January 2012 Pauza The editors wanted a first month perspective from the smallest village! (I guess that’s me…) The article will run beside a perspective of a volunteer living in a big city. By Julie Tumasz, TEFL PCV, Zhvan, Macedonia I’m a Zhvanka. Zhvan, Macedonia, located between Kicevo and Bitola, has a population of two hundred and fifty (plus one American). The village has two prodanitsi and a post office. No cafes, restaurants, supermarkets, bars, bus stations, Veros, Tinexs, boutiques or Bazaars. For me, it’s the most beautiful place in Macedonia. There is not much going on here, but it’s the little things that make my life fulfilled day after day. When I arrived in Zhvan, I was an alien. I smiled and waved at every single person walking on the path. Most called greetings, some started conversations and others starred. Within a month, everyone is stopping to talk. Everyone knows my name. It’s easy when you’re the only new neighbor in 30 years. I’ve never been good at names and sometimes I forget who I’ve met and who I haven’t! It’s lucky the Macedonian greeting is to shake hands every time you meet! During placement, I was surprised and slightly disappointed that I was not going to live with a host family. Now, I can’t imagine it any other way. I live the best of both worlds. I enjoy the privilege of solitude every volunteer understands AND I’ve been adopted into numerous host families. My next-door neighbor has taken the role of the over-caring aunt. My counterpart’s grandparents have told me to call them Baba and Dedo. My Macedonian teacher’s family has become my own. (While I’ve referred to her as my Majka, we joke that her husband is actually my older brother.) My village family tree may be confusing but it’s full of love. Living alone, I’m able to cross age and gender borders where I might have been restricted with a host family. As an American, I consider myself part of my own stereotype. I hang out with every group without limitations. I sled with the kids, I go to Downtown Demir Hisar with my generation, I discuss recipes with the Doma Kinkas, I play pool with the men of the prodanitsa and I drink Rakia with the dedos. My protective aunt tries to shame me from going to the prodanista because I’m a young woman. But I know, I am unique in Zhvan and through that, I’m able to experience every perspective, woman, man, young, old. To get the most out of the next two years, I want to understand every Zhvance! Understanding the national traditions of Macedonia and the local traditions of Zhvan is like unraveling a mystery for me. What is a Zhvan tradition and what is Macedonian? For example, during Zhvan’s Voditici, a traditional Macedonian cross was thrown plus a 100-year-old traditional village song was sung. Five dancing girls repeated a verse 66 times for every young man to find their love in the coming year. Only after the event did I realize that was a unique Zhvan tradition. I’ve found that a large cultural event is the fastest way that these strangers can become my friends through just a single experience. There, I’m the student and my neighbors revel in the opportunity to become my teacher. I know I must have been taught to dance Oro at least 30 times! Nagosti is the Zhvan’s Nightlife and Entertainment. When I visit my friends and neighbors, I feel totally fulfilled, socially and professionally. Since integration is part of our job, simply sitting and chatting is work time! I’ve experienced many kinds of Nagosties. I’ve seen the formalities of the Slava Celebrations, the kid’s birthday parties, the Macedonian handball games, the imen-dens, and of course, the never ending Christmas holidays. One Nagosti even led to a three-day sleepover at the house of my adopted family. I’ve also experienced the excitement of having my own Nagostis, including hosting my own Slava for American Christmas. Others may think that the absence of formal nightlife is negative. But through the lack of bars and restaurants, I’ve been forced to experience a new type of social community that for me is alive and happening! My goal is to Nagosti all 250 Zhvance within two years. My advice to all volunteers living in a small village: Get out there and live your unique life. Girls, don’t be afraid to play poker in the prodanitsa. Guys, go cook Rochek with your nearby Baba.  Try to experience something new everyday!

This winter is SO LONG. I can't stand the single digit temperatures anymore. I must admit, if it wasn't for my wool socks, some warm meals, my working boiler, and my expensive monthly electric bills from running my heater only at night....well I dont know how I'd survive. : )

Last week was really good and productive. Things are picking up slowly with my photography club. I dont have that many kids coming, although I have a lot that are interested. The kids that do want to participate seem committed and excited!! They told me things they want to learn, and I assigned their first theme last week. The dance space should be finished this week, which means I get to start using the space the following week. I am SO EXCITED for this!! I hope I can manage to get kids to actually come take classes. Fingers crossed!! Emilija also wants to kick-start a radio station for the school. Right now, I cant even begin to think or work on that idea, because it just seems like too much to take on, but I figure it's something I can do when the weather gets better.

We also have a few other projects in the works....for instance, we are in the midst of planning our epic Patron's Day event. We got A LOT to do for that. We also have a big project going on with the Freedom Monument space in our city. We are planning a clean-up project in conjunction with the Municipality. That will begin in the Spring. Finally, we may or may not have a qualifying event for the National Spelling Bee. I was elected on the National Spelling Bee Committee for this year, so I'll be doing the tech stuff, but I'd also like to see some of my kids up there competing!! I'm also working with two other teachers this week, which will make me busier than ever, but Im looking forward to staying busy. Being busy when the weather is so miserable makes the days go much quicker, and who can complain with that?!

This summer, I found out I'll be working as the videographer for the all girls camp, Camp GLOW. I'm hoping they will let me teach a photography workshop, or maybe some kind of volleyball class. All I know is I'm in charge of videoing, photographing, and blogging the entire week...I feel privileged that they asked me!! I'm also participating in the PC Magazine, Pauza. I wrote an article about my shitty toaster oven/hot plate combo, complete with recipes. Not sure when the next issue comes out, but I'll link you all the PDF version of it. : )

On a side note, I had an AWESOME day today. I started the day off with school stuff. My Model UN kids got together, and I spoke with two of my kids about getting them into college in America. I am going to assist them in applying, and it looks like I might even be going to Bulgaria with one of them, just so they can take the ACT test. Not one place in Macedonia offers that test, so our next option is Bulgaria. Anywho, after being at school for a while, I set out with Sara (who's in town for our meeting tonight) for a short shopping spree. I've been aching to buy some hair accessories, so I went and found a place that sells fun bobby pins and hair clips. I ended up with a few fun things, and only spent the equivalent of $4. Later we went to my favorite store to buy kitchen things. I LOVE this place...and not just because I've gotten all my best kitchenware there, but because the man and woman who run the place are awesome. For instance, when Sara and I got in, and I immediately went to look at the blenders, toasters, and coffee machines. The man pulled out a bottle of homemade cherry rakija and offered us all a glass. We enjoyed an afternoon rakija in order to "cure the cold" going on outside. (It's been 18F and snowing all day) From there, he helped me test the blenders.....see, I'd decided I was going to buy one nice thing for my kitchen, and I narrowed my best option down to buying a blender, solely for the fact I can make smoothies.

What I ended up with is the BEST PURCHASE EVER in this country:

I MEAN, HOT DAMN!! How awesome is that?! It comes with PARTY MUGS!! I was so elated, you just have no idea. I can do so much with it. That being said, after looking at the recipe book it comes with, we discovered it might be a knockoff version....the writing in the book is not exactly written in English....or maybe it was translated poorly. Who cares though...I have a blender!! So Sara and I bought kiwis and oranges, the only fruit you can get right now, and we poured in some juice as well. Voila!! We had some fantastic little smoothies, and I could not have been more pleased. This day was a major success!! Maybe next month I'll see if I can buy a grill or a coffee maker, but I dont want to get too ahead of myself :D

Ok, this blog post has been long and random, I apologize....no real organization going on in my mind right now. Let's hope this snow/cold spell, which by the way is on NATIONAL NEWS in America, goes away soon. Till next time...miss and love ya'll.

Oh, man. I am really bad at writing blogs now. About a month ago I promised my mother that I would write something here, and there are things to write about (mostly about rain, and what Albanian gyms are like, and spending two weeks hunting Tirana for basmati rice [I am spoiled, but also the [...]

Last week at Kids Club (which is at the American Corner in Bitola) we played with Science. Normally, I try to do an activity with the closest holiday in mind, but I wanted to do something different this time. We made volcanoes out of plastic cups and plates. I had not heard of the kids doing this activity at my school, so I thought Kids Club would be a good place for it. But some of the students said that they had done this activity in Science class, but were excited to do it again.

Me showing the kids how to cut off the tops of their volcanoes so the "lava" can come out of the top.

The kids decorated the tops of their volcanoes and then after they were assembled, we erupted them!!!!

Waiting for the ERUPTION!!!! We combined baking soda and vinegar together; and if you get the right amount, the liquid will bubble over the top of your volcano. The boys had a good time seeing whose volcano would erupt the most.

The after effect. You can see some of the "lava" at the bottom of the plate. I also had made a tornado in a bottle. I just took a soda bottle and filled it 3/4 with water and then a few drops of dish soap. When you turn it over and shake it, you can see a mini tornado inside. The kids had fun taking turns making the tornado. Even though it was a little messy and the Corner smelt like vinegar afterwards, we still had a good time playing with Science.

So this was an interesting week- my first week as an English teacher. Right. You might be wondering:

'Do you have any teaching experience?' (Nope)

'Aren't you supposed to be doing Community Development and not TEFL?' (Yes)

'Who would be crazy enough to sign up for a class that you're teaching?' (No idea, but too many)

To give a little background, during my PST site visit back in November, it was pretty clear that the mayor and citizens in the municipality had a strong interest in holding adult English classes once I got settled in here. It didn't matter whether I had teaching experience or not, they just wanted English. So with that noted, we eventually started advertising (flyers around the villages) my existence and the fact that I was going to teach free English classes. I even got a реклама at a recent community forum. But despite that, I had no idea how many people were going to show up. In the week before starting classes, we had two meetings in Obleshevo and Cheshinovo (a nearby village, 5km away) to meet with those interested. We had around 12 show up in Obleshevo and roughly 16 in Cheshinovo. I was happy with that. I might even avoid having to break up people into groups and make my job more complicated, since I had already agreed to hold classes Monday-Thursday from 6-7pm.

So this past Monday, we started class in Obleshevo. 16 people showed up, and the majority knew at least a bit of English, so I felt like communicating wasn't super difficult. My host parents Silvana and Venco even made it, so that was pretty cool. I suppose I can practice English with them at home too, assuming they continue to feed me and let me drink their rakija. As far as my teaching, well, it's going to take a few tries before I get the hang of it. I started really basic, going over the alphabet and introductions, but I got the sense the material was way too easy for most people. As I spend more time with them I should be able to adjust more to their abilities. At the same time, there are a few people who did not know any English. I might have to work two different lessons each class period, and it could be feasible with the small numbers. Needs more thinking.

