The Arrival of Spring and My Wife

Spring-like weather arrived in Macedonia for the 4.6 billionth-or-so time coinciding with my wife’s third visit. This time the airlines didn’t misplace her luggage and her flights were on time despite flying British Airlines which was embroiled in a strike by its cabin crews. We (Bobby the driver and I) picked her up in Sophia, Bulgaria which is an eight hour round trip including the border crossing, without incident.

Besides her exuberant personality, she brought me some Log Cabin pancake syrup, a Christmas-present dress shirt from my mother-in-law, a supply of cigars (non-existent in Probistip), heavy duty socks, contact lens solution (very expensive here), a hard disk memory drive to back up my photos, laminated donated menus from Chili’s and Friendly’s (which I will use in class), two seasons of the TV series “Rescue Me”, three pounds of Twizzlers for Phil and new camera equipment that Phil had sent to Lee for her to lug over here so he could avoid the shipping and handling charges.

Unfortunately Lee caught some kind of bug on the flight over here and her throat was extremely sore. We got to test out the health care system and were pleasantly pleased. A visit to the local privately-run clinic cost 360 denari (@ $6) and the medications at the pharmacy cost 140 denari (@ $3). Within a few days, her throat cleared and she was cured.

The first of April in Macedonia is the same as April Fool’s Day in America with the exception that the children dress up in costumes (known as masks in Macedonian) similar to our Halloween. The children come to school dressed for the occasion and mid-morning head to the center plaza in parade-like fashion.

This year on 3 April there was a ceremony and a lunch for the army veterans from Probistip and Kratevo. The Assistant Secretary of the Army is from Probistip and he scheduled a performance of the Macedonian Army Band. Many residents turned out on a beautiful spring day to listen to a wonderfully diverse program of music. After the performance, there was a luncheon to which David and I were invited at the hotel. We sat at the table with the veterans and had a great time “talking “and laughing even though no one at the table spoke English. We had a great time. There were several partisans amongst the group who had fought in WWII with Tito against the Bulgarians and Germans. I took a group photo which seemed to please the group and I have distributed a copy to each of them.(checkout My Albums)

This year Orthodox Easter Sunday was celebrated on the 4th and Easter Monday on the 5th. I got to fly my Macedonian flag for four consecutive days. (For some insight into how Macedonians celebrate Easter, check out my Blog from 30 April of 2009.) This year Lee and I colored some eggs using the dyes that are sold in the shops and pazars. The dyes produce rich and deep colors, unlike the dyes we use when coloring eggs back home. Whether the dyes are more toxic has yet to be determined, but we felt no ill effects from eating the tons of egg salad created from the many eggs given to us by our friends and neighbors (it’s a custom to bring an egg for each member of the family you may be visiting in the days after Easter).

While we only colored eggs, Alexandra colored and decorated eggs with her family. She presented us with four beautifully decorated eggs that were works of art. They were exquisite. Unfortunately they were perishable and we had to eventually use them in a salad. Remarkably, we used all the eggs that we had colored and those we had received from others. Understandably we won’t be eating hard-boiled eggs for quite some time.

Also during the week there was an exhibition at the House of Culture (like a Community Center) at which eggs decorated by children were incorporated into displays which used artifacts from the Town museum.

We also had a Tree Planting/Clean-up Day at the school. Someone at the Ministry declares that on a specific day, all public employees will plant trees throughout the country (but the time has to be made up on a Saturday sometime down the road). It’s a nice concept and everyone seems to enjoy themselves. At Nikola Karev some of the older students went out to plant trees while the rest of the students cleaned up the trash on the school grounds and around the nearby neighborhoods. I got to use my grass rake as did some of the students who had never seen such a tool. Unfortunately by the next day there was a good amount of trash on the school grounds because many of the students still discard their trash onto the ground rather than use the provided bins.

With my wife here for the month of April, I will now have to bite the bullet when it comes to sharing my computer, going for walks when I’m not interested in walking, turning off lights that for some reason are on midday, closing cabinet doors to prevent a head injury, shutting drawers left open for whatever god-knows reason, eating healthful food most of the time, and controlling flatulence.

But in the long run, I guess, it’s well worth it to have her here.

Random Observations

Macedonian men, especially seniors like me, don’t smoke cigars. The men congregate in the center, sit around in the park, dine on wonderfully prepared and delicious food, drink homemade wine and rakija, smoke lots of inexpensive cigarettes but don’t enjoy cigars.

