Shayne's Crazy Makdo Life

Fun Times on the Train

2005-10-22T23:14:00.000+02:00

Last night a big group of us went to the Skopje Jazz Festival. I was pretty excited because I love jazz and have missed this festival the past 2 years, and this was my last chance. While the two performers weren't the type of jazz any of us were expecting, it was still entertaining. Afterwards, we all went to a friend's apartment to partake in some wine that some of us won through a wine promotion at the festival. And when I say some of us, I mean everyone besides Vanessa and I- we just got sad faces on our scratch-off cards. Anyways, there's a 3:25 am train that goes back through Veles on it's way to Thesolliniki from Skopje every night, so of course we decided it'd be a great idea to hang out in Skopje till 3 am and then take the train home. Kendra and I already have some experience with this train, but it's still always a surprise. This time around, the conductor tried to charge us 160 denars (roughly 3 dollars) for a ticket, when it's usually only 80 denars. Kendra got pissed and started telling him that he was ripping us off, and while that was happening, the other conductor came by and I started talking with him. He actually showed me the price charts and everything, and somehow he was right- the tickets really were 160 denars for some crazy reason. Now, I may have had some Skopje Jazz Festival Special Edition red wine in me, but I still understood it all and it was all legit- the tickets actually were 160 denars and we were totally in the wrong for thinking we were being ripped off. But, my conductor was considerably more laid back than the one Kendra was dealing with, so I looked at him, flashed a bright smile and said, "Well, what are we gonna do?" My conductor caught my drift and told me to just give 300 denars total for all 5 of us and call it even. So, I interrupted Kendra and her conductor, who were still discussing the price of the ticket, and told him that the other conductor told us that 300 denars was just fine. Kendra's conductor conceded, took the 300 denars, and told us to keep it on the DL. So, in the end, we all had to pay just 60 denars each, which is even less than if we were paying what we thought was the real price! Score! Below is a picture of Vanessa, me and Kendra in our train cart on our way back to Veles.

Still Here!

2005-10-09T20:49:00.000+02:00

That's right, folks, I'm still alive, but just barely. This new position as TCF has me working night and day, day and night, and everything in between. I'm working pretty hard, and it's been a little difficult to adjust to the 9-5 (more like 8-8) job schedule again. But, in a way, it's really refreshing to be so busy with such scheduled, organized things again. Plus, everyone keeps saying that it'll be like a great practice for when I go back home and have to get a real job and am expected to work these kinds of hours. So, once I get used to it again (dear lord, I hope I do!), I'll be fine.

Training itself seems to be going really well. I love the staff that I work with- they're all fabulous! The newbies are really great and super enthusiastic yet also have very realistic expectations for what's ahead for them. Many of them are also very experienced in their sectors (such as TEFL or CD), and I think that'll be a great help to those of us who are doing their technical job training. Right now they're all in what we like to call the Honeymoon Phase, where everything is fantastic and wonderful and nothing is horrible. I'm guessing that they'll hit their slump around Week 5. Any takers? But, seriously, they're a really great group of people and I'm so happy to be able to train them.

Oh, and don't worry, I've been having my fun as well. Not only have I been able to have a small taste of the nightlife here in Veles, my new home, but this weekend was especially special. During the day on Saturday, there was a Field Day held by the Peace Corps Macedonia Entertainment Committee, which is a group of MAK 9's who are committed to providing fun stuff for all us volunteers to do together in order to bond and meet each other. Let me just say, they did a fantastic job with this weekend's Field Day. There was almost 100% attendance from both the newbies and MAK 9, while MAK 8 had a measley 7 show up. But, in all fairness, everyone is very busy with wrapping up their sites and everything, and if I didn't already live in Veles, I probably wouldn't have gone. BUT, I'm so glad I did because it was such a blast! We played games such as tug-of-war, wheelbarrow race, crab-walk soccer, dodgeball, and other fun stuff. I got to be a team captain, and while our team (The Fighting Ass Kickers) placed 3rd out of 4, we still had a great time. Well done, Entertainment Committee!

Then, Kendra and I had our own fun that night at the Prodigy concert held in Skopje. That's right, the same group that did Firestarter were in Skopje last night. It was SUCH a great concert! I'm not the biggest Prodigy fan in the world, but I do like what I've heard, and seeing as live concerts like that are a little rare in Macedonia, I thought it'd be worth it to check it out. I'm really glad I did- it was an excellent concert, full of lots of sweaty jumping around and dancing. The only problem was that the only way for Kendra and I to get back to Veles that night was by the 3 am train that goes to Thessoliniki every night. So, that was a little tough- after an entire day of Field Day activities PLUS a fantastic concert, we had to roam around Skopje for a few hours and then take the super late train back. Not something I recommend to do on a regular basis, but it definitely worked out fine for us, after a small incident with a conductor who was trying to convince us that we had to pay a 3,000 denar ($60) fine for putting our feet on the seats. We took the "kill with kindness" approach, which proved successful, and we made it home by 5 am. What a night!

Less than a month and a half left, and I can't even believe it. With so much going on with work, it's hard to believe I'm ever leaving here. It's definitely a mix of emotions that range all over the place, that's for sure. But, I still have a month and a half left, and I'm gonna make the best of it!

Here are some pictures from the Field Day:

Here's me playing our nation's favorite playground pasttime...dodgeball. Notice my professional stance. Yeah, we lost that game.

Here is one fierce round of tug-of-war. We won that game, I'm sure due to the intense look on my face.

Haos!

2005-09-20T14:53:00.000+02:00

That's "chaos" in Macedonian, and that's a really good description of my life right now. But, it's a happy chaos, which is great. I've moved from my little Orizari and lived the life of a Skopjanka (that's Macedonian for girl from Skopje) for 10 days, which was SO much fun. Then, yesterday, we moved to Veles, which is the training site for PST. We've already hit a couple bumps with the whole moving process, but I'm confident they'll be smoothed out shortly. I've really enjoyed having a different position, no matter how much I loved teaching in Orizari, and I really like having normal 9-5 work hours again after not having them for the past 2 years. Life is definitely crazy-busy with all our planning, but I'm really enjoying the crazy-busyness of it all. I love the PST staff and think that we'll all have a blast working together for the next 2 months....and yes, ladies and gentlemen, for those of you keeping score at home, it is in exactly 2 months from today that I'll be leaving on a jet plane... But, there is SO much to do before that, so I can't even phathom the idea of actually going home. Unfortunately, with all this stuff going on, I'm gonna be a little slow on the postings, which is too bad because I'm sure I'll have tons of fun stuff to talk about, such as MAK 10's arrival (in 6 days!!), training fun, a girls-only hiking weekend on Pelister, a Volunteer Field Day, and much more stuff that I can't even begin to anticipate. SO, I really hope to post on a semi-semi-regular basis, so keep your eyes open!

Quickish Update

2005-09-06T00:15:00.000+02:00

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!

