Thursday, December 6, 2012

Ramblings....



So, there have been many changes since I last updated. I have finished up my last few days in Probistip which had been amazing. We had an amazingly festive thanksgiving meal which we invited all of our host families and our lovely language teachers. We rented what is normally a club in the basement of a very nice hotel and used the hotel’s kitchen. We received two large turkeys from the Peace corps which was a great surprise as we spend a couple days contemplating where to get turkeys from in Macedonia and if we might have to walk them on a leash or not. The turkeys, frozen from America. My wonderful host mother and I prepared mashed potatoes which everyone loved and we all ate so much. I invited my friend Cara who came and was able to experience her first (and probably not last) Probistip Thanksgiving. The most unsual experience for the Macedonians was eating so much in the evening as lunch is the biggest meal and that we eat cranberry sauce as a side to the main dish because they do not usually mix sweet flavors with the salty and others. 

I had to say bye to my language teacher and my host mother which was actually a lot harder than I had expected. My host mother and I went on a couple of very long walks before I left where she intended to share her wisdom and express her appreciation, as well as I told her how much I would miss her and how she was a lovely host mother, which she was, once I learned more about her and her point of view as well as where she came from. The woman spoke English very well, but she was hard to understand. I do not know if it was a cultural thing, which I really think was only a part of it, but also that she was a very complex person who has experienced very much in her life, and has much wisdom which I will miss a ton. I hope that her children will be more appreciative of what she has to offer and the ultimate ingenuity and kindness that she beholds. Jana, love you. I will remember about how you say, even your biggest worries are small. If it seems big, it really isn’t; to worry less, smile more. Don’t worry, Be happy.

On another note, I am an official Peace Corps Volunteer. I survived my first two and a half months of training and am happy to find out that I managed to pass my Language Proficiency Index LPI with Intermediate Mid. This is pretty good, I think. I did not compare with many other volunteers, but it is one step higher than the necessary to pass, and two steps lower than the highest scorer. I hope that makes sense. 

The Swearing In ceremony was hosted in Kumanovo in a lovely, and huge, restaurant. There were many people (about 200), as well as an Albanian dance group, Macedonian dance group (Probistip!!!), the US Ambassador to Macedonia, The PC Macedonia Director, a representative from the Ministry of Education, and many other important people. We all were able to sing the Macedonian Hymn beautifully as well as the American National Anthem.  My counterpart Gorica came but I only saw her for a brief moment. I managed to lose my cell phone in Kumanovo, or it got taken, or I don’t know. But thanks to the amazing Cara whom I owe absolutely everything to, I was able to get a new one. 

Now I am living in a new homestay and I will have to get used to it all over again. They are a couple who have a 23 year-old son in Skopje, though Ane comes home every weekend I think. The house here is huge. Larger than my house in Florida, they have hot water always, have extra rooms galore, and a dog who lives outside, as most dogs do here. I also live about 8 minutes walking distance from my school. There are two other PC volunteers here, a full-bright scholar, and the wife of one of the Peace Corps volunteers. They are all so very nice and welcoming and I am super excited to have people that I can talk to, bond with, and work together with.

The school is great, and I can see how Gorica and I will work together very well. She is my primary counterpart and I will be working in her 6th grade class. Sasha is my second and I will be working in her 5th grade class. I will take another day to reflect on school as this blog update is ridiculously long. Ive been procrastinating it, but now that I’ve started I cannot stop.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Another update



So its been a little while since ive done an update. I figured it was about time. I’ve been busy these last couple weeks, and don’t really prioritize my blog like I should. I’m trying. I have had a great time with my host mom and things are going well. We recently hooked up our wood-burning stove, so now the living room is nice and toasty. Some days its freezing, but some are hot.

I officially have a cat, Maj. He waits on my porch nearly every morning to crawl on my lap while I put my shoes on so I will pet him. It makes it difficult to leave for school on time.

Maj and Me :)



 I still go to language class every day.  I took the practice LPI and was the first in my class, which I think gave me a benefit (or detriment depending on your view) for critique. I apparently did very well, though I saw many parts that needed improvement. I will become more fluent in Makedonski over time.

Everything in Probistip is lovely, but time is speeding up quickly and   my time here is getting shorter, much like the sunlight.  Before I know it, it’s changing.  I will surely miss Probistip when I move.

Beautiful Probistip
The biggest update I have is that my new home, starting at the end of this month will be Sveti Nikole. I spent the last few days with my new host family and in the school I will be working in, as well as my counterpart. I could go on and on about how amazing it is there, and in time I am sure I will.