The following day, I started classes in Cheshinovo. I was told that there might be more people at this class than in Obleshevo. Well, yeah. 45 people wrote their name on the sign-up sheet. Including like 8-10 kids. Not adults. Not part of the plan. Despite cramming all those people into one classroom, it wasn't a total катастрофа, but it was not what I expected either. While it's hard to tell kids they can't come to class because it is for adults, it needs to be done for several reasons. One, they're already getting English classes at school. Two, I don't know what they're being taught in their English classes at school, and what I'm teaching could be at odds with that, and Three, I can't have 45 people come to every class.

For Wednesday, I was back in Obleshevo and it was probably my best class day of the week. Partly because I had the students слушатели (thanks dedo) play a matching memorization game (thanks PST) for about 25-30 min and I just walked around the room making sure they weren't cheating. But better than that, I ran out of material with about 15 min left, and decided to wing it and it worked. I closed the class by giving them an opportunity to use the question words I introduced and ask me anything they wanted. Big surprise, they wanted to know if I was married, how old I was, how many girlfriends I've had, etc. Very Macedonian questions. But overall it was decent. I think I do much better with the smaller group (about 16 again) than 45. Then again, who doesn't. 45 practically requires a lecture hall, stadium seating, and a really awful Powerpoint presentation.

Finally, I wrapped up class on Thursday in Cheshinovo and it was literally the same number of people, only this time I think half the audience members were kids. Not high school kids but 8-year-olds. Went about the same as Tuesday, though I had some help from a really nice guy named Goce who speaks nearly fluent English, and was home temporarily in the village while waiting for a visa to go back to Iraq. Works for DynCorp as a security contractor. So anyway, I managed to get through material I planned to cover (Where are you from? I'm from...) but my desire to get creative with such a big group was pretty low. Just getting everyone to do something simple like practice a phrase with their neighbor was a struggle. I'll just have to see how things go. If the kids are banned from attending (so mean, i know), the numbers should be more manageable and then I can focus on figuring out what the adults know and design the classes better.

Overall, it was an interesting week and probably the most 'stuff' I've had a chance to do since I've been at site. I also gave a presentation to the mayor and some school directors about our small grant program. So it was a busy week. And busy is almost always better than being bored.

After two weeks, I guess I am settled. Well... close anyway. The many trips to the local shops (for a lot of things I had purchased the last time here)have me feeling far more at home than I did a week ago. I now have pans, a coffee makers, glasses, bedding etc. And food, of course, food. Now it is time to fill in the gaps. Gaps that are very apparent when I try to cook or to clean. No change here from the last time.

My living arrangements are much different this time, yet in one aspect, the same. Instead of 86 stairs up to an apartment I simply go down one flight to a lower level in a private home. That is after walking a mile or so uphill to the home's location. When getting my supplies, I need to decide carefully just how much to purchase before making the "climb" home. After one particularly exhausting haul, I decided to take a taxi when really loaded up.

With my shopping nearly completed, I now can sleep soundly under two comforters. I also was provided with a second electric heater by my landlord, a blessing and a curse. It is surely warmer but we are now given an allowance and pay our own electric bills. Previously the Peace Corps payed them for all volunteers and cranking the heat was the norm. this new arrangement makes sense and makes it necessary to be prudent with the heat. I have a feeling my first bill is going to be a shocker. I have a private entrance and my own bath that is in the hall only a few icy steps away. I take one of the electric heater when showering as I figure it is better to be electrocuted than it is to freeze to death.

Being settled means being back to eating grilled cheese, soup, and potato chips, lots of potato chips. That for sure is the same. Oddly enough, while here previously for seven months I managed to lose 17 lbs. ( I found every one of them while home). I don't think there will be this magical weight loss this time around. One big difference is lunch! Something I avoided last time was Byrek (burek).

It is baked or fried filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough and it can be filled with cheese, often feta, sirene or minced meat. It is usually served with plain yogurt and is becoming addictive. I have a feeling, thanks in part to the byrek, and in part to the tightening of my jeans already, that I will not be losing anything this time. That is surely a difference.



I have met with a few of the new volunteers as well as several of my old colleagues. I will see them all at what is termed a mid service conference next week in Skopje. I will surely hear it about being at this event as it is no where near the mid point of my service. I am glad I was invited though as I will get to see everyone from my initial group.A new young lady has been assigned to the schools here in Kocani . Morgan lives in my old place and being quite young does not complain about all the stairs! I hope to work with her on a couple of her initiatives with her students. It will be a nice diversion from the municipality.

Last weekend I had a visit from the son of the family I lived with during pre-service training. Goce now has a car and an American girlfriend. She is a volunteer from the new class assigned to Kumonovo. He arrived with gifts of course... wine and homemade bread from his parents. I had brought his father, Sveto, a pair of glasses from the US that I hope are the right strength. I will soon plan a trip to visit the family and reconnect.

I am not sure if this winter or last are the "real" Macedonian winter. I recall last year only a bit of snow and just a few days of frigid weather. I think I hauled out the long underwear for only five or six days a year ago. Well, this year, it has been out and on every day since arriving. It has been C-O-L-D. We have not had a big snowstorm but we have had several dustings of three to four inches. Just enough to keep the walk to and from home treacherous. Each morning means three layers of shirts and a sweater before reaching for the coat to leave.

Sunday is the party for our fantasy league. We will all be bringing a bottle of Rakia for the champ, Blake the owner of the Stip Stallions!. After running off to a 10-0 start, I collapsed , losing three of the last four and of course my one and only playoff game. I will simply blame it on injuries!

The big decision Sunday will be whether or not to remain in Stip and watch the Super Bowl or return home to the wide screen 14 inch Levono. It comes on at 12 midnight our time so I probably should return for a pre game nap! Go Pats!

With all this whining one might think I am having an awful time of it here. However I am very happy to be here! Now that is different!

There are usually a lot of “Why?” questions that many applicants, and a lot of Invitees get  before actually departing for service in the Peace Corps. There are also  many well-intentioned questions from family and friends alike about whether it … Continue reading →

This is the third snow we have gotten in Struga. It is beautiful as it is snowing, especially when looking up at the mountains. The next day usually isn't as fun as everything typically turns to ice that we have to fight for another week. But for now, we're enjoying it! Forecast says it is supposed to snow for the next three days :)

Views from our balcony below:

Stay tuned for more pictures of Struga in the snow!

this is a fish, not chocolate cake

I know, this is a picture of a fish, but before I get to him I want to tell a short story about chocolate cake and Macedonian hospitality.

In this country, treating your guest with the utmost care is priority number one and I was reminded of this fact over the weekend. I was a guest in someones home, actually for two days, and was treated like royalty. Macedonians will continually offer you food and what ever you may desire to drink, coffee being it's own event and separate from other forms of refreshment. The first night of my stay I was hit with an extreme desire for chocolate cake at about 11:45 at night and after interrogating my host I was devastated to find out that there were no cake facilities open at that hour. As the evening past the thought of cake left my mind and was no where to been seen the next morning. Continuing with Macedonian customs, I was required to stay until I ate with my hosts since they woke early to prepare a meal for their visitors. After lunching on пастрмајлија, for the first time, the hostess brought out none other but large pieces of chocolate cake, made just for me because of a craving that I had at midnight! I am pretty sure that most homes in America would not go this far, would not offer whatever whim their guest may entertain, even when the guest was not completely serious. I am still learning to watch what I say around Macedonians because ultimately I'll get what I ask for, though I am told this is what makes Macedonian females happy, to please their guests, it still makes me feel some what guilty the length that a hostess will go to for their guests.

Fish Heads

Last week was a cooking adventure for me. Not only was I cooking something new, but I also had to purchase my unusual, to me, food item in Macedonian. The trick is to make sure you get what you want and get good quality. I cooked fish, whole fish - guts, heads, scales and tails. I had already been directed to a quality place to purchase said fish, but when Thursday came around I was worried that I would not achieve my goal due to language barriers. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Of course the lady behind the counter asked what she could help me with and I began to stumble through telling her I need fish, that I could cook in a pan. I think she started to move to the live ones and I shook my head no and pointed to the counter, to the pile that had already passed on to the other side. I knew I needed to be friendly, so I began to engage in small talk, I was an American, volunteering here and living nearby for the next two years. That seemed to impress her and she smiled as we exchanged names. She pointed to the fish she thought would be the best and I told her to give me a kilo. As she was weighing them out she asked if I wanted her to cook them. I told her no proudly that I was going to cook them. She eyed me with slight concern but I ignored her. Then she asked if I knew how to clean them, and I faltered for a second before I said yes. I mean I wanted to do all parts on my own, even if I've never cleaned a fish before. She eyed me again, skeptical that I could perform such a task, and she asked if she could show me how to do it, just in case, so I obliged. I am so thankful that I agreed to such a thing because as I watched I realized she was a professional and I was not. After the first one I asked her if she could clean all the others for me and she smiled as she got to work.

The rest of the adventure went without a hitch. I cooked all four fish in my pan after coating them with flour and salting and peppering the inside cavity and stuff it with lemons. They cooked perfectly and quickly and tasted wonderful. Here in Macedonia if you want fish you'll be eating a whole fish with a little face that will watch you the whole time and a skeleton of bones to maneuver around. When I tell people that in America fish is served without bones they look at me like I am crazy, which they should, right? Fish has bones, who on earth would do the work to take the bones out ahead of time?

the aftermath

If you ever loose your faith in humanity, come to Macedoniaand I can guarantee it will be restored. I don’t think I have ever met such awelcoming and hospitable group of people as I have met here. They truly opennot just their homes, but also their entire lives to you. I had the fortunetoday of two such instances.

Example 1: I was walkinghome from school and there was a baba (grandma) sitting outside her housegetting wood for her fire. I had seen her before, usually on my way to schooland she always said hi. Immediately, she said hi once again and then made me gointo her house for coffee. She made me coffee, poured me a glass of the femalefruity rakija, and placed a plate of sweets in front of me. We talked for thenext hour or so while drinking and eating. She kept telling me how beautifuland nice and sweet I am and that she is going to cook me a special Macedonianspecialty just because she likes me. She has a daughter who lives in Germanybut is coming home in two weeks and said I have to come visit then (this iswhat I mean about their lives- she doesn’t just want me to meet her, but herdaughter as well). As I was leaving, she packaged up some cookies for me tobring home.

