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Sunday, June 21, 2009

School's Out!

I learned a lot about the educational system here in Macedonia over the last seven months and I still have a great deal to learn. But I am not sure I will ever understand it. The students who went to “summer school” last week finished up and so it won’t be until September that we’ll have students to work with. That doesn’t mean the teachers won’t be seeing each other. Their attendance is required for a few hours each day until the 5th of July. I’m still not sure what is expected of the teachers during this time, now that the cumbersome grade reporting system has been completed. I understand they report back to school in August, weeks before the students return.

Most students in the fifth through eighth grades take 14 or 15 subjects each year, so documenting and accurately recording each student’s progress is a monumental task. But the teachers know the routine and get the job done in a timely manner. The students pick up their promotion certificates and final grades about two weeks after the last classes and exams. During this two week period while they are completing all the paperwork, the teachers receive calls from concerned parents asking the teacher to please consider giving their child a higher grade. There is also a formal appeals process that enables parents to actually challenge a teacher’s final grade. So grade inflation is a chronic problem.

Directors at the high school and primary schools dictate that every child will be promoted much to the dissatisfaction of the teachers. I’ve been told that not one student has had to repeat a grade in at least the last eleven years at the Nikola Karev Primary School. Classes are filled with students who are years behind their peers, somewhat neglected and lost and who present a great challenge to the teacher who must teach in a de facto multi-level classroom with no resources. Using a 7th grade English textbook with a student who has the knowledge base of a 3rd grader is the only course of action that the teacher has.

Other little quirky things (from my perspective) that I’ve observed include the fact that, by law, teachers are not allowed to collect money from the students. So when her class went on a field trip, Alexandra had to watch over the shoulder of a student who actually touched the money and counted it. Students must pay for the paper upon which the teachers prints their exams. The money collected, of course, by one of the students. Students who get a One (a Five is the highest grade) as their final grade must attend “summer school” which entails a five day/ten hour opportunity to make up for a school year’s worth of non-learning . A student who receives three Ones must repeat the school year (there are plenty of candidates who have these credentials) but as I mentioned above, no student maybe left back. So one of the student’s teachers is “asked” to inflate the One to a Two. To compound the issue, teachers receive no stipend for teaching “summer school” so any borderline students who could possibly benefit from an extra week of class, are upgraded to a Two, limiting the “remedial “class size.

The upbeat news is that today’s leadership in Macedonia is aware of many of the issues that I mentioned. Efforts are being made to change those aspects of an educational system that has been in place for decades. It will take some time to accomplish but the 20%’ers will see it through.

I did get to employ some of my wrestling skills that I used to use on my brothers when we were growing up on Long Island. I had to break up two different classroom fights during the last weeks of school. In both cases two boys were going at pretty well. They watch a lot of WWF wrestling here and the boys were head-butting, choke holding and attempting to throw chairs, ignoring the potential consequences of their actions. They wouldn’t comply with the Alexandra’s demand to stop. I reluctantly stepped in and employed my infamous Half-Nelson (that used to bring my brothers to tears) on one of the boys so that I could immobilize him momentarily and position myself between the combatants, thereby preventing any serious injuries. My technique worked and there were no tears or cries of pain or running to mommy like my three brothers did.

My standings as a martial arts expert rose considerably in the eyes of the students who witnessed the events. I received kudos and high fives and word of “Michael’s moves” spread amongst the school population. Ironically, Alexandra has a martial arts Black Belt but she let me handle the situation. As is the case in Probistip, the boys who were fighting were seen later in the day, once again good friends, hanging out together. Perhaps they were relieved that their altercation was broken up by the referee and there wasn’t a winner or a loser.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Some Things I’ve Come to Know

Not a day goes by here in this wonderful place where I don’t learn something new or get a different perspective on living in this world. I always thought that roosters crowed only at sunrise, because in the stories I read as a child, that’s what they did. But the fact is they crow all day. And so the crowing roosters, baying donkeys, squealing pigs, singing birds, barking dogs, and yowling cats create an auditory environment that at times is enchanting and at times annoying.

Now as you know, if you’ve read my previous blogs, I live near the center of the town in the apartment complex built for the miners’ families. So on warm days, the women (and some men) on my street sit outside at hastily built tables of scrap wood and talk about whatever women talk about. I am now a familiar face with a wife, and so upon my return from school, I walk a gauntlet of smiles and “Dobar Dens” (Good Day) from the groups sitting in front of each apartment. It’s nice to know I’ve been accepted into the neighborhood.