There is a national helmet law requiring scooter and motorcycle riders and passengers to use one. With few exceptions, I’ve never seen anyone wearing a helmet nor heard of anyone being cited for failing to wear one.

Another law that went into effect last year was the requirement for bread to be packaged (for health and sanitary reasons) when sold in the markets. It has taken a while, and the bread still makes the trip from the bakery to the store buck-naked, but now paper bags are provided so customers can take the loaf home on the final leg of its journey to the table.

Students as young as 13 go the discos where alcohol is served to those 18 or older and where the music is exceptionally loud. They also place bets at the numerous sports betting parlors in town.

Many men have a well-trimmed and very long fingernail on the pinkey finger on one of their hands.

The model airplane glue that is banned in many places in the States is the glue the students use for most of their in-school projects. For some reason the students seem very mellowed out in Crafts class.

There is no need to put warning signs or install safety barriers when repairing or digging on or near a sidewalk. This employs the same reasoning that I use when I refuse to chop the ice on the steps during the winter months in Massachusetts. My family members and neighbors, my 84 year old mother and 94 year old mother-in law maneuver over them very well because they assume that the steps will always be icy and therefore are always cautious. Those of us who live here in Macedonia are well aware of the potential existence of unguarded construction sites, keep vigilant at all times and thereby avoid any accidents. It’s called defensive walking.

Those of us over a certain age will remember the railroad crossing guards that were employed to manually raise and lower the crossing gate to stop traffic and pedestrians upon the approach of a train. I saw one at the crossing in Veles last month on my bus ride to Skopje.

In addition to the Peace Corps, there are many other countries extending aid to Macedonia during its quest to join the European Union. China, Japan. Germany, Sweden, Holland, and Bulgaria are just the one’s I am aware of. There are others. There’s also an EU version of the Peace Corps.

No ice in The Probe. No Margaritas, no Daiquiris, no Mojitos, no Slush Puppies, no Iced Tea, no kegs, no ice for First Aid (R.I.C.E.). Many families have large freezers but not for ice-making purposes.

Macedonians don’t eat ice cream in the winter for health reasons – it could give you a cold. But any day now, the locks will come off the ice cream freezers in the markets. It will be deemed safe to indulge in the flavors of your choice until the first frost of autumn or sometime thereabouts.

There are no fire hydrants here in Probistip. I’m curious to know what a Macedonian dog would do if it confronted one.

Pensioners and a Presentation

Having lived here in the Probe for more than a year, I finally learned that there is a Senior Center (Pensioner’s House). This revelation occurred only because David works at the Municipal Building and his buddies introduced him to some of the pensioners (retirees) who frequent the place. The Center itself is nestled on a hillside in the middle of a residential neighborhood and I had walked by it many times without realizing what it was. It has a modest recreation hall/meeting room, bar, and kitchen facilities. The upper floor contains nine apartments for pensioners who have no family with whom to live.

David and I were invited by one of the members (Malevka) of their traditional folk group to attend one of the their weekly practices. This group of retirees travels around Macedonia and other Balkan countries performing ancient folk music and dance.

So David and I attended one of the 2-hour Wednesday afternoon practices as special guests and were warmly received by the 30-or-so members of the group. They were very pleased to have us there and very proud of the accomplishments of their group. We got to listen to and observe music and dances that have been performed in Macedonia for hundreds and hundreds of years. The performers were dressed in their everyday clothes and I look forward to seeing them in their traditional garb (garb- what a neat word that doesn’t get used enough).

Upon the completion of the rehearsal, we got to meet the president of the Pensioners’ House and learned a little about the retirement system in Macedonia. (Warning: the following information may contain details that are inaccurate due to my inability to fully comprehend rapidly spoken Macedonian). Every worker must retire at the age of 62 (or 64) to make room for younger workers. Everyone who has worked receives a modest pension (it varies based on your occupation), health care and discounts on some services and products. The retirement system is financed by a payroll deduction from every workers’ wage/salary. I believe it’s about 140 denari (@ $3). I plan on asking more questions about the retirement system when the opportunity presents itself.

David had the idea that it would be great to bring the group some American cookies and cakes as an after-practice treat. So two weeks after our first visit, we returned bearing our home-baked goodies which turned out to be a tremendous hit amongst the seniors in attendance. They enjoyed David’s oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies and my crumb cake and apple-walnut cake, asking us for the recipes and jokingly suggesting that we bring them every Wednesday. We were invited and accepted their offer to join them in dancing a simple Oro (a circle dance) and were invited to be their guests at the annual folk festival in Bitola. We were extended an invitation to drop in at the Center any time.

