Some Other Doings

Peace Corps Volunteers are encouraged to engage in projects other than their primary activitiy (TEFL in my case) known as secondary projects. Excluding anything that has to do with English teaching, I have quite a few of them that are in the works that enable me to interact with Probistipians outside of the school. I’ll mention several short-term activities to give you an idea of some of the things one can be involved with when not pursuing their primary activity.

I have observed the dearth of recreational activities(why do people use this word “dearth” unless they’re trying to impress someone), for the men in town. Granted, they have sedentary activities such as cards, chess, conversing and watching sports, but there are no golf, bowling or recreational activities that promote some sort of exercise. So as I mentioned in another Blog more than a year ago, I am going to experiment with the idea of introducing Probistipians to horse shoe pitching which is a very popular activity with many people in America. The biggest problem was manufacturing steel pitching shoes which are much larger than a genuine horse shoe. So in early September with the fabrication of our fourth pitching shoe having been accomplished by the local blacksmith (refer to the pictures in My Albums), we held our first afternoon of horse pitching in the town park. Those that tried it, really liked the game. With the frozen ground and colder weather arriving soon, we will probably have only a few more matches left until spring. Little steps.

David’s idea of a town-wide photo contest was a success, with 23 citizens submitting 50 photos to be evaluated.Three photos were selected as the ‘winners”. I mention this event even though I had minimal input, because I contributed the “internationally known photographer from America (PCV Phil) to be one of the judges. Since we arrived in Macedonia I have provided Phil with morale, financial and technical support and so I called in some of the cards and had Phil lend his reputation to the promotional material for the contest and participate as a judge. I will reluctantly agree that he did a fine job, just don’t let him know I said so. I am sure that this event will continue to grow over the years as word gets out and owning a digital camera becomes more commonplace in Probistip.

Back in April or sometime thereabouts, three girls from a pool of 27 applicants from Probistip were selected by a lottery to attend the Peace Corps sponsored GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Camp held in July. http://www.flickr.com/photos/peacecorps/sets/72157624542888873/ and www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8hzQCvIAis .They successfully attended the camp with my expectation that we start a GLOW Club at the high school when they returned to school in the Fall. With minimal input from me, they organized, using FaceBook, the first meeting of their new GLOW Club. I was invited to attend and was totally impressed by their enthusiasm and organizational skills. They are planning a host of events over the course of the school year. I don’t think they’ll need me anymore but will check in from time to time and will be available if needed.

Perhaps my most important secondary project, if you want to call it that, is socializing with my Macedonian friends and neighbors and meeting new Macedonians. There is always an invitation awaiting me to have a “na goste”, have a coffee at the cafe, visit a village, meet a relative, or imbibe a rakija. There is no better way to share the spirit of America and to learn about the real people of Macedonia than lots of laughs and a good conversation. Luckily I can do it everyday. There is no dearth of opportunity or dearths(?)of opportunities.

A New School Year

Here in Macedonia, the school year begins on September 1st. The teachers have been required to come to the school building since August 10th because the Ministry of Education requires them to do so. This is the way it has “always” been. So with almost three weeks to prepare for the opening day, the class schedules should have been established, teachers’ classes should have been resolved, textbooks ordered and packets assembled to be given to the students and everyone, one would think, would be ready to hit the ground running.

But such is not the way we do things here in Macedonia. True the teachers are present three weeks prior to the first day but since there are no professional development sessions, no team planning, and no new materials to prepare, the time is used to socialize. On August 31st, school directors have a teachers’ meeting at which time the goals (without teacher input) of the new school year are dictated to the staff, teaching assignments are proclaimed, the date of arrival for recently ordered textbooks from the Ministry is approximated and plans for the first day’s schedule are revealed.

It will take about three weeks before the final class schedules are set in stone as teachers who are not fortunate enough to have twenty classes (full-time) will be attempting to locate open class times at nearby towns and schools. Quite often the number of classes a teacher is given relates directly to his/her political party affiliation or her/his relationship to the mayor or other public officials (make note of my politically correct use of his-her/ her-his). Teaching ability and academic knowledge are not necessarily a critical factor in the employment process.

The school year begins somewhat chaotically with multiple classes assigned to the same time slot, with teachers not knowing how many or which classes they will teach and with some students lacking textbooks. But that’s the way we do things here. Everything will eventually work itself out and by October, it will be smooth sailing.