Good Times in Bulgaria

2005-08-25T23:33:00.000+02:00

I completely forgot to talk about my trip! Bulgaria was amazing- I had such a great time just relaxing on the beach. I stayed with a Peace Corps Bulgaria Volunteer, Lise, who was a fantastic hostess! She lives in Burgas, which is on the coast of the Black Sea. It's a pretty large city of about 200,000 and isn't really considered as a big tourist place because it has an oil refinery. But, that's where everyone else is wrong- Burgas is a great city and has tons to do, some great restaurants, and some really great beaches! Plus, because everyone thinks that it's not a good place to go, the beaches aren't packed at all! There are tons of cute little seaside villages along the coast, so I took a few day trips to some of those and enjoyed their beaches as well. I probably clocked more time laying on the beach in that one week than I have in my entire life combined! And some very fun sunbathing it was ;) On the last night, Lise took me to a bar in Burgas where one of her favorite bands were playing. They're called Lora, and they're basically a rock band that does a lot of great covers of American songs from the 90's (Coldplay, No Doubt, Alanis Morissette, U2). It was SUCH a great time. The band was amazing and the bar was really small, so we got to stand really close to the band and jump around, sing, and dance all night long. There were almost a few moshing-induced catastrophes, but we left the bar at 3 am unscathed, but really sweaty from all the dancing. It was a fantastic way to end my trip. All in all, it was SUCH a relaxing trip and just what I needed before the big haul to the end!

And, here we are at the big haul. Things are getting pretty crazy, and I'm just trying to keep up with it all. I've got lots of packing to do still for my move to Veles, not to mention our Close-of-Service Conference next week, and then....my dad comes!!!! That's right- exactly a week from tomorrow, my dad will be gracing this lovely country with his presence. I can't wait to show him around everywhere and introduce him to everyone. It's going to be absolutely fabulous. Then, the day he leaves, I leave my little village, my beautiful Orizari, and head to Skopje for a week for some planning and training of my own, then Veles. It'll be a crazy last couple of months, that's for sure!

This is part of the beach in Burgas where I spent a lot of my time. And a man in a Speedo. Yes, this happens a lot in Europe.

Something I Won't Miss From Macedonia....

2005-08-25T22:21:00.000+02:00

With my time here dwindling down to less than 3 months, I've done a lot of thinking about the things I'm going to miss when I leave. And believe me, the list is quite hefty. This, however, is something that I'll never miss. This is a Turkish Toilet. I had no idea these existed until I came here, but I got to know them as soon as I stepped off the plane when I arrived here almost 2 years ago. A few of us had to use the bathroom in the airport, so we made our way to the bathroom and as I opened the stall door, I stared at something very similar to this picture and said outloud, "What the crap is this?" One of the other volunteers was like, "Oh, it's a Turkish Toilet." Needless to say, I've gotten pretty cozy with quite a few Turkish Toilets in my 2 years here, as they frequent bus stations, restaurants, and cafes. I've definitely mastered the technique of successfully using one and not getting unwanted substances on my clothes (ladies- skirts work best). I've even had conversations with other volunteers about the places with the best Turkish Toilets (a restaurant called El Pida in Kocani wins so far). So, as sad as it makes me to think of things I'll miss, I can't help but get a little excited about not having to face these anytime in the near future...

Fun With Acronyms

2005-08-04T19:05:00.000+02:00

As many of you know, Peace Corps is all about acronyms (even more than at Valpo, if you can believe it). I've explained some of them to some of you, but I figured I'd let you all in on the acronym fun. So, below is a list of acronyms that are commonly used in Peace Corps and ones that I'll be using a lot more once I start my new position in September. Remember to take notes, as there will be a test at a later date:

PC= Peace Corps. That one's simple enough.
PCT= Peace Corps Trainee. This is the title given to volunteers during their training. They then become:
PCV= Peace Corps Volunteer. After 3 months of training, there is a swearing-in ceremony where all PCTs become PCVs.
PST= Pre-Service Training. This is the 3 months of training that all trainees receive before starting their work in their country. During these 3 months, they all live with host families in both small and large communities. Five or six trainees will live in the same community and attend daily language classes and other training sessions together.
LCF= Language and Cultural Faciliator. These are basically our language teachers during PST. They live in the communities with the PCTs and give them their daily language classes as well as serve as a cultural facilitator, helping PCTs adjust to their new surroundings.
HCN= Host Country National. It's the what we call all natives citizens, regardless of ethnicity.
TCF= Technical and Cultural Facilitator. This is what I'm going to be. TCFs train the PCTs in their field of work, in my case, teaching English. They also serve as cultural facilitators and will probably be a sounding board for all cultural frustrations that the PCTs have.
MAK 10= The name of the group of newbies who are coming. We all come in groups and are numbered in the order that we come. I'm in MAK 8
TEFL= Teaching English as a Foreign Language. One of the three sector in which we work here in Macedonia. In case you all forgot, it's my sector as well. Pretty self-explanitory, but we all work in schools, either primary or secondary. Most of us team teach with other native teachers, but now a new law has been passed that allows foreigners to teach on their own, so more volunteers will be responsible for starting English language programs in schools that don't have them.
EEM= Environmental Education and Management. The second of the three sectors, and unfortunately the smallest. Most of these volunteers work in Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that focus on the environment, although they could also work in schools to help the environmental education.
MUN/NGO= Municipality and Non-Governmental Organization. The last of the sectors. There are a few volunteers who are working with local municipalities, although the chunk of them are working with NGOs.

Below are a few pics from my 2nd camp in Mavravo:

Here's a view of the lake at sunset from right outside the hotel.

This is most of the group at this really cool ampitheatre in Galicnik, which is this awesome little village near Mavravo.

Back from Camp-o-rama

2005-08-02T17:50:00.000+02:00

Yes, I have returned. What a crazy couple of weeks it's been! It'd take me years to explain everything that's happened, so I'll just give everyone the Reader's Digets version:

Camp GLOW was fantastic. It went much smoother than I anticipated, which was a huge relief. We only had 4 no-shows, and out of 60 girls, that's pretty good. The place we stayed at was nice, and all of the sessions seemed to go really smoothly. Some of the girls' favorite sessions were the yoga session they had with one of the counselors and a self defense class that we had with a special guest volunteer. For the rest of the week, they were practicing their "NO!"s, and it was awesome. The camp was mixed ethnicities, and we made it a point to mix all of the girls in their rooms and small groups so that they weren't with anyone from their own community. The defining moment for me was during our Tolerance and Appreciation day, when one of the Macedonian girls told us that she'd never met an Albanian before, and that the night before, she and her Albanian roommate stayed up all night talking about the differences between their religions and cultures. I looked around and saw a lot of girls nodding in agreement, confirming that they had done the same thing. It just made me so happy to hear that, because one of the main goals of GLOW for me is to promote inter-ethnic understanding. So many of these girls grow up listening to their parents' stereotypes and prejudices, and they just assume that they're correct. Here they had a chance to actually meet someone of a different ethnicity, and I think some long-lasting friendships were made. It was really amazing.