On the weekend of the 6th, Phil and I visited Michael in his new apartment in Skopje. Michael’s landlord was unresponsive to Michael’s request for repairs so the Peace Corps let him move to a new, very nice apartment, ideally situated about half a mile away. Phil had a Photo Field Day for his Skopje Photo Club on Sunday. We (I joined in as a guest-member after paying Phil 250 denari) went to the Old Pazar and spent an afternoon taking photos with Phil giving helpful tips to the 10 of us in attendance, nine of whom were not required to pay Phil.Check out the photos by clicking on "View My Albums" at the top of the page.

Last week I was able to give a Power Point Presentation to several departments from the Mayor’s office. Some of the officials in Probistip had asked me about my thoughts about their town now that I had lived there for more than a year. So I put together a presentation that offered my observations and questions in an organized format for those who were interested.

I pointed out my concern that there is no evacuation plan at my school and only one exit through which 450 people would have to pass. I referred to the flag now flying in front of our school and hinted that it would be wonderful to see one flying in front of all the public buildings. I mentioned the difficulty of translating Macedonian into English for English speaking readers and volunteered David’s and my assistance in helping with editing any documents that needed it. To help improve community pride and have some fun while doing it, I suggested we organize a parade on their Independence Day (September 8), have a Miss Probistip Contest, sponsor Cleanup Days, promote neighborhood greening projects and playground equipment upkeep, and perhaps have an Agricultural Fair in the autumn. And since we would do it with volunteers, there would be little cost to the municipality.

These ideas, for the most part, are new and haven’t been organized by volunteers. There will be a learning curve since the concept of volunteering is still in its infant stages in this former socialistic country where everything was taken care of by the State. But everyone seemed enthused with my presentation and said that they liked my ideas and thanked me for sharing them.

The municipality can’t sponsor the Miss Probistip Contest for some reason but every male I talked to offered to assist. On the other hand, I was promised by the powers-to-be, and I quote, “Michael, we will have your parade and we will have lots of flags”. Looking forward to it!

Saint Trifon’s Day Round II

Although Saint Valentine is starting to show his presence in Macedonia, Saint Trifon, the patron saint of wine makers, still rules the day on February 14th. And so as we did last year, we forced ourselves to attend the wine festival in Negotino (see last year’s blog of February 20th to get the background). This year I traveled with PCV David, so I was unable to stay with my host family. We roomed at the monastery with Phil. We had a very comfortable room in a beautiful setting about a mile outside of the center of Negotino. A taxi ride to town was @70-80 denari which divided by 3 was about about 60 cents each, so the location was hardly an inconvenience.

We left Probistip Saturday morning on the 7AM bus and with a timely connection in Veles, we were in Negotino by 10:45. After storing our stuff in our room, we walked into town to the apartment of the PCV now living in Negotino and working at an NGO of woodcarvers - Tracy. She had arranged a wine tour in Demir Kapija, a nearby village and 10 of us PCV’s took advantage of the opportunity. Eight of us were 6%’ers (over 50) and two of the crowd were in there seventies. Words can’t describe the beauty of the area so check out my photos. For 600 denari (@ $12) we received a tour of the facility, a large selection of meats and cheeses to go with the wines we tasted and tastings of five different varieties of wine. I must admit that this is not what one expects to do when signing up for the Peace Corps. To drink wine out of a wine glass instead of a mayonnaise jar was downright decadent.

There was a giant birthday party at Tracy’s apartment that evening attended by the many PCV’s and local Macedonian friends of Tracy. There was plenty of food, and sweets and wine and most importantly, the opportunity to catch up with the other Volunteers.

On Sunday, St. Trifon’s Day, I figured I’d saved at least $150 because it wasn’t Valentine’s Day like in America where every male is required once again to prove his adoration of his significant other with offerings such as flowers, greeting cards, and candies. Here in Macedonia, we are only required to drink free wine on the 14th of February. Much less stress.

So at 10AM the festivities began on the plaza in the center. The local priest conducted a ceremony (to which, to the best of my observations, few people listened) and the mayor (I think) trimmed the vines in accordance with the tradition that has been carried out for centuries. The 10-or-so vineries that had booths set up, started serving their “samples” (i.e. full 6 oz. cups) during the ceremony and kept filling and refilling cups for the next two hours. Meanwhile 12 different folk dance groups from Macedonia and surrounding Balkan countries entertained the crowd with traditional folk dances.