Alexandra and I are looking forward to continuing our quest to teach English with such resources as supplementary English reading materials, dictionaries for all students in the classroom and very soon, the Internet. Since Alexandra has her own classroom, she can organize it to her own standards, store teaching materials, display student work on the wall and take personal pride in its appearance. Most English teachers in Macedonia must travel from class to class, bringing only those materials which she/he can carry – a textbook and a piece of chalk. This greatly limits their opportunities to be creative and employ teaching strategies which address the different learning styles of the students.

Nikola Karev Primary School (NK) where I teach usually houses grades 1 through 8. However, this year, in order to alleviate crowding at the high school, the first year students (freshmen/freshwomen) are going to classes at NK where there are extra classrooms. This eliminates the need to have double sessions at the high school, where in the past few years, first-years attended a second session from 1-6 o’clock.
The students, dressed in their new finery, fully rested and having grown so much in two and one half months, like students everywhere in the world on the opening day of school, were pleased, excited and anxious to be back with their friends and a familiar environment.

Without the need for double sessions, I was always advocating a LATER start to the school day – from 7:45 to 8:00, 8:15 or whatever. So this year, without the need once again for double sessions, the starting time for school was changed to 7:30, fifteen minutes EARLIER than the previous starting time. Not exactly what I as advocating for. The fact that this earlier starting time requires the already sleep-deprived children and teenagers to awaken a quarter of an hour earlier and presents the teachers with an even less attentive first period class, did not factor into the decision. Most importantly to me, it points out to me my need to reevaluate of my advocating strategy.

What Do You Do When There Are No Students?

As a Teacher of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in the Peace Corps, I am often asked by family and friends back home, “What do you do” when there’s no school?” I always reply that “there’s always a school but sometimes there are no students in attendance at the school.” They will then, in a somewhat annoyed manner which I can’t understand, rephrase the question, “OK, what do you do at the school that is always there when the students are not in attendance, a#$@%*e?”

Well, the key word here is “you” because each Volunteer’s experience is different. Some Volunteers take their vacation time and travel throughout the Balkans. Some will go back home to America for a brief respite. Some will visit other Volunteers throughout Macedonia. Others will sleep all day and party all-night. However, most of the TEFLs are involved in secondary projects within their community and keep somewhat busy with community based projects all year round.

Unlike America where teachers traditionally are on vacation for several months in the heat of the summer and when school is not in session, teachers in Macedonia have only a four week summer vacation. They are required to be physically present at the school even though the students are away on their summer vacation from June 15th until September 1st. This year the teachers were required to be at the school until July 8th and expected to return on the 10th of August and in some cases, even sooner. Since there is no in-service training or professional development activities during this time frame, and once their administrative duties have been completed, they do little but hang around, socialize and drink coffee for a couple of hours until they depart for home to escape the summer heat. So technically, a TEFL has only four weeks of “summer vacation.”

One of the best investments I made was an inexpensive Epson printer/copier/ scanner which enables me to crank out all sorts of projects, lesson plans, letters, and downloaded reference materials that I can share with my counterpart and with whomever else I am working. I labor with my tutor Jasmina and translate materials into Macedonian. The fact that David’s counterpart is the Mayor’s chief-of-staff, enables me to have plenty of opportunities to casually share my observations with the powers-to-be. And quite rewardingly to my ego, they are very open to my suggestions (age and experience are respected in Macedonia).

So without going into too much detail, the following are some of the primary and secondary activities I have initiated or have pushed along this summer (keep in mind the time distance between initiating and completing a project in Macedonia is much longer than in the States): bank-sign-repair project; town beautification project; safety and evacuation project for the schools and movie theater; Why Students Need Dictionaries Power Point Presentation; International Horseshoe Pitching Tournament; Knock Hockey game board; Independence Day Parade consultation; Physical Education booklet for primary grade teachers; student behavior project; Frisbee lessons at the park; English conversation group; Ask Why, Ask Who project; Photo Contest; English for Police Project; Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) club; Children's Nutrition Power Point Presentation; mini-lesson plans for class; and A Model TEFL Classroom Power Point Presentation.

This summer has also provided me with the opportunity to sit at the outdoor cafes and talk with my fellow Probistipians as well as the Japanese engineers from the dam, the Indian managers from the mine, and Americans visiting their relatives or just passing through (when someone from America is in town, my neighbors always insist they come and meet “Michael”). I also had a nice visit with a woman from Taiwan, Carol, who was visiting a friend in Probistip.

