So besides my normal routine of going to school and language lessons, I have started attending an aerobics class that is offered twice a week at the other primary school. It is only for ladies, which is nice, and the only man is the instructor who is one of the P.E. teachers at the high school. Irena and I went to our first class on Monday. It is in the school gym, which is more or less a room with wood floors and one basketball hoop. I was surprised to see how many woman were actually there. I would guess around 25; and they were all different ages. There are even some 10-year old girls that come. The movement and the good music made the 1.5 hours fly by; and next thing I knew we were slowly walking home. It was a VERY intense class, not what I was expecting. While most Macedonians spend their day at a slow and relaxed pace, I was not expecting boot-camp when I got to aerobics class. It is a good work-out. He does a combination of kick-boxing, aerobics, and mat work and has you doing it for the full class, which Irena says normal lasts 2 hours. So after a quiet, winter where I was doing a lot of baking and eating comfort foods, now I am getting myself back into shape. Now I know what you must be thinking....aerobics class in the Peace Corps? Well yes, and its cheap too!!! I pay 300 dinar, around $6 for 2 classes a week for the whole month. For that price my goal is to come back slim and trim.
On Wednesday, I did game night at the American Corner. The ladies there wanted me to teach the kids how to play Scrabble. They want to form a Scrabble club in the hopes that later on all of the American Corners throughout are going to be putting on a Scrabble tournament. So I spent the day before brushing up on the rules. I know the gist of the game; but if they were going to be having a tournament, I wanted to make sure I was teaching them the game correctly. That night I had 12 kids; and since, for all of them it was their first time ever playing, Scrabble I was helping them. As I had mentioned in an earlier blog, critical thinking skills are lacking in the students here. Almost every time I would hear them say "I don't have a word" or "I can't play my word." They were only looking at their tiles to make words and not using the tiles on the board to help them. I seemed to be repeating the same thing "look at the board and see what letters you can use first and then form the word around that." But then I would still get "I don't have anything." They could not see past the tiles that they had; and once they found a word there, that was it, they could not see or find any other words. They played the whole time and next thing I knew it was 7 o"clock and their parents were at the door. Hopefully, with some more practice they will get it and start seeing more words on their own.
I forgot to mention in my last blog that on March 8th, while I was in Greece, it was International Women's Day. That is what they consider Mother's Day. It is still a school day, but after school all the female teachers go out to lunch and the students bring their teachers gifts. So when I arrived back at school, I had 3 classes that really wanted to see me. That Monday when I was walking down the hall, one of the 5th grade classes saw me and the kids started yelling my name and running into their classroom to get the gift that they had gotten me. It was a nicely wrapped gift with a bracelet, necklace, scarf, and jewelry box. They were all pink. Now pink is not a color that I normally wear, but I told the kids that when I find the right outfit I will show them how it all looks. For Mother's Day I also received another necklace and matching pair of earrings from 3 of the boys in the other 5th grade class and a flower in a vase from one of the 4th grade classes. It was very sweet and the look on the students' faces as they were giving my the gifts is something I will never forget. They were all so proud and happy that I liked their gifts and that I gave each of them a hug. It is moments like this that make the Peace Corps an experience of a lifetime.
On Wednesday, I did game night at the American Corner. The ladies there wanted me to teach the kids how to play Scrabble. They want to form a Scrabble club in the hopes that later on all of the American Corners throughout are going to be putting on a Scrabble tournament. So I spent the day before brushing up on the rules. I know the gist of the game; but if they were going to be having a tournament, I wanted to make sure I was teaching them the game correctly. That night I had 12 kids; and since, for all of them it was their first time ever playing, Scrabble I was helping them. As I had mentioned in an earlier blog, critical thinking skills are lacking in the students here. Almost every time I would hear them say "I don't have a word" or "I can't play my word." They were only looking at their tiles to make words and not using the tiles on the board to help them. I seemed to be repeating the same thing "look at the board and see what letters you can use first and then form the word around that." But then I would still get "I don't have anything." They could not see past the tiles that they had; and once they found a word there, that was it, they could not see or find any other words. They played the whole time and next thing I knew it was 7 o"clock and their parents were at the door. Hopefully, with some more practice they will get it and start seeing more words on their own.
I forgot to mention in my last blog that on March 8th, while I was in Greece, it was International Women's Day. That is what they consider Mother's Day. It is still a school day, but after school all the female teachers go out to lunch and the students bring their teachers gifts. So when I arrived back at school, I had 3 classes that really wanted to see me. That Monday when I was walking down the hall, one of the 5th grade classes saw me and the kids started yelling my name and running into their classroom to get the gift that they had gotten me. It was a nicely wrapped gift with a bracelet, necklace, scarf, and jewelry box. They were all pink. Now pink is not a color that I normally wear, but I told the kids that when I find the right outfit I will show them how it all looks. For Mother's Day I also received another necklace and matching pair of earrings from 3 of the boys in the other 5th grade class and a flower in a vase from one of the 4th grade classes. It was very sweet and the look on the students' faces as they were giving my the gifts is something I will never forget. They were all so proud and happy that I liked their gifts and that I gave each of them a hug. It is moments like this that make the Peace Corps an experience of a lifetime.
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