The home-stay is great, there is a host mother, host father, and brother who spends most of his time in Skopje. The home-stay mother requested a young girl, and I guess that is what she got :) . The house is big and the town is bigger than Probistip. I spent all three days at the school working with my counterpart and observing the classes. She teaches mostly older primary school, so I will see myself working with 6th – 8th grade primarily. I will have a couple other counterparts possibly. I will confirm at a later date. I had a great time in the classes and had many nervous yet curious students. Some with better English skills approached me and asked me any and all questions that they could, including who my favorite singer was. My counterpart is awesome, she not only had prepared the students for my arrival a little bit, but she kind-of pushed them to ask me some questions. 

The school has had a previous volunteer several years ago, but my counterpart has never worked with one. It will still be good. She invited me to come to a parent-teacher night where I could meet many parents and I also participated in their EKO day for a short period, though we stopped early because it was beginning to rain and it was extremely cold. 

One other night I was able to meet with a couple volunteers, a fullbright scholar working in archaeology, and the Makedonka wife of one of the volunteers.

 I hope that I can return before I actually move I, as my host brother’s name day celebration is on the 22nd. Updates will follow.

fooood!


I also got a care package from my parents, Thanks mom and dad! Everything is delicious and is a nice treat from home. I’m trying to take my time with eating it all, but it’s hard. This is a happy reminder that I would love to receive cards, letters, postcards from you!! Please!

Friday, October 12, 2012

A little update of my first few weeks



Hi, I know it has been a little while since my last update. I have been quite busy with daily language, lessons, several TEFL lessons, and much bonding with my host mother. As well as no internet in my house, which is probably the main reason why I have not updated sooner. I now have a weak signal that I borrow from the neighbor that goes in and out, and is nearly nonexistent in the evening. I have met many lovely people in the town of Probishtip, which is small in size by American terms, but is an average-sized town for Macedonia. My experience so far has been very good. I have become friends with my host mother’s 4 year old granddaughter, as well as a 10 year old daughter of my host mother’s friend, and a 16 year-old neighbor, so I am surely working up the chain to my own age, haha.

In Macedonia, there is a term for visiting friends called Negosti, and this seems to happen with my host mother and I on Saturdays. I have visited with her to meet some of her closest friends, and her friend and our neighbor Rosa has gifted me a great cultural DVD of some classic Macedonian dances, a nice gem that her husband collected as he is a geologist, and some other informational cultural material. Everyone here is so nice, welcoming, and generous.

With fresh vegetables and fruits gifted often from neighbors, I feel so much healthier. My host mom is apparently on a health kick, so what I eat is often different than what the other host families eat. I definitely have drastically cut back on artificial foods. Peppers are in season here. Not hot ones, thank god. They turn the peppers into Ajvar here or piperki. Ajvar can be canned and saved for the winter, and it is put on bread. My host mother does not make Ajbar as it is very labor intensive, but we were given some by one of her friends and it is delicious. We have made several bottles of apple juice that will stay good for a long time with fermenting. My host mother has about 5 apple trees in her yard.

Language lessons have been going well. I do feel like I am making progress, and words I thought difficult to say or spellin the beginning have gotten much easier. I have been able to learn a little from the 4 year old granddaughter of my host mother as well, haha! I sincerely hope that I can make strides language-wise with my host mother as she is inclined to speak English around me, but is surely speaking a little more Macedonian now. We will see…

I miss everyone at home, and can already see what I am going to miss in the upcoming two years. But, that is expected I suppose. I really miss my family and all of my friends. It’s different, though the other Peace Corps Volunteers and I have bonded, and so many are so very nice. We make a great community, and I am so happy they are so cool and accepting. 

Remember, if you have any questions about the process thusfar, feel free to ask. But remember each volunteer’s experience is different.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Quick update

Hey Everyone!

So I hope to write a quick blog, but I really want to add some pictures so you all can get an idea of what Kumanovo looks like. I have only had one experience in the town, with a very large group of people, on the second day. Others have taken the opportunity to go back, but time has been short over here, and I have used the little extra time to relax.

We have several training sessions throughout the day, as you can see by the schedule posted earlier. We have met many great teachers and staff and I have been very excited to get to know the training group even better.  Adjusting to the time has been tough, but it seems like I am adjusting better than some others. I have been able to get to sleep around 11 and wake up around 7-8, and then begin lessons at 9.

