Promaja Rhaposdy

This is from when I was back in Lozovo.  We were all hanging out one night talking about what we should all be for Halloween when Rickie, the volunteer that lives in Lozovo, came up with the idea that we should be Promaja.  Promaja is a superstition here.  If you have windows and doors open and it creates a cross breeze (the cross breeze is Promaja) then you will get sick.  Also, you will get sick if you walk around bare foot.  We all liked the idea but did not know how to portray a superstitious breeze.  A few bottles of wine later (did I forget to mention that Lozovo had its own winery!!) and the song Bohemian rhapsody by Queen comes on (we were listening to music too, it did not magically come on).  The more we listened too it and the more wine was in our system the more we realized that this was how we were going to portray Promaja.  So we came up with our own version of Bohemian Rhapsody......Promaja Rhaposdy.  For those of you that have not heard this song before here is a link to the Muppets version (very funny) so you can listen to the tune.

The Muppets version of Bohemian Rhapsody

Now that you have listened to that here are our lyrics:


PROMAJA RHAPSODY

Is this the real life
Is this just fantasy?
Cought in Lozovo
No escape from reality.

Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see

I’m just an American, I need some sympathy
Because I’m easy come, easy go
Always confused, never know
Anyway the wind blows
Doesn’t really matter to me, to me

Promaja, just killed a man
A breeze came across the bed
Through the window, now he’s dead.
Promaja, life had just begun (in Macedonia)
But now you’ve gone and blown it all away
Promaja, oooooooh,
Didn’t mean to make you die
If I’m not back again this time tomorrow.
Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters

Too late, your time has come.
Send shivers down your spine
Body’s aching all the time
Goodbye everybody,
you’ve got to go
Gotta leave you all behind and close the window

Promaja, ooooooh.
Anyway the wind blows
I don’t want to die
Sometimes I wish I’d never been born at all
(Nazdravje)


I feel a little chillhouetto from the wind
Promaja, promaja
Should I do the fast oro??
Thunderbolt and lightning
Very, very frightening me
Where is Goce , I need Goce
Where is Darko, I need Darko
Steven Kutzy! Rakija!

Odlichno!

I’m just an American, nobody loves me
He’s just American, poor host family
Spare him his life from this monstrosity

Easy come, easy go,
Will you let me oro?
Let him go!
Let me go!

Oh, baba mia, baba mia let me go
The Darkos have condom set aside for me,
For me, for me. (Zabava)

So you think you can blow me and spit in my eye
So you think you can blow me and leave me to die
Oh, baby, can’t do this to me baby
I just gotta get out, just gotta get promaja out of here

Promaja really matters
Anyone can see
Promaja really matters X2
To me.

We performed this at one of our Hub days.  The other training communities did not know what was going on, but once the song started and we started singing everyone was on the floor laughing.  They liked our references to the wind, aka Promaja, and especially the part where we were yelling for Goce, our Security officer, Darko, our doctor, and Stephen Kutzy, the Peace Corps director for Macedonia.  All of 3 of them were there along with other Peace Corps staff and they all started to cry cause they were laughing so hard.  This song was Lozovo training communities pride and joy. I hope you liked it too.

Here is a pic of the whole Lozovo group.  On the bottom (left to right) you have Austin, Amy, and Michelle B (they were Promaja and you can see it spelt out in Cyrillic.  Then there is me!!! I was a sick person and was killed by Promaja and at the end of the song they picked me up (literally) and took me to the grave stone (aka Lync).  The top row (from left to right) there is Despina, my language teacher, she and Elena (the lady on the far right) they were the babas, aka grandmothers, that tried to give Rickie and I hair dryers (cause Promaja will get you if you walk around with wet hair) and tried to put socks on our feet.  Next to Despina is Lync, he was the tomb stone.  His sign says "Here lies Sheldon. He left the door open."  Then its Chris, Jori, and Kate, they were all windows and doors that opened and closed through out the song.  Then Rickie, who was also a sick person that was killed by Promaja, and Elena the other baba.

There is nothing new to report.  Yesterday, I conducted an Adult Conversation Hour at the American Corner.  It was my first one and I think it went well, we talked about travel.  There was a new comer to the group, she is a volunteer from Turkey and it was interesting listen to her talk because she only knows a little English and is learning Macedonian. So her sentences are a mixture of Turkish, Macedonian, and English with A LOT of hand gestures.  It was nice to see someone else trying to use what little Macedonian they know.  Friday is New Years Eve and as of right now there is nothing definitely planned by there is something in the works, but I will leave that to talk about for next time.  I will write again on Sunday!!!!

Macedonian Christmas

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and enjoying the snow that I hear is around the states.  Christmas here in Macedonia was very nice.  The one thing that almost all of us agreed on was that, since it does not feel like we have been here as long as we have, that it really did not feel like Christmas.  We all agreed that it felt like we were not missing anything at home, which to be honest is a good thing.  We all missed our families and friends but we were not fully sad that we were not home celebrating with them.  For us new group of volunteers, there were 3 places were groups got together for the holidays: Ohrid, Veles, and Strumica.  I was lucky enough that I was able to attend 2 of the celebrations.  I attended school Friday morning, even after Irena told me that I did not have to and I should stay home and get ready for my trip....I should have listened to her.  Some of the teachers at my school had to attend a meeting about grades in Bitola.  The school systems are not as organized as the ones back home and they do not have a substitute system.  Normal they just find a free teacher and have them teach them an extra lesson if one of the teachers are out for the day.  Well there was a good group of teachers going to the meeting and there was one grade where all of their teachers that day were going to the meeting.  The director asked if I could have an English class with them and I said that was fine, since I knew they really need the help.  Well the students normally did not have English that day so none of them had their English books.  They are also looking at me with a "I don't understand" look on their faces when I was trying to ask them questions and talk to them in English.  I was told to review with them materials that they had learned and were going to be tested on on Monday, well I had no idea what they had learned and no one had a book for me to look it up.  I finally figured out some of the vocabulary they had learned and had them write a letter to another student introducing themselves, describing their school, their favorite subject, what they liked to do, ect.  By the time I explained the activity and got all the students to understand and do something the bell rang.  I should have listened to Irena.

The reason why I went to school was because I had planned everything a head of time, so I was not rushing to pack or make anything.  I had bought, put together, and made everything through out the week.  You can see the results of my first baking adventure with my little oven. Kate, another volunteer has a small oven like me and she calls it her big easy bake oven, cause that is exactly what it looks like.

I made chocolate chip cookies to bring to the celebration in Veles and they ate them all up.  Not to mentioned that I baked so many (this was only one batch, but it still made a lot of cookies) that I was nibbing on them for a day or two after I made them. I arrived in Veles around 5pm and went to Karen's apartment.  I helped Elena make mash potatoes, which we ended up mashing with our hands cause the hand mixer did not work.  Later that evening we met up with the others that had already arrived and had dinner at a popular restaurant in Veles called Snoopy.  No, Charlie Brown and the other Peanuts characters where not there.  Here in Macedonia there are no copy right laws.