Once the wine ran out and the entertainment ceased, I took off up the hill that I had traveled everyday during my three month training period, to visit my host family that introduced me to the simple way of life in Macedonia. They were expecting me. I had called ahead earlier in the week to let them know I would be in town and why I wouldn’t be staying with them. Violeta, their English-speaking daughter and my Guardian Angel, was in Skopje, so there would be no speaking English for the duration of my visit. As usual, Slavitca had prepared a special lunch of sarma (meat in cabbage rolls) with an assortment of sweet and hot peppers on the side.

As so happened, St. Trifon’s feast day this year, coincided with the Day of Forgiveness which is celebrated a certain number of days after Christmas. On this day, people seek forgiveness from their family members for any transgressions that may have made during the past year. It is the day when many Macedonians make and eat baklava and Slavitca had made a wonderful version of baklava. I headed back to the monastery after my four hour visit loaded down with homemade wine, rakija and baklava, reflecting on the fact that I had not spoken English for the entire four-hour visit. Slavitca and Kocho are the best.

Back at the monastery, Phil, David and I hung out on the veranda, despite the cold temperature, smoked my last three cigars and sampled the wine that Kocho had given me. We were joined by three other PCV’s that were staying an additional night and we all hung out listening to Phil tell us how great a photographer he is and David commiserating how great it was growing up on a farm in South Dakota and attending grammar school in a one-room schoolhouse. (FYI: David was the most outstanding student in his grade every year from the first through eighth grade. The fact that he was the only one in his class should not, he argues, detract from that accomplishment. To be ignored, says he, are those who will argue that he was the worst student in his class.)

To end the evening, I proposed that we abolish forever the Latin calendar St. Valentine’s Day and in its place, celebrate the Orthodox Feast of St. Trifon. The motion past unanimously and we vowed to never again buy a soon-to-be-wilted rose or a sappy red card or recite a love poem or spend money on a candle-lit meal at an over-priced restaurant on the 14th of February. It will forever be a day dedicated to pruning the vine and drinking the wine. If of course my wife lets me.

500+ Days

I have now been in Macedonia for 500-plus days but it seems like I just arrived.

Changes are taking place in our school and English language classroom. The long-awaited computers have arrived and have been installed on all the new desks in selected classrooms. They aren’t functional yet, but we’re expecting a team from the government to come by next week to verify that they were properly installed. Then it will be light-up time.

The Ministry of Education is working toward the goal of having computers in every classroom. While this might initially sound like a worthy goal, I personally believe (and I am not the only one) that it brings about a myriad of other issues. First of all, the teachers have not been trained on how to use them (training is scheduled) and many of the older teachers have not accepted the idea of computers. From a classroom management standpoint, they extremely limit the layout of the classroom. They take up most of the student’s desk space, limiting the use of textbooks and workbooks. They establish a confining environment so that the teacher cannot work with individual students and make it difficult to review a student’s progress in their workbooks. Perhaps a work station with five or six computers would be a better alternative. Anyway, we’ll see how it works out.

Alexandra initiated a Consequences for Misbehavior procedure for the students. She posts on the wall-mounted chart instances of misbehavior for students who fail to comply with the class rules. There are five steps, with the fifth offence resulting in a trip to the Principal’s office. It has made a marked difference in the behavior of the perpetual miscreants. Up to now there were no formalized consequences for misbehavior.

MAK 13’s (that’s me) had their Mid-Service Training in Skopje for three days (M,T,W). Our counterparts (Alexandra) had two days (W,Th), with Wednesday being an overlap day when we were all there. It was a time to rejuvenate our language skills, learn more about the Macedonian educational system, hear about accomplishments and challenges of our peers, share ideas and catch up with our fellow MAK13’s doings. The intent of the get-together was to set the stage for our second year of service when most volunteers experience their most successful accomplishments.

I had to return to Skopje a week after the MST for the required mid-service physical and dental exam. The results of the rather cursory exam found me to be in good health. Dr. Darko, the Peace Corps doctor, had me get on the weigh-in scale fully clothed, as do the nurses at my doctor’s office at home. I hadn’t seen nor been on a scale for 500-plus days, so I was curious to find out my current weight. I’m usually in the 195 lb. range (doesn’t 88 kilograms sound better?) but the scale registered 205 lbs. So I subtracted the weight of my hiking boots, cell phone, digital camera, winter-weight clothes, wallet, coins and watch and estimated that, buck naked, I would weigh only 150 pounds (the percentage of error is +/- 35lbs.). Great news! My diet of wine, rakija and bread is having great results.

