First Week Back to School

Things are starting to pick up which is good.  I came home today after school hoping to relax and take a nap and I get online and had a bunch of things to do for GLOW and tutoring with Despina and 5 hours later I am finished and writing this blog while making mac and cheese!!!

So whats new?
School started back up on Monday.  It was nice to get back in the classroom and see all the kids.  I now have a schedule with the 3 English teachers and I will be going to each class (only grades K-6) at least once a week.  Some classes see me more than once.  Monday after school my bookcase was delivered!!! It is soooo nice having a home for all my food and getting it off the floor.

 The before shot.  All the food on the floor.  Do you see now why I need a bookcase!!!

 Right after the guys brought it in.  They had to carry it up 4 flights of steps, cause I live on the top floor.  When they brought it in and asked where I wanted it they gave me a strange look when I brought them into the kitchen.  I later explained it was really for food and not books.  За храна, не киниги.

 The after shot!!!!  With all my food.  I posted it on facebook when it came and the other volunteers commented on all my American food.  You can take the girl out of American but you cant take American out of the girl.  Mac and cheese and peanut butter are here to stay!!!

I did some baking this week.  My treat was buying a hand mixer, remember when my treat was buying a coach purse?!  After about my 3rd batch of cookies I got sick of trying to cream sugar and butter together with a fork.  I made orange peel bread and groundhog cookies.  I made the cookies for Kids Club.  I told them the story about groundhog day and what happens, they made groundhog puppets and I showed them a podcast from 2009 Groundhog Day.  The ladies at the American Corner take pictures during each event and they have not posted them up on facebook yet, when they do I will add them to the blog, but I do have a picture of the cookies.

They have corn flakes, oats, almonds (the recipe called for sliced almond, but your not going to find those in Macedonia, you buy whole ones and grab a knife and start chopping) and then you add 2 raisins as eyes.  The kids did not seem to like them, the recipe makes 4 dozen and each kid only had 1, some did not even finish their first one.  I took the rest to my GLOW meeting the next day and the volunteers finished them off for me, cause I did not want to bring the cookies home.

I taught one of the kindergarten classes this week by myself.  Maria had to go to the other primary school in Resen to work on a Macedonian test.  They told her to be there at 10:30, and she had a class to teach them.  Instead of pushing it to another time I took it.  It is very strange how they view and run schools here.  They have no problem pulling a teacher out of their lesson to go to a meeting or send them to do something else.  They also do not have a substitute system in place, so if a teacher is out they can ask the other teachers for help to fill the time or the kids just have a free time.  School here seems to be over looked and it does not take precedence like it does back in the states. Teaching a kindergarten class by myself was interesting and I was actually nervous about teaching it.  It was strange since I have taught before and I have NEVER felt nervous about teaching, but image walking into a room with 20 6 year old's there is no classroom management system set up and they speak another language.  It would be different if I was teaching the older students since they know more English and we could, after a view tries, start understanding each other.  But the kindergartens only know the vocabulary words that they are learning.  I had to use some of my Macedonia.  The class ended up going well. I had to teach them some vocabulary, toys: doll, ball, yo-yo, robot, and car. I had flashcards with a picture of each object on it and then I would say it in English and they would repeat. I also had them say it in a sentence "This is a ball."  "This is a doll."  Each kid had a turn and before I knew it the 40 mins was up and class was over.  The kids were well behaved, some of them, there is always that one that wants to talk and be funny, and how are you suppose to get them back on track when you cant fully speak their language?  You give them the teacher stare, and they shut their little mouths and get right back to work.....it works every time and in any country.

Another thing that was interesting at school was when I was in class with the 6th graders.  Their teacher, Snesha, asked them what they wanted to be when they got older.  I was curious to see what Macedonian children would say, since the typical answers in the states would be: a model, an athlete, a doctor, or anything that pays a lot of money. She called on a few kids and every single one of them shrugged their shoulders and said "I don't know".  I was floored, how can a child not have a dream of what they want to be when they grow up.  I asked Snesha if in and when in school they learn about professions.  In the states they learn about them in kindergarten and it comes up more through out their education.  She told me they learn the English names in 5th grade, I said no, when do they learn about profession, not in English, just in general.  She did not know and asked one of the students as they were walking out the door.  The student said that they did not learn about professions and was kind of surprised about the question. As Snesha and I were leaving the classroom we talked about it a little more.  If students do not know what types of jobs are out there then how will they know what they want to study later on?  Snesha replied their parents help them pick classes that will give them the skills for certain jobs which at the time have a high rate of employment.  I am assuming that there are kids that study and get a job they want, but most study and get a job just to get the job.  I understand that getting a job is important, but every kid should at least have a dream of what they want to be when they grow up. 