Here is the group at dinner and you can see that Jenny, Debbie, and Jason made signs for the event. After I finished eating, I left the restaurant early because I had planned a Skype date with my family so we could all open presents together.  They were all sitting around the dinning room table and they watched as Jenny and I opened our stockings together and I got to watch them open the presents that "I had bought them".  Surprisingly, I found a Borders, Coldwater Creek, and a few other department stores here in Macedonia to buy my family presents from.  One thing that I did send back for them to open at Christmas was a calendar that the volunteers put together of photos that they have taken all over Macedonia.  The rest of the group came back from dinner while I was still talking to the family so they got to see some of the other volunteers also.  The rest of the night was spent talking and celebrating the holiday.

The next morning I woke up and got a bus from Veles to Strumica.  When the bus arrived in Veles it was already full. Here it does not matter if there are no seats or not, so I stood in the aisle along with many others. I only had to stand for the 1st hour, because after our first stop a gentleman got up and gave me his seat because he was getting off at the following stop.  The bus drove through Lozovo, the village where I stayed with the host family, and I tried to look out the window, but with all the people the bus was so hot that the windows were all foggy and I could not see much of it, but I did get to see it on the bus ride back!!

The celebration at Strumica was at Amy's place in Bosilovo, a village outside of the city of Strumica.  Amy, who was with me in Lozovo, and a volunteer who has been here for a year, Amanda, are big foodies and had cooked up a feast!!!  It was a smaller group at Strumica then there was in Veles.  For the Christmas Day dinner in Veles (that I did not stay for) there was a total of about 25 people.  In Srumica, there were 10.  More my kind of celebration and being a foodie also, I knew I had to be there.

There is the Strumica group, all ready to eat.  There were little meat patties, rosemary mash potatoes, green bean casserole (without the French's onions), salad, and dish that Amy's family makes for the holidays (cabbage leaves wrapped around rice and you tie it up like a little package and cook it in a pot with sauerkraut, then you cook each one in butter).  Every thing was delicious and then there was dessert..... a spice cake with an caramel apple chutney and a chocolate chili cake. Is your mouth watering yet?!  Amy and Amanda even made home-made eggnog.  They made a big pot of it and it was gone in about an hour.  I do not think I can ever drink the store bought stuff again after I drank that.

Once we were all full, we had a white elephant gift exchange.  Everyone was suppose to bring and wrap up something that was lying around the house that you did not want.  That being the case we definitely had some interesting presents.  

 Austin, also with me in Lozovo, got the women rights's scarf that Robert got as a free gift.   

 Amy's counterpart, who stopped by, got a plastic toy baby that Emily had found in her apartment when she moved in along with some other odds and end kind of treasures.

 Kate got the candy that I had brought from home and that I never gave out as gifts.  She was very excited!!! But then was sad when the Elle, the girl behind it in red, stole it from her. Those are the rule, you like someone else's gift, you can take it.

 I stole the origami from Elle.  I was very excited cause it was a calendar and everyday it taught you a new origami figure.  Amanda had gotten 2 of these interactive calendars from her mom for the holidays and she wrapped one up.  But then........

 Emily stole it from me =(  A present can only be stolen twice and then it becomes "dead". Emily stealing it from me made it dead so bye-bye origami.  Since my present was stolen I then could have stolen from someone else or picked an un-open one. I picked an un-open on and guess what I got.................

 A roll of toilet paper and a travel sized thing of toothpaste.  What more could a girl ask for?

 Amy got a wind chime and a bottle open that Austin found lying around Emily's house.

And Robert got a plastic Santa, that Amy had found in her apartment.  This Christmas was all about spending time with others and celebrating.  I could not have asked for a better Christmas away from home and I am soo happy that I had wonderful people to share it with.  I will write again on Wednesday. Have a Happy Holiday Season!!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

Happy Holidays!!! 

Sorry that I did not write yesterday, as mom said I went to Skopje yesterday and it was loooong day.  Takes 4 hours on a bus (one way), 2 by car, buses make a lot of stops and have a 5 minute break at each place. I also had a lot to do in the short time I was there.  Like mother, like daughter, I had my list and (yes Jenny dork!) it was in order of where the location of the places where.  I had planned it out to walk everywhere around Skopje, but as the day went on I realized that next time I will use the city buses, like the Macedonians do, to get from place to place….to much walking.

I have pictures!!! I started taking pictures of some of the classrooms in my school.  This was the first place that I started seeing Christmas decorations.  Both the teachers and the students participate in decorating the classrooms.  They put up posters and signs that the students have made and they have Christmas trees that the students like to leave lite.

These pictures are from a 2nd grade classroom.  I really liked the bulletin board in the back of the room and how it is decorated with items that past students, over the years, have made.  They also have a nicely decorated tree in the corner with presents underneath, most of them are empty boxes that are wrapped and used for decorations. The teacher of this class came up to me today because her students told her that I was taking pictures of their decorations.  I asked if it was ok and she said it was fine and she wanted a copy of the pictures as well!!! 

These 2 are from a 4th grade class room.  The teacher drew the poster of Santa.  I saw it on the door a few weeks ago and she saw me looking at it.  She pointed to it and said in Macedonian that she had made it with a big smile on her face.  Since there are no places to buy school posters, the teachers are all very creative and so are wonderful artists.  They also had a tree that they had made out of paper.  They had a regular on too all decorated but this was original and special.  I think a student actually made it, but I am not sure. 

During my trip in Skopje I took some pictures at the big Vero center, the biggest and best grocery store in Macedonia.  They have a section on international foods and you can get items to make Chinese food and to make your own sushi.  They also keep the peanut butter in the same place, its not a mandatory item in Macedonian homes as it is in the states. I also found cans of kidney beans, in the international food aisle, so now I can made some good home chili!!!

These were some of the decorations at the Vero center.  Santa is everywhere.  There are even places set up, just like in the malls, where kids can go and have their picture taken with Santa.  They also made a tree out of stuff animals that, from what I could understand by reading the sign, will be donated to children.

And of course.... if there is Christmas all over Macedonia there must be Christmas in Resen..................

MY TREE!!!!  Nana sent me the tree and I got the ornaments here.  The snow man box is from Auntie, it was full of wonderful goodies and the 2 mug looking things where in it.  I saved them so I would have something to open on Christmas.  The tree definitely helped make my apartment feel more Christmassy.  

My plans for the holidays is to spend Christmas Eve in Veles with a group of volunteers.  I am also going to Skype home and Jenny and I are going to open our stockings together and mom and dad are going to open some presents to...make it feel like I am there opening gifts with them.  On Christmas day I am going to Bosilovo, a village outside of Strumica, to have Christmas dinner at Amy's house with a smaller group of volunteers.  Amy and Amanda, a MAK 14, are cooking and they are really good cooks so I am not missing out on that, even if I have to travel to the other side of the country.  I am going to leave you all with some info that I found on how Macedonians celebrate Christmas, it is starting to make more sense.