Another really funny moment happened on the last night during our Goodbye Party. There were some boys outside our conference room, not really causing any trouble, but definitely wanting to meet some of our girls. They would talk with any of the girls who went outside, but other than that, they weren't really doing anything, so I just let them stay. Anyways, at the end of the night when it was time for the girls to head to bed, I asked them to kindly ignore the boys outside because they really did need to get up to bed to sleep. So, as they all exited the party room, they started chanting "Boys are toys!" I swear I didn't teach them that, but it was hilarious to witness.

So, after GLOW, I had a day at home to unpack and then repack for my other camp, which was just your basic English camp. It was like a vacation for me- 20 kids, 3 days long....it was no problem. I mean, we did have a lot of fun, and we were in a gorgeous location- Mavravo, a cute little village in the mountains that has its own man-made lake. It made me realize how much I really miss living near a body of water. But, less than 4 months to go, and then I'll be back home, near many many lakes.

Now what? Well, I've got a week back here in Orizari, and then I'm taking off for vacation. It's been quite a busy month for me, so I'm really looking forward to some nice R&R. I'm going with another volunteer to Burgas, Bulgaria, which is located right on the Black Sea. We'll be staying with a Peace Corps Bulgaria volunteer, so that saves me a lot of money. I just plan on laying on the beach all week with a nice book. After that, I've got a few weeks to prepare for the BIG VISIT- my dad's coming out here for a week!!! I'm excited beyond words. It'll be fantastic. After that, I'll be headed to Skopje to train for my new position for a week, and then the newbies will be here. Then, two months of training them, then.....HOME!!!!! :)

Here are some of the girls cutting out pictures to put on their Happy Thoughts Jar

Here's a rousing game of The Human Knot that we played outside.

This is the building where we had most of our sessions.

Katica, Marilyn and Zorica show off their newly made tie-dye t-shirts.

Here's Kristin, my cohort in GLOW crimes, and I making our friendship bracelets for our Secret Friends. Who says we can't enjoy the camp fun too?

And last but not least, the group picture, taken right before we jumped on the busses and headed home.

One of the Reasons Why I Love This Country

2005-07-13T01:00:00.000+02:00

I went to school yesterday looking for my principal because I needed her to sign my vacation request form. She wasn't there, but as I was walking home, I ran into her and her husband who were just leaving one of the shops. She invited me to her house, which was right down the road from mine, so I of course agreed. Not only did I come home an hour later with the signature I needed, but also with a bottle of homemade apricot juice, a jar of homemade cherry juice, cucumbers, carrots, and a promise for more when I come back again. Ten years from now, when I look back on this whole experience I'm not going to remember the language struggles, the cultural struggles, the water restrictions...I'm going to remember these moments.

Ch-Ch-Changes

2005-07-08T22:18:00.000+02:00

OK, so now it's official and I can tell everyone. I've officially been hired as a Technical and Cultural Faciliator (TCF) for the Pre-Service Training (PST) of MAK 10 (no acronym there). While I'm still not sure on the specifics, from what I've been told, I'll be responsible for the techincal training (in my case, teaching English) for all TEFL volunteers (technically, they're trainees at that point).

Maybe I should back up a bit. Here's how Peace Corps training works: Back in the states, after finding out where Peace Corps is placing us, then finding out where the hell it's located and looking at every website possible about the country, then freaking out about leaving, everyone who's going to the same country meets in one city for a little 2-day long meeting called Staging (ours was in Chicago, coincidentally). We get to meet our fellow trainees and sort of get a crash course on what Peace Corps is all about, while they tell us nothing about the country we're going to. It's all about the surprise, apparently. Anyways, then we all fly together to our country and are welcomed at the airport by our training staff. They whisk our half-concious bodies off on a bus towards our training site. We then have 3 months of training in which we all live in villages that surround one main city, called the HUB site. We live with families, and there are usually 6 or 7 trainees living in the same villages. Also living there is a Language and Cultural Facilitator (LCF- are you writing all these acronyms down?). They're responsible for our language and cultural assimilation into the country. We have 4-hour language classes with them every day and they're also there as a support network for us. We also go into the main city once a week with all the other trainees for one big training day where we learn more stuff about our positions, the country, traditions, safety and security, etc. There's a technical trainer for each sector- Teaching English as Foreign Language (TEFL), Municipality and NGO (MUN/NGO) and Environmental Education and Management (EEM). They're responsible for teaching us how to perform our specific jobs as volunteers. After the 3 months are up, we are then sworn-in as volunteers and go on our merry ways to our new sites (or in my case, stay where I was) and start our 2 years of diligent work as volunteers.

Where do I come in with all of this? Well, I will be helping the techincal trainer with all TEFL trainings. This includes helping create the training sessions, setting up student teaching-like practicums for the trainees, and helping with other cultural assimilation stuff, seeing as I'm the seasoned veteran here. I'll either live in the HUB site (which this time is Veles) or I'll live in one of the other communities that the trainees are living in. This means that I'll be basically quitting my job as a teacher here in Orizari and moving out in mid-September. I have mixed feelings about this- I'm really excited about this opportunity to help with the training, and I think it'll be a fantastic experience. On the other hand, I've grown quite attached to my little village and really do love my school and my co-workers, so it'll be really hard to leave them 3 months before I was planning on it. And that's the thing, this is a pretty short stint- I'll be there from mid-September to mid-November, so it won't be very long, and then I'll go home straight from there. On the other hand, this will definitely help make the time speed by, as I was worried that the last few months here would drag on, just because I wouldn't have any new projects coming up. Also, I'll have the weekends free (in theory), so I can always come back and visit, which I plan on doing as much as possible.

So, that's that. Like I said, I'm really excited about this awesome opportunity and can't wait for the experience that awaits me. I'm sure I'll have lots of great stories to tell about the newbies and all the fun hazing....um, I mean training that I put them through. So, that's it for now- like I said, I'll be incommunicado for about 3 weeks after this, so try and continue on with your lives without my silly anecdotes, and I promise a huge loving post as soon as I get back.

Camp-o-rama

2005-07-07T00:31:00.000+02:00

This will probably be the only time I can send out an update for the next month, and I definitely wanted to get one out, so here it is. Summer is officially here- the weather is hot (we've had a few 100 degree days, although we're back in the low 90s now), there are people eating ice cream everywhere you turn, there is tons of yummy fruits available, and of course my favorite....water restrictions!! During the summer, my village gets put on a water restriction schedule- we go 1 day with water, then 2 days without. This was the absolute bane of my existance last summer, but this summer I'm ready to face it. I've got about 15 bottles of backup water ready to go every time, and a huge bucket full of water to bathe with. It's actually not that big of a deal, and in all actuality, it makes me feel better for living in such a posh Peace Corps country (internet in my apartment, TV, cell phones). I'm sure we're the butt of many jokes in Peace Corps Africa- "Oh boo hoo, no water for 2 days. Try bathing in a river for 2 years!"

