trekking through a foreign land

Perhaps my biggest excitement/worry/headache/triumph over the last few weeks was a short story I just finished for sanfranciscoiam.com.  It’s a site where aspiring video journalists can produce a video and uploaded to their site- its not YouTube though, there is an editorial staff and editorial oversight.  A pretty cool program really.

Anyway the story is about San Francisco Proposition H which stands to set ambitious goals for clean energy for the city and calls for a study to look at the municipalization of electrical delivery (i.e. government takeover of PG&E) in San Francisco.

So, yeah, take a look at the video… I’ll do my best to be more diligent about posting here.  

If you have trouble playing the video below, click here.

Its definitely time to come back to this blog.  Its been far, far too long.  My summer’s journey ended- a whirl wind starting on train from Skopje to Budapest and back, then a day later, a flight from Skopje back to Budapest, on to Paris and finally to New York.  I spent a week there seeing things to be seen and staying with my good buddy Chris.  Two other friends came to New York, Casey from SF and Eddie who goes to school in Philly.  I took a bus with him there and spent the night visiting with him and another friend of ours Rob.  I flew back home (Las Vegas Airport), and then drove over to San Francisco a week later. 

Anyway, since I’ve pretty much been working here since.  I’ve had a few jobs that I’ve been pretty happy with.  One for an online gaming company – Zynga.  

Zynga’s Live Poker app video

(I wrote this so long ago!  Yikes… I have stories to tell of our journey, but right now we’re in Budapest.  Looks like they’ll have to wait. sorry)

7-31-08

I know, I know… its been a long time since I have written here.  Why is that some may ask?  I don’t exactly have a clear answer… where exactly has the time gone?  The past few weeks have been… relaxing- nothing like the whirlwind trips around the country before, and nothing like our planed travels then next month- more on that later.  

The I’ve been to Skopje twice for the day.  The first time was with Valarie- she took me to the important sights, the Cale (fortress) on a hill overlooking the whole city, the old turkish quarter, and the “Mexican” restaurant Amigos.  The fortress was quite impressive.  Huge thick walls rising more than fifty feet up, dark locked doors barring entrance to what must be underground passage ways throughout the bowels of the former stronghold.  There was, just past a sign saying do not cross, a entryway to these mysterious innards that was unbarred.  Unfortunately, without a flashlight, they would have been impossible to navigate, and so we were forced to turn around.

The turkish quarter, with its windy, narrow streets was intriguing.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many jewelry shops.  Its no exaggeration to guess that 50% of all the shops there were selling gold.  We visited an art gallery in the renovated old turkish bath building.  Tall domed ceilings, and narrow doorways, it was actually a very nice spot for a gallery.  Unfortunately, like the other gallery we saw of Macedonian ceramic in Resin, it was in need of a little renovation.  Clearly the very small donation required for entry was paying for the bored caretaker and not for the material repairs that would have brought the gallery up to par.  But never mind all that, the art work for the most part was good spanning genres from surreal to impressionist,  to abstract and mosaic.

Amigo’s restaurant was what I suppose is to be expected in a country very distant from Mexico.  About half as good as a Mexican dish in Vermont, the enchiladas were without sauce, and the black bean side dish were reconstituted from a dehydrated mush.

I went to Skopje again just the other day by myself to buy train tickets (again more later) and wandered about the center for a while, sitting at cafes reading taking in the sights.  My impression of that city has changed dramatically since I first arrived in the country.  The center is much like the center of many modern european cities.  It doesn’t have the old world charm of most, but considering most of the city (something like 70%) was destroyed in the 1970s by a massive earthquake, you obviously can’t fault anyone.  Outside the center its a depressing site with block style apartment high rises and trash strewn streets, but many cities all over the world are similar (money in the center, less and less as you get farther away).

Last week we shot a movie with 7 kids at the school Valarie works at in Drugovo.  They’d been meeting 3 days a week working on a script (in english) and learning about the different aspects of production.  From what I observed, I think the kids learn a lot from Valarie and in an area that likely would not have been available to them otherwise.  We shot three days last week and now we’re editing the whole thing together.  It will likely be that this is the only result of my taking my professional camera here, but I have long come to terms with that myself.