Example 2:Setting: Sara has been running low on wood. Her landladysaid they would bring her more wood, over two weeks ago. Despite Sara remindingthem, there has always been an excuse as to why it can’t happen that day (“It’stoo cold today”, “Looks like snow”, “Its 5 degrees Celsius, not 6 degrees”,“It’s Thursday”, etc.). Sara has just gotten home from school and is gatheringwood to start her fire for the day.

Enter Neighbour lady (NL)NL: Здраво Сара. Како си? (Hello Sara. How are you?)Sara: Добро. А вие?(Good. And you?)NL: Супер. Што правиш? (Great. What are you doing?)Sara: Јас треба да правам оген сега. (I need to build a firenow.)NL: Ладно ли? (It’s cold, isn’t it?)Sara: Да, Денис емногу ладно. (Yes. Today is very cold). NL: Има тенки дрво? (Do you have starter firewood?)Sara: Малку. (A little. Real translation: I haven’t had anyfor days but I am not going to just come knock on your door and say make mesome wood despite you telling me to do so, so I have been digging aroundfinding stuff that just barely gets my fire started)NL: Сакаш уште сега? (Would you like more now? Or this iswhat I think she says.)Sara: Да (Yes)NL: Добро (Good)

Neighbour lady disappears. Sara starts collecting wood fromher sad, sad woodpile and hauls one load around the house and up the stairs tooutside her front door. When Sara turns around (literally a minute and a halflater) two boys are standing in the yard next door looking at her.

Sara: Здраво(Hello)Boys: Здраво (Hello)Sara: Како си? (Howare you?)Boys: Добро (Good)

Sara continues back down her stairs and around the corner.Suddenly she hears neighbour lady order the boys to go to my yard from out awindow.

NL: Сара, мојотсин ќе сече дрво за тебе. (Sara, my son will cut you wood.)Sara: Фала (Thankyou)

Clearly Neighbour lady went into the house and told her sonsomething along the lines of, “The poor helpless British girl (everyone alwaysthinks I am from England) next door doesn’t have any more wood. You are goingto go cut her some now.”

Boys, with axe in hand walk around and into Sara’s yard andstart chopping wood. They chop a few pieces and then realize the wood left inSara’s woodpile is junk. The boy who lives next door walks home and comes backwith a few pieces of wood that is поубав (more beautiful). In the process,Neighbour lady’s son alerts his father, Neighbour man, about the state of mywoodpile. Neighbour man appears and shakes his head. He starts barking ordersat the two boys. An hour later, I had a box full of starter wood, a woodshelter filled with wood that was dug out from under the junk my landlord haddumped on top of usable wood, a sore back from all the work, and the mission tobake the best chocolate chip cookies ever just to start to thank you to theneighbours for saving me from becoming a popsicle.

Things are really shaping up at school!! I so excited about all the little projects I've got going on already.

The entire space in the basement of the school is all cleared out now. It already looks so different!! I have a big room all for dancing. This week and next, they are installing full-length mirrors and ballet bars. We are also putting a rug in one corner, along with some tables and chairs. I'll hook my computer up to some speakers, and off we go!! I'll be teaching beginners ballet at first. Later, I will begin teaching waltz for a dance we have near the end of the year. I'm also trying to figure out if I can do some kind of "zumba" class down there....I figure, worst case scenario is I'll be down there zumba-ing it up, and if kids feel inclined to learn and join, then the more the merrier!! I'll convince Lilika and Emilija to at least join me : )

I also had my first photography club meeting this week!! Only a few kids showed up, but I blame that on the fact the posters didn't get up until Friday, so a lot of kids weren't even aware of it. I have another meeting this Thursday....I have to have everything twice a week, because the school has two shifts....it's difficult having an activity that all kids can attend, so my only bet it to hold each activity twice. The shifts overlap, so I really have no other option, but that's fine. I've already had a few of my kids approach me today about the club, and I even have some kids coming from another school to join us. I'm so excited!! We will be having themes each week. Kids will have to shoot according to the theme, and then the following week we will observe and critique the work. I'll also give some techniques lessons, and I'm trying to plan monthly excursions for photo opportunities.

We also have this huge event coming up on March 22nd. It will by our school's Patron's Day, and it is being held in Kocani's Cultural Center. I designed and printed some invites this week to be sent out to the US Embassy. We are expecting an elaborate turnout!! I need to choreograph at least once dance for the event, as well as prepare the other acts that will be shown on stage. I also plan on exhibiting a lot of the kids' work from the photo club at the event. Actually, I plan on exhibiting their work all over town!! Anywho...point is, I've got a lot on my plate and a lot to look forward to. I simply prefer being busy...who doesnt?? And I NEED this right now....the winter here is just killing me, mentally.

Off topic, my friend Mary came in town last weekend for a night. We had a blast!! For lunch, we went out to the nice restaurant that overlooks the dam, just outside of Kocani. Afterwards, I was able to have some one-on-one time with Mary over some mulled wine in the center. LAter that evening, a group of us went to the Irish pub. I have to admit, the first and only other time I've been there made me unimpressed. HOWEVER, this time I simply fell in love with the place. It felt like a typically nice bar we have in the states. Mary and I got cocktails (which I NEVER get to do), and we sang along with Blink182 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was 2am by the time we made our way home, and I could not have been more satisfied. I have missed her more than I realized. I'm glad to have a piece of home here with me.

I've been talking to my mom and sister about their inevitable visit over here!! Looks like they will be coming sometime in May, which works out really well for me. The weather will be SO MUCH better, and school will be winding down a bit. They should be coming in for a week or so, which won't give us a whole lot of time, but it's something I cannot look forward to enough!! Not seeing my family for so long is harder than I'd imagined it would be...thank goodness for Skype. On the same topic of travel, I've got my old roomie from New Orleans, Chad, coming into town in June. We will be island hoping in the Greek Isles for about a week or so, and then hopefully hitting up Italy for a hot minute as well. I'm excited to finally use my location to its advantage.

That's all I've got....I'm not getting as many emails from everyone though...gotta say, I little disappointed and missing my family. Send me an email just saying hello...nothing fancy. : ) Miss ya'll

Things are really shaping up at school!! I so excited about all the little projects I've got going on already.

The entire space in the basement of the school is all cleared out now. It already looks so different!! I have a big room all for dancing. This week and next, they are installing full-length mirrors and ballet bars. We are also putting a rug in one corner, along with some tables and chairs. I'll hook my computer up to some speakers, and off we go!! I'll be teaching beginners ballet at first. Later, I will begin teaching waltz for a dance we have near the end of the year. I'm also trying to figure out if I can do some kind of "zumba" class down there....I figure, worst case scenario is I'll be down there zumba-ing it up, and if kids feel inclined to learn and join, then the more the merrier!! I'll convince Lilika and Emilija to at least join me : )

I also had my first photography club meeting this week!! Only a few kids showed up, but I blame that on the fact the posters didn't get up until Friday, so a lot of kids weren't even aware of it. I have another meeting this Thursday....I have to have everything twice a week, because the school has two shifts....it's difficult having an activity that all kids can attend, so my only bet it to hold each activity twice. The shifts overlap, so I really have no other option, but that's fine. I've already had a few of my kids approach me today about the club, and I even have some kids coming from another school to join us. I'm so excited!! We will be having themes each week. Kids will have to shoot according to the theme, and then the following week we will observe and critique the work. I'll also give some techniques lessons, and I'm trying to plan monthly excursions for photo opportunities.

We also have this huge event coming up on March 22nd. It will by our school's Patron's Day, and it is being held in Kocani's Cultural Center. I designed and printed some invites this week to be sent out to the US Embassy. We are expecting an elaborate turnout!! I need to choreograph at least once dance for the event, as well as prepare the other acts that will be shown on stage. I also plan on exhibiting a lot of the kids' work from the photo club at the event. Actually, I plan on exhibiting their work all over town!! Anywho...point is, I've got a lot on my plate and a lot to look forward to. I simply prefer being busy...who doesnt?? And I NEED this right now....the winter here is just killing me, mentally.

Off topic, my friend Mary came in town last weekend for a night. We had a blast!! For lunch, we went out to the nice restaurant that overlooks the dam, just outside of Kocani. Afterwards, I was able to have some one-on-one time with Mary over some mulled wine in the center. LAter that evening, a group of us went to the Irish pub. I have to admit, the first and only other time I've been there made me unimpressed. HOWEVER, this time I simply fell in love with the place. It felt like a typically nice bar we have in the states. Mary and I got cocktails (which I NEVER get to do), and we sang along with Blink182 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was 2am by the time we made our way home, and I could not have been more satisfied. I have missed her more than I realized. I'm glad to have a piece of home here with me.

I've been talking to my mom and sister about their inevitable visit over here!! Looks like they will be coming sometime in May, which works out really well for me. The weather will be SO MUCH better, and school will be winding down a bit. They should be coming in for a week or so, which won't give us a whole lot of time, but it's something I cannot look forward to enough!! Not seeing my family for so long is harder than I'd imagined it would be...thank goodness for Skype. On the same topic of travel, I've got my old roomie from New Orleans, Chad, coming into town in June. We will be island hoping in the Greek Isles for about a week or so, and then hopefully hitting up Italy for a hot minute as well. I'm excited to finally use my location to its advantage.

That's all I've got....I'm not getting as many emails from everyone though...gotta say, I little disappointed and missing my family. Send me an email just saying hello...nothing fancy. : ) Miss ya'll

Reading or watching television or sewing or surfing the internet. Sleep is coming later and later. Coffee during the day is more regular. Tired. Mind constantly turning or twisting. House and food and stores and toys and life. Information. Relationships. … Continue reading →

For nearly four months I have been living with two different host families, first in Kratovo                 and, then Negotino. Living out of my bags while having a room of my own in … Continue reading →

Care package from my St. Peter family!

I have been fortunate enough to have amazing parents who are willing to send me care packages, despite the kind of ridiculous cost. However, yesterday, I received what may have been the best care package yet (sorry Mom and Dad) from some amazing friends of mine. I decided as a small thank you, to film the opening of said package and the result is below. I can't say it enough, thank you, thank you, thank you to my St. Peter family! If you want to come visit, you know you're always welcome!

Amazing art project made for me by the coolest 2nd grader I know!

It's been about a week since I last updated. Things were getting to be so busy there at the end of my winter break!! Alas, it was time to go back into work this week.

