Sunday, January 31, 2010

S'more Photos

Macedonia Street! Full of Coffee-bars (whatever that means) and expensive stores.

My roommate, Nive

One of the statues that are all over the city. Apparently they were commissioned by the government and young people designed them.. some of them are random and kind of communist looking, but i liked this one.

The statue of a diving woman into the river-- right in front of the stone bridge

Random Rooster tied to a post.



Streets and shops by the Turkish bazaar in the old part of the city


There are so many random cats around.. They all have discolorations.. it's quite sad- they perch on garbage containers and rummage through everything.. :(

view from my apartment!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

photos of film night

This photos are from a film showing PEP had this past week. We showed the move, "The Water is Wide" and then had a discussion afterward. It was all in both Macedonian and Albanian, and although I didn't understand any of the words, I definitely could understand a lot of the sentiments behind them! People got quite upset about the choice of movie and some people were demanding answers to how they should be acting as teachers.. It was an interesting night, but I'm not sure it was all that productive in reaching their goals! Apparently they have had other movie nights and they have all gone much much better.

The first photo is of Keith- our Chief of Party- and Virna another coworker. Nive and I were also asked to speak a bit about the situation in the U.S. as well. the rest are of participants-- nice lipstick, right??





Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Day to Day

I've talked mostly about my job and work related things, so I thought I'd mention a few things about my day to day life and then a quick update on work at the end.

NEW ROOMMATE

I have a lovely new roommate now. Her name is Nivedita (Nive for short) and she is a 32 year old grad student in development studies in Brighton, UK. Since she got in on Sunday we've been able to get to know one another quite well. She seems really great and I look forward to having her in the apartment for the next few months while I'm here! She has a had an incredibly interesting professional life since graduating from undergrad, so it's great to see where I could be in ten years-- and also fun to hear what her friends are doing to see all of the other options there are out there!

We cook dinner every night, I haven't gone out once. Partially due to the fact that I've enjoyed cooking and know that most of the meals I enjoy would be difficult to find here, but partially because going to a restaurant is incredibly difficult with the language and alphabet barrier. Unlike countries where the alphabet is shared and most things are at least recognizable, it would take me hours to translate the menu and most likely would be much more trouble that it was worth! Having said that, we often go out to eat for lunch, which is actually quite nice because then I learn more vocabulary every day. Today, however, I brought some soup that I made on Saturday, because although most stuff is quite inexpensive (A full meal out is often 3-4 USD), the rent and costs associated with our housing situation are turning out to be more expensive than I originally anticipated. It's not super spendy, but we think we may be being a bit taken advantage of, being foreigners.. :( One of our coworkers is going to call our landlord and talk to her, so that's nice.

MACEDONIAN

I'm still learning quite fast: I make flashcards at night and study what I can. I can now put together very simple sentences like, that is beautiful, and you are boring. I have even learned the past tense of "to be"... Although my German has helped me in absolutely no way here- even hurt me, since they keep trying to get me to roll my r's and not use my throat!- but i do think that having learned, or at least started, three languages before this one, I know the basics of what I need to know to start teaching myself... Of course, with Spanish and French, I rarely had a problem guessing things!

One of my coworkers also gave me some of her daughters books to try to read. We'll see how that goes.. :) It's hard because there isn't an internet dictionary to help me out.

WORK

The rest of the this week may be a bit slow for me because I'm waiting to visit the schools with Milica next week to start implementing my evaluation system. I did write a statement about the Green Schools yesterday for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which was pretty cool. I have no idea where its' final destination is or if it will be published, etc, but it's neat to have something to slide into a portfolio! I just got it back from Keith (The COP- Chief of Party- of the Project here) and he said that he made a few revisions, but that it was really good work! --> You can read this directly to the right of this post on the side column.

Next week I will also start creating the Project Profiles for each individual school. I'm excited to start this project because it's partially artistically creative, which I'm excited for. I'll definitely learn a bit more about how to use WORD...

I'm still doing really well and enjoying everything.. Nive and I may join a gym this weekend because our nights are rather sedentary as are our days, and I'm definitely not used to it... And it's hard to motivate ourselves to go out into the city (a good 30 minute walk) after 5 when we get off work and it's already dark...

