to no gray.

2. Don't just blindly trust that the doctor prescribed the right thing, because like in my case they may have understood you to say "could" instead of "couldn't". Always read up on the medicine before taking it -- or at least reading the package to be sure that you're not taking something you know you shouldn't.

Balkan Shopping: 8 Facts for 08-08-08

One of the things I'm most often asked is, "What's the shopping like in Macedonia?" Well, on this second day of a series of blogs to answer that question, and in honor of it being 08-08-08, I thought it would be fun to share 8 little facts about shopping here in Skopje:

1. Upon entering a store you will be greeted, "Повелете?!" ("povelete" meaning "hello may I help you?"), and then promptly followed around the store... closely like a shadow. This is purely out of polite courtesy so that they're there to help you or answer any questions you may have.
2. At Vero (one of the supermarkets) you have to insert a coin to get a shopping cart... you get your money back when the cart is returned.
3. Fruit and veggies don't get weighed and priced at the check-stand, you have to get it done in the produce section of the supermarket.
4. The best place to get fruit and vegetables is in the green markets (like farmer's markets) located in several key areas around town.
5. Speaking of produce, every different kind of fruit and vegetable gets its own plastic bag... that means you can leave the green market with 20 different items in 20 different bags... vendors don't really like to consolidate
6. Little stores tend to specialize in one thing and several different types tend to be grouped together. For example, the picture with red car includes: 2 fish markets, a mini-mart, a cheese & deli-meat place, a butcher, a hardware store and an appliance store... that is, in addition to the street vendor selling brooms, dried flowers and gourds among other things.
7. Most clothing items are sized the US equivalent of 0-7 and the stores usually only have one size/color available of each item.
8. The secret to insuring that "specialty items" (aka. things that we really like from back home) become regular? Be sure to buy a couple of the items when they first appear in some small corner of the store. If enough people do this, the owners realize that the item will sell well and will order larger quantities, put them in a more predominate place, and drop the price. Here's just some of the items for which this strategy has been a success: tortillas, Chinese food items, brown sugar, dried cranberries and fresh cilantro. :)

This is just a brief introduction to some little facts of shopping here in Skopje. More detail and interesting facts will be included in upcoming blogs... just wait until I take you to visit the butcher! :)

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.

Local Fish Flavor

I left my apartment at 8am this morning, a little late if I wanted to miss the heat, but I had a scheduled stop at a local fish market and wanted to be sure they were open.

If you haven't already guessed, I really enjoy taking photos, especially of local people and landscape. When I do take pictures of locals I always try to get them a copy. So, this morning I deliberately planned my route to go by this fish market. I placed the picture in my backpack and headed out the door to deliver this fun photo to these happy-looking gents on my way to work.

The man on the left looked at my strangely as I stopped in front of him with a smile of recognition and opened my backpack. But his demeanor totally changed when I gave him the photo. He couldn't stop looking at it. I told him that I was sorry this was so late in coming but that I am so happy to finally be able to give it to him. :)

In the picture you will notice the men standing proud in front of the white-ish fish in the middle. Well, that's the famed "Ohrid Trout" that is said to be found only in Lake Ohrid here in Macedonia. They even opened the glass case for me so I could get it in the picture. Now I have tried it once and didn't really like it, but I'm not that big a fan of trout anyways. The person I was with, though, loved it. So there you go! If you like trout come to Macedonia to try thier specialty. :)

::::language interlude::::

Another fish that's sold a lot of here is Carp.... the word for it in Macedonian is... um.... well, let's just say you switch the "a" with the "r". Really. I'm not joking. Good thing I don't like carp and so am never faced with having to order it in Macedonian. ;)

::::end language interlude::::

45 minutes after dropping off the photo and a nice conversation I arrived at the office in a panting red-faced pool of sweat. It was a very hot walk today. I must leave earlier in the morning next time.

Thank you for coming along with me and for your giving to the GCF. Like I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, I've saved our budget $8.60 so far. Are you willing to match that savings in giving??? Leave me a comment to let me know (annonymous, of course). Or maybe even leave a comment that you're praying. I'd appreciate the encouragement. :)

Day 3: $8.60 and counting

"I wish you were dead!" I said with a smile.

Here in the Balkans we're enduring the latest heatwave... is it too soon to wish summer were over?? Well, yesterday morning after a pleasant chat with my market guy I said "ciao" and then added a "Stay Cool!"

"Остани ладен!"

:::language learning moment alert:::

Apparently that didn't translate the way I'd intended as he responded with hearty laughs and called me back over. He chuckled as he so gently informed me that basically I'd just wished him dead. Doh! The phrase I used, while a literal translation of "stay cool," meant rather "Go to die!" or "Become cold like death!" or "Stay in the ground like a dead man!"

Sigh... and here I thought I was just wishing him a cooler more pleasant day. He said it was better to wish someone Добар живот or "Good life!" So I sheepishly wished him "good health and life" and bade my goodbye.

I'm pretty sure he and his wife will have a good laugh about that language blooper for quite a while. On the other hand, I'm so thankful for locals like them who have such a keen interest in me learning their language and learning it right. :)

Picture source: http://snoopygift.com... click on picture for link. :)

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