"What makes the holidays in Macedonia interesting is the fact that Santa Claus delivers presents to good kids on New Year’s Eve. That is a legacy of Socialist Yugoslavia, when there were two Christmases, one for the predominantly Catholic Croatia and Slovenia on December 25, and one on January 7, two weeks later, for the Orthodox Macedonians and Serbs, whose respective Catholic and Orthodox Churches follow the Gregorian and the Julian calendar. Seven days away from each Christmas, it seems, was a good compromise for Santa and for the socialist leadership. In Macedonia, people celebrate New Year’s Eve with a feast and a lot of alcohol, firecrackers and ammunition. Suckling pigs, turkeys and geese fall victim of New Year’s Eve, in addition to a lot of sarma (staffed cabbage leaves) and creamy salads, all of that washed down by rakija, beer and wine. That happens the night of December 31. The old year is bid farewell and the new one is welcomed. The following morning, kids unwrap their gifts and packages

of chocolate and candies, and grown-ups treat their headaches. Five days later, those who celebrate the Orthodox Christmas start their preparations for Christmas according to the Julian calendar, January 7. The rites could be divided in thee main events: Kolede, Badnik i Bozhik."

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and I will write again after the holidays!!!  Merry Christmas!!!!

Update

It"s Mom -- Michelle went to Skopje today to attend a GLOW meeting and to pick up her Christmas Packages that are waitng for her at Peace Corps Headquarters.  She was on a bus at 5:00 am.  It's a four hour ride --- one way.  Her meeting was at 12:00 and then she was catching a 3:30 or 4:30 bus back to Resen.  So I bet she was tired after a very long day.  She told me that she would call me on Thursday and will probably blog then.  We will be opening packages together via Skype on Christmas Eve.  Merry Christmas!!!!! Kathy

Activities at the American Corner

     So to wrap up the rest of this week, I have been going to school each day and it is going well. I am still watching, but with the younger kids I like walking around and helping as they are doing their class work.  I feel more comfortable with the younger kids and think that those will be the classes that I attend.  Even though the middle school students are nice and like having me in their classes, I can help with certain activities, but I don’t know what else besides talking to them that I can do to help them improve their English.  We shall see what happens. 

     On Friday, I attended the Youth Conversation Hour at the American Corner.  There were about 10-15 teenagers that showed up and our topic was Christmas.  It was interesting to hear, from their point of view, how Macedonians celebrate Christmas compared to how Americans celebrate Christmas.  We both have a decorated tree.  Live trees are not as common here as they are back home.  You will mostly find stores filled with fake trees.  BUT there are stores all over the place selling Christmas decorations, which definitely helps getting everyone into the Christmas sprit.  I have seen many balconies and windows with lights in them, not many houses fully covered in lights but that also has something to do with electricity here being so high and no one would be able to afford covering their house with Christmas lights.  One thing that the teenagers told me is that they do not hang stockings.  Ashley, another volunteer, and I explained what we do with stockings, where they are normally hung, and get them some ideas of gifts that we have received in our stockings.  I knew that the day they consider Christmas is different then ours, January 7^th, but something I did not know and learned was that Santa comes and visits them on New Years Eve. So New Years Day is when they open their presents.  The also do not leave anything out for Santa.  The teenagers found it funny when Ashley was explaining what her family leaves out for Santa and what they find on Christmas morning: cookies gone, milk drank, and bits out of the carrots left for the reindeer.  This weekend is when some Macedonians start decorating their tree because it was the day to celebrate St. Nicholas.  Over the years, there are many Macedonians that put of their tree before this date, just like we have many Americans that start decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.  As time goes on, families start breaking away from the old traditions and start coming up with their own new traditions.  I am still a little fuzzy on some of the details and dates about what they do in Macedonia for Christmas, but as the days come hopefully it will become clearer. 

    On Saturday, I attended a GLOW Club meeting. Since I will be working with GLOW, I wanted to see how a club meeting was organized.  All of the clubs organize themselves differently, some are totally run by Macedonians, others are getting there but still receive help from a volunteer, and some are still new and are fully depended on a volunteer.  At this meeting, the GLOW members, teenagers, where running the meeting.  Only girls over 13 years old can attend the meetings because some of the topics they discuss are age appropriate.  This meeting was again about Christmas because they were going to be working on their GLOW Christmas tree.  They made it out of green poster paper and printed out lights that said Club GLOW on them, and ornaments that they colored and glued on.  I am sorry that I do not have a picture of it right now. I had to leave before they were finished working on it, but next time I go back to the American Corner I will take a picture and post it.

     Today is full of relaxation.  I made mom’s famous potato soup.  There were some substitutions, dried leeks for celery, since finding produce is mostly a seasonal thing, and I could not find celery here in Resen or in Bitola.  I also used кашкавал (kashkaval), the popular yellow cheese here, instead of cheddar cheese.  It turned out very good, and tasted very similar to moms.  I now have left-overs for the rest of the week!!! My cooking is slowly coming.  I think that is going to be one of my personal goals: becoming more comfortable cooking.  Cause just making the soup was stressful, because I did not want to mess it up.  Now having to cook more, and not rely on Trader Joes, I will start becoming more comfortable in the kitchen.  My new cooking adventure is chocolate chip cookies, and they do not sell the bags of chocolate chips so I am going to have to use chopped up chocolate bars.  One thing that I had to buy at the big grocery store in Bitola, that I could not find in Resen, was vanilla extract.  Sometime the simplest thing that we see as a staple in American grocery stores is hard to find here.  But yet other things that I would not expect to find, like peanut butter and curry powder, I can find.

    Sorry that I do not have any pictures this time.  Mom had suggested that I take a picture of the grocery store, since I said it was like shopping in one back at home.  My response was “sure (sarcastically), then they will really know who is the American in town”.  I knew you all like the pictures because you can see the places I am talking about.  I was going to at a picture of the grocery store, but forgot my camera when I went there this afternoon.  I promise next time I write I will have some, especially since Christmas is right around the corner.  I will write again on Wednesday!!!  

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!!

    Здраво!!!! So I just figured out how to change the language on my keyboard so now I can write in Macedonian.  Здрабо, (zdravo) is how you say “Hello”.  My name in Macedonia is written as Мишел Кар, not like you will need to know how to write, just a fun fact.

