Update..

Hi everyone,

I figured since I am on break from work, and really have no current important responsibilities right now I figured I should give a much needed update about how everything in Macedonia is going. I will give tyou the short form first. Good. 

Moving on, I am enjoying my time with my new host family and have developed my Makedonski quite a bit and am learning more and more every day. I have a stable tutor, Maya, who was a Language Facilitator previously, before she fell in love  and married one of the PCV’s Natty who also resides in Sveti Nikole. I am now able to understand most of my host family’s jokes and am able to joke around with them.  Sometimes I don’t feel like I do enough to help out in the house but I try to help out. 

I honestly don’t feel like I do much in general and this isn’t any different than my lazy life at home, however the students are on winter break and once January 20^th comes back around I will be working at the school again. I have a bunch of beginning ideas of what I would like to do, so hopefully at least one takes hold and is something the community, or the school, will want to work on with me. I know there is a previously existing Adult English class that Natty is leaving behind that he wants me to do, but honestly I feel a lot more comfortable working with children and don’t really have a lot of knowledge about working with adults. Though maybe if I take a look at the books, it will be something I can take hold of as well. 

Living with the host family is getting more comfortable as well. The host mother is off work right now as well because she is a teacher in the local village school. Host father works odd hours: sometimes in the afternoon and sometimes in the night. He works security at the forest in town and sits in an office watching video cameras. In the summers he helps build houses. My host brother spend a bit longer here recently since they had Christmas and other family bonding times, but went back to the capital city Skopje a couple days ago. He works animation for a Macedonian tv show, that is basically a political parody. I don’t quite understand it, but maybe over time I will understand why it is funny.

SO what do I do with all of my free time? I spend a lot of it on the computer, talking with my host family, and drinking wine with my sitemates Lizzy and Dan. Otherwise, I tend to just walk around and enjoy my town and talk to all the kids that say hi to me, whether they are my students or not. It is a very interesting concept really, I think my new name is Hello. 

What are some interesting things I have done? Well Christmas here is on the 7^th of January, so the day before Christmas eve there is a holiday that is supposedly designed for the men of Macedonia. Lizzy invited me to come over to her apartment and hang out and then maybe go to the event. Basically there is a bonfire and the men drink, dance, and sing songs, and eat. As I was walking to Lizzy’s apartment, I passed about 4 different fires of the sort. People also shoot BB guns in the air and set noisemaker fireworks. So I went to her apartment and we didn’t really know if we wanted to go to this mans event for the fact that it was a little weird to have two American girls and a bunch of drunken men, so we observed from lizzy’s room. Then they saw us. Lizzy’s landlord came and yelled ‘Ide Ide Lizzy’ meaning come come and then came to her door and started knocking. So we ended up going outside, eating, drinking some hot rakija and having fun. There were women there and delicious food, and singing and a great time. It was probably one of the best days I’ve had so far in Macedonia.

Pics thanks to Lizzy

Also, I posted a new address to the left of the blog, if you look. I can now get mail to my house rather than to the Peace Corps office in Skopje. It is much, much, much more convenient and I would love to receive cards/letters. Seriously, they make me ridiculously happy and I read them over and over and over. This being said, I only have maybe three letters and reading those three over and over again at this point I almost have them memorized. 

-Emma

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.

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 6^th – 8^th 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 22^nd. 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!

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.