Skopje: adventures at the grocery store

I started this post when we first arrived in Skopje -- and it has been in my "drafts" folder for months. Now, of course, I can navigate my way around the stores effortlessly.  I know my way around. And I know what products we need.

At first, of course, it was a challenge.

Macedonian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet (which we had learned when we were beginning to learn Russian in Moldova). I could sound out some words, like banana:

I took this picture on my first trip to Vero.  I was pleased with myself that I could "read" the sign that said "banana"

But -- it was all of the other labels that I needed to be able to read, that weren't so self-explanatory as a pile of bananas.

For example, I spent a long time pouring over a bottle of cleaner -- packaged in German.  It was in the middle of several different carpet cleaners.  I was looking for something like Oxi-Clean or Spray-n-Wash spot remover treatment to use on clothing.  I thought this bottle was such a cleaner.  But its placement in between several brands/types of cleaners that were more obviously labeled for carpets left me concerned.  (As it turned out, I made the right choice.  And so I stuck with that product in future)

Which is what happens, of course. You do the best you can trying to understand what things are. Sometimes it is trial and error. Eventually you figure things out.

But those first weeks in a new place can be stressful, when you walk in to the store and can read nothing. And things take longer than you think they should, as you walk around, like you're trying to find your way in the dark.

Which is why when I saw these

in 10 languages we learn that these are packages of tissues?!

Honestly!  Anyone can see that these are tissues.  But here the manufacturers are kind enough to label them as such in 10 languages.  10!  There were so many other packages on which I had wished there was information in the English language!!  (or, even a Romance language like French or Spanish...or...one written in the Latin alphabet....or some pictures that would depict what is inside...)

In the US, I am an avid reader of nutrition labels. So, not being able to read the info on the packages was in itself a frustration.

There was also the issue of store layout, and where to find what we needed.

I came to an understanding, of course. But -- there could easily be 2 different places for cereal (one for my museli and one for my daughter's corn flakes), 2-3 different places for cheese, 2-3 different places for milk, eggs not located in a refrigerator section, etc, etc.

Again, once you go to the store a few times, you learn your way around. So it is kind of funny trying to put myself back in my shoes from January....

my daughter's soy milk could be found with these other gourmet items - like quail's eggs and French cheese -- not with other milk products

this Winx Club packaging got my daughter's attention - these peanut flavored snacks (shape of cheese puffs in the US) also come with toys inside  (I thought we were going to bring a few packages home with us - for her friends back in FL - but by the time we left she was too mature for these "kid-ish" snacks -- how much had changed since January!)

at the larger Vero (about a mile from our house) there is also a cafe -- nice to stop for a snack and a macchiato (of course!) before we went shopping

my helper

on our way back towards our apartment

that's the Millennia Cross at the top of Mount Vodno...later in the spring we plan to take the cable car to the top

there's a grocery store in every mall -- here is the Ramstore at CityMall - which we thought was funny since my husband's name is Ramsay -- this cow just gave my daughter a sample of something like the "gogurt" we have back home

(While this post was still in draft form, there was a recent)  Washington Post article about a new trend in the US to replace Macy's and Sears locations at malls with grocery stores:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/can-supermarkets-save-dying-suburban-malls/2017/03/10/290b522e-0436-11e7-b9fa-ed727b644a0b_story.html?utm_term=.e8b41515afd5&wpisrc=nl_draw&wpmm=1


I loved that we could combine the mall and the grocery store - epecially since we didn't have a car to get around.  We could combine leisure with necessity.  (Whenever I left the house with my daughter on an outing - I would bring one of my re-usable shopping bags - so we could always pick up whatever we needed while we were out - saving the need for additional trips just for the grocery store.)

ajvar! (I have already googled where we can buy ajvar in the US -- it is possible -- but SO expensive!!)

very handy that you can buy the packages of toilet paper with a handle - we (and I am sure everyone else in the apartment buildings in our neighborhood) are walking to/from the grocery store - and we need the handle to get this larger package home easily

someone is glad to be back in a country with scented toilet paper...this time we went for the peach

did you know there is such a thing as instant Turkish coffee?! neither did I.  But I sampled some from this nice person - and - it actually tastes pretty good!

 

Our apartment in Skopje -- Astoria Real Estate Agency

Of course, one of the top things on our list of things to arrange when we knew we would be moving to Macedonia: secure an apartment.

The Guide for Fulbrighters provided by the US Embassy included a few real estate agencies (with websites, contact info) that were useful in getting our apartment hunt underway.