The days have been peaceful, relaxed and enjoyable.  I was thinking the other day as I read a book in which a character decided to spend the winter in some place and the fall in another.  My immediate reaction was ‘I want to do that, I want to say, this year I’m spending the fall in ____’-  seconds later I realized that I have indeed done just that.  I decided to spend the summer in Macedonia, and I’m damn pleased I did.  

We’re actually gearing up to leave the country for a little balkan trek.  We’re taking a quick trip to Krushevo (where I spent the 5th of July) to celebrate the 2nd of August: a day that marks the Ilinden Uprising against the ottoman empire.  Then on Sunday we’re taking at 18 hour long train ride to Montenegro to the coast.  From there we’ll head to Croatia and then north through Bosnia and loop back.  A few days later we’re going to head north again to Budapest for a few days, come back and then my time here will be up.  

My thoughts turned today towards Independence.  The town that I grew up in suffered yet another natural disaster- this time in the form of a giant mud slide.  Just north of town, at least 25 homes were destroyed when a freak torrential rainstorm dropped more than 7 inches of rain high in the sierra (5 inches is the yearly average).  Exactly (almost to the day) this area (Oak Creek and the Fish Hatchery) was surrounded by fire and considerable burned.  With no live trees or brush, the draining water quickly turned the burned area to mud and wiped everything away in its path. 

It is miraculous that no one was hurt or killed, but certainly that does not minimize the pain and loss that the resident’s are feeling now. 

These pictures helped to illustrate to me the destruction that happened.

Oh, my poor little town.

Valarie and I hiked up to the House of Art yesterday.  It was about an hour and a half from Kicevo in the mountains.  Normally just a hotel with lots of art on the walls, this week (and last) they open a large conference-like room to a dozen or so artists creating a large studio.  Yesterday each artist had completed several pieces as they listened to 80’s rock.  It was a fun experience, and made me miss Big Umbrella Studios.  

Wow.  The past week and a half was really a whirlwind of activity.  As I already wrote, we spent the 4^th/5^th of July in Krushevo.  We returned to Kicevo on Sunday and on Monday we left by train to Romanovce, the little village where Valarie lived for 3 months while she trained to be a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) and learned Macedonian.  She stayed with a host family then, and we spent Monday and Tuesday also at their house.  They’re a wonderful couple- they’re Macedonian but worked for many years in Germany.  As a result we communicated through a mishmash of Macedeutschlish and hand gesturing- of course Valarie was able to translate some, but it was fun to communicate directly with Atanas (the husband- Baba Lenche the wife). 

They now live on a little farm with fields of hay and grape vines in the back and a large garden in the front.  They have three cows, a couple of pigs, many chickens, a few ducks and a couple of turkeys.  Atanas milks the cows three times a day and I drank farm fresh milk for the first time (ever?).  They make their own cheese (sirene), bake their own bread- they’re basically very close to self-sufficiency. 

Tuesday evening we went and visited (nagosti) the families that Valarie had been close to during her stay there.  Though I don’t speak the language, all the families were very welcoming and generous.  The last house we visited was Igor’s and we talked with him for quite a while.  He was very inquisitive and we got ourselves into a bit of an awkward spot when we started discussing American presidential politics- stupid I know, but he asked!

Sadly all was not well with the visit to Romanovce.  When we returned after visiting with Igor, we found out that Baba Lenche’s younger brother had died.  I’m not sure what I can say about this experience.

We left for Kumanovo, the nearest big city to Romanovce (10 miles, third largest in Macedonia).  Val pointed out the few highlights and put a place to stories she told me while she lived there.  We hopped on a bus (kumbe- basically a van) and returned to Skopje.  We found the World Press shop in Skopje, where for very inflated prices one can buy the latest English magazines.  After missing our train back, we were forced to hop on a bus (much less comfortable, about twice as much, and slower).

Our return home this time was just as brief and early the next morning we left for Bitola and nearby Pelister National Park.  A Peace Corps summer camp for girls was underway and Valarie taught a class on Spanish.  Pelister is a very pretty place with high mountains and alpine lakes above tree line.  We hope to return there maybe next weekend and climb Pelister peak. 