    So I woke up Monday morning to the first snow, hence the title of this blog.  I remembered what Laurel had written as a comment and I ran and got my camera.  If you did not read it this is what she wrote:

10 Fun Things to Do in Macedonia: 1. Interview an old lady about her life...after you spend three weeks getting to know her a little. 2. Find the best place to buy locally produced cheese. 3. In America, we say, She looked the other way. In Japan, they say She closed one eye. In Korea, they say, Her eyes are covered by the bean's skin. What do they say in Macedonia? 4. Go to a local high school's sporting event...if there any. 5. Take a picture of the view out your bedroom window every morning at the same time...or afternoon...for the entire two years. 6. Do lunges back and forth across your living room every day and let us know when you stop cussing while you do it. 7. Try to grow a plant. The operative word being "try." 8. Find out what Macedonians consider their best film, something like...uh...well, I don't know, but not something like Halloween. Go see it. 9. Find ten different ways to walk to the market and notice the doorways as you walk. 10. Blog.

So I went out onto my balcony and took some pictures, also Auntie had asked for a picture so it’s a 2’fer!!! 

 This is the view when you walk out of the door from my bedroom onto the balcony.  You can see the mountains, kind of in this picture, in the distance.  There are other apartment buildings and houses around me.

 This is the other side.  The road on the bottom of the picture, if you can tell its a road cause its covered in snow, will take you to Ohrid if you go to the right and to Lake Prespia (the other lake) if you go to the left.  There are alot of trucks and buses that go down that road and onto the main road in Resen, which is right infront of my building, but being on the top floor I cant really hear or notice the sounds much.

     Not sure if I will be taking pictures EVERY morning, since it is cold (лагно (lagno), in Macedonian) and I would rather stay in bed a little longer, but maybe once a week.  As you can see we got a good amount, so I “bundled” up for the walk to school.  Snow boots, snow jacket (industrial from LL Bean), gloves, scarf, etc., the whole nine yards.  You could definitely tell who the American was in town because when I saw the other people walking around they were not dressed any differently.  Walking in the snow all dressed up going to work, heels in all.  And did I forget to mention that there is also ICE!!!  I don’t know how the ladies here are doing it.  Walking in boots with heels on the ice, I would be sliding down the road on my backside all the way to work if I was wearing heels.  I also could not help but notice the way that people were acting with all the snow…….TOTALLY NORMAL!!!  When one snowflake falls back home, everyone freaks out and runs to the grocery store staking up on milk, bread, and water, like the world was going to end.  Here, no response, totally normal.  Everyone was walking to school or work, a little slower, the buses where still coming into the bus station to take people to Bitola and Ohrid for work.  The main road had been plowed, but there was still a good layer of snow on it, you could not see any asphalt. Did not matter, cars and buses where still out on the roads.  Schools do not close, because all the students and teachers live here and they all walk to school.  I even asked Irena, my counterpart, if the school ever closes because of the weather and she looked at me and said “no, why would it close”.  That is something I will need to get used to, when I wake up and see snow, I automatically expect/want a few more hours of sleep or the day off…..not here.

     Because of the weather I have been staying inside, keeping warm.  I picked up one of mom’s packages from a fellow volunteer in Ohrid on Tuesday so now on top of a handmade paper plate wreath I also have a stocking hanging up with some goodies in it!!!  Can’t wait till next week when I can go up to Skopje and pick up my other packages.  Then my apartment will start feeling more Christmassy.  Also while I was walking around Ohrid. I had my first experience at the Macedonia version of a Dollar Store.  They are called China Stores, because.....ya you guessed it......everything in there is made in China, surprise!!!  They had kitchen supplies, Christmas decorations, everything.  I picked up a couple of things for the kitchen.  I will definitely be going back, because you all know how much I LOVE Dollar stores.  Ok hot coco is calling me.  I will write again on Sunday!!!  Пријатно (prijatno, aka good-bye)

Thai Food in Macedonia

So last time I wrote I was on my way to Bitola for a meeting with the girls from GLOW.  When I was at school Thursday morning I got a txt from one of the girls and they said they were thinking of having the lunch meeting in Prilep, a city north of Bitola, because they have a Thai restaurant there.  Yes, Macedonia has a Thai restaurant!!! Only one and it is Prilep.  The story is that a Macedonian man married a Thai lady and they live in Prilep and started the restaurant.  I was very excited, because I love Thai food and have been wanting to go since I heard there was one in Macedonia.  So I meet the girls in Bitola and we got on a bus to Prilep, where we meet the 2 ladies (locals) that work with the YouThink organization.  The goal for GLOW is to start passing the responsibility of the GLOW camps and clubs to the Macedonians so that when the time comes that Peace Corps leaves Macedonia GLOW will still continue to run.  We had a very nice lunch and talked about the upcoming plans that I will be helping with, typing up information about workshops and lectures that will go to the GLOW clubs around Macedonia.  We were also joined by the 4 volunteers that live in Prilep, the more or less have become regulars at the Thai restaurant since everyone wants to go when they come and visit Prilep.  I had spring rolls, pad thai with chicken, and a piece of caramel cheesecake.  The pad thai was very good, lots of peanuts!!!  I was planning on bringing home leftovers, but there was nothing left to take home.  After lunch, I hung around and talked with Phebe, Link, and Kate, 3 of the volunteer in Prilep, until my bus arrived.  Mom called me when I got home, and she could tell that I was exhausted after that long day of travel.

Friday, I had school in the morning.  I am still observing, asking some questions, trying to understand the rules and systems of a Macedonian school.  During the winter holiday that is coming up, January 1-17^th, the teachers will have meetings and then I will start planning lessons with the other teachers and start working on things. That afternoon I went to Bitola because I helped to organize the Kids Club at the American Corner in Bitola.  The American Corner, I believe was organized by the American Embassy, and is a kind of library/ resource center to promote the American culture and the English language.  They have books, in English, that people can come and check out and they offer free events, such as Kids Club, Adult and Youth Conversation Hour, Sports Club, and other events, most of which are organized and put on by Peace Corps volunteers.  I was interested in volunteering there when I heard how close it was to Resen.  So Friday was my first event there and it went really well.  A current volunteer, Ashley, is the one that runs Kids Club and I asked her if I could help out.  Since it is getting close to Christmas time and we celebrate our on a different date and a little differently I thought that would be a good theme for the club.  Ashley brought Christmas music, we talked about Christmas what they do where and what we do in the states, how they are on different days, and I came up with a craft for them to do:  The classic paper plate Christmas wreath with red and green construction paper. The kids all enjoyed it and Ashley, myself, and the lady that works at the Corner all made one too.  For the kids that finished early, Ashley suggested that they make a Christmas card for their parents or even their English teacher.  There was about 15-20 kids that showed up and they all had a really good time, and they all spoke English very well.  These events are helpful for the kids because they are around other kids, who are speaking English, and it’s a comfortable place to practice.  Maybe next year, when there is not a village school using our school, I can start a Kids Club at my school.  To give the kids a fun place where they can practice. 

 The kids that attended Kids Club, working on their paper plate wreathes!!!

My wreath!!!!  And my first Christmas decoration in my apartment.  It does not feel like Christmas since I have not decorated, waiting on my package from Nana, and also not being home.  Maybe closer to the day when I am celebrating with the other volunteer it will start to feel more like Christmas.  I also told mom and dad that they can always cancel any Christmas celebration for the next 2 years so I wont miss anything, but Jenny was not having it. Oh well!!

