Veles

Michelle and several other PCvolunteers with be teaching/training teachers during their assignment.  This week they were assigned local schools to visit and observe.  Michelle anad Kate were assigned to a school in the city of Veles which is a l5 minute bus ride away.  Buses do not run as efficiently as here -- they arrived a little late but did well for their first time traveling on a bus.  When they got on the bus they discovered that they have ticket collectors.  Michelle and Kate wanted receipts so that the PC would reimburse --- it took a couple of tries but they did it.  They observed two classes and met with the teachers (details later) and then returned to Lovoso for their afternoon language lessons.  They will be visiting the school on Monday and Tuesday mornings.  The rest of the week they are at the school in Lovos for language lessons and meeting with various PC personnel.  One came in who handles the Home Stay business (corrdinating the Host Families) another about medical care, the country director will be in also. 

Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday are the days that Veles holds it's open air markets (aka farmer's markets) so Kate and Michelle walked around to see what was available.  Basically, fruits and vegetables, electronics and clothing. They will check it out a little more thoroughly next week. 

Tonight the group is going to meet at their school in Lovoso to watch a movie together via a laptop.  They didn't want to impose on any one host family because as we all know now every gathering of more than two people is a celebration and there is cake!!!!!!

Also, little Melanie and I are saying Hi and goodbye now on the phone.  She hears Michelle talking on her phone and wants to know what she is doing.  Also she takes Michelle by the hand if she wants to show her something and points. 

Won't be posting again until Sunday --- we have out of town guests arriving --- Kathy

A Lazy Weekend

Saturday --Melanie was up at 8:00 but Michelle laid in bed until around 9:00.  After breakfast, Michelle, Lydia and Melanie went to a neighbor's house.  The neighbors have two daughters 21 and 23 and they made "penja(?) " which is another Macedonian delicacy made with red and green peppers and tomatoes.  Michelle wanted to help but they said no you are our guest.  So she watched and will learn later.  Two PCorps volunteers walked over to Michelle's house later and they visited and ate watermelon.  Then Michelle had stuffed peppers for lunch.  That evening Michelle and the other PCorps volunteers were invited over to Ricky's house.  He is the current PCorps volunteer stationed in Losovo (which is one hour south of the capitol Skopje).  They got to see what type of accomodations a volunteer would be provided when they get their assignments the end of November.  Ricky has a house with two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and living area.  He also has cable tv and wireless internet.  In fact, Ricky upgraded his cable coverage to include ESPN so they all watched the Arkansas/Alabama game.  Needless to say because of the time change Michelle went to bed late that night. 

Michelle brought over a mini-album with pictures of her home and family to share with her host family.  They leave it on the table in the living room and when people visit they show it to them.  They like to show the pictures of the house and the living areas (living room, kitchen and family room) because the rooms are large to them.  Michelle said that the square footage of her host family's home is the same as our master bedroom suite.

Sunday --- Melanie was up at 7:30!!!! Michelle again laid in bed for awhile because she came in late.  Melanie was excited because it was her Daddy's birthday (KiKi).   In Macedonia when it is your birthday, you provide drink and food for your family and friends.  It is your day to share -- you are sharing your wealth and good health  with your family and friends.  So after breakfast Michelle,  Lydia, Melanie and TeTe (KiKi's wife) had cake to celebrate KiKi's wealth and health.  KiKi wasn't there he was out but  you still celebrate.  Then the nextdoor neighbors came over later (the 2l and 23year olds) and they had cake. 
Then one of KiKi's cousins who worked in American for two years came over --- more cake.  Michelle and the cousin walked to his house and visited in English and when they got there it was coffee and cake.  The Macedonian culture is based on visiting and eating.  Dinner was soup, potatoes, chicken and peppers.  Michelle was in her room aftr dinner and there was a knock.  It was KiKi asking her to come out and share a celebatory "rockia" with them.   Michelle went to bed with a very full belly that night. 

Did you know that ---When you get sick it's because germs have come thru your feet.  Michelle had the sniffles when she arrived at her host family's home and she was walking around barefoot because it was hot.  So they went out and bought her slippers (a little small) which she now wears around the house so she won't get sick again.

You can never go outside with wet hair.  This is another way that you will get sick.  Michelle said that they will track you down with a blowdryer. 