After the morning class, we returned to Bitola and explored around for a little bit.  It’s a very quaint city, unlike most other cities I’ve seen so far here.  The architecture was older (perhaps 19^th century) a there was a charming wide pedestrian street that offered dozens of cafes and shops.  At one end of the street was a very old mosque- the other was a water park complete w/ slides (odd?  Yes I know).   We explored the roman ruins, got into an argument with the caretaker, and then, in a slightly sour mood, left for nearby Resin. 

Rosanne, another PCV lives there and we explored the small town for a little while.  Surprisingly, this tiny town of no more that 8,000 people is one of the only places I’ve ever seen peanut butter in Europe at a regular grocery store.  Apparently there is a small factory nearby that processes it.  Quite tasty if I do say so myself…

Friday we set off for Ohrid- arguably the most beautiful and certainly the most touristy place in Macedonia.  Lake Ohrid is an enormous spring fed lake that miraculously remains crystal clear though the rest of the country is a free dumping ground for any sort of garbage.  There are dozens of hotels around the lakeshore and near the city of Ohrid skidoos and motorboats fill the water.

The first night we stayed in a nice apartment that we rented from someone who we met at the bus station in Resin.  We thought we were getting a great deal- only 10 euro a night between us for a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. 

That night, we made the very silly and unfortunate mistake of not bringing a camera with us as we walked and explored the most beautiful place in Macedonia.  Oops. 

Old Ohrid rests on the side of a hill with an impressive (and restored!) fortress on top.  Views from up there are predictably gorgeous.  The walk up, and for that matter down, were through the twisting, narrow cobbled streets that one would expect out of an ancient town.  I read somewhere that Ohrid can actually boast one of the longest continuous human settlements in the entire world.  Humans have lived there for at least 5000 years. 

There are 365 (one for every day) churches or places of religious significance in and around Ohrid, but I think our favorite (though of course we only visited maybe 4) was a church that sat atop the cliffs to the west of the main harbor and beach area.  We sat just a little higher than the roof as the sun set and twilight engulfed the town.  The city’s lights were just flickering on and spotlights illuminated the church.  Its one of my favorite sights to witness in a city when there is still enough bluish light to see by but the electric lights, warm in color pop on in windows in the distance- that night in Ohrid was certainly something special.               *val and I decided that it was all right that we didn’t have a picture from this beautiful spot- it would attempt to live on in our memories.  For you all, she asked me if I could describe it in words… I don’t think I’ve done it justice, but perhaps I’ve given a slight glimmer of an impression of that lovely evening.

We had heard that the last night of the Balkan Folk Festival was that night, and we tried to find it though we didn’t really even know what to expect.  At the time, I thought it was by chance, though certainly Valarie could have led us right there to the entrance.  For two hours we listened to the fast paced folk music of clarinets, guitars, accordions, drums, and bagpipes and watched the wonderful dancing by Macedonian, Croatian and Slovenian folk dance troupes.  Neither of us had seen anything quite like it, and we both very happy we had been able to attend (and for free too!)

Afterward we explored the packed streets, dappled in the nightlife, and found ourselves at an Irish pub (my choice…) sipping a pint before the walk home.

When we arrived at our apartment (on the ground floor of a large apartment building) we saw that the light was on.  We entered and for a terrified second though all of our stuff was stolen.  We quickly realized that it had all just been moved into ‘the other room’ with a pull out couch bed.  4 other guests were apparently also staying with us.  They conveniently took the good bed and we awoke sore in the morning to them using the kitchen, washing clothes in the shower, and being loud and boisterous.  We felt very constrained to our room most of the morning- except of course when the woman who rented us the room came into our room at 9, 10, and 10:30 to talk with Valarie about various things- then we could see out, and they of course in at us still in bed… that part was lovely. 

We thought all would be fine once the other tourists left- we had a cup of coffee took a shower and packed our bags.  Valarie was drying something on the line outside and went to go get it only to find that the others had locked the door.  Yes European doors are strange and decidedly unsafe because they don’t have a lever or latch on the inside, just another key hole- but we had our key so that wasn’t an issue. 

We had noticed that the lock was a quite loose when we first rented the place, but didn’t think too much of it because it seemed to work.  That morning it did not.

