Time Capsule?
By Sarah Fazekas
August 19, 2009
To Be Opened: January 1, 2011
D
ear You,
New Year’s 2011. I hope that you are reading this after a night filled with good beer, tall glasses of champagne, chips and dip
of some kind I can only imagine, fireworks out on the cold streets, and a house full of old friends. You’ve probably spent the last
couple weeks eating various kinds of cheese, all-beef hamburgers, and drinking steaming hot Starbucks coffee. And you better have
gained five pounds at Nana’s house. I can still faintly smell her cooking. In fact, is Mom in the kitchen sending up an aroma of
pancakes? I bet you sat on the airplane making a list of everything you wanted her to cook for you and that the refrigerator is now
full to the brim.
As for the rest of your day I imagine there will be coffee with friends (poured in mugs three times the size of my fist), a walk
through downtown to see the last of the holiday lights, and dinner with the girls. Give them a big hug for me. And enjoy these days.
It will probably be awhile before you see them again. I imagine you are off to a new city, ready to start a new job and new adventure.
I’m assuming you already have a job. Is that too optimistic and naïve? I’ll be shocked if you are not working for the government.
Those benefits are kind of hard to pass up. But don’t worry; you’ll get out eventually. I can only speculate as to what city you are
next lugging all your things to. If you have a car, I beg of you, drive as often as you can. Okay, maybe not what with global warming
and all. But when you do, play that music loud. And when you take public transportation, treasure the speediness of the trains, and
the heat/cooling of the buses.
But as you start your new job, make your new friends, and explore your new city, don’t forget me. Don’t forget that
sometimes it’s okay if life slows down a little, that joy can be found in even a small cup of Turkish coffee or shot of rakija. Don’t
forget to feed the person you’ve just met, to visit as many places as you can, and to enjoy making your own birthday cake. Remember
how complicated the history is between various groups of people here and hold your judgment. Even after another year I somehow
doubt that you have mastered the history of this region. And don’t forget how to read Cyrillic. I have no idea when that knowledge
will be helpful, but I am determined to use it somehow. Figure that out for me, will you?
As for your role in the world of international development, I have no idea what you accomplished last year, or what will
be in store in the next ten years. But I trust that you left behind a little bit of hope for the future, instilled a few new skills, and told
people that it’s okay to dream. If you left behind something tangible, be proud of that. But remember that knowledge can never be
destroyed, no matter what happens.
And no letter from Macedonia would be complete without a few predictions as to your love life. To the extreme sadness of
Blagitsa and Mile I am guessing that you did not marry a Macedonian. Don’t worry. Maybe you’ll find someone on a trip to New
Jersey.
Love,
You
N
5
6
F
W
J A
M
O
I
E
O
L
R I E D
D
S
A
D
12
S U N F L O W
U
D
G
M E
D
S
R
17
P H I L A D E
N
U R E K
M
21
P
A
23
L
T
I
T
T O V O
H
26
H
I
E
N
W
P A G E N T Q U
A
S
6
32
D C
K
J
L
L
H
U
34
J A I M
O
A
W
B
A
N
A
O
N
L
O
38
G O C E
D
V
C O
E
1
4
P R O M A
8
M
A
11
A
P
A
J
13
V
C
K
A
A
R
G
E
F
R
22
C O F F
M
H
O
29
L
M
30
B E A U
K
31
C H E
H
I
35
P O L
L
M O Z E
R
10
37
A R
R E
19
B
20
E E
24
T E
T Y
K A
E K
3 `??3????W????R????0?p?????R??B?? ?`??P?p? ???R??0?P????? ?R"????p?`???P?@?P?P?????? ?`?0?`?0?????P?@???0?P????? ????? ??????????????"???p??????P??p? ?R?B???R?#u2BR#? ???@???RR??????P?????? ??????? ????R???p?p? ??p??#P??r?2@???????"B????7vW'0???