That’s pretty much it.  This weekend was quiet, since it was cold outside.  My big purchase this week was a dust buster!!! Now my apartment is all clean.  I also went to the market on Saturday and bought 2 small bunches of green onions, 1 kilo of potatoes, and 1 kilo of bananas (6 in total) for a grand total of around $2.  I will write again on Wednesday!!!

And Laurel- I just read your comment and I will be working on that!!! Thanks

Things are Starting to Pick Up

   On Monday, after school Irena, a friend of her’s, Vasko, and myself went to Ohrid.  It is 30 minutes away and is very popular with the tourist especially in the summer since the city of Ohrid is located right on a lake.  We walked around and saw some of the 365 churches that Ohrid has, one for everyday of the year.  We saw the oldest church in Macedonia and the 2 most popular churches, St. Clement and St. Jovan of Kaneo.  St. Jovan, picture below, was seen in the movie “Before the Rain”.  

There is a lot of walking to do in Ohrid and most of it is up hill.  After a quick tour around town, since it was starting to get dark, we went and had some coffee.  There was a very nice place that Irena and Vasko knew of called Liquid and it is down a cobble stone street and under an archway, but the back of the bar looks out on the lake.  They even have a patio right on the lake, which would be a nice place to sit and relax in the summer, watching all the boats and people around the lake.  After our coffee we walked down the main street which has many stores for shopping!!! I behaved myself, I did not go in, I only window shopped.  Many people have told me that it is better to wait until the end of the season, so I might go back and shop then.  We only stayed for a few hours since it was getting cold and Irena and I were both a little tired from school, but I will definitely be going back!!!

    When I arrived home, I was pleasantly surprised by an email that I received.  At our last HUB day, the meetings we had during training in Kumanovo, we had a small “club” fair where we were introduced to the volunteer organizations that Peace Corps offers, i.e. “Pawza” magazine, helping out at the PC library, Volunteer Support Network, Boys Club, SPA Grant Committee, and the Girls Leadership Camp (GLOW).  GLOW was taking applications for Jr. Coordinator Positions, something that many of the girls where interested in doing and many applied.  I had thought about it, but was thinking that I would let those that really wanted it apply and just be a camp counselor at the GLOW camp in the summer, because that day I was not in a competitive mood.  I kept thinking about it and finally said why not, just try and if I don’t get it I can always be a camp counselor.  I filled out my application about 5 minutes before my interview, and I was looking at some of the other girls filling out their applications and they were writing paragraphs when I was just putting bullet points.  The interview went well and I told them about what I had done with SVEA and that I had been a camp counselor every summer since I was 17.  Well Monday the emails went about saying who would be the 3 new Jr. Coordinators for GLOW.  The 3 positions are Programming, Financial, and Communications Coordinator.  All work together and are in charge of the development of GLOW here in Macedonia.  I am happy to say that I am the Jr. Programming Coordinator for GLOW!!!  Here I go again, another organization lol.  This year I will be the Jr. Programming Coordinator and then next year I will be the Programming Coordinator, it’s a training process.  Here are the responsibilities of the Programming Coordinator:

Program Coordinator

Program Coordinator will work closely with Programming Coordinators within YouThink, the organization that helps with the camp.  Programming oversees all issues related to the following:

- Camp Program and Curriculum
- Camp Staff Training (including on site Camp Training and workshops throughout the year)
- Overseeing Camp Staff Recruitment and Selection
- The Upkeep and Editing of Camp AND Club Activities Manuals
- Documentation and Information on both Camp and Clubs
- Oversees all Camper Recruitment 
- Heading other Program areas not listed

All Coordinators and Youthink Staff work together on the following:

- Fundraising and Networking

- Representing GLOW

- Improving the Organizational Capacity of GLOW Program and YouThink

I am very excited about it, because it will keep me busy, something that I am realizing is part of my personality and I cant avoid, and works as a Secondary project, something that the PC asks us to do with our community, but I get to do it will all of Macedonia!!!!

    Tuesday, I just had school and today there is no school because it is a holiday.  It’s more of a school holiday, because of St. Clement, because he was one of the founders of the Cyrillic alphabet.  I had originally thought of going to Ohrid today and visiting the volunteer there, but plans did not work out, there is plenty of time though.  So I ended up having a nice quiet day at home.  Tomorrow it’s back to school and then I might be going into Bitola for my first meeting with the people of GLOW.  They are looking at a potential site for the summer camp and since they want me to start working on things and Bitola is very close, 30 minutes in the opposite direction from Ohrid, it seemed like the best time to meet.  I will keep you posted and I will write again on Sunday!!!

My Apartment

 My living room. There is a heater on the wall where I am standing, that plus the sun that comes through the windows keeps it warm and cozy.  The TV works and I used the drawers to put all my school supplies.  There are 3 pictures total in the living room and they are all hand done and in nice frames. On the right is my bedroom and on the left is the kitchen.

 My bedroom.  There is a twin size bed and the couch on the other wall folds out in a mattress.  There is a heater, that I only use for a night stand since I have a heater from the Peace Corps in there too.  The table I am also using as a night stand, but in the summer I can take it out on my balcony with the 2 purple chairs I have.  The door to the balcony is next to the couch.  There is no wardrobe in the room so the wall I am standing by just has my suitcases and some boxes on it.

 What you see when you first walk in.  These are 3 big wardrobes where I put my clothes.  Right now I have post-it notes on them telling me what is in what closet.  I am standing in front of the bathroom and there is a door to the right that takes you into the main living area.

 The bathroom, obviously.  With hot water heater!!! It is in the upper left.  I bought the drawers cause I need a place to put things and the blue buckets under the tub are what I used to do my laundry.

The kitchen.  There is the small convection oven on the table with 2 burners, that is what I used for an oven since the other one does not work and is housing my pots.  Next to the stove with the 4 burners are the 2 sinks and next to that is the frig.  There are only 2 cabinets, which are about the sinks so right now all my food is on the table, with 4 chairs, until I find a bookshelf to put along the wall on the right. I am standing in a small closed patio, which does not have anything in it. But there is a door that goes to the living both there on the left and behind me in the small patio.

Just wanted to put that up. I will write about the week so far tomorrow.

One week down.