My first week back at work was a good one. Monday, I went and worked with people at the school about the dance studio space. They have been working hard to get it all cleaned out since then. Hopefully, this coming week will finalize what needs to be done: install mirrors, bars, and a new floor. If the pace continues, we'll be starting dance classes the following week!! I was also able to meet up with CJ and Bill (new volunteer who just moved back to Kocani...long story) to discuss the animal facility. I think we covered a lot in regards to what we could successfully accomplish. We have a basic structure to follow, so we will be taking baby steps with this project. With the help from CJ and Bill, Im feeling optimistic.

Tuesday and Wednesday I spent teaching with Emilija. Those are her longest days where we have all first year students. Although those days are really long, I really enjoy myself in the classroom with Emilija. Her and I simply have way too much fun together. All in all, the weekend was a great way to break back into the swing of things. Hopefully, once we get the dance space rolling, I'll spend more time back in the classroom. I'll also have my photo club on Mondays and Thursdays, which Im really excited to meet the kids who want to join.

Wednesday night was a big handball match (google it) between Macedonia and Serbia. Rob and I met up with my French friend, Arnaud, one of his friends, and a new Macedonian friend of ours who is actually from Kocani, but lives in Skopje. We all went out to this nice little restaurant I hadn't been to before to watch the match. I had a lot of fun that night!! We snacked on kebabs and shopska salads while drinking some good 'ol Macedonian beer. It felt normal, which made me feel really good....often times, it's still hard to feel normal here. Afterwards, I went home and Rob stayed out to watch some soccer with the guys. I'd felt guilty with him being cooped up all week, so Im glad he was able to get out that night too!!

Let's see....other things that happened this week.....

OH, I finally got my light fixture in the kitchen fixed. We havent had light in their for a couple of weeks now, and I was able to finally get the landlord to send someone over. Lilika was over for an afternoon visit, and then she got suckered into running errands for the man. I felt so bad for her!! We also installed a hanging orange lantern. I bought it in orange, b/c the carpets are all orange, but now the lantern makes the whole room shine with an orange light, it's so funny!!

I also learned how to make the most amazing pizzas EVER. I found some pre-made pizza crust, that looked iffy, but I decided to give them a try. I put on some tomato sauce, sliced up some salami and peppers, shredded some cheese, and sprinkled some oregano on top. The toaster oven did a surprisingly good job of cooking it perfectly. We loved the pizzas so much, we made them twice more by the end of the week. NEW COMFORT FOOD FOR ME!!

All in all, the week was a good one. We've had snow non-stop for a couple days....I've never lived with so much snow and ice. We've also just hibernated with watching movies on my computer, b/c there's really nothing else to do when it's so cold outside. Highs are in the 20s, and lows are around 10. This weekend, I've got my Mary coming in town to visit from Kumanavo!! Im so excited to see her!! We havent really since each other since our swearing in ceremony in November. It should be a great weekend.

Till next time!!

Ok, you might not appreciate this much if you haven't been learning Albanian, but this is so funny and true. Mire (pronounced meer) seems to be able to control a whole conversation. This song makes me happy... hope it makes you happy, too :).

Today, nine months since returning home and ten since I last posted here, I am back in Kocani with a second chance. It is hard to believe I have been gone so long. It is even more difficult to believe that I was given this chance to complete my service. Only the good graces (and I hope the good judgement) of the country director and the staff here in Macedonia allowed this return.

I didn't write about my reasons for leaving and will not do that now. Whatever they were they are in the past and I look ahead to a bright future for the next year and eight months.

My Macedonian colleagues in the municipality gave me a warm welcome and are very happy that I decided to return. They look forward to starting our suspended English classes right away. My Peace Corp friends and the staff in Skopje have been very generous in their welcome also. Of course there are some who wonder why I was allowed to return and question the decision, but frankly I am not at all concerned with those few. No matter what organization, there are always those that think they know better than those making the decisions.

My outlook this time has changed . I see my assignment differently, the local people differently and I my understanding of what defines successful service has also evolved.

So, this re-entry into the blogging world is short and sweet but I look forward to chronicling many good and hopefully interesting events in the weeks and months to come.

If I had internet, this would have been my blog post foryesterday (Wednesday).

It snowed. A lot. It is supposed tocontinue snowing. A lot.

I went to the gradinka(Preschool/Kindergarten) for the first time today. Kids were full of energy anddidn’t listen very well.

Hung out at coffee bar withMacedonian males for first time. Talked a lot of economics and politics.

Got puked on by a kid. Landladywashed clothes.

Discovered my Discovery Channel isback. All is good again.

However, lucky for you I didn’t have internet because thatwould have been kind of a downer of a post. Instead, I will say the same thingonly I will stretch my thoughts/sentences, which will make it, in the words of Andres,“podobro”.

Everything I said about no snow,forget it. I have snow, lots of snow. It started Tuesday night and is stillgoing strong now. It is supposed to continue snowing with big, heavy, flakesuntil Friday morning. The total for today was about a foot and it made walkingup and down my hill to my house a little tricky. This morning I wasn’t sure ifit would be icy so I pulled out the lovely Yak-Traks Peace Corps gave me afterthey saw my walk. I was laughed at my one lady because I looked funny wearingsnow boots with Yak-Traks, my coat, hat, scarf, and gloves (I should point outthat if I had been in Minnesota, I would have fit right in, no one would havenoticed me wearing anything out of the ordinary. The Macedonians here don’tprepare for the outdoors quite the same).

Today was my first day at theGradinka (Preschool/Kindergarten). I will be there once a week working with thelady who teaches English to some of the children there. It was fun to see thekids because they remind me of my preschoolers back in St. Peter. Most of thekids didn’t really listen today and just sort of ran about not paying attentionto anything. My counterpart was flustered by their squirreliness. I told herkids are the same everywhere and I have had many days where my little ones justwouldn’t listen, especially when you factor in today was their third day backsince the holidays and it was snowing like crazy. Those two factors, plus thefact there was a visitor are a recipe for disaster.

After our classes at the Gradinka,my counterpart asked me if I would like to go to one of the coffee bars withher, her boyfriend, and one of his friends. I said sure as I had nothing goingon and here was a chance to hang out with people my own age. On the way westopped to pick up a little girl who has private English lessons with mycounterpart. She is 6 and is really shy, but she was pretty cute. We get to thecoffee bar, sit down, order drinks and about two minutes after our drinks come,the little girl gets sick. She starts coughing and then puking and I quickscoot my chair out of the way so the teacher can get her to the bathroom. Nope,the teacher asks for napkins and the kid keeps puking. Sweet. After getting hersomewhat cleaned up, they leave (thank goodness). I am left with the boyfriendand his friend. Luckily the boyfriend speaks pretty good English (despitesaying he doesn’t) and the friend understands everything I say even if he can’tspeak much back. This was the first time since Lozovo I have actually hung outwith Macedonian males and I didn’t have to worry about them thinking it wasanything more than just having coffee (or actually tea and juice as no coffeewas ordered). We talked a lot about politics (kind of a taboo subject for PCVsto get involved in, however I did very little of the talking and made it clearI can not express my opinion on anything related to Macedonian politics- PeaceCorps rules). Hopefully I will be able to hang out more with them and theirfriends because it was nice being around people my own age.

I noticed a little kid puke on my pantsand boots and wasn’t sure if she had gotten any on my coat or anywhere else. Itwas only a little, but those of you who know me, know I don’t do puke in anyshape, form, etc. However, since I was with new people I had to keep my freakout on the inside. *Side note, as soon as I got home I ripped off my clothes inmy doorway, threw them in a bag, and brought them down to my landlady to washin her machine. There was no way I was hand washing those puppies. Oh andbecause I feel like someone (i.e. my father) would make a joke here if I don’tspecify, I did put on other clothing before going down to my landlady’s, noworries there.

At least the night ended on a goodnote. When I came home from Vevchani/Veles, I noticed I had lost my DiscoveryChannel on TV. I don’t watch a lot of TV here, in fact, you might be thinking,wait you’re a PCV and you have a TV? I have two actually and my landlord paysfor the TV service, and was so confused when I hadn’t used the TVs within thefirst month, so I tried it out one night and discovered I had DiscoveryChannel- Its good background noise when I am cooking or just need an Englishbreak. However, without Discovery Channel, I have had to resort to old fishingshows or shows about WWII (while WWII is interesting, you can only watch somuch about Hitler and Mengele before getting kind of depressed). I also feelthe need to mention that I have maybe 20 channels and within those, I havechannels in Macedonian, Bulgarian, Serbian, German, Italian, and English, so ifI get sick of one language, I can switch to another. Best part is DiscoveryChannel came back today and Wednesday nights are when my current favouriteshow, Border Security, is on. There are two versions, Australia and USA and itfeatures the many different agencies that control the borders of the twocountries. Yes, it is kinda trashy TV and there definitely are some ratherracist moments in each episode, but its still better than the soap operas thatare popular here, right? Debatable I know. However, the episode tonightfeatured Roseau, Minnesota (pronounced on the show as Row-so) and the peoplewho sneak between the U.S./ Canada border during the winter when the lakes arefrozen. Ah, the accents- it makesme feel at home! Clearly that is a sign I was meant to watch this show insteadof na gosti-ing the neighbours tonight.

Did You Know…. About 400semi-trucks full of garbage come in from Canada to Michigan every day and someborder control agents have the job of searching through the garbage.

One of my sophomore Macedonian high school students at the music school I teach at... Why am I teaching English!! Not that we haven't have some huge challenges here, but this might be part of the reason some call Eastern Europe Peace Corps "Posh Corps" :) Check it out.

The end of the holiday season is finally upon us. The best holiday is Orthodox New Year, which occurs on January 14th. Every year, on the 13th and 14th, Vevcani (Vevchani), a smallish village in western Macedonia, hosts a celebration where participants dress in costume and parade around town. These participants go to various people's houses. The people invite them in and everybody has a drink. The costumes are insanely involved too. One person dressed as Gaddafi, while his friends dressed as soldiers, one group of men who we followed around for a while dressed as trees, and there were other costumes as well. As you can see here, the group is a colorful lot. In this vain, it's like the Mummers in Philly, but with less drinking.

Some more people in costume.

To add to the ambiance, the day before, it snowed in Vevcani and it was like the snowball-type snow, too. So, while we were following the parade around, a snowball fight broke out, first between the other volunteers, but then, some Macedonian youths jumped in and for a while it was Americans vs. Macedonians.

