Doing fieldwork in the Macedonian countryside

The text is dedicated to the reflections on the author’s own ethnographic field research in the rural areas of the Republic of Macedonia, which has been carried out since 2011 to specify the strategies which local inhabitants develop to manage their everyday reality and practices. The author discusses the factors which influence an ethnographic field research and presents the reflexivity and awareness of the research process. She also focuses on researcher’s personality and individual features, on how the locals accept a stranger in their private space. The several key moments are underlined like coming to the field and its impact on the further activity through the reflection if the field which precedes next steps, gaining the confidence and respect, difficulties that the researcher faces in communication etc. All these moments (and many others) should be considered as an inevitable part of the work.