The one and only thing going on in my life right now is Camp GLOW. It's in less than 2 weeks, so it's time to bear down and get a lot of stuff done. I've been thrown a few curveballs, but things have all been working out in the end so far. I'm trying to stay ahead of the game, expecting the unexpected, just to not be caught unprepared. The camp will be from July 17-23 in Bitola, on Mt. Pelister. The entire staff (4 coordinators, 10 counselors and 10 jr counselors) will be meeting on the 16 to plan everything. I'll probably go to Bitola around the 13, just to start organizing everything. I just found out that the organizaiton sponsoring us (OSCE) is going to have journalists come down as well, which is quite exciting- this is the real deal!

Really, I can't think of anything past July 16, but after that I do have another short 3 day English camp for a small group of high schoolers. It won't be very difficult at all- there's another organization who's planning all of the logistics, meaning we just have to show up and teach English. So, compared to GLOW, this will be cake.

Happy belated 4th to everyone, too! It was definitely just any other day here, which is unfortunate, because I loves me some fireworks. But, on the 3rd, we had a little get together at Marilyn's (a volunteer who lives near me), which was lots of fun. We had lots of American-like salads, but instead of barbecuing (no grill), we had Mexican food instead, which I'm sure is close enough, right? Anyways, it was lots of fun just hanging with a small group of volunteer friends (too many volunteers = total chaos), and we had lots and lots of great food, which is definitely what the 4th is all about, right? :)

Oh, and I have official (well, almost official) vacation plans! As fate would have it, I met a Peace Corps Volunteer from Bulgaria last week as she was traveling through Macedonia on vacation. She was super cool and just happened to live on the Black Sea in one of the largest cities in Bulgaria. AND, she's a vegetarian! Score! So, she was nice enough to offer me a place to crash if I wanted to visit, which I quickly agreed to. So, along with 2 other PCV friends here, I'm headed to Burgas, Bulgaria somewhere around the 8th of August for a week of doing nothing else but laying on the beach. I cannot wait. Last year's trip to Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia was lots of fun, and I learned a lot, but we were going non-stop for about 10 days straight, which got tiring. So, I'm looking forward to a very relaxing vacation this summer.

There's also some other big changes on the horizon regarding my position here, although it's not confirmed yet, so I hesitate to go into it. Let's just say that I could be playing a much larger role in the trianing of the new group of volunteers (coming to a Macedonian village near you (or not near you) this September). But, it's still not confirmed, so that's all you get for now. Actually, this is all you get for now total. Like I said, this will probably be my only post for a while- at least until GLOW and my other English camp is over, and quite possibly until after my trip to Bulgaria. So, I hope this satisfies all my dedicated readers for a few weeks. The next update you'll get will hopefully be full of fantastic camp stories. Wish me luck!

This is Jennifer, Marilyn, me and Leanne at Marilyn's 3rd of July party.

Sorta Old Update

2005-06-27T09:54:00.000+02:00

Note: I wrote this about a week and a half ago and meant to post it then, but ran out of time. So, here's a sort of old update, with a promise for a newer, better, sleeker one in a few days:

My how time flies. Where to start? Well, the musical went fantastically well. I mean, considering that nobody had ever done anything like it before, and the kids weren't used to the idea of a musical or what that entails, I think it went really well. Of course, there were mistakes. Of course there were things that week before the performance that made me want to scream (the theatre not having electricity 5 days before the performance, the director of the theatre being the least cooperative person ever, etc), but looking back, it was a really great experience. The kids were absolutely fabulous- there were so many sweet, talented kids that we got to work with. It was really amazing. Plus, we have it recorded on DVD, so anyone interested in taking a gander will be more than welcome to....in 5 months :)

What's next? Well, it seems as though we may be doing a completely new musical. Maybe. It'd be a tight squeeze getting it in before some of us head on out of here, but we've learned so much from this first experience, that I think it'll be much easier and much less stressful the 2nd time around. We kinda went into this whole thing blind- having experience in America doesn't count for much here because things are so different. So, we learned a lot about what it's like to put on a performance like that here, and I think the 2nd time around would (hopefully) be easier. We'll see- things are still a little up in the air.
So, now school's out (yay!), although the teachers are still coming in every day for about 2 hours until the 30th (boo!). It's not so bad, though- it gets me up in the mornings. And, really, I need all the time I can get with Camp GLOW exactly a month from tomorrow. It still seems surreal that we're doing such a huge camp (60 girls as compared to last year's 20 girls), and of course I'm trying to stay one step ahead of it all. It helps that there a lot of other volunteers that are helping out, but I still feel mostly responsible for it. GLOW was the highlight of my first year here, and I hope that this year it'll be the same. But, most importantly, I hope the girls enjoy it and get something out of it.

Other than that, there's not too much going on, not that I would have much time for it if there actually were. I'm still doing UNHCR stuff, although that's sort of gone to the back burner until GLOW is over. We've had consistent beautiful days in the 80s, without much rain, sadly, but that's how it goes here. Lots of sunshiney days and not too much rain. As for vacation plans, I have no idea. I really can't do anything until after GLOW, and at that point, I'll only have about 2 weeks of travel time left- we get put on house arrest 3 months before we leave and aren't allowed to leave the country. I've toyed with the idea of going to the Black Sea in Bulgaria with another volunteer, but it all depends on how much it costs. That's the problem- I have tons of vacation days, just no money to do anything cool. I'll come up with something, I'm sure.

That's about it here, kiddies. Enjoy the pictures and I hope everyone's having a great beginning of the summer!

This is Goce, Krystal, Jennifer, Leanne, me and Sean- all the volunteers (plus one native) who helped with the musical. Notice the jazz hands :)

Here's a picture of almost the entire group of kids- minus a few people who were late (which happened every day, of course).

Busy, busy busy...

2005-05-25T11:01:00.000+02:00

It feels like it's been quite a while since I've updated, but that's because things have been pretty busy here lately. The biggest thing that's been taking over my life lately is this musical that Leanne (another volunteer) and I are doing, with the help of a few other volunteers in the area as well. It was really Leanne's idea- to do a musical in English with the local high school students. I'm just helping out with the music stuff as well as any other little things I can do, which apparently has earned me the title of Assistant Director. We're doing a few scenes and songs from a handful of American musicals, and the money we raise will go towards buying new instruments for the local high school's orchestra, which of course, in my opinion, is a more than worthy cause. Due to the students' schedules, though, we have rehearsals later in the evening or in the afternoon, and because the performance is coming up soon, we've been having them more and more frequently. Not that I mind, of course. I love the kids and everyone knows how much I love musicals- it takes me back to the good ol' days of high school and the countless musicals I helped out with (aw, I miss Quaid!). It's just that I've been really neglecting my other responsibilities here because of it. But, it's almost over- the performances are June 2nd and 3rd- shamless plug for the 3 people from the area who read this as well as anyone feeling adventurous enough to fly 5,000+ miles to see a group of teenage Macedonians sing songs like "Oklahoma" and "Summer Nights". After that, I'll have more time to really concentrate on my other projects, which currently include:

Camp GLOW- Things seem to be going well so far, but it still seems so surreal that we're going to pull it off- it's just so much bigger than what we did last year. But, I'm positive that we'll be able to do it- I've got a ton of other great volunteers helping out this year.