You can't have more than one window open in a room at a time.  If you do and get a cross breeze it is called "bromia" which is very bad.  Michell has one window in her bedroom which she opens but closes when she leaves. 

That's it for now.  Will post again on Tues.  Kathy 

What you ALL have been asking for.

Here are some pictures of the house that I am staying at.

 This is me, obviously, standing in front of the gate.  On our first Saturday here all of the volunteers and our 2 language teachers walked around to see what was in town and to see were everyone lived.  We each took a pic in front of our houses.

This is the front of the house.  It is small and cozy.  There are 3 bedrooms and a bathroom, the living room and the kitchen.  All of the rooms are one right next to the other, so when I feel crowded and want my michelle time I can at least go into my room and close the door. But because the rooms are so close I can hear everything lol.  Especially little Melanie when she wakes up in the morning.  But that is the Macedonian way of life, you

 This is the living room.  This is were we spend most of our time. The little table is also used as the dinning table so we eat all of our meals here as well.  They has 2 TVs lol.  One is for local channels and they like to watch Turkish and Indian soap operas on it, with Macedonian subtitles.  The big one in the pic is hooked up to a satellite disk and they use that one to watch/listen to music on VH1 and MTV.  I have been using it to watch cartoons and a few other American shows, since soap operas are not my fav and I thought Melanie would like the cartoons.  She is not a fan of the Flinstones.  Pretty much both TVs are on all the time.  Which I was not expecting, but at least they have modern aspects of the house. 

 This is the front of the house.

This is the kitchen.  There is a small burner in the left corner on the counter.  That is what I thought Lydia did all of her cooking on until today, read below and you will see.  She does not use the stove, it is more of a storage devise lol and there is a frig/freezer in there too but I could not get it in the pic.

 Right now it is the time for making avar, a pepper spread, and preparing foods for the winter.  Typically people are hanging their left over peppers to dry so that they can use them during the winter and also there are many families drying out tobacco and getting that ready to sell.  Not sure what my family is going to do with these peppers, but this is a typical site here around Lozovo, peppers hanging out to dry.

 That is babas house, the grandmother, aka Lydias mother in law.  She tends to keep to herself and does not eat with us or watch tv with us. She comes out and sits at that small table under the peppers when Melanie is playing outside and I sit with her as well.  She is very nice, and I cant wait to get to know her more when I know more of the language.  As of right now the only thing we say is hello and how are you doing today.  I also learned that the kitchen where lydia cooks lunch, the big meal of the day is in there as well.  I was wondering how she cooked such big meals on a little burner in the main kitchen, since it did not look like she used the stove.  It was full of papers and bottles lol.  But I saw the working kitchen today in there.  There is a stove and 2 bigger burners.

 This is the patio.  I sit out here sometimes when I want fresh air and its a nice place.  Only thing is that there are alot of flies that hang around, but that is just typical for this area in general
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 This is the courtyard where Melanie plays.  You can see the satellit dish and more peppers hanging.  There garden is there at the right.  They have peppers, flowers, tomatoes, and leeks growing there right now.  Other families has apple, fig, and pear trees. Squash plants, berries, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, etc.  Grapes are also popular in this area and there are many families that are right now making their own wine and a liquor called rockia that is also made from the grapes, it tastes like a whiskey. Any vegetable you need they grow.  There is no grocery store in town where you can buy fresh produce, they all just grow there own.  There are 3 markets in town but they are more like 7-11s they have the packages items that they need and only the basics, one type of each, maybe 2 brands if your lucky.

 Thats my room.  I think it was Melanie's because there are Disney characters on the wall lol.  It is small, there is a bed and a little table and a dresser, but what more do I need right.

This is Melanie!!!! She is 2.  She is Lydia's grand-daughter.  She is the cheif of the house lol most children in Macedonia are, they are all princess and princes.  She sleeps when she wants, eats when she wants and plays when she wants.  Macedonians do not live on a schedule so its easy for her to make her own.  She is starting to get used to me and we play alot.  She likes to sit with me when I do my homework in the living room and she "pretends" to do work as well.  We have a nice little system going where I will point to something and ask what it is in Macedonian and she will give me the name.  This is how I am learning alot of my vocabulary lol. 