Oh one more thing, just to end with. Milica, the woman I'm working with at the partner organization, said that she loved all my ideas so much she would hire me immediately! And Nebo, my immediate boss complimented me on my work (and speed, I think, that's normally where I get compliments) and joked that they needed me for another 10 weeks. I'll write later about what I'm thinking about doing post-graduation, but how neat would it be to do a Rotary or something here?... Food for thought at this point.

Hope you're all well.. I especially send out love to my fellow IDIPers-- I've so enjoyed reading everyone's blogs and seeing their photos.. I love how different all of our experiences are shaping up. Can't wait for Spring (If I ever come back)..

Lots of love,
Tess

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

A few photos of WEEK 2!



On the road...



WINE COUNTRY (although not "THE macedonian wine country")Driving over the mountain to the Eastern Side of Macedonia--to Ohrid, right by the Albanian border



Ohrid! So beautiful!



Me in Ohrid -- Охрид



A big political Issue-- Macedonia wants to join the EU (They've applied already along with Croatia and Turkey.. but Turkey applies every year), but they don't want to change their name from Macedonia, which Greece always wants them to do...



A church downtown-- from my walk in the center on Saturday!



We went out to this Restaurant/Bar and ate French Fries, onion rings, and a bread with a dippable cheese!



My friend Elena and I.



Some New Friends..

Friday, January 22, 2010

струга и охрид

So the first part of my project is working with the “green schools”, like the one I described on Tuesday. I am currently developing a system of evaluation that is designed to increase communication among schools and promote a bit of (friendly) competition. Part of what was difficult for me during Tuesday’s visit were the differences between the things that can be evaluated and assessed in the United States and the things that can be done here. To be considered “green” in the U.S., there is a whole list of standards you must comply with, in addition to decreasing energy, heating, and water bills. Oh and to earn the most points, there must be a regional aspect- meaning that the materials used come from within a 100 mile radius. And these are just the standards that I, as a non-science person, actually understand. When I began outlining standards for the Macedonian system, I started with the assumption that these types of statistics would be available. I knew that there were certain technologies that it would not be possible to use here, but never anticipated that the schools would not have their heating or electricity bills on record. Or that because of different factors, they are not usable as quantitative data! So back to square one. I have now written more of a qualitative (shout out to Therese) survey for the schools to fill out after their two-phase face lift (1st phase being the USAID sponsored renovations and 2nd phase being the establishment of Green Clubs inside of the school for smaller changes), to give us an idea of how the money and energy put into their projects have been effectively used… Anyway, it’s all very interesting.

So the second part of my work here in Macedonia is working in Struga, better yet: струга, with a half Macedonian, half Albanian school. I went there yesterday with my immediate boss, Nebo, and another coworker. It was a 2.5 hour drive over a huge mountain, and we literally went through four different seasons, ending up in this beautiful seaside town Lake OHRID (Охрид) that was about 50 degrees with beautiful sun! The school has an interesting history: Because Struga is quite near to the Albanian border, there is a lot of perceived ethnic tension in the area. Although some of them are legitimate as many national problems have risen from the 2001 civil conflict between Albanians and Macedonians, some are only presented as such because it is easier to blame it on such things. As Nebo said , "If I hit a Macedonian, there is no issue, because it's a Macedonian hitting another Macedonian. But if I hit an Albanian, all of a sudden there is ethnic conflict. Sometimes the issues aren't racial, they are personal". So that is the problem in the Macedonian school in Struga. There are two schools on one campus: One with a Macedonian name, one with an Albanian, but the students are not divided on ethnic lines in the two groups. The school asserts that any conflict that happens in the school does not originate there, rather is it the result of outside influences and forces upon the impressionable minds of high school students. USAID is there to build a better fence around the school- what the school themselves decided they needed- and then another organization, the German one that I will be working with- is working with the students themselves...

That might have been a bit too much information. I promise I won't blog every day as I have been.. I've just had so much to say/show!

I'll write more when more there is to say..
Цао! (Ciao!)

Тessary

Here is a Macedonian Map: Skopje is in the North Central Region.. Skopje is West and South of it... right on Lake Ohrid. We also went briefly to the town of Ohrid- which was absolutely beautiful and I understand why it is the pride of all Macedonians. :)

Skopje Photos- my first few days!



View of Skopje from the top of the fortress



Drinking Turkish tea..



... and eating Turkish Pizza



The Old Train Station. The clock is stopped at 5:17- which was the moment an earthquake hit in 1963 and destroyed it, along with much of the city.. It is now a museum.