After my physical I had to kill some time before my 4PM bus to Probistip, so I decided I’d treat myself to a McDonald’s lunch. There are three McDonald’s in Skopje. I ordered three burgers, medium fries, and a Sprite. Initially my taste buds were perplexed but soon realized that they had savored this combination of ingredients before and they burst into an uncontrollable celebration. They wanted more and more and more, ignoring the signals from the depository of the after-chew. I resisted the urge to consume a fourth burger. My lunch was definitely the highlight of this trip to Skopje.

Most adults and twenty-somethings (although the latter qualify for the former) don’t patronize McDonald’s. They have grown up with 30 denari huge sandwiches that are similar to a hamburger, but are topped with fries and ketchup and mayo. They must pay 50 denari for a small McDonald’s hamburger without the fries. However the teenagers and children in Skopje love the place. On the day I was there, the place was packed with high school students and mothers with their young children. So I figure in 20 years there will be a Mickey Dee in every city and town in Macedonia.

Til then I’ll have to settle for a 30 denari pork hamburger (sans beef) on a large bun and topped with fries, mayo and ketchup here in the “Probe”.

Back in Action

The students returned to school on the 20th. They were pleased to be back after a 21 day vacation. Upon my return, I was greeted by the three flagpoles that were once hidden behind 30 foot evergreens next to the school building and now stand way out in front of the school, proudly displaying the Macedonian National Flag. The Director must have gotten tired of me harping about flying the flag, because she had them moved over the vacation. Or maybe she just thought it was a good Idea. Anyway, we are currently the only public building, or for that matter any building, flying the national colors daily. I’m hoping the idea catches on at the Municipal Building and the other two schools in town.

Alexandra and I are still coming up with supplemental ways to teach English. We are developing a system to rollback the amount of time the students spend in class copying vocabulary and grammar rules (good news: the government provides books to all students; bad news: students can’t write in them ). We are using music, English reading materials from our friends in America, and Macedonian-English dictionaries. The several dictionaries that we have open up many new instructional techniques and allow us to involve in different ways, all of the learners in class. In learning a new language, building a working vocabulary is a key to building up the confidence of the learner to speak and write. The texts that the Macedonian teachers must use, fail in helping the students build a vocabulary because they are genetically written to teach English to students, regardless of their native language.

Currently students attempt to learn English without classroom dictionaries. In reality, 98% (hyperbole) of the English teachers in Macedonia do not have their own classroom . They must travel from class to class and bring with them, only what they can carry. So dictionaries are not used and learning a new language remains more challenging for the students than need be.

David and I took a day trip to Skopje over the holidays (he hadn’t yet had a chance to explore it) to catch the Christmas decorations and ambiance of the capital during the holiday season. The City Fathers (if there are such people) did a marvelous job and located a temporary ice skating rink in the center plaza. People were having a good time and in good spirits. When you go to Skopje, you can leave your Macedonian language home. Most of the store clerks and waitresses/waiters speak English so at least you can make a purchase or order some food without getting out your dictionary. I stocked up on peanut butter and David bought a Macedonian flag to fly on national holidays.

The 19th of January is a feast day/holiday in the Orthodox Balkans, or at least here in Macedonia. The feast day commemorates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. The local priests, at the conclusion of the morning ceremony, toss a cross into the lake (as in Ohrid), the river (as in Vardar) or the swimming pool (as in Probistip). As I understand it, men from town who have married within the last year, are entitled to plunge into the winter waters in an attempt to retrieve the floating cross. Honor and blessings are bestowed upon the retrieveree (click at the top of the page on my annotated photos)

We’ve had a few light snowfalls in January, but unlike my first winter here, it has remained cold enough for the snow to stick around for more than a day. The children continue to flock to the "hill" outside my apartment, having as much fun as any skier or snowboarder at Aspen or Whistler. The majority of the residents in my neighborhood heat and cook with wood and basically live in one room for the duration of the winter. With the cold weather of the last few weeks, I see the babas (grandmothers)and pensioneers continuously fetching wood from their storage sheds located behind of the apartment buildings. Fortunately, all I need to do when it gets too cold, is turn up the dial on the thermostat of my electric heater. Electricity is an expensive alternative to wood, so a large percentage of Probistipians continue to use the traditional method of heating and cooking.