Thats all I have for now, just wanted to get the pictures up so you all can see where I am staying.  Either mom or I will write the next time, probably mom since she has a better access to the internet.  Chow for now!!!

Michelle has been really busy so. . . .

Mom is filling in. Michelle's group started classes at the local school on Monday from 8-12 --- they are learning the language and all about the culture --- then they go about town to become more aware of their surroundings --- it's still difficult for her to get to an internet connection --- but since we talk everyday I thought I would pass along some information. First off the group --- as you saw from the photos it is a very diverse group --- college graduates and people "in their 60's who are now doing what they wanted to do during the 60's"; also a married couple who sold everything they had (except the golf clubs --- don't know if they brought them)and then joined the Peace Corps. Michelle and I talk every night (for her) before she goes to bed 9-l0 o'clock her time 3-6 our time. She is starting to communicate more with her host family. Today she stopped by the house for lunch and told Lydia (the grandmother) that she was just having a sandwich and would be back later for the main meal of the day (pretty good after one week of lessons). When she does her homework at night (and there is alot) Melanie (the 2yearold) likes to sit next to Michelle and act like she is doing homework with a big book. Michelle gave her a pad of paper and a pencil so that she can draw. Monday I am sending out a package with coloring books, crayons, and small baby books for her and; of course, Good Night Moon and a stuffed lamb. My sister Carol sent out a package with goodies last Mon and we are going to see how long it takes to get things to Michelle. The Post Office said 6-l0 days. Lydia made a delicious chicken dinner this week with vegetables: and during her stay there, Michelle hopes to learn how to make it. Speaking of chicken dinners ---- Kate(another Peace Corp volunteer who is 22) had her host family mother ask her one night if she liked chicken -- Kate said yes. So the Mom went outside to the backyard where the chickens are kept --- Kate heard a loud squawk --- and the Mom brought in dinner!! Macedonian take out!! Michelle said that families keep chickens and goats in their yards --- and the goats follow family members around as pets. Everyone in the town knows the PCvolunteers and everyone knows which family has which volunteer. It's a very small close-knit town. Michelle is starting to feel really comfortable with her surroundings. After dinner tonight her group is going to meet at the school and play some basketball. Enough for now I'll post again on Satuday --- or Michelle might if she has a chance.

1st of many challenges

Your probably wondering why I have not written in so long.  Well it was because I was faced with my first challenge, no internet.  When I had heard about Losovo, they had said that most of the families had internet and that there was also an internet café in the town.  Well when I arrived at my host families house I asked, more like acted out, if they had internet.  Lydia said no.  On Saturday, all of the Losovo volunteers and our two language teachers met up at the school to walk around town and see what is in Losovo.  As we walked, we say a few small grocery stores, two restaurants, and a bar that Kiki and Tete had taken me to the previous night, but no internet café.  It is definitely hard not having access to something that Americans are so used to having.  As I talked to the other volunteers all of them said that their families had internet and they were able to use it.  This of course made me a little sad since the internet was how I was going to communicate with my friends and family.  Luckily while in Kumanovo, the volunteers had gotten cell phones so that we could communicate with each other but I will now be using it to also talk to my friends and family.  It’s a little expensive to call America from Macedonia, but during this transition period it is very comforting knowing that I still have that connection. 

            My fellow volunteers in Losovo have all been wonderful.  They know that this is hard for me and have offered to help any way they can, inviting me to come over to visit their families and use their internet.  Also, on Saturday night I found out that Lydia’s brother-in-law, Gusef, lives in town and he has internet and I can use his to skype, or facebook, whatever.  So as of right now you probably will hear from me like every other day.

            My host family’s house is very nice, small and quant.  I have my own room, I think it was Melanie’s room since there are pictures of cartoon characters on the wall haha.

            We spend a lot of time in the living room, since this is where we both watch TV and eat our meals.  They have a satellite dish, but it does not work on regular bases so most they watch Indian Soap Operas with Macedonian subtitles underneath.  But the one thing I have noticed is that the music around here is American music, definitely heard some Taylor Swift on the radio yesterday.

