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 6^th grade class. Sasha is my second and I will be working in her 5^th 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.