UNHCR- As most of you know, I've been doing some work with UNHCR (United Nations High Comissioner for Refugees) here in Macedonia. I found out that the gender specialist there was looking for people to help her with some research, so of course I jumped at the opportunity, and now I'm knee-deep in research on gender-sensitive return policies for refugees (Macedonia is looking to return the 800 or so Kosovo refugess back to Kosovo). It's all been extremely interesting and definitely gives me more ideas as for career paths....

SPA Project- SPA stands for Small Project Assistance, and it's a grant through a collaboration with Peace Corps and USAID. Volunteers can apply for small grants for up to $3,000, and then there is a committee of volunteers, Peace Corps staff and USAID staff who then approve or deny the grants. I applied for a grant to buy new PE equipment for my school- the PE teacher had already taken it upon himself to renovate the old sports room and did it all through donations from parents, local organizations, and the custodial staff at school, so I thought the least I could do would get some new equipment for him. Part of this project also includes me offering an aerobics class to any interested students next fall, which should be lots of fun. I'm just waiting for final approval after having to provide a little more information, but hopefully within a week or so we should have the money and can buy the equipment before school lets out (June 10).

Oh right, and of course there's school, which is my primary assignment. Oops. School's going well, but these kids are ready to be done. The official last day of school is June 10, but the teachers stay till the end of June and just come in for an hour or two every day. This gives me an opportunity to offer some more English classes to the teachers, seeing as we all have to be there anyways, so that's good.

That's really about it. These next couple of weeks are gonna be super crazy, but after that, I'll have some time to relax and have some fun before jumping into hardcore GLOW planning. I hope everyone is doing well and those of you in school (whether as teachers or students) are enjoying the last few weeks of it! Oh, and a big congrats out to all of my friends who have recently graduated- Chestito!! (Congratulations in Macedonian)

2005-05-25T10:59:00.000+02:00

Without me knowing it, one of the kids took my camera and took a picture of me rehearsing with some of the girls in "Razzle Dazzle" from Chicago. Being Assistant Director also means learning all the dances (choreographed by other volunteers) so I can help rehearse with them. Looks like those couple of years of dance classes when I was younger paid off! Or something....

2005-05-25T10:57:00.000+02:00

Here's a group of the kids rehearsing "We Go Together" from Grease- don't they look cute?

Happy Holidays!!!

2005-05-04T18:27:00.000+02:00

This weekend was a weekend chalk-full of holidays. First of all, this past Sunday (the 1st) was Orthodox Easter, or Veligden, as it's called here. Here's a good explanation of how Easter is celebrated here:

This is the most important holidays celebrated. There is a great preparation for this day, and activities the week before follow a schedule made by the housewife. On Thursday before Easter eggs are dyed. The eggs are colored red, symbolizing the coming happiness in the resurrection. In some homes, beautiful designs are scraped on the service of a dyed egg with a sharp instrument. This unusual technique is the traditional Slavic Orthodox Christian style of decorating eggs. The first egg to be dyed is put aside and called "Protector of the House" (Chuvarsko Jajce). It is placed beside the family Icon and saved until next Easter, where the mother of the house buries it in the garden while nobody sees her. Some baking is done on Thursday, so that nothing but only essential duties are performed on Good Friday. On Good Friday, the family observes a strict vegetarian fast and attends church, where they kiss the a grave of Christ. (Plashtenica). Even fish and oils are omitted from the menu on Good Friday and only nuts, fruits and vegetables are eaten. On Saturday, the house and the food for the coming day are prepared. There are traditional dishes for the Easter meal. A typical menu includes lamb, lamb soup, sarma (stuffed cabbage), salad and delicious cakes. On Saturday night at midnight, everyone gathers at the church for a small Easter service where they walk around the church 3 times with lit candles, for luck. Members of the family, and each guest who comes to the house, are offered eggs on Easter morning, with the greeting "Christ is risen" (Hristos Voskrese) and the response is always "Indeed he is risen" (Voistinu Voskrese). Eggs are tapped, end to end, and if your egg is broken by another person's, you must give it to him/her.

And that's really it. So, I of course colored my own eggs on Saturday (thanks for the dye, Chollie!). Then, on Saturday night, Leanne (volunteer friend) and I went to our friend, Vilma's to celebrate. We decided that we weren't going to go to church, just because Vilma has an awesome view of the church from her balcony, and we could hear the priest from there. So, not only did we get to see the whole thing from afar, but we also got to see everyone leave with their lit candles, so it looked like little rivers of candlelight flowing everywhere. I have pictures, but they don't do it much justice. Sunday was spent basically chilling out at home with a fun little hike thrown in.

Incidentally, May 1st is also Labor Day here, so a lot of people were already celebrating on Sunday. People usually celebrate Labor Day by going camping for a few days in a park or in the mountains or by going on a picnic that day. Because Labor Day landed on Easter this year, I ended up celebrating it on Monday the 2nd (we had Monday and Tuesday off of work for the holidays). I went with some friends to a place called Obosna, which is about an hour's drive away from here. We brought all sorts of food and drinks and basically set up camp and hung out all day long, eating, walking around, and basically just hanging out. They grilled up TONS of meat, but I enjoyed my Shopska Salad (a traditional salad made of tomatoes, cucumbers, and a type of feta cheese called sirenje) and fruit. So, we hung out all day and had a great time just relaxing in the gorgeous weather. Good times.

2005-05-04T18:15:00.000+02:00

Here's me, Sasko, Daniela, and Maja, all lounging around after a walk through the park.

2005-05-04T18:13:00.001+02:00

Mmmm...look at all that meat. Yum! Here's everyone under the tent at our Labor Day picnic.

2005-05-04T18:13:00.000+02:00

Here's a sort of decent picture of the church and everyone leaving with their candles.

2005-05-04T18:12:00.000+02:00

Here's and Vilma and Mile tappin' that egg.

Pazar Fun!

2005-04-24T00:47:00.000+02:00

Once a week in all cities in Macedonia, they have the "pazar", or the open market. In every city, it's a different day- ours is on Thursdays. This is where you go to buy basically anything- mostly produce, although you can buy all other sorts of things from material to car parts to live animals. Most villages and some cities don't have any other stores that sell fruits and vegetables, or if they do, so this is the only time that we can buy produce. Usually, when I enter the market, I'm surrounded by the sounds of people shouting out their deals, "10 pairs of socks, 100 denars!" or "Can I help you? Can I help you?" However, in the past few weeks, I've been bombarded by the sound of baby chicks. That's right, baby chicks are now in season! They're just sitting in boxes, chirping away, ready to be bought. I'm not actually sure what people do with these chicks, although I'm guessing they raise them and eventually use them for eggs or other non-vegetarian friendly purposes that I won't go into. Here's one of the pazar people with his box full of chicks. He insisted that I take a picture with him and the chicks. Aren't they cute?

