Beautiful Balkans

 We made a long journey down a tough, mountain road to discover a part of the world we had not seen and it was quite an adventure.  The odyssey began when Liz and her 3 kids came to Gevgelija in early July.  We all saw a lot of Macedonia, and she got to experience Macedonia on a Peace Corps level.  Her husband Bart joined us at the end of August, Liz rented a giant car and we were off!

We drove through Albania and got to see Donald Trump's America - no job-killing regulations, every family has their own machine gun bunker, people do pretty much whatever they want, however they want to.   The country was beautiful but the travel was crazy, even by our standards.  






We then drove through Montenegro along small winding mountain roads through stone villages, olive groves, and the occasional startling views of the blue, blue ocean.

We stayed in Kotor for a couple days, and enjoyed the amazing setting of this medieval city of churches, hilltop fortress, and narrow streets.  Kotor is set in a narrow fjord-like valley that is spectacular.  It was busy with cruise ships and tourists, but we stayed on the opposite side of the fjord in a quiet neighborhood.  And, I must say, Liz has terrific Air B&B skills.  Our next stop took us to Dubrovnik.  This is also a walled medieval and Renaissance era city of particular beauty built right on the Adriatic Sea.    It was packed with tourists, including us, so we only stayed a short while.

 Our final stop was in Split, Croatia - we'd saved the best for last.  Andrew and Talia, Brian and Sara and their families met us there for a weeks' stay.  Split is packed full of history, semi-packed full of tourists, and was a great visit.  As you can see, we added to the throngs, but quite a handsome group, eh?

We enjoyed seeing the family and meeting one of our grandchildren, Jonah, for the first time!   We also took a short side trip to Krka National Park to swim in the waterfalls.  The Dalmatian Coast was amazing, and it was good to see other parts of the former Yugoslavia.  We also got to use our Macedonian language, which is kind of similar.  I think I only insulted a few people and avoided all fistfights due to my attempts at idle conversation and lawyer jokes.  For those looking for adventure without limits - Albania is your place.  For others more comfortable with predictable beauty packed into remarkable history - the coast is a sure-fire great visit. Postravia - A

YEAR ONE....BOOM, DONE!!

Hello dear friends! I read the first entry in my blog the other day and realized two things..#1.  It has been just a year since we've left United States, and #2. I now have the answers to the questions I posed in that entry! And, as I suspect you've lost sleep wondering what those answers are..I thought I'd fill you in!

It's been quite a year..so much fun, so sad at times, homesick, happy be here in my new home, scared, excited..and all this could occur in the space of a few hours!

Question one though, was what would we be doing?  Allan works for an NGO called Apollonia Foundation. This foundation concentrates on several areas. Allan is involved in the curriculum and activities for an environmental program for children, to learn about the environment and nature. He is also involved in cross cultural activities with other NGOs in Macedonia, and with promoting science education. Apollonia prides itself, and rightfully so, on bringing art, culture, education and awareness to this part of Macedonia, and Allan works hard to promote those activities.

 

I am teaching English in the elementary school here in Gevgelija, working mostly with younger students..I love it! Last year I worked in a nearby village school one day a week, as well, teaching English to the entire school population of eleven students! I also work with special needs students in what is called a sensory room and with special needs adults doing yoga and just plain fun, rock and roll dancing...I call it dancing with MY stars! I'm also involved with GLOW , girls leading our world,a leadership club for teenage girls, and I teach yoga to my teachers.

And what do we eat? Whatever is being harvested at that moment. There really isn't cold storage here for fruits and veggies, so when something is in season, that's what we eat. We had a watermelon torrent this summer that was to die for! Lots of chicken, some pork, but beef here is pricy and not so great...bread is okay, baklava is lovely and so is the coffee!

And the language...Oh, that was a tough one! The Peace Corps places volunteers first in training communities, where you live with non English speaking families and go to language school for about five hours a day,  then you go home and do several hours of homework..Ouch! But we prevailed, and while our Macedonian friends may cringe at our pronunciation when they hear us talking, we can carry on conversations.

 And now we are in Gevgelija in the southeast corner. We will be here for a little over a year more. We have the upstairs of a house, complete with kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, porches and piano! Downstairs we have our lovely family, a couple our age and their ever helpful and upbeat son....Risto is a blessing..if you ever find yourself in a bind in Macedonia, contact Risto....he can help!

This is a beautiful country, filled with mountains, history and wonderful people. It's been a year, it's been only a year, but I feel like we have lived a lifetime here..and been lucky to do so. Come see us...especially during watermelon season!