Tumba Trails

This weekend, I traveled to the other side of the country to a village outside of Strumica where another volunteer lives in Novo Selo.  He had organized a hike first to one of the famous waterfalls, Smolari, and then up the Tumba trail; which when you reach the top, you can see Greece, Macedonia, and Bulgaria.  We started early on Saturday morning, after a big French toast and coffee breakfast. We went by taxi to the waterfall. According to my Macedonian travel book: "In the corner of Macedonia equidistant from the borders of Bulgaria and Greece is the village of Smolari, above which is a 40m drop of the Smolari waterfall. It is a small site set in beautiful surroundings and the half-hour hike to get there is along well-maintained grounds."  It was a perfect day for a hike.

 We started off with a group shot.  You can see that everyone is happy and ready to go.  At that point we were all very optimistic about what the day would bring.

Me with the Smolari waterfall.

They were brave enough to climb down a little rope and stand infront of the waterfall. I was the photographer that stayed on the bridge and just watched.  After everyone got their pictures, it was time to start hiking.  We first took a 30 min detour, aka we got lost, and ended up climbing, with our hands, up what we thought was the trail. As I was climbing up what looked like a wall of nature with my hands, trying not to look down, my first thought was if the whole hike is going to be like this I was not going to make it. But then we realized that we were not going the right way, because we could not find any of the markers on the trees, and then climbed back down the wall of nature.  After my legs stopped shaking, we were off on the correct path which was normal. It was just a dirt path but it went up the mountain at less of an incline.

There was a road that went up the mountain but it was shaped like a snake. In order to make it to the top in time we had to take the paths that went straight up.  The path and the road intersected along the way.  By taking the path we were told that it would take 7 hours to get to the top.  I went as far as I could, 3 hours into it we were standing on the road and I was looking at the next path that we would take and how steep it was.  That was when I called it quits.  I was wearing sneakers, which for this kind of hike will only get you so far, and I know that I am fine going up, but I get scared when I'm coming down.  So myself and 2 others continued up, but on the road.

We wanted to get to the mountain hut, which was around the half way point to the top, but we got lost. At one point the road forked and we started off in one direction, which was the right direction, but when we did not see the road curve up we thought we went the wrong way and back tracked.  When the others got to the mountain hut, 2 others called it quits, the came down on the road and met up with us and the 5 of us worked are way back down the mountain while the remaining 3 kept going towards the top.  Here are some of their pictures from the peak of the mountain:

 The pillar at the top of the mountain.  The beaken that says "You made it!!!"

 The 3 from our group that made it all the way to the top.

This was the other group. They did it the weekend before us.  Robert, the volunteer that lives in Novo Selo, did this hike 2 weekends in a row and went to the top both times.  Unbelievable.

Once the 5 of us got down the mountain, we took a taxi back and tried to figue out who would get the shower first.  We relaxed, started to prepare the fixings for dinner, pizza!!, and waited for the remaining 3 to come back.  They had said that they would get back a little before 7pm.  5:16pm they were walking through the front gate.  They made it the rest of the way with little to no breaks and then on the way down they "ran".  When they came in they said they felt great and none of them had any blisters or were swore.  The rest of the time we all just hung out and relaxed.  I did not concur the moutain, but that is perfectly fine. I like my feet firm on the ground where they belong. I think I am done with excursions for awhile.  The next adventure I will plan to take will be to the lake about 10km from my house.  Thats more my type of excursion.

National Spelling Bee

This past weekend, the Peace Corps hosted the 2nd annual National Spelling Bee in Skopje.  Over 500 students, ranging from 5th grade to senior year of high school came from all over Macedonia to spell.  I was not able to bring any of my students from Resen, because during the time that Spelling Bee qualifiers were happening we had the ministry visiting our school and I thought that it would be too much; but there is always next year. So this year I went to volunteer and scope how the Bee worked and it was a good thing I did; because then next year we will be prepared. It was a long, hot day (80 degrees) and the Bee was at the American College, a very nice place but no AC.  I left Resen at 5am and arrived in Skopje around 9ish. I had some errands to run,  theVero for tortilla chips and Coronas (I made nachos!!!), and then I headed over to the Bee. When I arrived, all the 5th and 6th graders were still getting registered.  There were over 350 students just in the 5th and 6th grade round and as you can see from the picture......

they do not understand the concept of a line.  This plus some parents and teachers made the registration room a bit crowded.  Once everyone was registered and had a number, they were ready to start the Bee, a little behind schedule. The biggest group was up first. The students were divided into 2 rooms, evens and odds.  They brought all the 5th and 6th graders upstairs to the 2 rooms where they would have the Bee. At the beginning they had all the students upstairs in lines in one hallway, but then PCorps volunteers got the idea to have the students serpentine down the stairs to give people more room and oxygen.  