Ode to the Best Sandwich Shop in All of Macedonia

2005-04-17T18:40:00.000+02:00

I'm going to take you all back to New Year's Eve, 2003, my first New Year's here. I was spending it in Skopje, the capital, with a group of volunteers. We were just going to party at someone's apartment, but it was definitely dinner time and we needed some sustenance before our New Year's festivities began. A lot of people wanted to go to McDonald's, which was still a huge deal at that point (we'd only been in country for a little over 3 months), but obviously, I wasn't too thrilled with the idea. So, a volunteer who was living in Skojpe mentioned a little place that he thought would better satisfy me and the other two vegetarians in attendance. So, he took us to this sandwich shop right outside the main mall. It looks like your average sandwich shop to the untrained eye, so I was weary. But, I almost cried out of joy when I saw that this sandwich shop had...

VEGGIE BURGERS!!!!
HUMMUS!!!
TOFU BURGERS!!!!
OTHER SCRUMPTIOUS VEGETARIAN DELIGHTS!!!

And yes, the large font was called for. So, that night I had what was my first of many veggie burgers with hummus and it felt like heaven. Now, every time I go to Skopje, I make it a point to stop by the sandwich shop and experience that heaven all over again. It's seriously the highlight of most trips I make to Skopje, and I end up psyching myself up about it a few days before hand- "Oh man, I'm gonna go to THE sandwich shop. That tofu burger is gonna kick ass!"

So, here's to you, Best Sandwich Shop in All of Macedonia. Thanks for getting me through those tough days in the capital and making my time here a little more bearable with your chick pea yumminess and your tofu deliciousness.

Partying it Up, Evil-Style

2005-04-07T22:39:00.000+02:00

This past weekend, I got to go to the lovely city of Ohrid, which is considered the one and only vacation spot in Macedonia. It's a pretty gorgeous city, right on the lake, with lots of cool historical stuff going on too. I've been there a few times already and have really enjoyed it. Anyways, it was a MAK 9's birthday, and she was having a party at her apartment in Ohrid, so I decided to make a weekend of it and went down on Friday, met up with my friend, Beth, and we both stayed in Struga (a city about 20 minutes away from Ohrid, also on the lake) with our friend, Liz. Lots of good times were had involving cooking, costumes, and Napoleon Dynamite. Oh yeah, the party had a theme- Good and Evil. We all had to dress as something representing good or evil. So, naturally, I went as a devil. As you can see in the pic (with Anya the Angel), it's not the most original of costumes, but we're all working with very limited wardrobes and no thrift stores. I also made applesauce, because we all know how evil apples are (think Adam & Eve and Snow White). The party was a blast and it was fun seeing everyone else's creative costumes. I have other fun pictures, but I have to protect the identities of others from the party ;)

Also, this past Monday, I had the opportunity to speak to a 4th year English Education college class at Southeastern European University (SEE) with another volunteer. Our subject was textbook analysis, which sounds really boring, but we basically just talked about the pros and cons of the book we use, as well as some other ideas about using textbooks in general. We spoke to two classes, and they were both really receptive and had some great questions and ideas of their own, which was really great. Also, the campus is absolutely gorgeous!!! It's so clean and beautiful! Granted, it's only 4 years old and is supported by USAID and other foreign aid organizations instead of the state like the other universities here. But, I was still really impressed with the campus as well as the students. We're hoping to do further collaborations with SEE, which I think will be really successful and a great experience.

Other than that, spring is here and with it comes gorgeous weather, blooming trees, more fruit and veggie options at the market, and much more time spent outside, whether reading, walking around, or bike riding (a hobby I've picked up recently). It's hard to believe that this will be my last spring here! How time flies....

Cross-Cultural Moment of the Week

2005-03-25T19:36:00.000+01:00

As I've mentioned, Peace Corps came and filmed my counterpart, Emilija, and I in a class and then interviewed both of us for two different videos they're making to help both future prospective sites and future volunteers. Ever since then, Emilija has been asking me non-stop if anyone from the office has said anything to me about it and how we were. I told her that it was mentioned when I was in the office on Friday and that everyone said that we did a great job. But, this wasn't enough for her. Now, I love Emilija to death and she's by far my closest Macedonian friend here. She's also a lot more open-minded than your average Macedonian. This causes me to forget that she's still Macedonian. So, after about a week of hearing her ask me if anyone's said anything, I finally sorta blew up at her and said, "Emilija! I don't know why you're obsessing over this!! I told you what they said, what else do you want?" She then explained to me that in Macedonian culture, it's really common for people to basically lie to your face and say you did a good job on something and then badmouth you to everyone else. It's sorta a saving face thing- they'd rather lie and make you happy and then tell everyone else how bad you were instead of just telling it to your face. This really clashes with my direct American attitude, which is why I was so bothered by it. But, as soon as Emilija explained it to me like that, I realized that it was a big cultural difference that I forgot to take into account. I then reassured her that I would tell her the truth and that as far as I knew, they thought we did a good jeoarb. It helped too that the next day, in our weekly memo, the filming was mentioned and they once again said we were really great. Emilija was finally satisfied after she saw it in writing. But, I felt really bad for blowing up at her. I also felt foolish for being so blind to that big difference between our cultures. I've been here over a year and half now and I'm still learning things every day...

2005-03-21T22:16:00.000+01:00

National Enforced Child Labor Day

Oops, I mean Ecology Day. Every year around the first day of spring, all of the schools celebrate Ecology Day. Now, when one hears the words "Ecology Day," one may picture a day full of activities teaching children how to take care of their environment. Lessons about the ozone layer, global warming, reduce, reuse, recycle and all of that, right? Of course not! Ecology Day is only properly celebrated if it involves enfoced child labor. All of the children came to school this morning armed with shovels and brooms and all the teachers came ready to enforce. All morning long, the students cleaned the school, inside and out. Even the little ones- 6 and 7 years old- were outside cleaning up around the school, sweeping all the dirt and dust away, shoveling it into wheelbarrows, and pushing it to some pile. It was pretty hard to believe. Here is a picture of some of the students "celebrating Ecology Day" with one of the history teachers, who's making sure they're not slacking....oops, I mean learning.

