Shayne's Crazy Makdo Life

Quickish Update

So, there's a lot to report, but not too much time to do it, and I'm not sure when I'll get to update next, so I thought I'd do a quick rundown of my life, in 30 seconds:

Last week was our COS (Close of Service) Conference, where everyone from my group (who's still here) gathered and learned about how to leave. The first day was heavy on the admin stuff- and let me tell you, there is quite a lot of paperwork to be done. But, the staff tried to make it as quick and painless as possible, and you have to respect that. The second day was all about what it's going to be like to go home, and what to do when we get there. Let me just warn you all at home- apparently, I'm going to be a drifting, emotional wreck. Just thought you all should be warned. Honestly, I know it'll be an adjustment to come home, and more and more I think about what it'd be like to just hop to another international job, but the most important thing right now is for me to go home and start working a little and figure out my grad school plan and then pursue it. So, alas, I'll have to live in the states for a little while, although I have a feeling it won't be for too long....

I ended up leaving the conference a little early to pick up a very important package- my dad! He's here and I have tons of fun stories already, including the oh-so typical story of how I got from Krusevo (where our conference was) to Skopje (where my dad was). Basically, there was a mix up with the van company as to whether they were supposed to pick up me and Leanne (who also went home early) at 6 am from the hotel or not, so of course they didn't come and we were stuck at the hotel when really we needed to get to the closest city with a bus station (that would be Prilep). The next van was at 8:00, which was totally unacceptable, because I needed to get to Skopje to pick up my dad, and the 8:00 van wouldn't get me there in time. So, the people at the front desk started calling anyone who they knew was awake at 6:00 am. Nobody could drive us because they were either going to work or their car wasn't registered. So, the security guard is pulling us around, trying to find someone with a car who will take us to Prilep. It was really sweet of him, and he did feel bad, even though it wasn't his fault- it was the van company's. Anyways, so we're walking around, trying to find some guy with a VW Golf who drives very quickly and "will save us" as the security guard said. But, we didn't need the Golf guy, because miraculously, a van headed towards Prilep drove up right next to us and we jumped in, even though there wasn't supposed to be another van for another hour. SO, we made it to the Prilep bus station with plenty of time and I made it to Skopje with time to spare, thank goodness.

There are other fun stories and adventures that we've already had, including running out of gas while driving up the mountains in Zrnovci with my friend, Kristin, and her host father, Toso. It ended with us pushing his 8 foot-long car into a 20 point turn on a 9 foot-wide path. Good times. It's been amazing to have someone from home here, especially my dad, and we've been having a great time visiting all the locals and my host family. Tomorrow we're headed to Skopje, then Ohrid, and then on Friday he takes off and I immediately move to Skopje later that afternoon. Then, it's Skopje for a week, then moving to Veles for the last 2 months. It looks like I'll be living with the two other volunteers who are doing the same job as me, Kendra and Shaun, and I have to say I'm pretty excited because I think they're both pretty cool cats, and I think we'll have great times living together. Plus, it just makes sense, seeing as we'll be working together. So, hopefully good times ahead in Veles.

And really, that's it. I have a feeling this time is going to completely fly by, and suddenly I'll be home again, reading and re-reading my journal entries and being amazed that it all happened so quickly. Speaking of quick, this update was supposed to be a little quicker than this. So, this will be it for a while, but I'm sure I'll have lots more fun stories about my dad's visit here as well as the beginnings of my new job, so stay tuned!

posted by Shayne @ 12:15 AM