Summer Jaunting

On July 8th the teachers were officially unchained from the mandate of having to show up at the student-less school. The students had been on vacation since the middle of June so the teachers socialized and hung out for a couple of hours each day until emancipated from such a requirement. My daily routine has changed to some degree but the days still seem to fly by.

On the Fourth of July, Americans visiting or living in Macedonia were invited to attend a celebration on the grounds of the Embassy in Skopje. About 10 PCV’s took advantage of the opportunity and it was well worth the trip to Skopje. So Michael F., David, Phil and I paid 300 denar (well worth it) to get a chance to mingle with other Americans, visit our Embassy, and partake in a July 4th picnic.

The buildings and grounds of the Embassy are beautiful. However, for such a small country, the American Embassy is somewhat gargantuan and much too ”in-your-face”. It sits upon hill overlooking Skopje and looks more like a fortress with its fencing, barriers and guards (Yes, I know all about terrorists). Getting onto the grounds was similar to boarding an aircraft with all its security checks but once you got through security, all was forgotten. The “picnic” itself was super. We had beef hamburgers on Wonder Bread hamburger rolls from America, beef hotdogs on Wonder Bread hot dog rolls, all the beer you needed, and plenty of side dishes and desserts. It was a pleasant day. Phil and I celebrated our one-year anniversary commemorating our arrest for photographing the President’s motorcade (see blog of July 2009 – You Are Under Arrest).

The weather has been reasonable. We seem to get wicked thunderstorms several times a week which hasn’t helped the vineyards. Too much rain is not good and I’ve heard that 30% of the crop has already been ruined. The temperatures get into the 90’s on most days but there is limited humidity so the heat is very tolerable for me. The mosquitoes come out at about 7PM and they are intolerable, especially if you forget to apply repellent. It’s impossible to sit at a café and enjoy a beer. However, the mosquitoes must be afraid of heights, because they are non-existent in my third floor apartment (aka 2nd floor in Macedonia) where I keep all my screen-less doors and windows open all summer.

In my neighborhood, during the dog days of summer, few adults venture outside until 6PM. Then everyone appears, sitting on their steps conversing, walking the little ones in their strollers, or setting out to do errands or visit friends. Children play outdoors until 11’ish, apparently not affected by the mosquitoes.

With time-off during the week, I have been able to attend a festival in the small town of Pechevo with my friend Slavche where traditional Macedonian songs and dances were performed; tour the village of Lesnevo and its monastery with David and my friend Goran; visit my host family (Kocho, Slavitsa, and Violeta) in Negotino; attend a mega “na goste” on Iliden Day at Alexandra’s beautiful home in Zletevo; and hike out to the many surrounding villages with David where we always seem to connect with the world’s most hospitable people.

The usual slow pace of initiating or completing projects in Macedonia is made even slower during the summer when everyone is on vacation. There is no delegation of authority so one must wait until “The Decision Maker” returns to work. So the Independence Day Parade (8 September), Photo Contest, Emergency Evacuation, and Town Beautification planning that we are involved in has crawled to a standstill for the time being.

I have had the time to create a few Power Point that I will present to the School Director, the Superintendent of Schools and the Parent Council. These include such diverse topics as “Why Students Should Have Dictionaries When Learning English”, “Are Our Children Eating Well?”, “Modifying School-Wide Student Behaviors”, and “Classroom Management and Effective Teaching”. Translating them into Macedonian is the difficult part and I spend many hours attempting to do so. Jasmina, my tutor, works with me to arrive at the understandable final Macedonian version.

I also have a bunch of other projects, both school and town related, that are in the working stages. I can’t really do much with them until September when everyone is renewed after a long summer vacation. I’ll talk about them in a future blog.