2005-03-19T22:01:00.000+01:00

Every year, around this time, there is a huge festival down in Strumica (southeastern Macedonia) called Karnival. It lasts a few days and each day there is something new- one day is a children's day, etc. I'd say most Macedonians attend this sometime in their lives- it's a pretty big deal. The big day, though, is always on Tuesday. I was invited to go last year but declined, seeing that my friends were going that night and returning the same night around 3 am. But, this year I realized that this was my only chance to go, and who am I to deprive myself of a new cultural experience? So, I decided to go. And I'm SO glad I did, because it was such a blast!! It reminded me a lot of what I picture Mardi Gras to be like, even though I've never been. Basically, it's millions and millions of people (ok, not really, but I like to exagerate) all getting together to party all night long. Everyone dresses up in costumes, and there's a huge parade with lots of different groups and schools dressing up in different themes. After the parade, everyone heads to the cafes and bars and the party always spills out into the streets with people dancing and drinking and just having a great time. I was recently informed that Karnival has something to do about celebrating fertility, but I really have no idea what the historical background of it is. I'm sure there was some celebration of fertility *wink wink nudge nudge* I went with a group of friends from Orizari, and my friend Ats (also known as my personal hairdresser) made all of our costumes. As you can see in the pic, I was an Indian, Ats was a pharoah, Daniela was a female pharoah, Mare was a Japanese woman, and Koka was Dracula. We had SUCH a great time! We got into Strumica around 8:00 at night and were able to catch the last part of the parade. Then, we basically spent the night walking around and checking out all the crazy costumes and occasionally stopping to dance in the streets or in a cafe. We left around 2 am and I got back home around 4 am. Needless to say, I didn't go to work the next day, but the other teachers were so excited that I was going to Karnival that they didn't care that I wasn't going to be at school the next day. I can't even express how much fun it was. I'm SO glad I went!

In other news, my rise to stardom has begun. Peace Corps Macedonia is making a movie to show to prospective sites for new volunteers and they wanted it to primarily show current volunteers and their counterparts and the interaction there so that these prospective sites could see what it'd be like to have a volunteer. So, because my counterpart, Emilija, and I get along famously, they decided to pay us a visit and film us teaching one of our classes. It was pretty funny- it all felt very Hollywood. After they filmed the class, they wanted to get all these different shots- one of she and I walking up the school stairs, talking, another one of us talking to the kids, another one of us standing by a window talking, etc. And, of course, they had to take each shot a few times. Then, they interviewed Emilija about what it was like to have a volunteer. They're also hoping to make a movie to give to Peace Corps applicants who are invited toMacedonia, so they can see what kind of country it is, which I think is an absolutely fabulous idea. So, then they interviewed me about what it was like to live in Macedonia, what to expect, what to pack, etc. I mentioned packing peanut butter and the woman who was in charge of it (a former Peace Corps Volunteer who is now married to the British ambassador of Macedonia) thought that was the funniest thing. So, then they went to my place and filmed me walking into my apartment three or four times, then walking out of my apartment a few times. After that, they came into my main room and she saw my guitar and was like, "OK, play the guitar while we're filming" So, I strummed a few chords and looked like the soulful hippy volunteer. Then, since the woman got such a kick out of my peanut butter comment, she filmed me taking my peanut butter out of the cupboard, spreading it on some crackers and eating it. I feel like Skippy should be paying me royalties! It was pretty fun, and I'll hopefully get to see a copy of it once it's all finished. They're filming a few other volunteers and then will put it all together. I assured everyone at Peace Corps that when I win my first Oscar, I'd make sure to remember the little people and how I got there. Better start asking for autographs now before I become too famous and don't have time! ;)

2005-03-19T21:57:00.000+01:00

Here's a picture of Daniela, Mare and I, taking a break at a burek stand

2005-03-10T21:29:00.000+01:00

So, as many of you unfortunately do not know, March 8th is International Women's Day (and, coincidentally, my dad's birthday- birthday shoutout!). Why don't you know? Because it looks like America is the only country in the whole world that doesn't celebrate it. Funny how the "most progressive" country in the world doesn't celebrate a day for women. But, I'll leave that soapbox for another day :) I wanted to tell you all about how I spent the holiday. First, I went to school and received some pretty plastic flowers from some of my students (that's the typical gift to give). Then, the classes were shortened so that all the female teachers had enough time to go home and get ready for all of us to go out to lunch together. Can you believe it? So, then we all met up and went to this restaurant where they were having this big celebration for International Women's Day. There was honestly about 400 women there from differnet schools and factories and other places of work. It was pretty amazing. Plus, because this day is so important here, all of the women go all out- they all get their hair done, they buy new outfits, the whole works. So, we all gathered at this restaurant that was PACKED with women (as you can see in the picture). Everyone from my school made it to our table and the traditional music began as we got our salads and drinks.

As soon as the music started, women started piling out onto the dance floor and started the oro. Now, the oro is Macedonia's traditional dance where everyone joins hands and does different types of steps all together in one huge line that winds around the room. There are many different types of oro- easy ones, difficult ones, ones just for men, ones that have a story behind them, etc. I've actually learned a couple of them (the easiest ones, of course) from being at different Macedonian celebrations, and truth be told, I kinda like it. We don't have anything like it back in the states, so I always try and get my oro on when I can. Here in the picture, you can see all the women doing the oro, and as far as I can tell, they're doing one called "6 forward, 3 backward". Anyways, so there was lots and lots of oroing, which was good times. Also present were the sweetest old ladies ever who are all members of this retired women's organization, and they really went wild! Seriously, these chicks know how to have a good time. These 60-80 year old women were dancing on top of their tables, swinging their scarves around and hiking their skirts up to do some fancy dance moves. It was awesome. So, we had our lunch and all did our fair share of dancing, but alas, the fun had to end and we all ended up going home around 6-ish. I'd like to think that the women went home to a clean house and an already prepared meal by their husbands, but I don't really think that's the case, sadly. But, in a country where women are generally underappreciated, it was great to see them really let loose and enjoy themselves, even if it was only for one day.

We Made It!

2005-02-23T19:57:00.000+01:00

We finally made it to Osogovo! Leanne and I had been planning on going for weeks, and every weekend, our variouss rides would bail on us for various reasons. I had actually lost all hope of going, but just when I was convinced that I was never going to go, Vilma (see post below) promised to take us for the weekend....and she didn't bail! For those of you who don't know, Osogovo is the mountain range that's right outside of Kochani, the city next to Orizari. It's actually where we had Camp GLOW last year, so I'd been there, but not in the winter. I have to say, I think it's much prettier in the winter. There's something about the snow-covered mountains and all the trees that makes it absolutely gorgeous. So, we spent last Sunday there, hiking around and enjoying our time with Vilma and Mile. I didn't go sledding, but it was still a fantastic time. Of course, by the end of the day we were all exhausted from all the hiking, but it was definitely time well spent.

In other news, we've got a HUGE seminar coming up. Very important. Except not really. It's our Mid-Service Conference, which should be interesting. It's in Strumica, a city I've never been to, so that's exciting. I'm not really looking forward to the sessions, basically because I don't feel like I need to learn anything right now. The main reason for this conference is for all of us to get our TB tests, and really that's all. But I'll go to the sessions and maybe learn something. I'm really looking forward to seeing all the other volunteers, though. It's a shame that we all don't get to see each other more often, but I guess the point in being here isn't to hang out with a bunch of Americans, right? Regardless, it'll be really great to see everyone.

