Scoping Skopje: I am not a cat

Thanks to Dr. Ivanovski and Beth, my thumb is almost completely healed. I again have an opposable, working thumb and so I am not a cat- I do not have to wear the same furry coat every day but can change my clothes, do laundry and prepare meals other than killing birds and foraging for crumbs.

Last night I had my first Macedonian language class. My teacher, Maja, is 32 and newly engaged. She met her fiancee, who is from Milwaukee, online. She said she can't believe she met a normal guy. She does not think there are too many of them out there. This is surely a huge point of agreement and consensus among the worlds' women. He is older than her and they have hardly known each other very long but he has come here to visit and everyone in her family likes him. She is now trying to get a "fiancee" visa for the US. I told her that, in fact, the Midwest is full of "normal" people unlike the coasts.

Beth, who over the last couple weeks has looked worse and worse and seemed to have the flu finally went to the doctor- she does have pneumonia and is now on antibiotics. I have had to forbid her from coming into the office. Due to construction, Beth also lives in a place that it is not possible to find or get to unless she has taken you there and shown you the building.

Maja has many students. She begins by asking what I want to accomplish- learn helpful phrases to go shopping, etc. , learn to read, give directions to taxi drivers. At first I say learn helpful conversation, which seems a normal response but I know that is not my interest so finally I tell her that really I am just interested in language and so maybe a sort of "theoretical" useless approach would suit me. Maja took a minute, looked at me and told me how happy that made her. So we studied the alphabet, discussed when the weird letter making a "J" sound now only used for foreign names like John might have entered the alphabet, why there has to be a j between any two vowels, and other nonpractical concerns that would not help anyone to know in which aisle the bananas are sold.

I asked her how to write in cursive some of the letters that differ from the Russian alphabet. She said that no one learns or writes cursive anymore. She herself just prints the letters with a slant - some hybrid form of printwriting. I told her that for someone my age, the first order of business is learning to write and that I had to spend months learning to write in Russian. She thought this was very funny and kept trying to watch me write as if I was some medieval person forging iron or something. She has, however, become obsessed with my question as to whether there is a systematic way to "write" Chinese characters- she left the lesson quite happy with a list of linguistic issues to research. I am sure I will never learn to speak Macedonian as I have never learned to speak any of the myriad languages I have studied but I think we will both enjoy the lessons. Maja explained that my idea and something I tried to do with Chinese, of reading children's books was pointless- She said why do I want to be able to know words like squirrel or bear or to be able to say things like the bluejay befriended the hippopotamus and taught him many good lessons about the forest fairies. Wow- a good point!

Today, Saturday, was another touring day. First, I set off for the old Turkish bathhouse which is supposedly now an art museum. If you get there very early - before everyone else- at 11:00 AM - too early for anyone else in Skopje to be up, the front door is locked. The sign says open every day except Mondey. You stand there for awhile wondering if in fact it really is "Mondey" not Saturday, or if they actually meant Saturday or maybe you are not actually at the entrance. Standing around dazed and confused often pays off. After awhile someone - an elderly gentleman , came and opened the door. After charging me $3, he let me in.

What a treat! The only person in the entire art museum- the caretaker having gone back to his office to continue watching TV. No guards- no warning signs- no buzzers to go off if you stand too close to the art. While viewing and photographing the art, I heard footsteps. A middle-aged gentleman strode into an adjoining gallery that had a grand piano. He began to play. Even better. I motioned to him if I could come in. He is an Armenian musician who has played all over "Yugoslavia" and Carnegie Hall- well how do you get to Carnegie Hall. He was there today to practice. His son plays with him- they play rock/jazz. His son does a tribute to Michael Jackson. He said he also played folk music and I told him I really liked that kind of music. He gave me a private concert of Macedonian and Armenian folk music. Of course, I had to take his quiz as to who is Armenian- having taken many, many such quizzes re: who is Jewish, I completely sympathized. I did not do well. I got the Kardashians but not Gregory Peck. Most of the names I did not even recognize. he gave me his name and has invited me to his studio. He was very hopeful that I spoke Polish. But he spoke English well enough. One of the quiz questions was the folk dance - the Sher- I told him that it was Russian- my grandmother used to dance it. Apparently, it is claimed by Armenia.

Garo practicing in the museum.

from Garo's website:

Garabet Tavitjan - Garo was born in Skopje in 1953.
He start playing drums at age of 12 when he took part as a drummer in almost every important group in Yugoslavia. In 1976 he became a member of the greatest Macedonian rock band "Leb i Sol". He played drums and percussion and composed music on numerous albums of Leb i Sol.
In 1990 he founded the group "Paramecium", which he has been playing with ever since. In his long music career, he has composed music for ballet and theater performances for which he recived a number of awards.
One of the most prestigious tribute he was honored with was the " PERMANENT VALUES AWARD".
Garo has distinguished himself as a superb instrumentalist in his professional collaboration with the most prominent musicians from the both this part of the world and abroad.
His music is characterized by folk motifs transformed in his genuine manner of interpretation of the rhythm: irregular 5/8, 7/8, 9/8, 11/8 and 13/8 beat and improvisations. He presented himself as a master of his instrument - the drums, playing role of composer, a score writer, and a multi-instrumentalist.

His recent performance marked his jubilee of 45 YEARS OF PLAYING AND COMPOSING MUSIC presenting the latest solo project which was a concert conceptualized for percussion instruments: drums, percussion, bells, church bells, metal barells, piano, gongs, saucepans and rhythm machines.
This project, as well as the entire Tavitjan`s output concentrates on his authentic rhythm patterns and the Macedonian traditional music.
Garabet Tavitjan is the greatest Macedonian drummer, one of the most respected music ambassadors among the few musicians who enjoy the privilege of having "legendary" status in the music world of the Balkans, Europe and beyond.

Next stop was the Church of the Holy Savior. That entrance was also closed- it was still only lunchtime. There was, however a key in the door so I opened it but it was very dark inside. Perhaps having been watching me and becoming concerned about my aggressive behavior, a caretaker came running over. He allowed me to purchase a ticket and then he ran about turning on all the lights inside and opening the doors. Of course, I was the only visitor left alone to photograph and get as close as I wanted to all the art/exhibits.

It's still grayish but it was about 60 degrees and very mild. If it is even a smidgeon above 50 degrees, no one is inside in Skopje- they are outside eating, drinking coffee and smoking.