Weeks 2 and 3 in Probistip

Sorry for not posting sooner.  But, now that I have my pictures uploaded onto my computer, this may be a good time for a recap.  Three weeks ago, we, the Peace Corps team, were in our hotel, nervously awaiting our home-stay assignments.  The tension was nearly unbearable as we waited seemingly forever in the third floor of our hotel, waiting for the queue to come down to meet our families.

Here are a couple of team members passing the time there.

I met my host family and drove to Probistip.  The drive was approximately an hour from Kumanovo.

Here is a picture of my host family.  Risto, the head of the household is furthest to the left.  Then, Jorgen and Peter, his work friends are beside him.  (Jorgen is wearing brown and Peter is wearing green).  Peter spoke English, which made the first day a lot easier.  Risto's wife, Venka, is to the right.

Here is a picture of me with the group.

Probistip itself is situated in the mountains.  Actually, to put it more precisely, it is past a mountain.  Probistip itself is relatively flat, but we drive through the mountains to get there.

This is a picture taken from the balcony of my host family's apartment.

Another picture from the balcony.  This one is of the sunset.

If there is one thing I love, it's hand-drawing my maps.  Now that I live in a new city, I thought it appropriate to have a map.  The Peace Corps does not supply city maps for everyone, but I borrowed the one map we did have for an evening and jotted down the important stuff.  But, right there is Probistip.  Interestingly enough, there are no street signs naming the streets.  People just know where things are.  For an outsider, that can be frustrating, but even after just three weeks here, I know where things are such that I am okay walking around.

This further proves that the internet is nothing but pictures of cats.  Risto's family has a farm out in the village approximately 15 min from Probistip.  I spent a day out there doing farm stuff and it had all the things one would expect in a farm: chickens, pigs, etc.  This cat was also hanging around.

We're starting to get down to business during our training.  Today, I had my interview which will help determine my placement.  I still don't know what I'll be doing once I start work for real yet.  The interview today was an opportunity to share my strengths and weaknesses and from that, the Peace Corps will look into the available openings and determine which one is the best for me.  Mind you, this isn't like Survivor, where the last one goes back home.  Everyone gets a place.  It's just a matter of determining the best fit.  I hope I can remain in Probistip.  I love it here.  I've met a lot of great people and there are a lot of fun things to do.  But, the math of the situation suggests that an assignment to Probistip is a long shot.   

These past couple weeks have been rather eventful, so let's get down to it:

Not this past Sunday, but the Sunday before, was the last day the Water Park in Probistip was open.  As a final send off, admission was free.  The Probistip Peace Corps team all made it down there at some point or another during the day.  It was interesting too, because a lot of us came with members of our host families, so we really didn't plan it.  The park itself was a lot of fun.  There were about a half dozen or so slides and a huge pool.  One difference from the United States: The pool had no shallow area, alcoholic drinks were served, the area around the pool was very slippery (I almost fell twice), and there were no lifeguards visible.  If this were America, the Aqua Park would last three seconds before getting shut down.

This is a picture of some of the team, with me on the right.

The unofficial national drink of Macedonia is rajkia, which is somewhat similar to whiskey, but not really.  Many families make their own, and people drink it in a social atmosphere.  It is usually stronger than whiskey in America.  For comparison's sake, whiskey, as well as most vodka, gin, and rum purchased in America is 40% alcohol, or 80 proof.  Rajkia here is usually a little over 50% alcohol.  So, the first time I had it, I was with Zlatko and his friends.  One of his friends gets the shot glasses out and fills them.  I knew this day would come, but had kind of dreaded it because I hate whiskey and I hate drinking hard liquor straight.  But, here I was, holding my shot glass.  We all cheers.  And in America, when people have shots of hard liquor and then say Cheers, they take the liquor as a shot.  Of course, that's what I thought we would do here.  So, we said Cheers and I took the shot like a man, for the record.  Did it all in one effort.  Then, I look around and everyone else just took a sip!  And everyone else looked at me and they said "No, no, no, no, no! You don't take rajkia as a shot!"  Dumbass American.  Another shot was poured for me and I drank it in sips, like a true Macedonian.  I understand the higher alcohol content makes doing shots of it a tricky prospect, but I don't understand how you can sip it.  In the infamous voice of Ralph Wiggum, "It tastes like...burning".

Finally, last Sunday was Risto's 55th birthday.  We had a little get together in honor.  Some of the neighbors came over.  Visiting another family's house is a fairly common practice. Visiting hours in Macedonia are much later than in America.  This get together didn't get started until like 9:00pm and lasted until about 11.

Picture of me, Risto in the center, and Zlatko on the right.

Again, sorry for not keeping up with everything.  This past week has been especially busy for me.  But, this I think squares me up.  Hope everything is going well with you all.