Other than that, I'm just enjoying the weather- I ran in a t-shirt this afternoon! It was fantastic. I love winter and all, but now that we've had about a week of spring-like weather, I'm done with winter. It could very well make a comeback, but I'm hoping it's down for the count this year. We'll see- the weather here is much like the Midwest- it's constantly changing and you never know what's going to happen. At least it feels a little like home :)

Fun with fire

2005-02-16T21:10:00.000+01:00

It was a dark and stormy night. Well, it actually was dark, but it wasn't stormy. More like drizzley. Anyways, I was cooking granola in my oven and simultaneously boiling water for tea on my stove. The water was done boiling, so I turned off the burner and made my tea. Immediately after that, I checked on the granola, using a rag to pull out the pan. After checking on the granola, I just threw the rag onto my stovetop, forgeting that I had just moments ago boiled water on it and the burner would probably still be a little hot. So, I go back to my couch to enjoy my tea, and a few seconds later smell something burning. I turn to my stove and notice all this smoke coming out from under the rag and think, "Ohmigod, what the hell did I just do?" So, I whip open my balcony door to let the smoke out and grab the part of the rag that's not burning, throw it onto my balcony and pour water onto it. Luckily, it hadn't burst into flames yet, but there was a huge hole burnt into it with amber edges. Crisis averted. And, don't worry, if it had actually been worse, I would have had my trusty Peace Corps issued fire extinguisher to take care of it. I'm pretty sure it hasn't expired yet....

Vilma, the Health Food Store Lady

2005-02-15T22:19:00.000+01:00

This is a picture from last week's visit to my friend, Vilma's house. Here she is with her husband, celebrating his 45th birthday. Vilma is affectionately known to most of us as "Health Food Store Lady". She and her husband own a health food store in the city next to me, and when all of the volunteers were here during training, we'd frequent her store to buy healthy food, such as almonds, dried fruit, and tofu (I know, can you believe that I can get tofu here?!). She is just about THE nicest Macedonian I have met here and treats me like I'm part of her family. I visit her a few times a week at the health food store, mostly to say hi and to catch up, and she's always there to greet me with a hug and to talk excitedly about whatever is going on. When I leave Macedonia, she will definitely be one of the people that I'll never forget.

In other news, I've been battling with the flu for the past few days, which is sadly ironic, seeing that I never get the flu vaccine at home and never get the flu, and the one year I decide to get the vaccine, I get the flu. Most Macedonians have told me that I'm sick because I don't wear enough layers in the cold (note: cold=20 degrees, it's not that bad), but my crazy theory is that maybe it has something to do with all of the children who are sick at my school and who are continuously coughing without covering their mouths. That's just my crazy Western thinking, though.

Just in case anyone's wondering, these are some typical suggestions from Macedonians on how to get rid of a cold:

wrap a brandy-soaked rag around my neck (with optional hot peppers)
get 10 injections at the local ambulance stand, then go back the next day for 10 more
wear socks soaked in vinegar
drink bottles upon bottles of hot red wine with pepper in it

That being said, I hope everyone's having a good week!

Cookie-Making Fun!

2005-02-08T20:52:00.000+01:00

So, there's this tradition in Macedonia that when it's your birthday, you're responsible for treating everyone else. I know, how backwards is that?! Anyways, when in Rome, right? So, for my birthday back in August I made chocolate chip cookies to give to everyone, seeing that they don't have those here. Everyone enjoyed my "Rare American Specialty", especially my host family, who made me promise to teach them how to make the cookies sometime. So, not too long ago, I went over to visit (as most of you know, I don't live there anymore but still live in the same village) and taught my host mother and host sisters how to make them. As you can see in the picture, there they are mixing up the batter. Their first ever batch of chocolate chip cookies turned out alright for the first time, although for some reason they came out really, really flat. Maybe we used a little too much butter. Or they used too much oil when greasing the pan (Surprise! Macedonians are renowned for their overuse of oil). No matter, they still tasted fantastic, and that's the important part. It was nice to share a little bit of home with my host family. While I don't live there anymore, they're still a very important part of my life here. Plus, teaching them to make chocolate chip cookies officially fulfills the 2nd goal of Peace Corps, teaching others about American culture. Bonus!

FINALLY!

2005-02-05T20:07:00.000+01:00

Snow has finally come to our end of the country!! For the past month, all I've heard is how much snow the westside was getting, while all we were getting was rain, rain, rain. That all ended last week, though, when we had snow every day for about 5 days. I have to say, I'm pretty psyched. The kids love it, too, and spend all their time sliding around the roads and getting into snowball fights. The one deterrent, though, is that because there's really no plows or salt trucks or anything, the whole village has turned into an ice skating rink. I luckily haven't fallen yet (knock on wood), but it makes it hard for me to go running. I'd hate to break a leg and be Medevaced to DC...hmmm....,wait a second...just kidding. Anyways, it's been really nice the past few days and enough of the snow has melted so I can continue with my running, thank goodness. Leanne and I may be going sledding tomorrow in Mt. Osogovo, the mountain near Kochani, so hopefully I'll get to partake in some wintery fun!

I Survived Obleshevo/Cheshinovo Roadblock 2005

2005-01-29T01:56:00.000+01:00

Here's a history lesson for all before I get to the good part of the story: Ever since Macedonia gained its independence in 1991, it's had a pretty centralized government (it's a parliamentary democracy), with the local governments not really having much power. In the past year, though, they've been trying to rectify that by giving the local governments more power, which is definitely a good thing. However, that means that a lot of little villages that currently have their own municipalities and mayors are going to be consolidated into bigger municipalities, which they don't really like so much. This is supposed to all go down in March, and they've had tons of protests and even a referendum against it (that totally failed- yay voter apathy). There's this one little village, Obleshevo, that is oh-so conveniently located on the main road that leads to just about everything important, that is really extra pissed about losing their municipality, so they decided to block the main road and not let anyone through.So, yesterday I had to go to the capital, Skopje, which is about a 2 1/2 hour bus ride or about 1 1/2 hours if I can find a car going there. On my way back home, I was on the bus and we hit Obleshevo and found a line about a mile or two long of buses, trucks, and cars and nobody was moving because of this blockade. So, our bus driver (there were only 4 people on the bus total) decided that he was going to park and we'd walk through the blockade and then someone would pick us up on the other side. So, we start walking in the cold, dark night (it's about 11:00 pm now) and get to the center of the blockade, which is essentially a bunch of tractors parked in the middle of the road, and we pass all these angry citizens who are really drunk and burning tires on the side of the road. I was a little nervous, just because Peace Corps always tells us to stay away from this kind of stuff. The police were there, too, but were doing absolutely nothing but standing there and watching. Eventually, someone came and picked us up and took us home, but not without me standing there watching this all go down thinking, "Man, Peace Corps would be pissed if they knew I were here." Good times.

And so it begins...

2005-01-25T22:37:00.000+01:00

So, I'm not even sure how much I'm actually going to keep this thing up, but it seems to be a growing trend here (i.e. 2 other PCV friends of mine have it), so I thought I'd give it a try. The worst that could happen is that I never update it, and that's not really such a big deal. Things here in good ol' Orizari are going pretty well. We have no snow, which I'm pretty upset about, especially after hearing about all of the crazy snow that the west side is getting. Maybe it'll eventually come our way. I hope so!