 The even numbered students all in line ready to spell.

And the odd numbered students working their way down 3 flights of steps.  This was where I spent most of my time. The students liked to talk and since they were in a stairwell, their voices carried making it hard for people in the room to hear what was going on and the kids to hear the words they needed to spell.  So who would be better for the job then "teacher Michelle". It was funny since none of the other volunteers have met or seen "teacher Michelle" in action; they were very surprised. "My stairwell", as I referred to it, it was relatively quiet and the kids were very good. I was stern when I needed to be and made sure that the students were staying to one side; but we also had some fun since no one likes to stand in a stairwell for hours and only move up one stair every 5 minutes or so. How the Bee worked was:

When it was their turn, they were given one word to spell (from the list of words that they were given beforehand). They had to write it correctly on the white board. If they got it correct, they went to the end of the line and waited to spell another word, if not.....

then they were given a certificate. Every student got one. After 3 rounds they went to the "Bonus round" where the students were given harder words that were not on their lists.  The students were suppose to be "dropping like flies" during the bonus round, but we had to do a few of them to get the line down to a good number because of the number of students we had.   When the lines dwindled down a bit, they combined the even and odd numbered students in one room and continued to make the words harder to get a winner. Four hours later we had our 5th and 6th grade winner.  Then it was time for the 7th and 8th grade round and then the high school round. I stayed and helped start the 7th and 8th grade round but then had to leave to catch the last bus back to Resen. It was a long but very exciting day. I am very glad that I went because if Irena and I decide to bring students next year I have a plan!!! lol

National Spelling Bee Plan for 2012:

• Travel with our own bus.
• Have all Resen students wear the same colored shirt.
• Have them bring bag lunches, snacks, and drinks. 
• Bring things to play with or do.

Looking at the list, it seems like a no-brainer, things that teachers do all the time for field trips. But these things are not common here; and for some of the teachers and other volunteers, I think it added to their stress level.  Macedonian students do not bring a bag lunch with them every day to school, mostly they just bring money and buy something wherever they are.  There was a cafeteria in the college, but all I saw the students buying were chips and sodas.  Which is not going to keep them full for the day; and I can't imagine trying to find a place to eat with 30 kids, So next year we will be prepared!!!

Домашно Style Baby

When it comes to finding certain things in Macedonia one word is very common "домашно" (domashno) or "home-made."  This word is normally associated with wine "домашно вино" or rakia "домашно ракиа" and even ajvar "домашно ајвар" since these are the items that most Macedonians make.  But Peace Corps volunteers also use this word;  we use it when we can't find something that was very accessible back home.  I have heard of many volunteers making their own tomato sauce or Alfredo sauce from scratch since in some places you can't find it in a jar; and to be honest it does not taste the same.  I have heard of others making pasta from scratch, brewing their own beer, and even one volunteer who made his own peanut butter.  These are the items that volunteers try to recreate so that they taste similar to what they are use to.  There are plenty of foods that we miss and that we can't find here; so instead we have to make it from scratch.  For example, I have recently been craving cottage cheese.  Something so simple that you can find at any grocery store, but not in Macedonia.  I even bought something that from the picture looked like it could  be cottage cheese; and I was sadly disappointed. So when it comes down to that moment where I can't fight the cravings, I do have a recipe for "домашно" cottage cheese.

Items that we would not think twice about running to the store to buy, you can't buy here and you just have to find another way around it.  Another place where the word "домашно" is commonly used by volunteers is when it comes to making things for school.  As you remember from the previous blog with the bottle caps, we use whatever is around to make resources for school.  Well I have just spent this last weekend making another "домашно" product.  Once a month I go into Bitola to do "Game Night" at The American Corner.  They have been advertising each month that we would be playing Scrabble since all 5 of the American Corners throughout Macedonia want to have a Scrabble tournament.  Each Corner has 2 Scrabble games and has a team of high schoolers.  The only problem is that they do not have a separate night for them to come and play Scrabble; they only have one night: Game Night, which is open to everyone.  So on Game Nights I have other kids coming in ready to play Scrabble since that was what was on the calendar.  It started out fine, you have kids playing in pairs and instead of 4 per board you have 8.  So what do you do for the long term?

You do it........................................Домашно style baby!!!!

 My home-made Scrabble board with tiles and tile holders.  Looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.

 I tried to make it as authentic as possible, since some of the other kids will be playing on regular Scrabble boards.  It is a standard 15x15 board and it has the same placement of the spaces and the same colors. All it took was a poster board (30 denar), a cardboard box (free), some duck tape (courtesy of Auntie Carol) a ruler, pencil, black marker, and some colored pencils (all items that every teacher normally carries around with them anyway).