The men in my neighborhood have been busy the last few weekends cutting, splitting, and stacking recently delivered wood for next winter’s heating and cooking. I still marvel at the fact that, for the most part, each apartment in each building has its own woodpile. But wood is less expensive than electricity, so I can understand the rationale behind it. Luckily my apartment has been retrofitted with an electric heater and the Peace Corps picks up the tab for electricity.

The bread here is crusty and chewy on the day you buy it. But the next day it is somewhat dried out and tasteless (the result of having no preservatives). So after six months of enduring day old bread, I figured out that maybe if I toasted it, it would be more enjoyable. Not having the luxury of a toaster or an oven broiler, I discovered that I could put a slice of day old bread on a stovetop-heated pan without oil and it would manufacture a pretty good piece of hot toast, so good in fact that I plan on throwing away our toaster when I return to the States.

I take lots of pictures. Occasionally I will get a good picture of a student and have it developed at the local photo shop for equivalent of about twenty cents. When I present it to the student, they are so excited and so appreciative. The smiles are immeasurable and the rest of the class seems to share in the joy of the recipient. Twenty cents can buy much, much more than a pack of gum here in Macedonia.

Soda is the drink of choice among the children. Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Fanta and many locally produced sugar laden beverages take up more shelf space in the shops than any other product. Sadly, many of them advertise themselves as “energy drinks”. Diet sodas are almost non-existent in Probistip. Needless to say the prevalence of sugar drinks has contributed to the need for more dental care than is available to many of the students. I recently read or viewed somewhere, that one measure to help reduce the enamel eating effect of soft drinks is to sip the beverage through a straw. This, as I understood it, would help eliminate the “bathing effect” on the teeth that drinking from a glass or bottle creates. Mad sense to me. So yesterday for the first time in the 8 months I’ve been in-country, I thought I’d try a locally produced cold soft drink. I purchased a “Cola”, bottled in Macedonia. Much to my surprise, when I opened the bottle, there was a straw in the bottle from which to dentally-healthfully (you know what I mean)enjoy the “energy drink”. Cutting edge – straw IN the bottle!

Cabbage is a staple, much like bread. I will see people purchase 10 cabbages and twenty onions at the Wednesday market (pazaar). All sorts of fabulous salads and dishes can be made with cabbage and onions but I always wondered how a person could use so many cabbages and onions in a week. One cabbage and one onion will last me a week. As it turns out, a person buying that many cabbages and onions is probably picking up them up for family, friends and neighbors. Question answered. Next question: How much do 10 Macedonian cabbages(not those whimpy cabbages they sell in American supermarkets) weigh? Answer: Too much.

Strawberries and cherries are in the market now. They are picked when they are ripe and at the market the same, or no later than, the next day. Deeelicious! Tragically, In their 3000+ years of existence, Macedonians have never tasted a strawberry or a cherry pie (USA style). Strawberries with rhubarb – nope!

I tried to find a pair of sport sandals herein Probistip but the only ones I could find were either “not my style” or were the flip-flop kind that I always struggle to keep on. Leather shoes are very expensive in Macedonia, so most available footwear is made of synthetic materials. So through the convenience of on-line shopping I ordered a pair of Made-in-China sport sandals from the All-American company in Freeport, Maine – LL Bean. As usual, they were great and despite the $35 shipping fee and the $4 pickup fee at the post office (Powsta), which were fees beyond the control of the Bean Corporation, I am very pleased with my purchase. Besides owning one of the most expensive bathrobes in Macedonia, I now own the nicest pair of leather sport sandals in Probistip.

The new U.S. Embassy is now open in Skopje. It’s a fortress-looking structure, located in a prime location in the capital. It’s quite ostentatious (my personal opinion). Previously , the various Embassy offices were scattered about the city. Now everyone on the staff is located in one place which improves the security for everyone involved. Sadly, with the world situation the way it is, you can’t just drop into the Embassy. You need to make an appointment at least three days in advance to gain entrance.

The Embassy staff is very supportive of PCV’s. They invite us to many of the holiday events that happen at the Embassy, let us have access to the swimming pool , and provide us with access to the Skopje Scoop- a newsletter that keeps the Embassy community attuned to what’s happening in town. The only catch is that unless you’re a PCV serving in the capital or in a nearby municipality, you really can’t take advantage of their hospitality.

I remember when Yugo’s came to America when Yugoslavia introduced them to the American car market. They weren’t a big hit and became somewhat of a joke because of their poor quality construction. Well here in Probistip those babies are still on the road. Those four cylinder, diesel engined marvels , along with their sister Zastava’s, are workhorses. They all have tow bars to which are attached trailers that transport everything from mattresses and household goods to cement and fieldstones. These vehicles have been on the road for over forty years. So much for poor quality, America!