The most important thing for us was:  location! location! location!

We wanted to be in the City Center, within a very short walking distance to a grocery store, taxi stand, attractions, my university, and, if possible, convenient to my daughter's school as well (although I knew she would have bus transportation).  We would not have a car, and we wanted to be within easy walking distance to everything we needed and as close to the city center as possible.

Aside from that, we did not want to be on the first floor (although the first floors/ground floors are typically for businesses, so that ended up not being an issue), we wanted 2 bedrooms, a washing machine, a microwave, air conditioning, private heating (although that was not a deal-breaker), the internet, in a furnished apartment (of course), that was modern. I looked at countless apartments on the various websites.  So many of them had balconies, that I eventually added "balcony" to my preferred amenity list.

We ended up using the Astoria Real Estate Agency -- http://realestate.com.mk/

Through emails, skype calls, and looking at dozens (hundreds?!) of pictures on the internet, we selected an apartment.

As soon as we landed in Skopje, we were picked up by our contact at the US Embassy -- and we went straight to the apartment.  Of course, we were hoping that it looked as nice at it did in the pictures  - and that we had found our new home in Skopje.  All looked good, so we met the owners and headed over to the Astoria Real Estate Agency to sign the lease (which was in Macedonian and in English).

After that meeting at the rental agency, all further issues/questions were dealt with directly between us and the owners -- a lovely couple who did everything they could to make sure that we were happy there.

Which we were.

Here is the very first picture I took in our apartment.  You can hardly tell we had been traveling more than 24 hours at this point.  We were so happy to have arrived! And that our apartment looked like it did in the pictures we saw online. 

In this picture you can also see our flat screen TV - which was connected to a satellite and had about 6,000 TV stations -- initially my daughter flipped through American cartoons dubbed in German, French, or Spanish. Later we learned how to use the language button on the remote so that we could watch them in English.  (Although, as at home in the US, we rarely watched TV - but I appreciated being able to watch CNN or BBC news first thing in the morning to catch up with what happened in the US the night before...)

doing homework -- you can tell this is right after we moved in -- as the fridge is not yet filled up with magnets! (we collect magnets as souvenirs during our travels...)

one of my daughter's best friends  - having a snack on the balcony

 
Sooooooooo.....I had intended to take pics of the apartment after we moved in and made it our own (especially of my daughter's room - as she was keen to decorate it to her tastes).  I also intended to take pictures all around the neighborhood - of our "stomping grounds," as they say.  As it turned out, I never made the time to take pictures of our apartment.


So, as a substitute, I am sharing these photos from the real estate agency, which are a good reflection of what the apartment looked like when we moved in:

the living room/dining room

we had a washing machine

a shower (no bath, but my daughter adjusted to that)

our kitchen (which had more counter space than our kitchen back home - and a dish washer!) - we had asked for a microwave when we arrived, and our landlord brought one over right away

the master bedroom - just the right amount of closet/storage space

the master bedroom (I appreciated the built-in bookshelves)

my daughter's bedroom.  she also had a desk. and big closets along the wall.

We are missing a picture of the foyer, which also had built-ins for hanging our coats (and storing the vacuum).

As you can see, the apartment had recently been re-modeled, including the new kitchen and bath.  We really came to love our apartment and our neighborhood.  I will post separately about our neighborhood, but here are a few pictures from the real estate agent of the apartment building:

this is the corner of our building - to the left, where the yellow umbrella is, was the corner store

we were above this "Vucko" store -- we could tell this to the taxi drivers -- Vucko kai Universalna Sala -- (the Vucko near Universal Hall) and they would know where to take us

here you can see our apartment, with the awning -- we were on the 5th floor -- and, unlike previous apartments we lived in overseas, this apartment had an elevator. (initially, I wanted to take the stairs to get in better shape - but once I hurt my foot, and especially when carrying groceries, I appreciated having an elevator)

Balkan Break: Spring Break Road Trip discovering Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia

There are so many wonderful things to see and to do in Macedonia -- and I hope that as a reader of this blog that you have enjoyed my posts about the ancient Roman ruins, the Byzantine frescoes, the Ottoman fortresses, the wineries, the spas, and the natural beauty of the mountains (like skiing in Mavrovo) and the lakes (Ohrid!) and kayaking Matka Canyon....not to mention the delicious organic produce, the cuisine, the macchiatos!....and the Macedonian hospitality.  We did our best to explore Macedonia ... and we look forward to our return, so that we can re-visit favorite spots and to find new ones.

