MUSINGS...
Rachel and students from the village “Grad” during a class excursion
Rachel Whitford, MAC XI
W
e are all in this new
country full of
differences, but with
little effort it can be like home.
This morning, I had something
that I had been craving for six
months now––a venti, extra
hot, soy chai. Well it wasn’t
Starbucks, and it wasn’t soy
but it was hot and it filled my
largest cup. It’s these little things
that help me make it through.
The generosity of a friend that
gave me the tea, the fact that I
have electricity and milk... even
though I wanted to be digging
ditches in Peace Corps Africa,
I am happy with Macedonia. In
fact, I am more than happy—I am
thrilled to have found my niche
in something that I have wanted
to be a part of since high school,
PauzaVol5.2.indd 8
not knowing then that I would
be sitting in the consularia of the
village school and all that entails.
To give you an insight into my
life, I had a little tickle and it was
insisted upon that I try a shot
of Domashna Mastica and that
would cure me. Mind you that I
am at school! Only the day before
had I avoided a Rakia rub down
(again at school), so I figured it
would make them happy, and I
should choose my battles. I gave
in and had a glass. It burned the
whole way down (apparently
that is what is killing the germs
in my body, but meanwhile it
was killing my throat and I could
feel the chest hairs growing).
So on the second glass, the song
“Hold on for One More Day”
by Wilson Phillips came on
the radio. I was elated and the
memories of our Thanksgiving
dance filled my head along with
the mental picture of my adorable
host grandparents who brought a
candelabrum to adorn our table.
It’s the little things, right? Like
hearing the “sitting at the diner
song” at the T-Mobile store that
takes me back further than I like
to admit with my age, reminding
me that I am so lucky to be in the
beautiful country of Macedonia.
A
s my Kumanovo group
knows, the Peace Corps
theory of emotional highs and
lows is not a weekly or monthly
cycle. It can occur in minutes.
That is why I would like to thank
all of those of you who have
written Pauza articles. When I got
my last Pauza, I had come back to
my house at 9:30 p.m. I had just
gone to the bar 15 minutes before,
and since it’s literally across the
Spring 2007
6/29/07 12:31:03 PM