Every ten minutes or so, we went into another house and got a drink. I think I had somewhere between 8-10 shots of rakija on the day. The other trick about Vevcani is its in the mountains and there is no flat land. Wherever you walk, you're either going up a hill or down one. From the snow and the cold, the streets all iced over (and in Macedonia, they don't salt the roads - people are just careful). I think everybody slipped and fell at least a half-dozen times on the day. It truly was dangerous going (and a volunteer broke his arm, too).

This is a view of a mountain from the base of Vevcani.

That's pretty much all there is to report. I still don't do much at work and am just getting over a cold.

Twas the weekend of Old New Year and allthrough the country, PCVs headed to Vevchani to see all the fun-try.

Some wore masks, the others noses, we tookmany pictures with hundreds of poses. Anna and LyncAmy, Lync, Misi, Jorgi, Claire, and AndresThousands were there to see such a sight,the US Ambassador even came in for the night.

The parade began with quite a big bang,there would be plenty of time to see the whole gang.Cody and StephenCameras came out and snapped a few shots, wemanaged to capture quite a lot. Austin was brave enough to let Slave up onto his shoulders.The costumes were wild and some a littlecrude, one might even say some were a bit lewd. Cody made a new friend

We saw cacti and walruses, Hitler and HonestAbe, there were men dressed as women and one special babe.

Dead animals were flung along with somepoop, despite the chaos the PCVs stayed a group.

Obama appeared and let out a yell, to Phebehe called, “my wife Michelle”!

Thomas Jefferson strolled around and appleswaddled by, there were warriors and fake blood and I can’t forget the eye.

The parade may have ended, but the night wasstill young, there was oro to dance and songs to be sung.

Julie was lost, but only for a bit, she hadwandered off to find somewhere to sit.

We danced and we laughed, we had Chris's game to play, the night ended with cupcakes and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Claire, Andres, Shannon, and AnnaCupcakes for Claire's BirthdayKapa and KlepWe awoke in the morning to much snow andice, another day in Vevchani surewould be nice. While wandering the village a snowball fightwas had, against the local children the PCVs beat them bad.

Our fingers and toes were growing cold, butalong came a table and sat down in the road.

A topla rakija to drink then off we go, wefollow the locals to where we don’t know.

The trees beckoned to us to follow themquick, we didn’t fall down despite the ground being slick. Rob and MorganThe Trees had to help push a car up the road when it got stuck.

We were invited in by the local residents,we sat down and ate with our former presidents.

We posed for a picture with a double, of ourCountry Director let’s hope we don’t get in trouble. This man shared some similarities to our Country Director here, so we had to take a picture!After much food and drink we headed uphill,to the center we went to see the new thrill. Not sure what these men were dressed up as, but Amy and I got a picture with them.My new friendThe costumes were burning but the fire waslow, people were focused on dancing the Oro. Dancing the Oro with our friends, the trees.

Team Lozovo escaped for an afternoon walk,we went up the hill to have a family talk. Amy, Anders, Sara, ClaireWe took family photos and watched childrensled, we grew hungry and tired and wanted a bed. Claire, Sara, Andres, Amy, Anna, ShannonAs typical, we had to take a few entertaining photos too.

Who wouldn't want to go sledding when they have bright pink hair!

With our stomachs grumbling with hunger thatnight, we set out to find a food delight.

Everything was closed all around town, mysmile quickly turned into a frown.

A nice man emerged from a slava party, heopened his shop to cook us something hearty.

Full and happy we went to the hotel to bed,with visions of Vevchani stuck in our head.

In the morning we woke to hear some news, atale of a victim now with Vevchani blues.

There were devils and skulls, burningcaskets and trees, but one mighty man was brought to his knees.

With one wrong step on the ice it was easyto slip, down Lync went, it was more than a rip.

A ride to Skopje, a prognosis made, toAmerica Lync went with Boris to aid.

So ends our tale of Vevchani dear, next yearwe shall go back with only ice to fear.

Some of my fellow volunteers came up with the idea of going to Belgrade to celebrate the New Years. Celebrating New Years in Belgrade is like celebrating in New York, the biggest there is over here. Since we only get two vacation days a month, and most of us want to spend the majority of our days on bigger trips, we decided to do Belgrade in a day. We left Macedonia on the morning of the 31st and arrived in Belgrade around 2pm. As it gets dark here around four, we wanted to see some of the sites of the city.

The group, minus the one behind the camera, just off the bus and ready to explore the city.

We walked up to the old fortress and explored around there until it started to get dark.

This was the first sign that we were all getting hungry. So we decided that the next stop had to be Pizza Hut!!! We had to ask the workers at KFC for directions, but we finally found it. There are no pictures since we were all too busy enjoying the familiarity of good pizza. With our bellies full it was off to the center. They had a huge stage set-up and a concert going with popular Balkan artists. As you can see, there were tons of people, but the area was big enough that we were not all pushed up against each other, there was still room to breath.

Excited to ring in the New Year in Belgrade.

Let the countdown begin!!!!

Happy New Year!!!! We bought a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate.

After we explored the city, we looked for a night club that was not going to charge us poor volunteers an expensive cover charge to come in for a few hours. We ended up finding this small bar where a private party was being held; and when they heard we were volunteers from America, they invited us in to celebrate with them. We stayed until 4am and then went looking for some food. We ended up finding a pizza place that was still open and then it was off to the bus station.There was barely a place to sit, so we all made ourselves comfortable on the floor. A few of us, mainly the boys, fell asleep as we waited for our bus to come at 7am. We then slept on the bus; and when we woke up, we were back in Macedonia. The first thing we all did was contact our Safety Officer because we knew he was worried since we were planning on staying out all night. Before we left, he send us emails and a text message tell us to be careful and have fun. After fully recovering and catching up on sleep, I can now honestly say that it was the most memorable New Years I have ever had.

The cold was biting. But when you consider that in Bitola it was -13 F it was pretty balmy. Hundreds of people had lined the banks of the river as the steam from their breaths rose in the morning air like smoke rising from so many chimneys. The sun was doing its best to bestow warmth [...]

I had been waiting for this day for a really long time. Since fall of 2004. In my head I always pictured a fall day. I should’ve known I would return in the winter. That’s where I belong. Our schedule; … Continue reading →

I know I have not written in a while; and I have a lot of catching up to do. It's been busy here, full of holidays and travel. Luckily, I do not have school on top of that. For the past 3-4 weeks we have been on Winter holiday; but it will all start again on Monday.

So where did I leave off....Christmas.

For my last Christmas here in Macedonia, I wanted to celebrate with the other volunteers. I spent Christmas Eve at home because I wanted to open presents with the family, over Skype.

My cousin's girlfriend and her son joined my family for our Christmas Eve dinner. They explained to him that I would be joining them via the internet; and that I was teaching English in Macedonia. I have the ability to be in two places at once with the wonderful invention of Michelle on a stick!!

Jenny and I "acting" surprised since we already knew what we were getting.

The next day I went up to Veles where we were having a traditional American Christmas full of football and food!!!

When I arrived, I met up with some of the volunteers that were going to go meet some of the local high school students to play some football and basketball. Later, we all went over to one of the volunteer's house. We had two turkeys, ham, green beans, potatoes, mash potatoes, gravy....you name it we had it. The volunteer also invited his host family so they got to see what a traditional American Christmas is like.

Food and.......

.....Football!!! Sam did not know that he could get American football on his TV. So everyone was excited to sit and watch the Jets verses the Lions. It really did feel like a Christmas back home.

Too focused to know that they are being photographed.

It was a great last Christmas in Macedonia; but I am excited to know that next year I will not be celebrating via Skype.

Hello Again!!!

I have had quite an adventure over the last two weeks. I was able to travel to the total opposite end of the country and visit friends and attend one of the most infamous festivals in Macedonia, Old New Years parade and festival in Vevchani. I don't want to go into a very detailed account of the weekend, but it was spent celebrating a birthday, dancing the oro with locals dressed up in crazy costumes, persuading someone to open up their restaurant on a holiday for a group of hungry young Americans at 9 at night, travelling over 8 hours (one way) in a bus, and most importantly experiencing one of most ridiculous events I have ever seen. Vevchani was crazy. Lake Ohrid was beautiful. I didn't die on the bus. And my long journey across my new home country was overall, a wonderful success. I am going to let my photos speak for themselves. I will also attach a video made by my friend Morgan, it gives a very good taste of what my two days in the small town of Vevchani included. I will also include a few more pictures from my new hometown, Berovo. I went sledding with some students today and was able to hike around Berovo Lake on the fresh snow. Although it was beyond cold, windy, and wet, it was a great day and I know I will feel sore in the morning. I took my fair share of tumbles, sleds in Macedonia are not like sleds in America. If I dare say, it was definitely a little more dangerous, and the hill was a little more steep than those at Curry Golf Course in Tosa. Haha. Enjoy the photos and video. :) Enjoy your new snow Wisconsin, winter has finally arrived for you! I have had plenty of snow and cold for awhile now, I am anxiously awaiting spring!!!

Love from another land,Anna

Morgan's Video - check this out, this video sums up the Old New Years celebration in Vevchani :)

Read this interesting take from a PCV in Africa, true in many ways.

Photographs :) Enjoy and get on a plane over here already. Berovo is waiting!

A view of Vevchani and Lake Ohrid from our hotel room.Just a picture I liked, it was taken by a friend. We stumbled upon a beautiful church in Vevchani and did a mini photo shoot. It was beautiful because it had just snowed overnight.

A view from up in the mountains in Berovo, near the sledding hill and Berovo Lake.

Sledding...very steep!

My lovely hosts....thanks for taking me sledding!

It was cold, very cold., but that didn't stop the kids from enjoying the hill!

Berovo Lake, not a car, fish hook, or shack in sight. Oh so different than a frozen lake in Wisconsin.

Another beautiful view from up in the mountains.

Vevchani (day one) - a parade which consisted of burning a coffin with the Greek flag on it. Yeah, we are not friends with the Greeks.

One of the many scary masked parade members. These guys were on stilts and got UP in your face.

Vevchani (day two) - Continuing to dance to parade around town, while burning the costumes!Another view of Berovo Lake and its fresh snow!PCVs dancing the Oro with the Tree Men. We made friends. We danced. We may have become famous.