The food here is great!!! Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, with bread accompanying every meal. Today we had beef comparable to my Grammy's beef tips. Delicious!!!!  
Here we are at the airport in DC, getting ready to check all of our luggage. We completely overwhelmed Austrian Airlines but they were able to get through all of us, plus we had about 5 hours to get everything done.


The center of Kumanovo is about a 20-30 minute walk from the hotel (especially uphill). Here is a view of one of the farms on our walk down to the center of Kumanovo
We were presented with a Traditional Macedonian Bread and Salt and then a buffet- style lunch of many traditional Macedonian foods on our first day.  It was a great opportunity to talk to many current volunteers and feel completely welcome in our new community for the upcoming week.



In the left of this picture is the US Ambassador to Macedonia and the Country Director to Macedonia is to the Right. We briefly were able to be introduced to the Ambassador during our training.


Here we are walking to town from the hotel. You can see town in the distance. It was MUCH easier walking to town, downhill of course, than back to the hotel.
Here is an idea of what Kumanovo looks like. We were able to explore, and I was able to buy a toothbrush (I had misplaced mine somewhere) and some shampoo, as well as exchange some money. We had our first several awkward encounters when in town, but it was nice to be in a fairly large group for our first experience.



Sunday, September 16, 2012

Landed in Macedonia!

Zdravo!

We made it safely to Macedonia after hours and hours of travelling, departing the hotel in the morning on Saturday, and arriving in Macedonia in the morning Sunday (with time change and all). We landed in Vienna, made our way to change, and hop on the plane to Macedonia.

Upon arrival, we had a couple of greeting clusters of volunteers and staff to welcome us to our new adventure. Though at this point, we didn't converse much, and scurried in the rain with our luggage to the bus that would be taking us to the hotel. Again, we had another crew of greeters at the hotel, who helped us carry our luggage up two flights of stairs. Me being the tiny person I am, managed to have both suitcases carried for me, which I was not expecting, but it was awesome all the same.

We had a little time to sit and rest, which I used to go through some of the new information and paperwork I found on my bed. I have one roommate, Jenny, who I roomed with when I was in DC.

I know I stated this on FB, but I'll say it for record on here, everyone is so COOL. We are such a great group as a collective and I can't wait to see how we grow. I'm much more confident now that I have met so many great people willing to make me feel comfortable, and I feel the same way about them. I had originally thought I was going to be the youngest person here, but there are three people that are younger than me.

The schedule in the previous post is what we will be following, so today should be fairly easy. Tomorrow begins more of the work. Also, I'll have you know, if you have any questions at all about the application process, I will do my best to assist.
I hope you enjoy my blog!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Schedule of First week

Packing List

The time draws near and I have begun packing, repacking, adding, reducing, and manipulating my suitcases. There is 1 week left before we leave and the schedule for our first training week is posted. So far, the group seems amazing and I cannot wait until I can meet them and develop a real community. I am having a hard time feeling prepared, as many things are up in the air right now. Such things include: what am I actually going to be doing instruction-wise, where I am going to be living, who am I going to be living with (family-size, age, house setup), if I will be able to pick up the language and not curl up into a little ball.
 Oh my oh my am I nervous!! I'm taking a giant leap into an experience that I feel like I would always be too timid to take. I have always been cautious about new experiences and that is how I am feeling now!

Please Follow the link for the Packing list! ( I will go back in here and edit things I didn't need or I would recommend after some time overseas). Also I plan on adding jeans and will be reducing total content after weight testing(50 lbs per bag)

 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w6m0rp4AUPRH77dldJlpVtc2LT3fs49hYw9wMSP-bpE/edit

Friday, July 13, 2012

Introduction

Welcome to my Blog. I guess this first entry should consist primarily of an introduction. My name is Emma Heinlen and I am a newly-spawned graduate of Florida Gulf Coast University. I have recently earned my degree in Elementary Education and and more excited than ever to begin my teaching pursuits. I began my application to join the Peace Corps after about a year of considering it. I allotted myself over a year of time to work on the application process and with having to tie up many medical strings to find my medical reports that were needed to be submitted. Originally, I was nominated to serve in September of 2012 to Sub-Saharan Africa to teach English to middle school aged students. I haven now been Invited to serve in Macedonia to teach English to Primary school. I am absolutely thrilled to be a part of this wonderful opportunity, but as nearly anyone can admit, learning a language that utilizes a completely different alphabet is quite terrifying. I have jumpstarted my learning with the limited Peace Corps material as well as www.macedonianlanguage.org . The most i can say is: Јас се викам Емма. But at least that is something, right?