       This first week went well.  Every morning I went to school and observed the 3 English teachers and different grades.  The set up of the school is very different and will take sometime to get used too.  As I said before the schools here work in shifts, so I am done around 1pm.  Also, after every 45 minute class there is a 5 minute break (after the 2^nd class there is a 15 minute break so the children can eat something and the teachers can have a cup of coffee).  This especially through me off, since the only breaks I ever got while teacher were when the students went to lunch of when they went to resource and even then I would normal be working on something during that time.  Also, I found it interesting that the teachers at the end of the school day said that they were tired and “had been going all day”.  I on the other hand was ready to do more.  I also found interesting the teacher to student relationship.  My Geography professor at CNU, Mr. Crippen, used to say that your students need to “fear” you for the first 4 months and then you can start backing down after that because the students know that you mean business, not here.  The students see their teacher more has a friend and not an authority figure.  They like to talk while the teacher is talking and there is no discipline system set up in the schools, i.e. detention, going to the principal’s office. In the states we view education as an extremely important thing, sometimes too much, but here I don’t get the feeling that education is an important factor to life.  They have a national curriculum, like the SOL (standards of learning), so there is material that the students are expected to learn, but I do not think that they see how important education is to their future, at least they do not see it yet.  Another thing is that the students are more independent.  Resen, even though a town, is more like a neighborhood.  The students can walk anywhere and since everything and everyone is so close they know and are friends with everyone.  They do not have their parents or a bus dropping them off or picking them up from school, they leave when they are done.  The students know that they have this independence and it is definitely evident in the school and classrooms.  This is going to be my biggest challenge to overcome, since when I taught I had a discipline system in place and the students knew that I was their teacher first and their friend second.  The student here, just because of my age and the way they see their other teachers, view me as a friend first and a teacher second, something that I will have to change.

     I am still trying to settle into my apartment.  Yesterday, I did my first load of laundry, with no washing machine and no dryer.  After I went to the pazar, aka farmers market, I went to the store and bought 2 buckets so that I could do my laundry.  I had to go back to the store later that afternoon and buy a drying rack since I could not carry everything all at once.  All this walking around, carrying things up 4 flights of steps, and having to do multiple trips out is giving me my exercise haha.  I have to say I was very proud of myself for doing laundry by hand, but my arms are definitely hurting today from squeezing all the water out of each piece of clothing.  Since not everyone has a washing machine, both mom and nana asked if they have laundry mats here, and I am not sure, but I am pretty sure no.  Washing machines are expensive and most people are used to doing things the old fashion way.

       I also got my haircut on Friday, nothing different, just a trim.  I was very nervous since I have had the same person cutting my hair since I was 7 and also not knowing much of the language I was afraid that I would come out with a horrible haircut.  Also, when I talked to Irena, my counterpart, about haircuts here she said that she hated getting her haircut.  That she would rather go to the dentist then get her haircut.  And that is saying something, since no one likes going to the dentist.  But it turned out fine; the girl who cuts my hair was a friend of Irena and owns a nice, clean, small salon.  She does not know any English but with what Macedonian I understand, acting things out, and pictures I came out with a cut that I liked.  I got my hair washed, got a head massage, and then got a cut all for 250 dinar, roughly $5.     

      That’s all I have for now, I am going to post pictures of the apartment either tomorrow or Tuesday. I need to take a picture of the living room but I want to get the drying rack and my clean clothes put away before I take it.  I will also write again on Wednesday!!!!

Goce Delcev Primary School

    Today was my first day of schoool (as mom would say)!!!!  My new schools name is Goce Delcev Primary School; it has students from Kindergarten to 8^th grade.  Irena and I were the first ones to arrive since it was her day to watch the students that arrive early from the villages.  I was introduced to the other teachers and the director.  I went with Irena to her 5^th grade and 4^th grade classes and I also went with the other English teacher to the other 5^th grade class.  Irena does not have her own classroom so she has to take all of her materials with her.  All of the students were excited to see me, but shy to ask me questions in English.  I told and showed them that my Macedonian is not good hoping that would break the ice, but it is going to take some time. The younger grades have one teacher for all of the subjects, except English, and the older grades have a different teacher for each subject.  There are 3 English teachers total at the school and around 400 students.

    We finished up around 11, yes I know that is early, since we had to meet my landlord in order to register me at the police station.  This is something that each foreign has to do when they travel in Macedonia.  When I was staying at the hotel, the hotel registered me as their guest, but when I was staying with Lydia she had to register me at the closes police station to Lozovo saying that I was staying with them.  I am not sure the exact cause of it, but it seems like a good idea.  The consequence for not registering with the police is that both (the person who did not register and the person who was not registered) get a large fine.  Something I have heard has happened to some volunteers when family and friends have come to visit.

    After the trip to the police station, Irena and I went back to school for a teachers meeting.  Today was the beginning of a new schedule at the school.  There is a village school that is getting some construction work done.  So the students and teachers from the village school will be using our school until June.  All of the schools in Macedonia work in shifts, there are 2 shifts in a day (1^st shift 8-1 and 2^nd shift 1-5).  In the larger Primary schools they have the older students in the morning and the younger students in the afternoon, but since my school only has 400 students they only need one shift, so the village school will use the school during the 2^nd shift.  This change in schedule through off all of the teachers because they and not used to having other teachers using their classrooms.  Today was full of surprises, visiting school and a new teacher from America.

   Now its time for dinner, and I am working on some “make shift” tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes and onions, since finding tomato sauce in the grocery store is rare and if you do find it expensive.  I also do not have a lot of ingredients in my kitchen right now.  Oh well, “Ima Vreme” – In English, “there is time”.

I'm Back!!!!!

        Thursday was full of celebration.  It was not only Thanksgiving but the day when the 37 Macedonian trainees became volunteers.  I woke up early Thursday morning and started making deviled eggs, my contribution to the Thanksgiving pot luck meal.  Afterwards, Lydia, my host mom, and I got on a bus with the other 7 trainees in Lozovo and members of their host family and we were all off to Kumanovo for the celebration.  When we arrived we met the other trainees and their host families at a restaurant located outside of Kumanovo.  All of the host families sat with the other families in their towns and the trainees were all sent upstairs to take our “official” Peace Corps MAK 15 photo.  After the photo shot we all lined up, in alphabetical order waiting for our grand entrance. Once the American Ambassador for Macedonia arrived the ceremony started.  It was full of speeches, from the Peace Corps Country Director, the Minister of Education and Science, and the American Ambassador.  The American Ambassador was the one who swore us in as Peace Corps volunteers. Each new volunteer was called up and we were handed a certificate, by the Ambassador, saying that we had completed our training.  The most memorial part of the whole ceremony was when we all sang the American national anthem and then sang the Macedonian national anthem, which all of the host families joined in and sang with us.  After the wonderful ceremony, it was food time.   We were warned before to eat a big breakfast!! Macedonians do not know what a buffet line is so you have to try and push your way to the table.  People were filling up their plates, and by the time those on the outside of the mob got to the table there was only a little bit left, but there was plenty of turkey!!! Peace Corps had order the turkeys in August from the states so there was plenty to go around.  After everyone had their food and were eating they were still bring out turkeys.  There were many families that went and got plate full of turkey and put them in plastic baggies for other members of the family or grabbed the bones for the dog.  The true meaning of the word “doggie bag”.  The Lozovo training community celebrated our first night as volunteers and our last night in Lozovo by having some drinks at Café Bar Trend and then going home to finish up our packing.