I have plenty of more photos on facebook. Check them out!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.861965692415.2268506.73409029&type=3&l=293c7908ab

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.831244053825.2263456.73409029&type=3&l=ba0ff6ee36

Have had coffee three days in a row. Today, no caffeine. I have a headache. House headline: Three new members of the family

The cold has set in. Now being a Minnesotagirl, I should be used to cold, but as I may have said before, this is acompletely different kind of cold. You not only have the cold outside, you haveit inside and sometimes the inside cold is worse than the outside cold. You arecold when you wake up, cold when you go to work, cold when you shower, coldwhen you cook, cold when you go to sleep, you’re just cold 24/7. I have becomevery familiar with the site of seeing my breath inside my house on a regularbasis. Earlier this week I stayed at another volunteer’s house and everyonekept asking why I would dare stay at Jason’s because its so cold (his place istoo open so he doesn’t even attempt to heat it because his heater would donothing- I hopped around his house in my sleeping bag). While there, I wasdefinitely cold and told him I think his place beat mine out for coldness.However, I got home, after being gone for almost a week, and changed mystatement. I came home to frozen pipes in my entire house and my toilet bowlbeing filled with solid ice, despite my landlady having come and built a fireat least once. I called my landlady to fix the situation because I was going tohave to get creative about my bathroom needs if the problem wasn’t solved. Shecame with a few friends and in an hour they had it unfrozen. The processinvolved jamming a stick around in the toilet, boiling water and dumping it in the toilet, placing a heateron a plastic basket with the extension cord running through a pool of water onthe floor and telling me to leave it on all night, and then telling me to leavethe water running in my place all night, flush the toilet every half hour orso, and keep switching the pots of hot water from under my kitchen sink (thosepipes were still frozen when they left and the solution was try to heat themwith steam from the water below). Yet another interesting experience in thiscountry. And don’t worry, I didn’t leave that heater running as it was allnight, or running at all for that matter. As soon as they left, that situationwas resolved because I didn’t feel like the solution to frozen pipes wasstarting a fire in my house. The pipes have frozen outside of my house a fewtimes since then; I have water, then I suddenly don’t. I believe the question“Am I going to have to pee in my yard facing my neighbours?” has crossed mymind about 6 or 7 times since Tuesday.

The ice sitting at the bottom of my frozen toilet.

Yup, can't use this right now.I start my fire every morning and it burnsall day. Theoretically the room its in should be warm, however when I got tobed in there, I wear about 8 layers on top, two on the bottom, three pairs onsocks- 2 pairs SmartWool, my hat, and I curl up in my “warm to 20-degrees” downsleeping bag with a thick blanket doubled up on top and, you guessed it, I amstill cold. My landlady told me yesterday the weather will be like this untilthe end of April probably. You better believe that made me excited. I guess Ican’t complain too much since this weekend was the first time I have had snowand ice in my town. The temperature has been hovering around -13 Fahrenheit atnight the last few nights. We were supposed to start school back up from thebreak this Friday (tomorrow), however, due to the cold, the Ministry ofEducation cancelled school and we will start on Monday, which probably makesmore sense because as every teacher knows, not a lot would be accomplished onFriday. Now this isn’t an “Arkansas got a ½ centimeter of snow we need tocancel school” situation- I can see their point in that the schools haven’treally been heated since the end of December and it would take a whole lot ofwood to get them even slightly warm just for one day- it doesn’t really makesense.

The cold/snow/ice even took one of our PCVsthis past weekend in Vevchani (another post for another time). Vevchani is avillage built on a hill. We were all slipping and sliding around because of theice, and many of us took minor tumbles (the bump on the back of my head isalmost gone!). However, while trying to escape the craziness and head back toPrilep, one of the volunteers, Lync, slipped and didn’t end up quite so lucky.He ended up in a taxi headed to the hospital in Skopje where he found out hishumorous bone was split completely in two and sometimes he could, “feel them[the two pieces] dancing with each other”. After a few days in the hospital, hewas medivaced on a flight with one of the Peace Corps drivers bound forWashington D.C. for surgery and rehab before hopefully coming back to finishout his service. He has 45 days to get better or else he is medically separated,however, knowing Lync, he will be back in no time. If the pictures below don’tgive you an idea of what kind of character Lync is, one of the things Lynccommented on most was the fact that in the shuffle of the weekend, he lost histoothbrush.

BeforeAfter

Today was an epic day!!

Today was one of the big national holidays in Macedonia. It's called the Epiphany celebration, which is in memory of the day Jesus was baptized......on this day, every city sets up shop on its body of water that flows through the town. Priests come and bless the waters. People from all over show up. The priests then bless a small cross before throwing it into the icy waters below. Following the throw, people jump into the waters in hopes of retrieving the cross. The person who catches or finds the cross is said to receive good health and fortune for the entire year. The person who catches the cross then has a few weeks to visit every catholic home. At each home, families are expected to pay at minimum 10 denar to the person. Some families end up paying much more, and some even offer some big bucks in hopes that the person will actually stay the night in their home that night with the cross. All in all, I find the tradition to be extremely interesting!!

So Rob and I set out early this morning in order to get a good spot for the event. We got out there around 9:40 in the morning, and by 10, people were already lined up and down the water. By the time the actual event began, my toes were frozen solid, and people were pressed so hard up against me in order to find a good view of the jump that was to come. We listened to the priest bless the town, the people, and the water. Suddenly, he threw the cross, and about 60 young men jumped into the water below!! I dont know for certain the actual temperature of the water, but I can tell you that there was about an inch of ice over the top of the water....if that says anything about how cold it was!! I was able to capture the entire event on camera, while Rob videoed. Here is the online album from the event:

Cross Throwing Photos

Afterwards, we grabbed a quick cup of tea in the center before heading home for an afternoon nap. Later in the day, we were invited over to my Director's house for an evening of snacking and drinking. We were once again welcomed with the FANTASTIC Bulgarian wine, Bear's Blood. He also ordered some pastrmajlija (google it!!) and presented us with some spicy peppers, homemade sausages, and pickled veggies. We ate and drank for 6.5 hours, and it was a perfect evening!! 3 bottles of wine later, we found ourselves full and satisfied. We slowly made our way home before recounting the amazing events of the day.

Day by day, I find myself amazed at the events I've already witnessed and been a part of in this wonderful country. So many of the experiences are unique in their own ways, and I find myself blessed to be surrounded with people who are so willing to share their hospitality. As most volunteers here may say, I think my placement in Kocani has by far proved to be the perfect place for me. It feels like a home to me, and days like today make me even more excited for the months that will follow.

Next week sparks the beginning of a new semester at school. Our winter break will be over, and my new schedule with the school will begin. On Mondays and Thursdays, I'll be setting up a new dance studio in the basement of the school, running a photo club, leading the Model UN, and meeting with the mayor (fingers crossed) about starting a local animal rescue. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I'll be spending my hours in the classroom, helping my fantastic counterpart. Fridays, I hope will be my flexible day, where I'll simply be where ever I am needed. I'm overly optimistic about the prospects I have in my immediate future....now it's all about putting them into action!!

I simply had to share my good mood with all of you. Hope you all are well. SEND ME EMAILS : )

The religions and culture in Macedonia combine to provide a rich experience mid  winter. Christmas and New Years as we know them in the Western World are celebrated, BUT the predominantly Orthodox Religion, and its associated calender, provides that another … Continue reading →

After ten PM one entrance only No parking rules but also No checkout lines Starbucks open? decaf please

Since my last post just after New Years, we've been in the middle of the Orthodox holidays here in Macedonia. The two most significant celebrations involve events around Bozhik (Orthodox Christmas), held on January 7th, and the Old New Year (according to the Julian calendar) on January 14th.

For Bozhik, most of the other Peace Corps volunteers throughout Macedonia, especially in my MAK 16 class, spent the holiday with their old host families from PST. I decided to stay with my new host family in Obleshevo and it was really interesting and often fun cultural experience. The festivities started on Thursday night, the night before the day before Christmas (which is called Badnik). I went with my host parents to a large bonfire in an old soccer field on the outskirts of my village, and I spent most of the night making new friends, watching people dance the oro in the cold rain, and drinking hot rakija. Hot rakija has to be my favorite of the national drinks because while it is super strong, it has a nice taste to it (sugar helps) and keeps you warm in the cold Macedonian winter. I don't know if it tops drinking delicious hot mulled wine in the center of Krakow a few Decembers ago, but I'll take it.

The next day was Badnik, and there wasn't a whole lot going on until the large dinner we had around 8pm. It was by far the most ceremonial meal I've had since I've been in Macedonia. There were no guests (aside from me) outside of the immediate family. Once the food was all ready to go on the table, my host grandfather (dedo) went outside the room to invite Jesus to the meal, and then set aside a small piece of bread for him at the table. Once it was all set, we started on our meal, all without meat, and included sarma (cabbage rolls stuffed with rice), phyllo-dough pastry (cant remember the name) similar to burek, and assorted fruits and nuts. For drinks we had kompot (sort of like a non-alcoholic sangria) and rakija, along with a bottle of wine that I bought to share with everyone. Finally, on the actual day of Christmas, we went na gosti to my host mother Silvana's parents' house in Kocani for a golem ruchek (big lunch). It was overall pretty low-key compared to the previous days, but enjoyable nonetheless. Photos here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150478789449117.365947.525244116&type=1&l=d5444ac91c

After a few days off, next on the agenda was the Old New Year, and a bunch of volunteers from all over Macedonia decided to make the trek to the renowned Vevchani Carnival. Located in a small village about 30 min from the town of Ohrid, the Carnival has been known throughout Macedonia as the place to go for Old New Year. It didn't disappoint. The costumes were crazy and creative, everyone had a great time, and I'd definitely go back again next year. I don't want to do a complete play-by-play here, but the first day (friday) was the opening parade, which involved seeing all the costumes/masks on display, along with the burning of the Greek flag wrapped over a wooden coffin. Yeah, Greece isn't super popular here in the Republic of Macedonia.