Thursday I had coffee with the Country Director and his wife.  Our country director, Stephen Kutzy, makes the rounds to see each volunteer to get to know them better and see how they are doing.  He also said that later he would return when school was in session to see the teachers and to make sure they are utilizing me as a volunteer.  The picked me up in the Peace Corps car, its always nice to ride in a car!!  We went to the museum in Resen, the Versille of Macedonia, and walked around.  They have driven through Resen a bunch of times but never stopped to see the city.  In the museum we met a man and he explained some of the ceramic pieces.

The 50th Anniversary of Peace Corps is March 1st and PC Macedonia is getting an exhibit ready to celebrate.  Stephen and his wife thought of the idea of having me pose with the gentleman and submit it to the exhibit.  We will see if it gets put in the show.  After we walked around the museum, we went and sat and had a cup of coffee.  They got to know me better and I got to know them better.  Stephen asked how I am liking Resen and how it compares to the first place they were going to put me, Injevo.  His wife looked confused and then it clicked and she said "ohhh your the one!"  lol I hear that every time Injevo comes up.  She said that it was good and brave of me to speak up and say what I did about my the environment of my first location and I agree.  I am very happy here in Resen and looking back I don't think I would have made it this far if I stayed in Injevo.

Saturday I had a GLOW meeting in Skopje.  I took the bus up and Karen and Elena, the other Jr Coordinators, got on in Veles and we road the rest of the way together.  When we arrived it was still a little early and we were going to meet the others in front of the Holiday Inn, yes they have a Holiday Inn in Skopje.  Karen, Elena and I went and sat in the lobby.  It reminded us of home.

Everyone that was coming in and out of the lobby was speaking English.  There were even 2 gentleman sitting near us talking to another man.  They were here on business and we got to talking.  We told them that we lived here and they looked surprised until we told them we were with the Peace Corps.  They were both from Boston and they asked where home was for us and what we were doing here.  After we meet the others outside and went to the Coffee Shop!!!  It is a good thing that I don't live in Skopje or close to it cause I would be in the Coffee Shop everyday.  It is just like Starbucks, they have all the fun, special drinks, they have treats and food and you can sit and have a conversation or work on something.  This is the one place in Skopje that has coffee to-go and every time I am in Skopje I go and get my coffee to-go, my Americanized treat.  I could not get it to go since that was were our meeting was, but I did get a golemo cappuccino. And when I say golemo, which is big in Macedonian, I mean golemo!!!!

 I drank the whole thing!!!!  And it was glorious.  Our meeting lasted 4 hours and by that time we were all starving.  Another good thing about not living in Skopje is that I am not tempted to eat at the different restaurant that Skopje has, buts its nice when I come in once a month for GLOW meetings.  There is one Mexican restaurant in Skopje, that I have not been to yet, and there are some Chinese restaurants as well.  We went for Chinese.  On the main strip there is a Chinese restaurant with paper lanterns and everything, but that is not the good one.  The good one is down a dark street across from the Russian embassy, figure that.  I had a BIG plate of chicken and peanuts, soooo good!!!  I left Skopje full, tired, and happy.  I spent the night in Veles since going back to Resen that night would have taken forever.  Sunday I had coffee in Veles with my language tutor Despina.  She was my language tutor in Lozovo and we continue doing lesson over Skype. Recently I have been learning the names of Macedonian foods.  Because every time PCVs go to a restaurant we always order the same thing since that is all we know.  I want to be able to try Macedonian food and know that I am not ordering brains (yes its on the menus) or other organs that I can live with out trying.  We sat and talked about, non-language lesson things, it was nice to catch up and learn more about her.

Ok, I think this is the longest blog so far and I have caught you all up on the events here in Macedonia and also I have finished eating my mac and cheese.  Now it is time to relax and possible watch a movie.  I will write again next Sunday!!!