     Friday was not spent at the malls of stores, like many people were doing in the states, but instead full of suitcases and boxes because that was moving day to out new sites.  The Peace Corps car came to Lozovo at 7am to help us take all our things to the Veles bus station instead of us moving our things from bus to bus.  As many of you know I am not the one for knowing how to pack light, so I had 3 suitcases, an electric heater, 3 boxes, a backpack, and a purse.  Thank goodness there was only 2 of us scheduled to leave Lozovo at 7am, because there would not have been room in the van for anyone else’s things, I packed enough for 2 haha.  After a 3 hour bus ride I arrived in Resen in the pouring rain.  Irena and her father were waiting for me and they helped me get my bags and boxes off the bus.  I had warned Irena before hand of all the “stuff” I would be bring, so my landlord also showed up to help and had his car with him so we did not have to carry all my stuff in the rain to my apartment.  My apartment is not far from the bus stop, 5 minute walk, but with all that stuff and in the rain we would have never made it.  My landlord is very nice, he and his wife, they used to live in this apartment and raised their children here so there and many memories here as well.

      Now I know you all want to SEE the apartment, BUT I am still unpacking and I do not want to post pictures with boxes and clothes everywhere, since last time when I posted pictures of Lydia’s house I was “scolded” by my nana that I did not make my bed.  And I do not want to show you all a messy apartment, so pictures will come later.  For now you can just image what it looks like.  I would let you to close your eyes so you can image it, but then you would not be able to read the description….  My apartment is on the 4^th floor, the top floor (definitely a way for me to get my exercise).  Through the front door you enter a hallway.  On the wall there are floor to ceiling wardrobes where I will put all my clothes (challenge: getting used to going in the hall each morning to get my clothes, definitely not used to that).  At the end of the hall is the bathroom, it has the standard, toilet, sink, and a tub with a shower spout and a HOT WATER BOILER!!!! I have to let the hot water heat up before using it, but still its HOT WATER!!!!  Next to the bathroom is the door that goes to the living room.  There is a couch, a coffee table, and an shelving unit that has some tea cups and tea pot inside for decoration and a TV.  There are pictures on the walls and curtins on the windows and a rug under the coffee table.  There is also a heater to keep the room warm in the winter.  It a minimalist style, but it is very nice and cozy.  To the right of the living room is my bed room, which has a bed, a couch, and a table.  There is also a door in the bedroom that goes out to a balcony.  You can see the snow topped mountains off in the distance. To the left of the living room is the kitchen, it has a convection oven looking thing with 2 burns.  I am going to have to figure out how to cook with it and there is also a stove, where the oven does not work and that has 4 burners that do work.  So I can do a lot of stove top cooking, but will have to figure out how to use the small oven.  There are two sinks, I use one and have a dish drying rack in the other.  There are two cabinets above the sinks which have some plates, utensils, and cups that my landlords brought me.  There was no other kitchen supplies (pots, pans, etc) so I will buy what I need as I need it.  There is a kitchen table with 4 chairs and I am looking for or might try to build a bookcase so I will have a place to store food. 

      Each day I try to do something different.  Saturday my project was getting the bathroom organized.  I bought a nice plastic drawer set so I have a place to put my things and have a place to store extra things and I felt better going in there today now that everything has a place.  As time goes on I will get to each room and it will start to feel more like home.  Also on Saturday my internet was installed.  I pay for a certain number of giga bites per month so I have to make sure that I use my internet time wisely and do not watch youtube videos or download music cause that takes up a lot of giga bite.  In time I will figure it out, but according to Irena the amount of giga bite that I have per month is plenty, you just have to watch what you are doing on the internet.

     Today’s project was unpacking my clothes and putting them in the wardrobes. They are nice and big, but do not have any drawers to put socks and things like that.  So today, after coffee in the center with Irena I bought a set of hanging shelves so I can put socks and other things away.  One small project a day and it will start to feel more like home.

    Tomorrow is my first day at school!! I am excited to meet all the teachers and the students and supposedly the students are very excited to meet me.  We passed one 8^th grade boy on the street on Friday night and the next day I saw that he asked to be my friend on facebook.  Irena said that he will be bragging that he got to see me first.

That’s all I have for now, I will let you all know how school goes tomorrow!!! Wish me luck!!!!

Harry Potter and a Big Mac!!!!!!!!

Saturday Michelle's group went back to the mall in Skopje to see the new Harry Potter movie.  Their Language Teacher's son works at the mall and got them all tickets.  It was in English with Macedonian subtitles.  It was a little noisy due to the fact that the kids were just watching and talking not reading the subtitles.  Michelle's group didn't care, they got to see Harry Potter on opening day!!!! while they were in the Peace Corps!!!  and a Big Mac on top of it!!!!  Michelle ordered her Big Mac in Macedonian and she said that the people waiting on her gave her the thumbs up that she did ok.

Friday they did the language evalutions and Michelle felt that she passed --- they get the results on Monday when they are in Kumanovo for their last HUB meeting.  Michelle has decided that she will take advantage of the additional lessons offered by the PCorps when she gets to Resen.  Just to be safe.

Tuesday and Wednesday they are going to wrap up the language lessons by learnng how to answer questions like "What is the PCorps?" "Why are you here and what do you do?"

Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) is a big day.  All the trainees will go to a restaurant in Kumanovo. 
The PCorps ordered turkeys from the US in August.  Each of the groups is assigned to bring either appetizers, vegetables, deserts etc.  The restaurant will cook the turkeys for the feast.  Each  of the trainees can bring two host family members. All the PCorps Volunteers in Macedonia are also invited for the feast.  At the end of the dinner, all the PCorps trainees will be sworn in as PCorps Volunteers.  They will then sing
our national anthem and the Macedonian national anthem.   When Michelle gets back to her host family's house we'll have a family telephone call. We'll all be at home waiting to congratulate her and have a nice family visit on the phone.  Friday Michelle will say goodbye to her host family and head to Resen where Irena will be waiting for her when the bus arrives.  It will be tough saying goodbye; but Michelle has already mentioned that she will be back to visit her host family during their Christmas in January. 

With a busy week ahead I probably won't post again until Saturday.  Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Kathy         

Return to Lozovo and Resource Day

Michelle headed back to Lozovo Sunday morning.  Irena gave her a big bag of apples to share with her family and friends.  It was a quick but wonderful visit.  Michelle will head back to Resen on the Friday after Thanksgiving to live.  She has found out that she will have a one bedroom apartment on the 4th floor (top floor) of an apartment next to where Irena lives.  Michelle found out that it is the school's responsibility to find accommodations for PCVolunteers.  The PCorps then comes in to check and approve.  They must also provide the basics:  a stove, bed, table and couch.  Michelle will also have a bathroom with a hot water boiler.  Wonderful accommodations for the PCorps!!!! She will also be given 5,000 dinars or $100 to buy pots, pans, sheets etc.  No washer or dryers in Macedonia.  So Michelle will get a drying rack and wash her clothes by hand.  Earlier, the PCorps provided the group will room heaters while they were with their host families when it got cold a little bit earlier than usual; she will be bringing that with her when she moves.  She will also be able to get internet (at her expense).   Michelle is extremely excited and pleased with her living situation.

