Yesterday, I left behind the hotel and the rest of the group to move to the home of my host family. A small ceremony was held at the hotel which included traditional music and dancing as we were introduced to our hosts. Goce, the son of Nadica and Sveto was there to greet me and together we took a cab to his home in the village of Romanovste.
No one in the family has a car but the taxi took us on the half hour drive and brought us up the small path right into the yard where Svetco and Nadica greeted my arrival. They are quite nice and I hope my Macedonian improves so I can get to know them.
After a short time for unpacking in my new room, I joined the family for our first meal together. Peppers, tomatoes, a traditional bean dish and some fish, all quite good. Of course we began with a toast with the drink of the country, Rakija (rakia). It is a very strong ouzo type drink and best taken in small amounts.
This is truly a village. My family is nearly entirely self-sufficient and rarely need to go to the store. One goat, three cows. one enormous pig with 11 new piglets, and a flock of chickens provide a lot of the food. Add an enormous garden, fruit and nut trees, a milling machine that grinds the flour for baking and there is the food I will be having while here.
Goce, his cousin Nicola and I took a walk around the village after eating last night. Goce speaks English quite well and provided a brief history of the area. It was like going back in time….except for the occasional Audi and VW that passed by. Three small convenience type stores, a post office, and some boys playing soccer were the highlights of our trip along with a couple of cemeteries...one for the Macedonians and one for the Albanians as this is a mixed village.
I now know that there is a dog or maybe two nearby that continues to bark the entire night and that the village roosters do their job in the early morning. My breakfast included some very strong coffee, warm milk and noodle soup.
This is going to be quite an interesting few months...all that I expected. There are 7 others somewhere here in this village with me and we will meet today to find out where each other is located.
No wireless internet like at the hotel but there is a café (using the term loosely) in town, and my host family's house has a wired internet connection as Goce is into facebook etc., just like young men in the USA.
I am due at our village classroom at 11AM this morning as it is Saturday and we are not having a "real" class until Monday at 9 AM.
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