WORK- IT'S WHAT WE DO....BUT NOW, FROM KATHY'S PERSPECTIVE!

Hello dear friends and family!  You recently received a blog posting from Allan, explaining what his work here in Gevgelijia with the Peace Corps looks like.  He has big projects, doing exciting things and making a big difference.  But when you join the Peace Corps they tell you that yours is a single story, that everyone's story will be different.  And they are so right!  Allan and I may live in the same town in the same house at the same time...but what we do for work is so  different!

First...what could turn a perfectly nice, Badger Mountain  climbing woman.......








Into a woman that looks like this......

       Peace Corps Macedonia!!

So my official title as a Peace Corps volunteer is Primary Level Teacher Trainer.  What that means is that I get to work with some great Macedonian teachers who teach English at the elementary level, introducing new ideas in curriculum, classroom management, and best practices.  But really, what that means, is that we get to learn how to have fun and learn English all at the same time.  I mostly work with first and second graders, so for many of them, this is their first experience with English.  We do all we can to make this experience fun...we sing, we dance, we make fruits and vegetables, pretend we are animals, we play games and we do lots of talking!

My regular school is a big one.  I have about 25 kids per class, so we are jumping around like crazy to reach all these guys.  My village schools that I work at are much smaller.... I am including a picture of the entire second grade class in the entire school! This is little Mrzentzi, a village about three miles from my other school, smack dab in the  middle of leek fields.  I love it there!

As a Peace Corps volunteer we also have what are called secondary projects.  These are projects that you take on in addition to your regular work, and for many volunteers these are the fun ones. I am busy.....I work with special needs students...

I work with Glow Girls, which is an international Peace Corps initiative promoting leadership skills in high school age girls......

I teach yoga to adult women and to teenage girls...this is one of my favourite activities because exercise, physical fitness, and health are not areas that women have much time to spend thinking about.  For all of my students this was their first foray in to yoga and I will say they are my JOGA BOJHITZI....translated means yoga goddesses!  

There is so much to do here!  I also have had conference for young women addressing positive self image and worked on the traveling camps that go around Macedonia in the summer times, bringing camp like activities and English language to youngsters.

But maybe the thing that is best are all the personal connections I have every day....I must say hello in English a hundred times a day, to students, to their families, to shopkeepers, to neighbours.  

I have 

been lucky here to work with  these amazing women,

to have an amazing Macedonian family,

                                   

                                 
                                 and to have Allan, my number one fan and supporter!  Zhivot e dobro!

When You Get Here - Head West

Hello again, this is Allan.  Liz and her kids were here for the past few, whirlwind weeks and I have to share just a small part of what we did.  With Liz, Henry, Alice and Gus here, things really heated up on the travel front.  We visited a number of places in Macedonia, then Greece, and finally a stay in western MAK in the small village of Janche.  We had an incredible time everywhere, but Janche was worth a separate call-out.  So, here is a bit about an amazing mountain village.  

Janche is a mixed village (Christian/Muslim) that hangs on a mountainside in the Mavrovo Region.  It is small, maybe a hundred persons, and is similar to many other mountain villages in this area.  Most were settled hundreds of years ago, the people raised sheep and goats, and they got along quite fine for a long, long time.  Now, people still get along fine, but visitors are the important crop.  Fortunately, their way of life is still important and we got to experience some of it first-hand.  We stayed in the hotel Tutto, run by Mr. Tutto, who works to restore many of the old buildings in the village using the old methods.  His place was new, and quite excellent.  Below is the view to Janche from our room balcony.

In the parking lot was this old Renault.  Nice paint job and nicer person striking a striking pose.  These cars, sans the sporty paint-job, are everywhere in Macedonia, still running, still hauling 2 people and as many chickens as will otherwise fit.  

The restaurant terrace at Tutto.  We ate there every morning, wonderful local food, fruit, honey and berries. 

 A street in Janche.  The one on the right is actually pretty fancy as it is paved with blocks.  I prefer dirt, but I guess there must be some progress after 300 years.  The mountains in the background hold many other small villages, some "mixed," others either Christian or Muslim.  Progress may have been made on paving some streets, but villages are still classified based on religion - exactly as they were 500 years ago.  

Some of the modes of transportation seemed almost as old as the homes.

 This house below was my favourite. It is very large, abandoned, made with variety of stones from the near-by river, then switched to mountain stone and back to river stone and shows great craftsmanship.  It does need a bit of work, however.

 Liz had a car, a rare treat for a Peace Corp person.  We went for a ride to a nearby town and hiked into Waterfall Duff.  I didn't name it - thats what it is called.  The hike in was easy and even a duffer like me made it fine.  It was a beautiful gorge trail for much of the way.




Waterfall Duff was beautiful, and this image does not do it justice.  It comes out of cleft in the rock, and falls in 2 sections for about 50'.  It is cold, cold, cold.   The upper falls came out of section of the cliff that was blocked by a huge bolder.  The lower falls was a fine cold, cold, cold shower.  Some souls braved the chill for a total mountain wake-up experience.

Kathy was the first in.  When you went in you could say no words.

We also went to St John the Baptist Monastery in the area.  It is old, around the 11th C, but rebuilt a few times over the turbulent Macedonian history.  We were not allowed to take pictures in the church, but this was the most impressive church we've seen in Macedonia and we've seen a lot!  

Here is Alice drinking from one of the several very large springs in the church grounds.  

 . . .to this.

St John chapel, looking across the valley. . .

Nearby is a seldom visited old stone arch bridge.  Some say Roman, but it is probably Turkish, and little is known about it.  It is an impressive span about 40' above a river, taller than many nearby trees, but only about 11' wide.  It looks like a path through the woods, until you realise you are on a slim, very tall bridge.  Not a rock out of place that I could see.  Excellent masons!

At the end of a hot day, a quick dip in the Radika River.  Cold and clear.

Finally, here we be.  This is a shot from our trip to Greece at our 42nd anniversary dinner.  Blue ocean, freshest seafood, beautiful wife.  This is fun!  Came and get some for yourself!!

Al