On Monday, the group headed to Skopje for "Resource Day."   They visited The American Corner there and the British Counsel  where they talked about teaching and community development.  They also visited the English Center where they distribute textbooks from the Oxford Book Company.  She said that they had all types of books.  For lunch they went to the RamStore Mall, which is the only mall (like Tysons) in Macedonia.  You walk through the doors and head up the escalators and there at the top was a McDonald's!!!!!!!! It was in a food court.  Michelle had Chinese food --- a spicy peanut chicken on brown rice for about $4.00.  It was a huge portion and delicious.  Most of the group headed to McD's!!!!!!! Afterwards they went to an ice cream place where Michelle had fig ice cream --- another huge portion for about 50 cents.  It was freshly made and amazing.

The group then went to the PCorps headquarters.  When they walked in, the first thing they saw was the reference desk (reception) and on the wall behind the desk was a picutre of every current volunteer in Macedonia!!!! Michelle loved it!!!!! They also found out that they each have a mail box to use for inter-PCorps mailings; so they can contact other volunteers if they would like.  The office has a library and a medical examiner's office.  This is where everyone goes to for medical attention.

While they were traveling into the city in the morning by bus they got caught in traffic with everyone going to work.  Michelle she got so excited because it reminded her of home!!!!!   Everyone in the group was laughing at her because she was so excited about the traffic!!!!  There was actually a heard of sheep walking through the city amongst the cars.  You won't find that in No.Virginia.  There's no such thing as traffic in Lozovo just buses, people walking and cattle!!!!

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are language lessons.  The group is getting ready for Friday when they take their LPI or Language Proficiency Interview.  They need to pass at an intermediary level.  Michelle feels confident they she'll do well.  If they feel unsure, the PCorps will provide additional tutoring at their assigned sites.

Enough for today; will post  again on Sunday.  Kathy    

Resen

As you heard from her last blog, the PCorps sent Michelle to Resen on Saturday to get acquainted with where she will be living for the next two years.  She left early Saturday morning and Irena was waiting for her at the bus station.  They did a walk-about through town, and had a lovely family meal at her home.  John and I were extremely grateful for their hospitality.  Michelle said that the time spent with Irena and her family "felt like home."  What more do you need to hear!!!!  Michelle saw the local grocery store, post office, and the school where she will be working.  She stayed at the local hotel, where she had a HOT shower, internet and TV (it was like staying at the Ritz!!).  The hotel staff was very accommodating and wonderful.  She feels extremely comfortable with her surroundings and can't wait "to get in that school."  It was a  great weekend.  She headed back to Lovoso Sunday to her wonderful host family and will spend the next two weeks going to school and finishing up her language lessons.  This has been a wonderful experience.  Michelle is looking forward to her next step in the PCorps experience; but is already thinking about saying goodbye to her host family (and coming back to visit) and the little village she now lives in.   John and I are also extremely grateful to Lydia and her family who have welcomed Michelle into their home.  She feels like part of the family.   We will talk again on Tuesday/Wednesday and will post then.  Kathy

The city of Apples!!!

Hello Everybody, I know mom has been keeping you all updated.  Today was able to travel to Resen and see where I will be spending my time for the next 2 years and it is beautiful.  It took about 3 hours to get here by bus from Veles and the whole trip was up and down mountains.  This part of the country is very green and full of nature.  When we got close to Resen the first thing I started noticing where all the apple orchids around.  Resen produces tons of apples and through out the day every tracker that passed by had bags and bags of apples.  I have already told Nana that I want/need her apple pie recipe. When I arrived at the bus station Irena was there waiting for me.  We walked to her families apartment, which is in the building next to the one that I "might" be living in, will not know for sure until next week.  We sat and had coffee with her father for awhile and then we went on a walk around the town.  There is about 9000 people who live in Resen and about 15,000 when you include all the people that live in the surrounding villages.  It is just the right size and has everything that I would need.

This is a photo that I found on line, I took some pictures today but I left my camera cord in Lozovo. I have 2 years to take plenty of pictures.  After coffee, Irena and I walked through the center of town and today was pazar day, farmers market.  Here it is only on Saturdays, but there are 3 big grocery stores where I can get anything else I need.  The newest one, which is right in the center, looks like a grocery store from home.  It has anything I would need and more.  They had a whole aisle for coffee and another whole aisle for tea, unlike in Lozovo where there is only a few kinds on the shelve and you have to buy what you can get.

Irena helped me check into the hotel, Hotel Dior, and then we kept exploring the town.  I saw the outside of the school and it is very big and nice.  3 floors and they have received new windows and doors and computers for the Ministry of Education here.  It also has a central heating system, so it wont be cold teaching in the winter.   It is about a 10 minute walk from Irene's home, which is a piece of cake.  All of the classrooms face the south so there is tons of natural light and from the 3rd floor you can see the Chateau that is modeled after one in France.

It is a museum now which is housing a ceramic collection.  Irena and I walk through the exhibit and it was interesting hearing where all the artist came from.  They were current pieces of art work and every summer the is a month long camp around Lake Prespia, which is very close to Resen, and artist come from all over the world to create ceramic pieces and then some of the artist leave their work for the museum.  There was works from artists from New Zealand, Korea, and even from the states.  It will be interesting to see this camp over the summer and meet some of these artists.

After our walk we went back to Irena's home and her father had made lunch for us.  It was very good, chicken, Macedonian salad, which has tomatoes, cucs, onions and cheese on top, he also made oven roasted potatoes and a sour cream, mayo, and pickle sauce.  It was wonderful, I did not want to stop eating.  We rested awhile at her house and then were off walking again.  I saw all of Resen in one day lol.  Buses going to Ohrid, the big tourist location of the summer go right through Resen so it will be interesting to see all the vacation traffic in the summer.

I also meet Irena's mom, she works in a doctors office in Bitola, the 2nd biggest city in Macedonian and about 20 minutes outside of Resen.  It was funny listening to Irena's parents talking with one another because it reminded me of talks with my parents.  It does not matter what country you are in all parents are the same!!!

We ended the day by having coffee at one of the cafes.  When sitting in a nice cafe, listening to American music, and drinking a cappuccino, its moments like that that I forget that I am in the Peace Corps.  It makes sense why they call Macedonian Peace Corps, "Posh Corps".  After one day here I am very excited about being able to live here for the next 2 years!!!  That's all I have right now, I or mom will keep you all posted.  Right now I am trying to decided being watching Macedonian Idol, yes they have their own, or The Fresh Prince, in English.  Toooo many choices!!!