The Scrabble tiles on the holder.  I even wrote the point value on each one since it is important to keep score and it does not say it anywhere else. I cut up old food boxes (blueberry muffin mix and mac and cheese; again, thank you Auntie Carol) into 2cm by 2cm squares and then just wrote the letter and point value on each.  The holders are made of leftover poster board (got to use every bit up) and it was just folded to stand up and an extra fold to hold the letters.

This weekend I made 2 sets of Scrabble boards; and on Wednesday I will be taking them to the American Corner for the kids to play with; will post pictures afterwards so you can see the boards in use.  This was my first домашно game project, but there will probably be more to come since at school Irena and I are in the process of writing a grant to start an English Resource Center/Library at our school and games like Scrabble, Uno, and Memory are easy to make and are good for students learning English.

So I will leave you with my new motto:  "Keep it Simple, Keep it Easy, Keep it Домашно".

The 1st of May

For the 1st of May, Macedonians go off and have a picnic and spend time in the outdoors.  So that is just what we Americans did.   But before leaving for my weekend of outdoors events, I had to watch the Royal Wedding!   I recently learned that Macedonia and England are in the same time zone, which worked out perfectly for me.  After school, I came home and turned on my TV, which I normally don't use because I can watch everything online and watched the Royal Wedding.

There's Queenie!!!!  Proof that I actually watched this moment of history while serving in the Peace Corps.

On Saturday, I was in Bitola for a good  ole' American game of baseball. The American Sports Club, which is sponsored by the American Corner, received a donation of baseball equipment thanks to the help of one of the Bitola volunteers and they put together this baseball game. Since baseball is America's favorite pasttimes, it is not known to the Macedonians. So it was a fun yet interesting day teaching the kids how to play a game that they have never seen or heard of and in a language that they are still learning.  Luckily, we did have some Macedonian teenagers to help us out.  First the kids practiced throwing with a bean bag, aka a sock with lentils in it; then they moved on to practice catching with a real ball and glove (doing both regular throws and grounders) and then a hitting practice.  The day ended up with a real game of baseball.  We had setup a miniature version of a baseball field and used egg cartons as the bases; we use what we have.  The kids enjoyed it so much that they asked if we could play next weekend, so baseball in Macedonia (well at least Bitola) was a hit!  (Pardon the pun)

 Explaining what the day will bring and introducing the volunteers and the American Sports Club.

 Throwing practice.  This boy and his partner did really well.   I would have never believed that it was their first time playing baseball.

 Hitting a ball 101.

 Our fierce umpire and catcher.  They definitely played the part.

 Let's play ball!!!!!

At the end of the day.  All the kids in their baseball shirts and holding up the equipment as a thank you to those in the states that donated it.

Throughout the day we had people stopping by to see what we were up to.  There was one moment that was funny. One of the dads tried to stop a ball as it was rolling away by kicking it with his foot; like you would a soccer ball to catch it in his hand.  He realized the hard way that it was not as soft and bouncy as a soccer ball and was surprised when it hurt as it hit his foot and leg.  He then looked at the ball confused and then to us with an expression like "what on earth is this thing?".

On the 1st of May, the day that Macedonians go out for picnics, I made my way to Makedonski Brod.  A fellow volunteer lives there and every year on this day they all go this big cave for a picnic.  I had heard about this event and decided that I wanted to take part.

 Happie (on the right) had organized a combi (a bus) to take us all to the cave.  Each of us brought something for the picnic and Happie's neighbor had a grill that we used.  He made the grill out of an old water boiler and then made a frame for it.  Link was very excited since he has been looking for a grill since he got off the plane and this was the closest thing any of us has seen that looks like a Weber.

 Unpacking all the food and settling in at our perfect picnic.   It was right by the cave and the weather was perfect for picnicking.   (Can you find Michelle???)

 The Pesna Cave!!!

 The chiefs!!! Happie made some amazing Indian chicken that only she could do.  As they cooked,  the rest of us went off to explore the cave.

 For the outside looking in.  As you can see it is a popular place to go on May 1st.

 "Hello!!"

 Looking out at the beautiful mountains and landscape.

 Sitting down to eat after exploring the caves.  We had soo!!! much food and it was soooo delicious that everyone went back for 2nds and 3rds.  We had the typical American picniking foods: potato salad, pasta salad, fruit salad, bread, and lots of deserts: brownies, cookies, and my contribution.......a Carr Classic.......monster cookies!!!

 As you can see by the looks on their faces, monster cookies were a hit!!! lol  There were only about 4 left by the time the chicken was ready and it was time to eat.

The Makedonski Brod May 1st picnickers.  What a great day!!!!!