The Stone Bridge, dating back to the 15th century, is the most prominent landmark of Skopje; the bridge connects the old and the new parts of the city.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

berlin photos for mum



Host Fam! Heide made Quiche



My old Cafe- Buchhandlung



Philip, the FU- BEST assistant, and me



Silberfisch- with old friends Berdt and Daire!



Casey and I reunited!

Visit to Albanian Villiage

Today was a Macedonian Reality Check.

The building we work in is beautiful, my apartment would be bearable by american standards, but is nice here, but mostly the biggest difference until today has been like ehh-- the roads aren't as nice, there are some run down deserted houses, etc. It looks like a really run down American city-- kind of what I assume Detroit to resemble these days. Today, however, we drove to this little Albanian village (but still in macedonia) and went to one of the schools labeled as a "green schools". I had spent so much time researching american green schools in the U.S., which are easily the most beautiful, state of the art, like oh heyo, this piece of wood was hand carved by my mother and now it has given itself to us for the children of the world-- kind of mentality. I know I wasn't expecting that, but I certainly wasn't expecting to go in the school and see that what made it a "green school" -- or environmentally friendly, were the very EXISTENCE of trash cans (not abundance, just a few tiny trash cans), florescent lighting, a bike rack, and new windows. It was insane. This school needs a new (central) heating system because currently they use wood stoves in each classroom and the floor tiles are all broken because half of the school hasn't been updated since it was originally built in the 1930's. And here's the thing. Even if they did something, i.e. not throw their trash off the side of the mountain, the entire village is covered in trash anyway because the government doesn't have a garbage system. The school would have no where to put any waste they were responsibly disposing of.
These are not problems I was prepared to face. We discussed in our IDIP class - I think with Ian - the differences between disaster, recovery and development work. I see why people gravitate toward disaster relief- there are very tangible, attainable goals that deal with the very basics. And afterward, you are released from thinking about the quality of life of the victims prior to the disaster (natural or not). As if Katrina victims were all living in mansions and just happened to get caught in a flood. Development work is different. It's not depressing in the way the pictures of Haiti are. It's not urgent like a tsunami and the deliverables may not be nearly as large or as rewarding for those signing checks. But I feel almost sadder. Because development projects slowly trek along. With school directors with no teeth and teachers in misfit blazers, carefully unfolding his plans for the first central heating system that would improve the lives of all the children in this small village.

When we were driving into the small town, Ilir pointed our an old graveyard that was jutting off the side of a small cliff rising about us on the right side. You could tell from the looks of it, that over years of erosion and lack of upkeep, layers and layers of dirt had disappeared: leaving human bones exposed to not only the presumed disrespect of the open air, but to the likes of small children and dogs.

Yesterday and this morning i had all of these great ideas about what we could do... how i could bring in a new perspective. and they were excited about it too... but now i'm feeling very helpless. Ilir and i were driving back from the school and I said, "they know what they need," the school director had pulled out this folder that he was very proud of and was showing me the plans for a central heating system, "but they just don't have the money for any of it. what can i do?" He kind of laughed sadly at my naive frustration and said, "we ask ourselves that everyday. what can any of us do?"

Well, unless you happen to have 50,000 euros, in which case you can heat a small primary school in Western Macedonia.

Monday, January 18, 2010

добра нок

#2
16. January
Saturday
My coworker, Ilir, who was born and raised here, but is ethnically Albanian, picked me up this afternoon and took me around the city a bit. I learned straight off that all of the words I had learned last night were actually Serbian, but many are quite similar or actually the same. He was great in putting up with my constant questioning on the pronunciation of new letters and foreign words. He showed me around the city center, the old Turkish fortress, and took me out with his friend for a Turkish pizza and tea. So very delicious. We continued on to the old train station, which was destroyed in 1963 (?) during an earthquake, which seems to have also destroyed a significant amount of the city.

I made sure I was home by 4:30, because the landlords had invited me to “lunch” at that time. The family consists of the father, a burly looking man, his wife, an architect, and their son and daughter. The daughter is just finishing her studies in architecture, and the son works as a civil engineer. It’s quite normal for a family’s children to live with their parents until, or even after, they marry and start a family, as evidenced by David and his sister’s being almost 30. We ate a very traditional Macedonian meal: what we would call a Greek salad (don’t mention that here), a sort of cheese filled cake, broccoli, potatoes, and two types of meat. We finished our meal with what the husband called “reform-cake”, which I guess is named after the tumultuous history of this country.