But we thought that when my husband came for a visit during Spring Break, that we would use the opportunity to explore the Balkan Peninsula, to deepen our understanding of the region.

Much like driving through New England, where you could drive through several states in one day, when driving around the Balkans you can drive through several countries in one day (as we did on the drive home, from Dubrovnik to Skopje, when we drove through 5 countries in one day), experiencing different language, different culture, different religion, different cuisine.

During Spring Break, we took a 4-day road trip through 4 countries: Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, and Croatia.  With the assistance of a driver who was recommended by a colleague in the Peace Corps - Goran - and thanks, Bonnie, for the recommendation! - we were able to sit back and enjoy the views.

Budva, Montenegro

Dubrovnik,Croatia

Prizren, Kosovo

Rozafa Castle, Albania

I have posted these at different times (so hard to keep up with the blog! we were doing things faster than I could blog about them) - so here are links to the Spring Break posts all in one place.

KOSOVO:

http://jainmacedonia.blogspot.mk/2017/04/kosovo-prizren-kalaja-fortress-and.html

ALBANIA:

http://jainmacedonia.blogspot.mk/2017/04/albania-shkoder-rozafa-castle.html

http://jainmacedonia.blogspot.mk/2017/04/albania-shkoder-venetian-art-mask.html

http://jainmacedonia.blogspot.mk/2017/04/albania-shkoder-restaurant-hotel-museum.html

MONTENEGRO:

 http://jainmacedonia.blogspot.mk/2017/04/montenegro-budva-old-town-archeology.html

http://jainmacedonia.blogspot.mk/2017/04/montenegro-budva-hotel-avala.html

http://jainmacedonia.blogspot.mk/2017/04/montenegro-drive-along-adriatic-coast.html

CROATIA:

http://jainmacedonia.blogspot.mk/2017/04/croatia-dubrovnik-old-town.html

http://jainmacedonia.blogspot.mk/2017/04/croatia-dubrovnik-beach.html

Museum - the founding of the the University of Tetovo - now the State University of Tetovo - in Poroj

In Poroj, a village outside of Tetovo, there is a museum that documents the sobering history of the founding of the State University of Tetovo - the University of Tetovo - back in 1994.

Born out of the determination to found a university teaching in the Albanian language, members of the community came together to form this university in Tetovo.

College-bound students had previously traveled to Pristina in Kosovo to access higher education opportunities with ethnic Albanians, but, after the borders were closed by Slobodan Milošević, it became more difficult to secure higher education opportunities for students in their native tongue.

There were, of course, opportunities for select students to study at the prestigious state university in Skopje - UKIM, as UKIM was open to ethnic Albanian students. However, those opportunities were limited in scope - both by the number of seats for Albanian students and by the feasibility of travel and study in Skopje.

Members of the community wanted to establish a university in Tetovo where students could learn in the Albanian language. Without support from the state, the community came together - with volunteer professors, meeting in makeshift classrooms in peoples' houses.

This effort was met with resistance, however, as you can see in the newspaper articles and exhibits in the museum.  In one of the photos, you can see the villagers coming out on to the streets to protect the students, after about 300 troops were sent to address the situation.

As followers of this blog know, the situation continued to deteriorate, ultimately culminating in violence and bloodshed in 2001, after which the Ohrid Framework Agreement was negotiated to resolve the conflict peacefully and to address issues regarding ethnic Albanian minority rights.

Later the University of Tetovo was officially recognized as the State University of Tetovo in 2004.

The villagers of Poroj gave the building to the University, and recently the University financed the reconstruction of the museum.  The village Imam, Maksut Abazi, maintains the museum on voluntary basis.


I very much enjoyed my semester teaching at the State University of Tetovo, which now meets in modern facilities as a state university.  And I am looking forward to continued cooperation with colleagues and students at SUT.

Here is a blog post with highlights of my time at the State University of Tetovo:

http://jainmacedonia.blogspot.mk/2017/05/tetovo-some-highlights-of-my-time-at.html

The website of the State University of Tetovo: http://www.unite.edu.mk/

with the Iman who maintains the museum - Maksut Abazi

the building that houses the museum was donated by the villagers of Poroj

the reflection of the minaret in the glass case housing SUT brochures

the Imam of Poroj maintains the museum on a voluntary basis - I appreciated his taking the time to give me a tour