Mace (mat-zay): My street cat

I have a mace, or cat. I've become obsessed. We snuggle and play together all the time. He's so freaking cute and loving. Have you ever watched a video with your cat? I have. Just type in "videos for your cat" on Youtube, and watch some birds, mice, and squirrels. I bought him a laser. I've made him toys from old string and he loves his aluminum foil ball.  He is always trying to get the thing that lives under the covers (hint: it's my hand). I may have become a crazy cat lady.

This is a few hours after meeting each other.
The fact that we're making the same face just
shows that we were meant to be.

His name is Miku (mee-koo), which translates to "the friend" in Albanian. I met him on my site visit and he was my first friend here in Përshefcë, so the name fits.

I can't believe I'm lucky enough to live with a family that lets me keep him inside.  They seem to like him too and are always asking me where he is. When I call him outside, he usually comes running within a few seconds.  The kids in the family love him too and he is a big source of entertainment here.  I'm teaching them how to play with cats and showing them that they aren't that scary.

Typically Muslim homes don't have cats, particularly in the home, and they especially don't have dogs inside--which is why I was surprised that they allowed Miku inside! My first family would never ever have allowed any animal to come inside the house.  He sleeps with me every night...either cradled in my arms or on my chest.  I set my alarm about 10 minutes earlier than I need so that I can snuggle with him.  He's vaccinated and had his de-wormer pills, and he got neutered on Feb. 25th.




When I got him neutered I actually had some family members say to me: "Can you even do operations on cats?! I had no idea." or "You sterilized him? That's sooo bad, though!" or "But...he's a girl cat. You know he can't get pregnant, right?" I just really wanted to do my small part to help the local cat population...plus I don't want him to start marking his territory inside or anything, and neutering them helps with this. While it was semi-expensive for here to do the operation, it ended up being the equivalent of about $36, or 1,800 denar.

My 14-year-old host sister, Vlera has also become quite attached to him. She's his aunt and helps me take care of him.


He's wonderful and I'm very much considering bringing him back to America with me in two years.

Enjoy all these wonderful photos of him.

I was serious about watching YouTube videos.

Sooo, when I first got him it looked I had stuck my hand in a rose bush
or something. He's since learned to play a little nicer.

Enjoy how adorable this is. He crawled onto my
host "dad" and they both took a nap.

He fell asleep holding my hand.
Notice how you can tell we were watching cat videos together,
then he fell asleep.

Package from my mom! Miku liked it too.

Cat. Box. Next to the wood-burning stove. Why
would he be anywhere else?

Best cat in Macedonia.

Fire.

Fire.

It's gotten really cold here and central heating is a luxury enjoyed by few.  The main room of the house is typically the only one heated, at least during the day. The rooms are sometimes heated by electric heaters/radiators--yet electricity is really expensive here, so this option isn't often very popular. Peace Corps does provide volunteers with electric radiators, if we want/need one, however most of us only keep it on from the hours of 10pm-7am when electricity is 50% cheaper for the whole country.  I'm lucky enough to have a wood-burning stove in my room.

My little wood-burning stove. Despite the Albanian flag, I do live in Macedonia. It was a gift for Albania's flag day.

Main heat source. Great for drying laundry too. What can't it do?!

Luckily I was at camp and learned how to build a fire! Even then, it's way harder in a wood-burning stove, and there are different dynamics and air flow problems.  Just remember: start small and don't get impatient and kill your tiny fire with a bigger log.  The one in the main living area is easier to work because it's more advanced and has air flow underneath where you burn the wood. It keeps the place nice and cozy, PLUS you can cook on it.  I feel so old-fashioned when I make popcorn on the stove. And you're not wasting any extra energy that you weren't already using. I've also baked in the wood stove, which if you need a very specific temperature can be tricky, but otherwise works wonderfully.

Due to these stoves, everything in my life now fits into one of two categories: can be burned, can't be burned. Simple as that. Literally everything I see falls into a dichotomy.

My wood box in my room.

CAN

• Wood
• Dirt from the floor--but it doesn't do much
• Cardboard packaging
• Orange peels
• Egg shells--but with a slight smell
• Extra paper that both sides have been used
• Used tissues--a good way to kill those bacteria!
• Tea bags
• Hair--close that door fast, though. Burned hair is not a pleasant smell.
• Threads
• Nail clippings 
• Food with paper wrappers 
• Cigarette butts
• Apple seeds
• Egg cartons
• Feathers from the chickens you killed in your yard
• Corn cobs that are leftover from all the corn you feed your chickens.

CAN'T

• People
• Feces
• Plastic bottles*
• Candy wrappers*
• Chips bags*
• Plastic bags*
• Snow
• Paper that only one side has been used

Thank goodness this is the pile of burning trash just outside the local "hospital"/clinic.

*Many locals here like to burn ALL their trash, including many plastic items. This isn't much different that small towns/villages in the United States. Nothing like the fresh smell of plastic burning in the air.

This is a reality of the life here. There is a trash service, yet I don't know how expensive it is, but I assume not everyone can pay for it.  I don't know how regular it is, nor how reliable.  There also isn't much in the way of environmental awareness/education.  There are recycling plants close by and I hope to set up a recycling program at my school. A couple of other volunteers have started recycling programs which earn a small amount of money that the schools can use in different ways. I hope to start one and use the money to either help pay for ink for the printer, or buy paper for teachers since they have to supply their own paper if they want to make worksheets/copies of anything.  I want to try and couple a recycling program with some environmental education. We shall see how that goes. It's one of the first things I want to accomplish in 2015.