For Day Two, we expected the main event to be a bonfire where all the masks were burned in the town centre, but additional highlights included a massive snowball war ('fight' is too mild for this one) where we were initially chucking snowballs at each other in our small group of 5 or so before locals got involved, and it escalated into all-out urban warfare with a like six neighborhood kids (and passing locals...one of which dressed as a SS officer). They tried hiding behind parked cars so eventually we started charging them and it was just crazy fun. In the midst of all this, we were invited to join a group of people dressed as trees to go na gosti with them at random houses in Vevcani. So we marched off with them, still trying to defend ourselves from the 'snipers' continuing the snowball war, until we reached the first house, which welcomed us with hot rakija and free food. We stayed there for about 20 minutes, then we went off to another house...then another...eventually it was time to go to the bonfire after 6 houses or so and we proceeded to dance around the fire for a while before a few people from our group needed to go catch a bus. At that point the Carnival was pretty much over, so we just retreated back to our hotel to relax, find food, and look at the all crazy pictures from the weekend. Here are some of them: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150478846599117.365957.525244116&type=1&l=afce36c0bd

My first look at the city of Bucharest came as I emerged from the underground metro station at Unirii Square. The overcast sky and light gray stone buildings quickly explained the Romanian culture’s love for hot coffee. The environment evokes a need rather than just a desire to visit one of the abundant warm cafes [...]

You’ll find new videos under the ‘our videos’ tab and additional photos on the ‘photos’ page. Enjoy. -Aaron

The fires burned orange and red throughout the city as music and laughter floated in the early evening air. Already the temperature had dropped, so we pulled on our sock caps and stepped out the door. January 13th is Old New Year (Стара Нова Година pronounced Stara Nova Godina) following the Orthodox tradition. Macedonians celebrate [...]

Well, I've successfully survived Vevcani's carnival, and it was a blast!! Here's the video, although I suggest you watch it AFTER you read this.

Vevcani video

VEVCANI CARNIVAL 2012!!Ok, so this is just a preview : )

So our trip began with a 6hour bus ride down to the beautiful town of Ohrid:

We stayed in an AMAZING place, called Villa Boban. The entire first day there, we basically just enjoyed our accommodations. We walked around the waterfront and ate at a fancy place, where I totally ordered a steak. We ate so much food and drank so much wine, we ended up in bed by 11.

The next morning, we decided to take ourselves on a walking tour through the old part of town. In Ohrid, there are 365 churches, one for every day of the year. While walking through the old part of town, you find churches on every corner!! Some are extremely old and tiny, while others are old and big. They are all elaborate and unique. Our personal favorite is this one:

Check out that view!!

Our walk took almost all day, and a lot of it was uphill, which made for quite a hike. Thankfully the weather was nice, and we had some excellent suggestions from the people who ran our Villa. We were able to find little hidden walkways and bridges that took us along the water. We ate, relaxed, took photos, and drank lots of coffee. By midday, we were pooped!! That night, we went out for another nice dinner in the old part of town, only to hit the hay early again. The next morning, we woke up to a snow storm.This is the view from our villa. We were honestly shocked when we woke up, because we were supposed to head out to Vevcani that day!! We had at least a couple feet of snow, and the roads were COVERED in ice!! We went and spoke with the people running our villa, and we learned we were really going to have to be creative in getting to Vevcani. To make matters worse, Rob did NOT have appropriate shoes, so our host handed him some of his own Italian leather boots to borrow!! Sometimes, I'm just shocked by the hospitable people here!!

Before you knew it, we were in an illegal taxi, hoping a ride into Struga. From there, we stood in the snow for about an hour, before a combi came and swooped us up!! We made it into Vevcani, but the bus was unable to properly take us up the hills leading into the village, because the ice was just too bad. At one point, the bus was spinning slightly on the ice, so the driver decided to back up and try and run it up the hill. Yea...it didnt work. Regardless...we managed to walk the rest of the way.

Vevcani is built on the side of a mountain. For this reason, it provided some of the most breathtaking landscapes, but so of the most snow and ice I've ever encountered in my life. The temperature that day got down to -6 Fahrenheit. SO COLD!!!!

Anywho!! Once we got there, we had to find the other volunteers. I called Sara, and she said "We are drinking rakija with some trees." Intrigued, we decided to wander the village until we found them. The hills in the village were like veins in a body. They connected every inch of the community, but often times would lead us in complicated twists and turns that eventually lead us back to the same places we were before. We'd pass people in costumes, who were always in character, and we'd pass people going about their daily lives, just trying to shovel the snow from their doorsteps. We decided to wait on a corner, because we hear music approaching us. Eventually, we were hit with quite the crowd!!

The costumes follow a type of Pagan tradition. It's almost all men who participate. There are themes that follow the costumes...some of them being demons, some of the them extremely crude, and some of the mocking some present issue. Regardless of the costume, everyone was in character at all times. The monsters would come up and growl in your face, and even kids were involved!!

After a while of watching, we finally managed to find "the trees!!"

We continued the rest of the day, hanging out with the trees. We were also joined by walruses, Nazis, Osama, various devils/monsters, and the Taliban. We went around and visited numerous houses with these people. At each house, wine, rakija, beer, and brandy were served. Fresh cuts of meat and cheese were provided, along with some bread and fruit. Our visit to each house only lasted about 10 minutes at a time, if that.

Quite frankly, our entire experience was really quite remarkable!! I believe the only reason we were invited to become part of these peoples' lives on this day was because we spoke some Macedonian. Most of them knew who the Peace Corps was, and they loved the fact that we made it to their village for the event!! Throughout the day, I kept thinking "wow....this kind of stuff just dont happen."

By midday, most of the characters throughout the village gathered in the center, where they did a type of parade, where everyone pretty much danced around the center. This part last for hours, and the view of it all was amazing. In the very center, people were burning their masks and/or other parts of their costumes, which is part of the tradition.

By the time the sun was going down, we were all feeling extremely tired, a little intoxicated, and very hungry. A few of us were invited to join one of the trees back to his house with some of the other characters from the day. Upon our arrival, we were greeted with more food and drinks. We spent hours at this house, and I once again found myself amazed at the hospitality. Where on earth can you find yourself in a village on the side of a mountain, eating homemade chicken with a local family and their friends?? They love sharing their lives and their culture, and sometimes you just have to soak it all in.

My experience in Vevcani was one of the most unique I've ever had in my life. Even in writing this particular update, I find that words just cant do it justice.

Flannel sheets. I’m pretty sure they saved my lifed these past two months.

statue in Kumanovo

this is an article I wrote for the Macedonian Peace Corps newspaper

Big City Living

I live in Kumanovo, which if you didn’t already know, is one of the larger municipalities in Macedonia. Now it’s all big city living for me, the high life all the way. We have more restaurants than you can count, a city pool, a Slovenian market, and an ice skating rink. I know, you’re jealous; I would be too, except I live in this wonderful city. Really though, I can count the restaurants, there are about eight or so that people regularly go to and the city pool’s existence is up for debate. Tus, the market chain from Slovenia, has been known to rip people off and the skating rink is temporary, located on what is normally a tennis court. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful that I have more than one option for coffee and groceries, I mean heck I have a place I can go, some of you don’t even have that option.

Generally living in a big city gives you options that you don’t get in other smaller places. It also affords me the flexibility to blend in and make somewhat of a life that has elements of familiarity to a life I once had in America. For example, I have more freedom and space to run, which others cannot speak of, especially if you are female. Though, in the morning I may still get strange looks, I have a river and a paved walk-way I can run along and sometimes I am not the only one out there running. In villages, the road might not even be longer than a mile and running often can be difficult (I know I lived in a village for training).

All that aside, I am thankful that I live in Kumanovo, partially because I am in a larger city and also because there are three other volunteers that live here. Though I had no choice in the matter, I would most certainly pick to live in Kumanovo. It has a large city feel, with stores, cafes, and restaurants, but it still is small. When I go out I often run into some one I know, whether it is my coworkers or friends, and it’s great to take a moment out of my day to stop and say hi and see how someone is doing. Here, no matter what your agenda may be, even if you are running late, there is always time to stop and say hello. And when I am out with friends, Macedonian or American, they always see someone else they know, and often my circle of friends grows upon such occasions.

People are curious about meeting the American; they want to know who I am and why on earth I chose to spend two years of my life here in Macedonia. Since moving to site, well really to Macedonia, after the initial information is exchanged, I’ve come to learn that people are the same here as they are in America, or really anywhere else. Though growing up here can be different than being raised in America, people are people, with dreams, preferences, and responsibilities, just like anyone else in the world. I just hope a year from now I can say I have friendships that have grown and blossomed and that I can call Kumanovo home and its people my community, where we learn and grow together.

Some days I just can’t pick. Pancakes Donuts Soft pretzels

It’s been quite awhile since my last posting which detailed the eighth grader’s prom. I never had the opportunity to closeout my blog, detailing my last few days before my departure from Probistip and three days later, Macedonia. I have been readjusting to life in the USA and have found it very difficult get motivated to sit down and write. Perhaps my hernia surgery, my son’s wedding, my wife’s rehab from hip replacement surgery, the performance of deferred maintenance to my house and yard, and the cleanup of trees and branches lost to an early snow. I must now close out this blog, writing for the first time as a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.

I have been away from my Macedonian friends for almost seven months but it seems just like yesterday when I was saying good-bye to them. It was difficult to say farewell but it was tempered by the realization that I will return to see them in the future. I still communicate with some of them with weekly Skypes and e-mails and keep in touch with what’s currently going on the town with David the PCV, who has taken up residence in “my” apartment. It will be impossible to get the Macedonian culture out of my thinking and way of viewing and analyzing life in America, not that I want to. I have an extremely difficult time not always making comparisons between the two cultures when I’m with my family. I can see them wince whenever I begin a sentence with, “In Macedonia …”. I’m getting better at keeping my reflections to myself.

The beauty of Macedonia is paralyzing. Thank goodness I have lots of photos to assist me in remembering my journeys throughout the country.

During my last days in The Probe, some of my friends put together a little going away party at the Dublin Pub. (There seems to be an Irish Pub in every town. They don’t play Irish music and in Probistip don’t have a special menu or serve Irish beer but the “Pub” has a nice ambiance). My friends presented me with a few going away gifts, one of which was a scythe which I was going to get for myself anyway. (You’re probably asking yourself why would I want a scythe. It’s a long story so I won’t go into details here). We had a nice time.

The Director of Nikola Karev School presented me with a copper plaque replica of the school flag that was designed as a result of my suggestion that it would be nice to have a school flag to display. Aleksandra found a local artisan to create the work of art. It’s really beautiful. (You can view a picture of it on by clicking on My Albums at the top of this page).

Many of the students at the school expressed disappointment that I would no longer be in their classroom and a visible presence around town. They asked me to please stay and questioned me when I would return. I got lots of hugs and many of them wanted a photo of us together. My fellow PCV, Photoimage Guy, took some pictures of some of them and I promised the students I would post them on my last blog.