I am currently working on a bunch of projects (try to visualize a bunch of projects) which are keeping me very busy. I met the mayor’s chief-of-staff who invited me to give a presentation to the mayor and his staff on my observations and ideas as a one-year resident of their community. I was asked to facilitate a session at the upcoming mid-service- conference for the MAK13’s. I’m monitoring the best English students at school who are translating into Macedonian, Physical Education activities for the lower grade teachers and English-for-Police for the Probistip Police Department.

Right now, I have to do the monthly cleaning of my apartment, do two loads of laundry once the water comes back on, bake a pie using the apples that I received from my neighbors, make a carrot (the Vegetable of the Month) salad that I found on the internet which uses maple syrup and make some soup using the carcass of yesterday’s roast chicken.

Wait a minute! Aren’t those women’s chores? I hope I’ll still remember how to use a hammer, change the oil in my car, and spit once I return home to America.

More Holiday Season II

Christmas on the 25th was just another day and it didn’t really seem anything like a holiday. I did however, enjoy my Skype’ed visit that evening with my wife, sons, their maidens, my mother, my brothers, sister, brother-in –law, sisters-in-law, niece, nephews, and as the case may be, their wives. Also a quick thank you to my neighbors back home– the Wilsons, the Hoveys, the Nolans and others - who have watched out for my wife over the last year and eased any concerns that I may have had in her ability to survive two-and-a-half years without me.

The week after the 25th was the lead-up to the holidays here. Decorations went up, people bustled around the town and the holiday spirit began to appear. The students at school were busy decorating classrooms and common areas. As usual, Alexandra took the lead and was overseeing the whole process. It was nice watching the students make most of the decorations from ordinary pieces of paper.

The music teachers with the help of some of the classroom teachers put together a wonderful New Years Pageant which I recorded. I put together a souvenir DVD which I hope we can use to raise some money for English-Macedonian dictionaries. Since this is a new concept, I will have to sell the principal on the idea.

We had a wonderful teachers’ holiday party at the local hotel. Macedonians love to dance and they seemed to dance the Oro non-stop. I kind of missed the Chicken Dance, YMCA, the Hokey Pokey, and the Electric Slide, but maybe someday in the near future some innovative Macedonian (probably Alexandra) will sneak it into a Macedonian celebration. I feigned ignorance of the Oro and chose not to participate, not because I couldn’t dance it, but because I didn’t have the stamina to dance non-stop for 40 minutes at a time.

Most of the excitement in Macedonian is focused on the first day of the New Year. So the other PCV in Probistip, David (you met him in previous blogs) and I went to Bitola, the second largest and most beautiful city in Macedonia (reference earlier blogs from my wife) to spend time (and free lodging) with the most famous photographer from Connecticut, Phil.

Winter bus rides afford riders a great view of the countryside landscape. The defoliated trees along roads enable one to experience a unobstructed view of the valleys, rivers, and distant mountains. The emerald fields of winter wheat stand out in the otherwise brown and gray landscape and the leafless vineyards and arbors, with their dress-right-dress formations remind one of a North Korean tribute to President (dictator) Kim Jong-il (that’s my analogy, OK? Maybe that wouldn’t be your’s.).

Bitola was dressed in all its holiday splendor and ready to rock at midnight. We caught up with the other volunteers from Bitola, Heather and Katy and Michael (who just completed his PC service) and his friend from Australia, Ed. We showed up at midnight on the square with lit cigars and took in all the sights. The party lasted until 2:30 in the morning. We successfully dodged all the fireworks that were being tossed from all directions.

The secular holiday of New Year’s Day was the most celebrated holiday during the days of the Yugoslavian Republic. Orthodox Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were working days. Now Macedonians have freedom of religion and there are many holidays related to the saints of the Orthodox Church. I was invited to spend Christmas Eve with Jasmina’s (my language tutor and friend) family. Jasmina’s mom put out all the traditional fare (no fat is served on this day, so fish was served) and her father provided us with the recently made rakija and wine from this year’s harvest. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are relatively quiet holidays where family members spend the day at home with one another.

The students are off until the 15th or 20th. I’ll verify the exact day tomorrow. The teachers, however, are required to show up each day for a couple of hours. Once the ridiculously cumbersome (my personal opinion) grading and the documenting -of-grades process is completed, there is little to do for the teachers. So everyone socializes for a couple of hours and then everyone departs for home.

I’ve got lots of stuff to try out, and hopefully implement, in the upcoming months, so I’m looking forward to the students’ return and an invigorated back-to-business attitude for a new year. Don’t forget to check out my newly uploaded photos. Catch you later!