My host father doesn’t speak English very well
so his son-in-law would write down English words and their Macedonian translations in an effort to better communicate with me. One day my host mother was talking to my host father loudly and he turned to me and stated, “My
wife is hot.” I took it as my host father being cheeky because he can be pretty sarcastic. Over the course of a couple
weeks my host father said the same thing a couple more times. Then one day I was looking at the list and saw that
next to luta (hot) was the word “angry”. I told my host brother-in-law what the word “hot” meant and what I thought
he was saying. He laughed and told my host parents. My host father was completely embarrassed and could not stop
apologizing to his wife. Despite the embarrassment, he also thought it was hilarious and will still say “my wife is
hot” and laugh about it.
Sue Roh – Kavadarci
MAK 11
Some volunteers from training were going on a little “hike”
up to the cross in Veles. I use the word hike quite loosely because it’s really just an uphill
walk- nothing too intense. But my host family would have thought I was preparing to climb
Mt. Everest! They kept trying to pack food for me and convince me not to go, that it would be
far too strenuous. After spending hours trying to convince them I was tough enough to handle
it, I was on my way out the door, and somehow, gracefully managed to trip down the front two
steps. And by trip, I mean fall flat on my face! Yes, I know, I’m extremely coordinated and
graceful! I wasn’t hurt, just extremely embarrassed, and laughing so hard I was nearly in tears. I was still determined to go, and it was decided that my host brother needed to go with me. He practically held my hand on the
hike and told me “watch out!” at every tiny stone.
Stephanie Vorman – Veles
MAK 11
As you’re well aware by now, this is an essential and formative part of training. An enjoyable way to practice your new
language skills and try local dishes. That is, of course, unless you’re a vegetarian. In the first few weeks of my stay in
Macedonia, I was pulled into numerous kitchens of eager-to-please relatives trying to understand what I meant when I said
that I didn’t eat meat. Chicken? No. Sausage? Sorry. Chicken soup? I would suggest salad or cheese, but these didn’t
usually qualify as a meal, so I would then spend several minutes trying to explain why I am a vegetarian, using every
word I’d learned in the past three weeks to unsuccessfully convey that it is not because I’m watching my weight (no one
ever, even now, believed me). Eventually, my eating habits became a little joke to everyone and whenever I mysafir’d at
a house where a meatless dish such as cornbread was served, I found myself swapping recipes, and overhearing my host
mother laugh about the fact that I was, finally, being served something I could eat.
Na gosti, or as it’s known in Albanian, mysafir.
Aryn Bloodworth – Skopje
MAK11
Ah, the host family experience and the questions that came to mind:
“Will they like me?” “Will I like them?” “Will they think I’m weird?” “Will I think they’re weird?” Not once did I
think that my first experience kissing a Macedonian would be that of locking lips with my host mother.
After eating some ajvar, drinking sok, and a few conversation lulls, it was the rest of my training
group’s turn to see where I would be living for the next few months. As far as I remember, things
moved along as normally as possible. (Meaning, like the rest of that first morning, it was pretty awkward.) When it came time to wrap up our session at my new home, my host mom and I decided to
proudly display the affection that we felt towards one another. While a hug and kiss ??????????????)?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????$)????????????????????????????????????%?????????????????????????$??????????????)]?????????????$?????????????????????????e??????????????????????????????????????????????????????)????????????????M????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????q???????????????)??????????????????????????????????????t)-??????-????????-??????)5,???()???????????`((