            They grow a lot of their own food and right now you see many people drying our pepper and tobacoo.  There are apple trees, and fig trees every where in town and we even found someone who has a walnut tree.  Even with all this fresh produce around I can’t help but laugh when Lydia serves pasta with butter and then they put ketchup and mayonnaise on it for breakfast. The food is good, but going to get hard to get used to, especially when I am not the one cooking it and Lydia fries a lot of stuff.  One thing they told us turn training is that our families are going to want to feed us and if we gain weight then they feel like they have done their job.  Guess my idea of losing weight while over here is out the window or at least until I start living on my own. 

Sorry that there are no pictures, I tried to upload some but the internet connection was very slow.  I will put pictures up as soon as I can because I know I keep talking about things but that no one can visualize them.

Last Day in Kumanovo

My last day staying at the hotel in Kumanovo was full of nerves and sadness.  I would be leaving all of the Peace Corps friends that I going with a smaller group to live and study in the town of Losovo.  Out of the 38 Peace Corps volunteers in my group, there were 8 of us that were going to stay with host families in Losovo, about an hour car ride from Kumanovo. 

    After our last language lesson at the hotel each volunteer was given a sentence or phrase in Macedonian.  We were each going to have to say the phrase at the Home Stay Ceremony that afternoon.  This was the “password” to let the host families know if I was their volunteer or not.
So around 2o’clock that afternoon all 38 of us were sent upstairs to the 2nd floor of the hotel to wait since the families were starting to arrive and they did not want them to see us yet.  While we were all anxiously waiting we had the opportunity to take a few last minute pictures to remind us of all the good times we had as a whole group.  Around 2:30 we were given the signal that all the host families had arrived and it was now time to go down stairs to meet them.
    When I walked into the hall there were 5 long tables set up, one for each of the towns that the volunteers would be staying at.  The last table on the left was for Losovo.  All of the families were there waiting to hear us say the “password” phrase to let them know that we were their volunteer.  I first approached a young man and a middle aged woman standing together.  I started to said my phrase in Macedonian “Melanie is the niece of Lydia”. I had only gotten the first word out when the young man shook his head.  But the middle aged woman ran up to me and gave me a big hug, it was Lydia.  She was all excited and started rambling on in Macedonian.  I sat down at the table next to her and started waiting the other volunteers meet their families.  One of my language teachers came over and translated for a while so that Lydia and I could get to know each other a little bit.  I learned that she lived with her son, Kiki (23), his wife, Tete (19), and that their daughter was Melanie (2).  Also, Lydia’s mother-in-law lived with them too. Lydia’s husband works and stays in the big town near Losovo and is a cab driver. She also mentioned something about he was going to Italy to harvest apples soon.
    Now here is a little lesson about Macedonian culture, the family always stays together.  When a family has a son, they build a second story onto their house for the son to live with his wife.  You will see a lot of houses have started building second floors onto their houses, it is not because they want a bigger house, it is because they have a son and that is where he will live with his family.  This is why Lydia’s mother-in-law lives here and also why the son and his family lives here.
    After we had all sat down, they started the Home Stay Ceremony.  Our programming trainer, Evelina, said a few words, both in English and Macedonian, and then she translated for the Peace Corps director, Steven. 

There was a dance group from Kumanovo who came and performed for us and then the last thing was that everyone got up and danced.  Everyone holds hand and you dance around in a circle.  Step, step, step, kick your right foot, kick your left foot, ect.  The circle got smaller and smaller as we all danced around and worked our way into a spiral formation. 

After the dancing all of the volunteers and their families got our luggage and we were on our way home.  Luckily for me, and the rest of the volunteers going to Losovo, our families had all come on a big bus so we all got to drive their together; there was definitely no awkward silence on that bus.

Drunkin Georgie

After our first day of language lessons some of the current volunteers, MAK 13 and 14s, took us down into the city of Kumanovo so we can walk around, do some shopping, and grab a drink.  It was a nice walk down the hill, and at that point we did not realize that we would have to walk back up it later haha.  We came in through the outskirts of the city and kept walking until we reached the center of the city.  At the center was a statue.  One of the current volunteers, Kacey, explained that the statue is of a man named Drunkin Georgie.  He was the town drunk who was very social, as all drunks are, and everyone around the city knew him.  When he past away the city made a statue of him in dedication so they would never forget to have a socially blissful life, just like Georgie.

As you can see in the picture, Georgie has his right hand out.  It looks like he is getting ready to shake someones hand, but in fact we found out that there once was a beer in his hand and that someone stole it.