Since I did not want to end my Peace Corps service in the middle of the school year, I extended my tour for an additional six months (my wife suggested I extend for two more years - what’s with that?). Twelve of the thirty-five MAK13’s extended for a year which is an unusually high extension rate. Anyway, near the end of a Volunteer’s tour, the Peace Corps hosts a Close of Service (COS) seminar (this year in Ohrid) during which PCV’s are briefed on many topics which have to do with returning to the USA and readjusting to a new way of life. They cover such topics as opportunities to work in the Federal Government, college fellowships, resume writing, completing COS paperwork, health insurance, and the psychological issues confronting a returned Volunteer. Our counterparts were invited for two days to receive some recognition for putting up with us Volunteers.

But most importantly, it was the last time all of the MAK13’s would meet together as a group where we could share stories, compare notes and complain to each other one last time. The first MAK13’s depart for home in early November, their 27 months of service completed.

The MAK 15’s arrive in-country on the 13th of September, as fresh and as eager as we were at what seems like a very short time ago.

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.

Villages in the Municipality of Probistip

In my last Blog I toured the “suburbs” of Probistip which are relatively new, something like Levittown on Long Island, New York and about the same age. However, the villages that are spread out throughout the geographical area of the Municipality of Probistip have been there since the times of the Ottoman Empire. Most of them still have no running water, employ outhouses, and are inhabited by the full array of barnyard animals. They do have electricity, telephone service and the ubiquitous satellite dish. The Municipality has assured that there is a paved road to each of the villages from the main highway, but inter-village travel is accomplished on wagon trails and footpaths.

Most of the villages have seen a steep decline in the number of full-time inhabitants but there are a considerable number of people who live in town during the week and retire to their village on weekends and holidays. Sadly, there are also a sizeable number of abandoned homes in each of the villages I have visited, attesting to the changing times when a family can no longer subsist under such conditions.

Very few of the villages have “convenience stores” so a taxi ride (@ $5-6 round trip), a tractor or auto drive into town on pazar day (Wednesdays in The Probe) is required for such purchases as soft drinks, candy bars, chips or whatever comfort food one craves.

David, the other PCV in town, has set a goal to visit every one of the 32 villages in the Municipality during his two-year stay. My goal is less ambitious. I have accompanied him on several of his “hikes” so far and each one has been an experience which a person would never encounter as a tourist. When you enter a village on foot, it feels as though you were 400 years back in time. You really can understand how difficult (compared to modern times) daily life was. The residents must go to the village watering hole to fetch water if their home well is dried up, maintain a plethora of farm animals and equipment, sow and reap, maintain a flower garden, prepare winter food, patch roofs, make wine and rakija, etc. And yet, everyone seems so content.

The most wonderful part of our excursions is meeting the village people. We have yet to go to a village where the people haven’t greeted us with smiles and hearty hellos. Every villager we have met has invited us into their home for refreshments and good conversations and we rarely refuse. While few villagers speak English, we are able to carry on conversations in Macedonian as long as I have my handy dictionary with me (which I always do). Our visits are always full of laughter. They always have questions about America and they all seem to know someone who has been there. We all talk about our families.they are always curious to know why we are here and they marvel at why someone would leave America to come to Macedonia. They ask me how I like Macedonia and I show them my tattoo with the Macedonian and American flag and the Peace Corps logo and they smile appreciatively. It is always difficult to get up and leave such hospitable and genuinely warm people. They always insist we come back for another visit. And we will.

Click on the top of this page to view My Albums and get a taste of village life in Macedonia. A picture…blah, blah, blah. Also check out my YouTube posting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWO8NqqLT-w.

The “Suburbs” of Probistip

Probistip is the newest town in all of Macedonia. The approximately 33 villages within the Municipality, however, date back to the 17th century (more on this in my next Blog).

The town itself was built after WWII when Yugoslavia opened a fully operational iron and lead mine and large factory that made auto and truck batteries for the entire country. It became the second most affluent town in all of Macedonia. Apartment buildings for the miners and their families were built as well as homes for the managers and professional staff. I’m guessing, as time went by, miners built their own homes away from the center of town. These are the “suburbs “as I like to call them.

(N.B.The mine and battery factory are currently operating at only 20% of capacity (this % is hearsay) so unemployment within the community stands at 35- 40%. The residents have experienced the best of times and now they are enduring some tough times).

A couple of weeks ago on one of the last days of Spring, I took an early morning Sunday walk through the southern neighborhood of Probistip (I forget the name) where many of these homes were built and where many are still in different throes of completion. Being mindful that Probistip is relatively small, it is only a 5 minute walk to this part of the town from my apartment building.