Short and Sweet: My Peace Corps experience was an adventure of a lifetime. I was involved in the day –to-day lives of ordinary citizens in a culture much different than our American way of life. I was in a place where age and experience are respected, which gave me the opportunity to share my observations with individuals who could implement change. I worked with a counterpart who loved to try new ideas in the classroom and had an open door policy with the officials in the municipality.

I know I earned the respect of the people who knew me or of me and I take pleasure in knowing that generations from now, someone , somewhere in Macedonia will ask the question, “Remember Michael, the American, when he….?” I accomplished many of my goals while serving, but as the saying goes, “I got much more out of the experience than I put into it?” Thank you, people of Macedonia.

As I mentioned in my earlier post Christmas Overseas, Macedonians celebrate Orthodox Christmas, commonly referred to as Божик (bozhik), on January 7.  It’s as important a holiday as American Christmas, and is centered around family. This year, Lori and I were fortunate enough to be back in Probistip with our host family for the Holidays. Бодник [...]

Click HERE: My Frosty the Snowman Student Music Video: Браќа Миладиновци 6th Graders Perform their First English Music Video. In English Class, I taught them the song indoors and they knew every word! Once we were outside in the beautiful winter wonderland, they were slightly distracted. But hey, we’re still learning right? Frost the Snowman from Zhvan, Macedonia

Frosty the Snowman English

ОУ Браќа Миладиновци с.Жван OU ''Braka Miladinovci'' s.Zvan Zvan, Demir Hisar, Macedonia I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer at OU 'Braka Miladinovci School in Zvan, Macedonia. Winter 2011. December 22, 2011. 6th Grade Classes learn Frosty the Snowman during school. After, we created our first Music Video in English! A Beautiful Snowfall in Macedonia, but not the best packing snow for snowmen. We worked with what we had, watch and see! :) From: jewelstum Views: 2 0 ratings Time: 02:03 More in Education

Little sneak peak into something my music high school put on for the New Year here in Macedonia. What an awesome group of students. I'll post some of the live performances on the blog at a later date. For now, enjoy!!!

Hello again!!!

I hope this new post finds everyone back in America happy, healthy, and in the midst of Packer bliss!!! Life in Macedonia has remained busy and exciting over these first few weeks of the new year. I have had many new experiences, including my first New Years in a new country and my first Orthodox Christmas. Both were wonderful and unique. Let us begin with the largest and most anticipated holiday of the year, New Years!

New Years was never a holiday that I got excited about. I usually spent it up north in Mercer for cousin's weekend eating with my bare hands, attempting to ski, and drinking good beer. I have never actually "went out" for New Years in America, but that surely changed upon my arrival in Macedonia. New Years is a huge celebration in this country and everyone is out and about. My small town had an open-air concert on the square (in the freezing cold) and everyone had reservations at local bars or restaurants for the evening. I hadn't planned on doing much, but a new friend of mine invited me out with her and her friends. Without hesitation I accepted the request the hit the town with the rest of my town. I celebrated with new friends and many strangers, and it was perfect. There was no countdown, instead people just starting hugging and kissing. I was quickly preyed upon by everyone in the bar and was bombarded with hugs, kisses, and greetings of the New Year. And as 2011 came to a close and my first full year in Macedonia began, the snow fell from the sky and Berovo became a winter wonderland. It was a beautiful night, and although I cannot stay up late, I enjoyed myself immensely and was thankful to have the opportunity to celebrate the new year with new friends and the people of Berovo.

After a few days of recovering from New Years I made my way back to my home in Lozovo to celebrate Orthodox Christmas. The celebrations in Lozovo last three days and involve a lot of wine, rakija, food, fire, laughter, and love. Many Americans were in Lozovo to celebrate Christmas and we had a wonderful time spending time with eachother's families, dancing the oro around bonfires, drinking wine with the local elders, and breaking bread with family. The day before Christmas Eve is celebrated in Lozovo by having huge bonfires. There were a few scattered around the small village and everyone was out drinking, eating, and definitely dancing. I spent the night dancing, drinking wine, catching up with friends, and making new ones. Christmas Eve (Badnik) is celebrated at home. It is a day that you stay home, cook, bake, eat, and honor the meaning of Christmas. My family had a wonderful traditional meal. On Christmas Eve, in the orthodox religion, all food must be made without meat, eggs, or milk products. We had fish, banitza (bread), and pumpkin. It was delicious. The other big tradition on Christmas Eve is to bake bread with a coin in it. The bread is then broken into pieces, one for every member of the family, the member of the family with the coin is supposed to have good health, luck, wealth, and love for the upcoming year. It is a big deal to get the coin. And lucky me, I had the coin in my bread. My family was very excited for me, and maybe a little jealous! It was a great day just spent laying around the house, playing cards, and eating good food. Christmas day it the day for visiting close friends and family. Many family members came to visit us in Lozovo and again we spent the day eating (meat and milk products this time) and drinking. I also went around to a few other houses to visit other volunteers and their families. It was a busy day that ended with watching Forest Gump with Macedonian subtitles with my Mom on the couch, successful day! I left the day after Christmas, but my journey back to Berovo was anything but uneventful. I was on the way to the bus stop in the car with my Dad when the my bus flew by us on the highway. It arrived 20 minutes early!!! So, my Dad whipped the car on the highway, sped after the bus beeping constantly, passed the bus, and then sped ahead to the next village. He jumped out of the car and waved down the bus for me. It was absolutely hilarious!!! Very thankful to have a Dad willing to drag race a bus for me! He loaded me on the bus, but not before giving me 5 pounds of apples, a giant bag of unopened walnuts, two bottles of wine, and a bottle of rakija!!! It was a nice Christmas surprise!

I have spend that last few days wandering around snow-covered Berovo, figuring out the plans for the rest of school year, and enjoying my little time off from teaching. I will be heading to the southeast part of the country this weekend for a huge Carnival festival. It is supposed to be absolutely crazy, and I am very excited to visit this new and beautiful part of the country. Eight hours on a bus may be awful, but I am willing to make the trek to spend a weekend partying with new friends and witnessing a Macedonian must-see traditional festival. I hope all is well.

Start planning your adventure to Macedonia. It is an amazing little country.

Love from my new home,

Anna

Celebrating Christmas in Lozovo around a bonfire. My fellow volutneers, Julie, Kenzie, and Enid.

This is the beautiful snow-covered Berovo. This is where I get to live :)

Another view of my town from my apartment building.

Christmas Eve Dinner :) Vkusno!

Christmas Bonfire in Lozovo...dancing the Oro.

It was a wonderful evening, I think we should have bonfires like this in Hart Park!!!

It's been a hot minute since I last updated, because we've been busy!!This past weekend, we traveled down to my original home of Lozovo to celebrate the Macedonian Christmas with my Macedonian family.

Macedonian Christmas is very similar to our Xmas: you visit with friends and family, you drink, and you eat. That's about it. And that's exactly what we did. Friday, we got in early in the day, so we took our first opportunity to visit some people. My "brother" (the volunteer who had my family the year prior to me) also came in for the holiday, so we spent the rest of the evening catching up with him and the family at home. That night, all of Lozovo throws bonfires. I think there were 5 total around the village, but the largest one just so happened to be right by my house. We spent a few hours there drinking and dancing the Oro around the massive bonfire. I was able to see LOUIE (basset hound), who I swear recognized me. We had a moment too, hahaha. Afterwards, we headed over to the fire on Kenzie's side and stayed there until sometime after midnight. Rob and I went back home only to discover we had to sleep in the coldest rooms EVER. I cannot exaggerate how damn cold these rooms were....

Well for starters, I could see my breath in my room. I had my own room with a pullout couch, and Rob and Chris got my old bedroom. Neither bedrooms have heaters....why we didn't is beyond me. It was below 20F outside. So I'm standing there trying to figure out how exactly this was going to work. Rob and I decided to layer. We each had on 3-4 shirts, long johns, pants, two paris of socks, and a jacket. I'd brought my sleeping bag, so I crawled into the sleeping bag with all my clothes on and could hardly move. To make matters worse, having my face exposed wasn't fun. My lungs felt cold whenever I woke up trying to roll over. And to be completely honest, every single night was like this, and it was unbearable to sleep like that..

For the next two days, we sat around at home eating and drinking. We were woken up with fish and rakija on Friday. It's a day where they dont eat any meat or milk products. We snacked for hours before heading out to visit some people. The weather was heavy wind and rain, which we got soaked in walking through it. Each house had a warm room to retreat to though, so we took advantage of that!! That night, we gathered with the family for the traditional Xmas meal, where the family bakes a loaf of bread with a coin in it. The person who got the coin last year breaks off pieces of the bread for each member of the family (including pets), as well as a piece for the house itself. Once this part is done, the family members see who got the coin. In our case, we all got the coin, because my host dad tore off too small of pieces, so we had this big chunk of bread leftover. Of course, that piece had the coin in it. : ) So from there, whomever gets the coin is supposed to put it in a glass of wine and drink from the glass. Getting the coin is supposed to bring you good luck and health all year. It was a special night to share this with our family.

The next day was pretty relaxing. We were able to eat meat again, so we had some chicken and pork with more bread and some other foods. Milevka's family came over, and we spent the day playing cards, watching TV, and of course eating some more. That night, I intentionally went to bed early so I could wake up early to make it back to Kocani. All in all the weekend was nice and relaxing...if it hadn't been for those cold bedrooms, I know we would have been much more comfortable...looking forward to going back when it's warm again, that's for sure!!

Since we've gotten back to Kocani, we've spent the majority of our time resting in my warm apartment. Sleeping in the cold made my cold from last week linger a little longer, so I needed to rest. As always, things are breaking left and right in the apt, but we are making the best of it, haha!! I successfully made baked apples for the first time, and we've eaten the hell out of some Ranch dip as well. All in all, the last two days have made me feel a lot better. This week, we set out for Vevcani and Ohrid. We ride out on Thursday down to Ohrid with my friend Anna. There, we will stay for two nights enjoying the city. (google it!!) On Saturday, we will ride into Vevcani for the 2nd day of the carnival. That night, I think we are getting together with the other volunteers to celebrate Claire's bday. Should be a great weekend....Im honestly really looking forward to it.

Well that's all I've got for now!! I'll have a ton of photos and videos coming soon!! : )

Happy Birthday Jesus!: It doesn’t matter whether you were born on December 25th or January 7th. You are still the one and only lord. Today, January 8th, is the last day of the 3 day Macedonian Christmas.