In the city of Kumanovo, we saw a grocery store, that is a combination of a grocery store, pharmacy, and also has a home decoration/appliance section.  Sadly, they do not sell peanut butter.  We also saw a bunch of clothing and shoe stores, coffee cafes, and restaurants/bars.  After walking around we sat outside at a local bar and talked to some of the current volunteers and got advice and hear stories about their time here in Macedonia.

Kumanovo is considered the 2nd or 3rd largest city in Macedonia, depending on what city you are saying it in.  Our hotel, Hotel Satellite, is outside of the city on the border of a small village. I have also been able to walk down the main street and you can see houses, chickens, goats, and every house has its own garden for growing fruits and vegetables.  Right now the locals are collecting red peppers (that will be later turned into the Macedonian traditional spread called ajar), apples, the last of the tomato harvest and the corn harvest to feed their animals during the winter, and the beginning of the squash harvest.  The locals stop and stare at us and we were told that they wonder why American would come to their small city and villages.  We were told that it is not until we make a true connection with the people by talking and socializing with them, which right now is hard since all we can say is "hello" "my name is Michelle" and "I am from America" the foundation of a conversation, but a conversation stopper as well, that they will view us as one of the family (the whole community) and take care of us.  That will be nice to see.

Kumanovo

We landed at Skopje International Airport and there were 3 members of Peace Corps Macedonia there waiting for us.  They helped us get our bags and told us to head outside and load our things onto the truck.  Well once through the doors there was a large group of current volunteers cheering, holding signs, welcoming us to Macedonia.  We were all exhausted from the journey and all we could do was smile and laugh.  They put all of our luggage onto the back of a semi and we all loaded into a bus and we were off to the hotel.  Once at Hotel Satellite there were more volunteers there to welcome us and help load all of our luggage off the truck and up two flights of steps to where we would be staying for the next 5 days.  Once we got settled we all headed down stairs to the restaurant and were greeted by two Macedonian teenagers dressed in traditional outfits.

This was a traditional Macedonian greeting.  They offered us bread and salt.  It is custom to drip the bread into the salt and eat it.  This custom is saying that even though the Macedonian people are poor and could only afford bread and salt they would still offer it to their guests.

Later that day we also were introduced to the other people who work for Peace Corps Macedonia and that we will be working with for the next 2-3 months during our pre-service training.
The rest of the day we dedicated to relaxing and adjusting to the new time zone.

And So It Begins....

In less than 2 days, I will be on my way to Philly for staging.  There I will meet the other 40 volunteers that will be going over to Macedonia with me.  After a day in Philly we will drive to New York where we will leave from JFK at 5:50pm Saturday night (US time).  From there it is just a hop, skip, and a jump over the Atlantic Ocean to our first stop, Vienna, Austria.  There we board the final plane which will take all of the extremely tired volunteers to Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. Its not over yet........once we get off the plane, hoping that all of our luggage has arrived with us, we will travel about 30 minutes outside of the capital to a city called Kumanovo.   

Now I know the plan, the thing is trying to pack everything that I will need for the next 2 years into 2 rolling suitcases and a carry-on.........possible?

Surprising enough it actually is possible. On Tuesday, mom got it in her head that she wanted everything packed.  So I laid everything that I wanted to bring out, it took up the whole queen size bed.  With the help of space bags I was able to get all of my clothes (not including the winter coat, snow pants, and snow boats that will be shipped over later), plus shoes into the big suitcase and the carry on.  Leaving the small suitcase for toiletries (aka contact solution and hair products that I will not be able to live with out).  Once everything was packed the BIG question was how much do the suitcases weigh.  The Peace Corps says that both of the check in bags (big and small suitcase) can ONLY be 50 lbs each.  For those who remember, when I went to Germany for 3 weeks my suitcase weighed A LOT more than that.  Knowing my past history of packing, I was very surprised to find that the big suitcase full of clothes was a little less than 50lbs and that the small suitcase was only around 30lbs.....meaning I can now pack more things!!!!  (aka more contact solution, more clothes, or a few jars of peanut butter...what to chose, what to chose)

Now with everything packed and my To-Do List getting smaller it is finally starting to hit that I will be leaving on Friday morning for.................. Philly.............and that is as far as I am thinking for right now.