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!!!