It has just occurred to me that I am learning the Macedonian language at a rate that is supposed to get me to a satisfactory level of conversational ability in another 5 weeks. That will be the same level I attained in German after two years of high school instruction plus two semesters of college instruction. Formulation of attaining basic conversational capabilities is frustrating and more grueling than I anticipated. Even after Those years of study in school and college, it took several months of living in and traveling throughout Germany on several occasions to actually have any confident capabilities to cope with everyday situations. Here I am, half-way through 11 weeks of daily Macedonian language instruction while living with a Macedonian family and I just might attain a level of proficiency in conversational Macedonian which I didn’t manage to attain in German until after all of the years of studies and traveling.
The language classes incorporate experiential exercises to drive home the understanding of the spoken word. Some of these are really quite funny while still being instructive.
Getting prepared for language class held in the local museum
Meanwhile, beyond the daily 4 hour torture of language class, we had regularly occurring classes on cross-culture studies and technical training to aid us in our soon-to-be assigned actual work sites.
- PC Trainees – 3rd week
Making presentations about Project Plan Management process
Other than that, life with my host family has been going well. I have managed to achieve with them an understanding that they are not my host parents, but more like my host siblings. This is because I am more like the посtаp браt (pronounced “postar brat”) – older brother to them, and their daughters are equivalent to being my nieces, as opposed to the family being my host parents and host siblings. After-all, I am about 15 years older than my host parents, which qualifies me to be their older brother by a long-shot. Heck, their daughters are younger than my children. Never-the-less, my host parents still occasionally treat me as a child. I am, after-all, speaking in simple, present tense declarative sentences much like a toddler. Sometimes it feels so embarrassing! Bye, hello, I am from America, I am an American, I am a volunteer from the Peace Corps, my wife is Mary, my daughter is Carolyn, my son is John, I like eating this. It is good. I want yogurt. I no want more. Etc. Oh! How nice it will be to one day have a normal adult conversation in this ancient language. It is scary to think that in five weeks I will be expected to take all of my possessions out of my host family’s home, drag them to a bus station across town and negotiate for a ticket while ON THE BUS for a trip to my work site which I have not yet been told. Yes, bus tickets are purchased on each bus. I will also have to change busses at one, or more places. The station not only does not sell tickets, it doesn’t even have schedules for the busses to various destinations. And, don’t even think about asking for connecting routes and times. The same holds true for trains. Don’t you remember that I said everyone knows everyone and everything? I have to ask people on the street when a bus might go to where ever I need to go, then go to the station and hope I can identify the bus I need to board. This just makes the experience all the more enjoyable. Then, if and when I finally do get to my intended destination, I will have to find my way from a bus station to my address, hope that my landlord is there and I will finally get into where ever I will live for the next two years. (Can I hear a “Yea!”?).
In the interim, I continue to marvel at the sights here in this ancient town where I am based for training and hope that you might enjoy some of the photos that I continue to take on my walks about town. I have added captions for the photos. This is a very special and impressive place, especially when considering the historical and cultural features.
Here are the links to my (Picasa) Web Albums so far:
September 2011 Photos:
October 2011 Photos:
I had an interesting Saturday today (10/15/11). I was going to go to the пазар (bazaar) to practice my language skills by asking prices of various fruits and vegetables but when Моне (Prnounced “Monay”), my host father, heard my intentions, he insisted that he take me. Well. I had a more typical Macedonian day as a result. We went toward the bazaar but before we could walk through the center of town, we encountered a close friend of Mоне. The three of us walked through some smaller side streets to a tiny café. Once there, they gave the owner their order and he placed a large platter of tomatoes, peppers and onions in the center of the table. Then, he proceeded to place a glass of carbonated water along with a shot glass of the Macedonian version of Ouzo in front of each of us. Okay, so we had a shot and a salad while I attempted to communicate in Macedonian. After that, we wound our way through town, stopping every hundred yards or so for greetings and introductions to everyone we came upon. Everyone was interested in meeting and welcoming “An American.” We finally made it to the bazaar and I had a so-so time asking various vendors the prices of various fruits and vegetables. The sights are fascinating. I even saw a woman selling supplies for making Rakija. Copper still parts being sold openly; who would have imagined this?
A copper still is for sale in the Bazaar
Upon leaving the bazaar, we received a call from my host mom, who was working this Saturday at her job in the lab of the town hospital. We needed to swing by there to give someone a ride into home. We went into the hospital where I was able to actually go into the lab where my host mom was working. A colleague of hers welcomed us and when we were seated in their lounge within the lab, we were given shots of an Albanian version of Rakija. A little cookie and a coke chaser accompanied the shot. A woman appeared and I attempted to converse in Macedonian. When I asked her if she was a doctor, she said, no, she was an administrator. Now, there was an experience I never had in the hospitals where I worked in America; walking into a functioning hospital lab while wearing street clothes, proceeding to a lounge within the lab and being given an alcoholic drink and then conversing matter-of-factly with an administrator (!). On the way out of the hospital, I was shown the X-Ray department. Here it is labeled the Roentgen (Рентген) Department.
Host mom working in hospital lab
- A “Rakija break” with a coke chaser in the hospital lab lounge
So, that was my experience today when all I had intended to do was to walk through town to the bazaar, and do some comparison pricing while practicing speaking in Macedonian.
The culture here is pleasantly amazing. Camaraderie abounds, hospitality is rampant, alcohol is openly produced by practically everyone and consumed at nearly every meal and during most casual social interactions but drunkenness is strongly frowned upon and rarely seen, even in cafes or bars. All of this socializing takes place amid ancient buildings, along tiny, winding cobblestone streets and surrounded by magnificent mountain vistas. I have to ponder exactly what it is I am going to accomplish here in the way of any cultural exchange. I believe that I will come out of this experience with far more than I will have shared with this population. Well, there will also be the consultative process I will be engaged in which will hopefully facilitate more civic participation in the governing process relative to what improvements to their infrastructure and human services are acted upon and how they will accomplish those goals in a sustainable way without reliance on foreign aid. At least I hope I will have a bit of positive and lasting input in this process.
As for now, I must focus upon completing the training stage and improving my Macedonian language skills so I can pass the oral proficiency exam before going to my assigned work site. In addition to class work, I have a tutoring session some evenings and it will be a huge amount of work between now and then, so I might not be able to post anything more in the interim. This sure beats sitting around rotting in retirement.