Over dinner, the entire family was very excited to tell me about the traditions and the pride that Macedonians have for their country. Although I knew many of the facts from my research pre-arrival, I found myself very surprised and moved by the connection they felt to their unique history and troubles with Greece over rights to the name, flag, and Alexander the Great. We also discussed what it means to belong to a country or to be a national of a specific country. I think this is a question that Americans have dealt with much longer than European countries, whose ethnic make up and language have defined them for much longer than our has us.

…. 18.Jan (Sunday)

Just a few first impressions:

1. The people here, at least those I have met, are not only very nice, but genuinely open and welcoming. Perhaps they only ask me how I am because they know it is customary in English, but they seem genuinely interested and concerned about my response!
2. I really want to learn Macedonian. One of my biggest mistakes when I lived in Bremen in 2004-2005 was how timid I was about making a slight fool of myself for the sake of learning German. I now know how much it inhibited me in making friends and in furthering my understanding of the German culture. I know that only a little can possibly be learned in the next 9 weeks, but I hope to learn as much as I can. I’ve already learned the new letters and one of my coworkers doesn’t believe that I have never used the Cyrillic alphabet before!
3. The culture is so multi-lingual and multi-cultural. When Ilir and I were on our city tour, I asked him about traditional Macedonian food, and all that he could think of were Turkish specialties. We met up with a friend of his who is half Turkish and half Albanian and the two of them spoke Albanian together when not talking to me. Many of the food products are labeled in German (making it much easier for me) or Turkish.


I’m very excited to be here. On Thursday, I may be accompanying my supervisor to Struga, which is the other town I’ll be working in. It’s right on the Albanian border, a few minutes away from the popular tourist destination of Ohrid. Both towns are on Lake Ohrid.

I have so much to learn and so much to take in in my short amount of time here, but I’m going to do my best to get over any fears or hesitations.

I haven’t mentioned this at all, but even here, I’m thinking of our Haitian brothers and sisters who are suffering unimaginable losses right now. Their livelihood and that of their loved ones are in my thoughts and prayers.

Hope all is well.
In love and in Peace,
Tess

Sunday, January 17, 2010

ZDRAVO!

Blog Entry
#1
Macedonia
15. January

Zdravo! (That’s hi in Macedonian)

After a long five months of planning and build up, I’ve arrived in Skopje!

The week I spent in Berlin was the perfect transition period between my hectic life in Seattle and this new job and environment. I spent my time visiting old favorite spots, discovering new ones and of course, catching up with friends. The weather was Alaska-esque (but with even MORE snow) and to be honest, it was quite nice to get off the plane this afternoon in Skopje to balmy 40-degree weather!

Crazy day though – never before has the advice to always keep a sense of humor held truer. I woke up early to catch my 9am flight, but when I got to the airport, I discovered that my reservation had been canceled due to something wrong with my credit card when I bought the ticket. (Strange since the ticket I bought the same day for Seattle-Berlin went through) In any case, I bought another ticket with a different airline and flew through Budapest instead of Vienna! Of course, my bags were also overweight, so needless to say, by the time I finally got in the air around 10, I was exhausted already. :]

When I got in, two of my new colleagues were there to meet me at the airport, one of whom was Sanja, a recent uni graduate who is also an intern at the office. They took me to my new flat, helped me exchange money and got me a cell phone. I think I’m more set up after four hours in the country than I was after my first week in Berlin! We then swung by the office – only about a 15-minute walk from my apartment – where I met my supervisor and other coworkers and got a short tour. Everyone I’ve met has been incredibly friendly and welcoming, asking about my flight, time in Berlin, and even offering to take me on a city tour tomorrow!

I am now relaxing in my new apartment. I went grocery shopping, made dinner and am now watching Grey’s Anatomy in English with Macedonian sub-titles! I remember these days when I first got to Bremen in high school- writing down small words that I can correspond with my native language: yes, no, hi, good, mother, father, night, day, who, fine, excuse me, etc. I feel like an infant again and I know that I may become frustrated, but the beginning of a new language is always the most fun- I see the most rapid improvement!

While I’m here, I’m living with another intern, but she doesn’t arrive until next week, which is kind of nice to settle in on my own.