We tried for about 20 minutes to get that door unlocked before finally calling the land lady to come.  Another 30 minutes later she came and tried her key- nope didn’t work, it wasn’t our fault…  Finally a guy came with a screwdriver and between using that as a wedge and yanking on the door, just pried the thing open.  With a jubilant ‘YES!’ we quickly left for the center of town.

We didn’t exactly have a clear idea of where we’d spend our next night.  We knew we wanted to camp, but we didn’t have a tent.  Val asked around, and thanks to a quick reference to our handy Eastern European language guide by Lonely Planet (do you think I could get ad revenue from them?) we found out that tent = shator and a friendly boat man brought us to his friends who happened to own a sporting goods store.  They had a perfect 2-person tent for cheap and we bought it.

We spent most of the afternoon at the rocky beach, sun bathing, swimming, and reading.  After, we hopped on the bus and headed for Lubanista- a small village with “a beautiful campground- with the mountains and the lake, you will never forget”.  How could we pass it up?  We hiked down a small path for a while, stumbling and getting prickled by thorn bushes and finally made it to the perfectly paved road that actually leads to the camping ground.

For those of you in the know, the campground resembled more of a Millpond / Tri-county Fair Grounds during the music festival and the fair than a Convict Lake in mid-October.  Basically it was a crowded mass of trailers and walled cabanas- loud music playing from some, leather couches adorning others.  Packs of kids roamed around, old Zastava hatch-backs rolled along the dirt roads spewing black smoke.  Everyone was crammed together with maybe a 10 foot wide strip of dried grass in between. 

Luckily, there was a small, unclaimed field and we set up our tent in the middle.  To be fair, with the lake’s beach only about 100 feet away, and with a soft bed of dried grass, it was quite a nice spot.  We ate dinner (bread and peanut butter) on the beach, awoke the next morning, went swimming in the cool water and again ate our breakfast (the same) on the beach. 

We packed up and headed to Sveti Naum (Saint Naum), another church at the inlet to Lake Ohrid.  The majority of the Lake’s water comes from underground springs and we took a rowboat ride up the small lagoon to where the springs bubble up from the sand and form calcium deposits underneath.  Interestingly the water from the springs is mostly from nearby Lake Prespa- it travels underground several kilometers underneath a large mountain and in a surprisingly short 7 hours is perfectly filtered.

After an impossibly long lunch (a dozen waiters, all running around like chickens with their heads cut off, but still unable to serve someone in a reasonable manner) we got aboard a boat that would take us the 30 kilometers back to Ohrid city.  It was a delightful ride- a good way to end a busy week. 

After a little hassle, we hopped on a bus and returned to Kicevo.  Lule, the rambunctious adolescent kitten, greeted us with her usual (and adorable) fervor. 

Good to be back.

Our Independence Day celebrations took us to the small mountain town of Krushevo.  The 4th of July itself was rather slow- most was on a bus or otherwise accustoming ourselves to the new local- there was barely a mention of the holiday…  We met up was a group of Peace Corps Volunteers and stayed with Val’s good friend Kathy.  The Fourth was the last day of the week long boys camp the volunteers had organized and so wasn’t the day we’d be celebrating.  Instead the 5th of July was the real day.  Kathy and Molly had cooked an amazing spread of food- potato salad, beans, pasta salad etc.  We added a few more salads- a couple chickens were cooked.  It was a lovely american feast that 12 of us enjoyed.  After a delightful afternoon of belly laughing (Its a movie about a monkey, and its bedtime!) we headed off to Metchka commons (or at least that what I heard- I think it meant ‘Bear Rock’ but I’m pretty sure commons doesn’t equal rock….)  With its beautiful views of the surrounding valleys and mountains, we built a fire and cooked up even more food.  The moon a tiny sliver; the stars alone bright enough to walk home by.  A lovely night to follow a lovely day- on par certainly with any 5th of July I’ve had.  

We took some pictures, and I shot a tiny bit of video… we’re actually off to visit Valarie’s host parents for a few days, so perhaps when we get back, I’ll be able to post it.  Krushevo is truly beautiful and I can’t wait to share it.  

-forrest

I’ll let the video do the explaining about what Treskavec is.  I’m not sure exactly how to embed a video in my post, so if anyone can point me in the right direction, please do so…  in the meantime, here’s the Treskavec hike video.

