Well folks, 12 months of Peace Corps are officially down,
with at least 15 months left to go!
I feel so blessed to have rung in this milestone with
friends old and new. I had the fortunate
of hosting four American friends throughout the summer, introducing them to my
home, my village, new friends, and putting them to work in my gardenJ. This, by the way is producing an ABUNDANT
fall harvest of beets the size of my head, persevering carrots, honeydew melon
(on accident), 3 types of peppers, and tomatoes. The 20 tomato plants are outta control – I can’t
keep up with all of them! Lesson learned
for next spring – a few tomato plants will do.
Big thanks to my American visitors who worked in my garden and made the
fall harvest possible: Patrick, Mariah, and Bethany. Carla – did I ever put you to work in my
garden or did I just pamper you the whole time?
Highlights of my first Peace Corps year below, and picture
recap above:
Work Stats:
·
10 grants submitted, ranging from $4,000.00 to €600,000.00
for both local and cross-border projects with Greece and Albania relating to
rural tourism, culture, air quality, waste management, sustainable energy and
development, health, and pre-school renovation.
·
5 American connections made for the Mayor of
Novaci (my boss) who now refers to me as the official Ambassador for the
Municipality of Novaci. One recent meeting
with an American businessman resulted in a potential partnership project that seeks
to connect Macedonia’s successful Food Industry Company “Vitaminka” with local
farmers in Macedonia, Novaci included. Vitaminka currently sources needed crops from countries
outside of Macedonia, while local farmers are struggling to make ends
meet. This project would bring it back
to local.
·
3 current projects in the works: seeking
innovative, green technology to tackle 3 immediate issues in our Municipality:
sewage system, waste water treatment plant, and communal waste disposal. I’m
interested especially in waste water/waste to energy technology.
o The
problem in our Municipality: there is 1 stinky, unregulated landfill sprawling
with waste, among countless illegal dump sites throughout the otherwise
pristine mountains and valleys of our region;
o Only
1 of the 41 villages has infrastructure for a sewer system (mine);
o There
is no waste water treatment plant to treat sewage, rendering the one sewage
system in my village useless for the time being. Most people use outhouses here; my waste goes
into a hole by my house with haphazard roofing material laid over it. Awesome.
o Any
ideas? Please holler!
·
2 new leadership positions for the upcoming year:
Managing Editor of Pauza magazine (Peace Corps Macedonia’s quarterly publication;
and Board Member for the Environment Committee, made up of Peace Corps
Volunteers and put on a nation-wide forum this spring for Macedonian stakeholders
to collaborate on the very urgent and important topic of “Waste Management” for
the country. Igorche and 2 Directors of Novaci’s local waste management company
joined me for the successful event.
·
1 project underway: “Healthy Kids = Healthy
Environment” at the local Bambi pre-school and includes: renovation of the building,
educational seminars for parents, increased participation of parents in early
childhood education, purchase of new playground equipment (merry-go-round!),
and the donation of a new lawn mower from local residents. Mariah and Bethany helped in the building
renovation while visiting!
Personal Stats:
·
98% over my fear of spiders
·
160 (minimum) 60-minute living room workouts,
from Bob Harper videos to simply jumping around my living room trying not to go
crazy for an hour. How I long for the Kratovo
days of running through the mountains! My
new village is flat and filled with dangerous dogs that frightened me the first
(and only) time I ever tried to run here.
To my boyfriend’s credit, he has thankfully agreed to run with me 6
times this year on an old dirt road by the Greek border that we have to drive
to. Formerly a smoker and non-runner (to
Macedonians, running is just WEIRD and smoking is simply a MUST), Igorche has
now quit smoking for several months and even mentioned to me that he’s beginning
to like this running thing… Hip Hip!
·
70 jars of pickles, tomato sauce, ajvar red
pepper pesto, and peaches that I’ve helped can with Igorche’s mom this past
week. In addition: Mariah and Bethany
helped me string up 3 strands of peppers to dry for winter dishes and Mariah
made a freezer full of spaghetti sauce for me from my overly zealous tomatoes. Winter, here I come!
·
10 months – time it took for me to finally feel
comfortable in the Macedonian language; or rather, I no longer dread the
personal humiliation of not knowing what someone is saying, no matter how many
times they repeat it (or how LOUD they say it)
·
6 notable “Posh” Corps problems thus far:
o 1.Had
to purchase 1st hair dryer of my life, because it’s taboo to leave
the house with a wet head;
o 2.
Pantyhose is a MUSTL;
o 3.
Stiletto heels are the in-thing in my region – so I purchased my first pair to
better fit in with the locals. Turns out the ones I bought have better traction
than my firefighting boots, so I used them to walk to work in the snow;
o 4.
The custom-suit made for me at work and paid for by the Municipality is too
tight (must’ve been sucking in when the tailor measured me);
o 5.
Internet was done for the past 6 weeks at my house (despite Macedonia being the
first “wireless” country in the world);
o 6.
Frequent power outages throughout the village force us employees at the
Municipality to take several hour coffee and chit chat breaks. Oh, darn. J
·
6 European countries traveled to since arrival:
Austria, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Macedonia J
·
1 new continent visited: Asia!! Was there to help my Auntie Carla track down
the birthplace and mysterious history of her Turkish grandfather Aladdin
Hussein who emigrated from Turkey to Butte, Montana in the early 1900’s.
·
1 (last, but not least) very thoughtful
Macedonian man who has helped me feel more at home in this new culture and work
place than I could have ever imagined.
My boyfriend of 9 months, Igorche. Благодарам многу Игорче!
Lots of LOVE from Macedonia,
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