Umm… I like maps and I like information, so I’m going to share with you something a little nerdy… Its a google map I created to give a little perspective of the country.  Click.

Also, I wanted to apologize for not getting anything up sooner- not a video I mean: that time frame is governed by the forces of editing…  I mean, I should have posted text here sooner…  I realize now that after we got back from our weekend excursion that that was the time to post- not now, 5 days later after, after the freshest recollections have faded… oops  -  I’ll be better next time.

It’s the Fourth of July!  We’re off to celebrate it with a few of Valarie’s friends in a small town called Krushevo.  I’m excited, as well as a little homesick.  Its rare that I miss the Independence Day celebrations in Independence, CA.  

Forrest

Well its clearly high time that I write something- I decided that today, and I also decided that to do that, I’d have to strike up my old routine of going to cafés to write.  We get fine internet at home, but its certainly not the same as sitting in the ‘Sixties Café’ listening to (of course) the likes of The Village People and other 70s classics.  It’s a cloudy day, it just may rain- usually cause for gloom, but today, its a wonderful respite from the heat that this country seems all to ready to offer up.  

I am, if some how you haven’t heard in Macedonia.  It’s a tiny country just north of Greece, it’s the most southern of the Balkan countries. 

The past week has been a great downshift from the busy life of San Francisco.  The weeks before I left accelerated through 5th gear with a show opening at Big Umbrella, videos to be completed, and countless other little things to get done.  The long drive back to the Eastern Sierra offered a little time collect my thoughts.  It was the first leg of the journey, and a drive that I realized I hadn’t made for a year.  The last time: going the other direction returning to San Francisco after my previous gallivant abroad in Nicaragua. 

The first few days I kept thinking of similarities to that other trip.  Flying in, watching the lush hills and small green valleys; landing seeing the small air force (Russian MiGs I’d like to guess) parked just off the run way; driving through the (not quite as intense) capital Skopje with ramshackle buildings and huts; plenty of trash and more scruffy street dogs to eat it– the comparisons were easy to make. 

I spent Sunday in Bishop with my Mom.  Drove to LA for a lightning quick visit with Eddie on Monday.  Flew out on a red eye that night (Virgin Atlantic- the swankiest budget airline available).  “Slept” on the floor of the JFK airport for 14 hours (urgh).  10 hour flight to Budapest (what time is it?)  3 hours there- not enough time to do much of anything (bought a $4 bottle of water- kösönöm… shit.)  Three lightning quick gate changes later, I was on the plane to Skopje.  Arrival- scared by the customs officials searching my bags (lucky they spoke a bit of my language).  Guy holding my name on a sign, bus stop (no english here), ticket bought, bus ride, Ohrid, left computer I was carrying for a friend on bus, can’t hug Valarie yet, must get bags first, run after bus, catch taxi, worry, worry, get computer back, whew, bus to Peshtani.  Ahhh… at last. 

It was a journey certainly.  A day later, we left the beautiful Lake Ohrid for Kicevo where Valarie lives.  My first reactions I’ll perhaps skip- they weren’t the most flattering carrying something like 60 pounds on my back through the hot and dusty side streets. 

Anything is better the more time you spend with it, and I’m comfortable here now.  We’ve walked a couple times through the lively Pezzar (like a bazaar only spelled with a ‘p’), through the streets to the cafes, into the store with the ladies who smile at Valarie.  Sensed the pace of life here. 

I mentioned downshifting- that was the hardest part as first: not the language, the culture, or the food: it was the lack of something to do.  I’ve discovered that generally I like doing things- or certainly am used to it.  Relaxation is only good if you have something to relax after…  After shifting my priorities from those of San Francisco to those of Makedonija, I’ve found lots of things to do.  I look forward to walks around town, or up to parks up in the mountains, or to sipping a macchiato.  I’m not curating a new artshow, or going to the media lab or the elementary school- but that’s ok.  Perhaps finding things to do while seemingly not doing anything is something I’ve needed to learn for a while.  Downshifting is a good thing: there’s always time to rev it back up a few months from now.

Ok, sorry for all the car analogies…  The music has changed to Euro-techno  dance stuff… I guess that fits the scene a little better: its good to not pretend you’re something you’re not…

Ok, ok.  Time to go. 

Ciao