In this part of town (southern “suburbs”) some of the roads have yet to be paved, unlike the northern side “suburbs”, where all the roads are asphalted. Many homes in the southern neighborhood are in different stages of completion but almost all of them have vegetable and flower gardens, grape arbors and fruit trees. The neighborhood on the northern side was established first and all of the homes are well established with beautiful landscaping and outdoor patios and arbors.

Rather than try to explain what I saw on my stroll, go to Click here to Check Out My Photo Albums at the top of this page. Check out the beauty of the Springtime in Probistip.

Happenings Around Town

Probistip has a local TV station that promotes the events that are scheduled to occur in the town but since I have cable TV, I don’t have access to that station. Accordingly I quite often don’t hear about scheduled events until after they take place. Now that David (the other PCV) works at the municipal building, I can get a better heads-ups on whose coming to town or which local organization is sponsoring an event.

I missed the biathlon that takes place here each spring (I did report on it last year) but as far as I know, that’s the only major event I didn’t know about. At the end of this school year, the students from the two primary and one high school put on a musical program at my school. This was in addition to the individual evening school performances that took place on separate dates at the old movie theater or as I call it, The Death Trap. The children and high schoolers are very talented and Macedonians in general, love to sing and dance.

The Municipality sponsored a “Run Day” for all the students. While not a requirement, every student was expected to participate (not all did). So on 14 May, the teachers escorted their students to “downtown”. Starting with the pre-schoolers and finishing up with the high schoolers (for whom it seemed to be a very-voluntary event) everyone ran a course corresponding to their grade level. Certificates were presented to the first three finishers in each category. It was another well-intentioned effort by the municipality to foster a sense of community in the town.

20 May was National Firefighters Day in Macedonia. Children from the primary schools presented flowers to the Probistip firefighters who were assembled on the plaza. Also there, was the fire truck that was donated by the United Kingdom last year and a fire Captain from England who had returned to Probistip this year with some additional equipment. In the U.K., fire fighting vehicles must be replaced every 10 -15 years, at which time those that are still functional, are donated. Members of The Florian Society, a firefighter’s organization, use their vacation time to deliver and train firefighters from developing countries in the use of the donated equipment. David and I met the Captain, who was delighted to find additional English speakers (he did have a very competent firefighter-translator from Skopje with him). After a demonstration of the fire equipment, David and I were invited by Risto, a town official, to the fire house to have a traditional Macedonian feast with the firefighters and town dignitaries to celebrate the day.

On the evening of the 20th, the Fourth Year graduating students (Seniors) had their Prom Night. What was fascinating was the tradition of, what appeared to be, the entire town showing up at 9PM to line the street as the 4th Years arrived at the hotel where the formal celebration was to occur. I really enjoyed watching the crowd as the students with their escorts walked the “Red Carpet”. The girls dressed exquisitely on their big night and rivaled any fashion models walking the Runway. I felt I was back in America on Prom Night, Anywhere, USA.

The Mayor’s Office also sponsored (through the Ministry) free English and basic computer lessons for the residents. I don’t recall the exact number of participants but it was quite impressive. The English instructors chose to use the textbook that was assembled by several previous Peace Corps Volunteers and is the one I use at school with the students I work with. I offered to assist the instructors but none of them took me up on my offer.

Our Wednesday evening English Conversation Group continues to be a blast. We have a fun time talking about whatever seems to be a topic of interest for that week. I really admire the individuals who come every week wanting to practice their English. David and I learn so much about how real down-to-earth Macedonians feel about the issues of the times and they in turn have so many questions about life in America. It’s a great time to share.

Several of the PCV’s in Skopje put together the First Annual Squirrel Basketball and Football Tournament for the purpose of collecting new or wearable clothing for those in need in the city. Such a concept does not yet exist in the Macedonian mindset. Instead of paying an entry fee, teams had to bring usable clothing on the day of the tournament. A dozen-or-so PCV’s from all over Macedonia traveled to Skopje to assist the organizers who had done all the preliminary work. I worked as a basketball referee. The event was an all–around tremendous success and the outside agencies that participated are already talking about next year. Great job, Jordan and Sarah (PCV’s)!

Finally, it’s great to be in Europe during the World Cup. South Africa is in the same time zone as Macedonia so the games are on at a reasonable time. It’s fun to be caught up in the excitement here in “The Probe”. Here one can drink their coffee, beer, or rakija at an outdoor café and watch the games on a large plasma screen, interrupted only occasionally by the hoof beats of a donkey or horse cart, the crowing of the nearby roosters, or the scooters driven illegally by helmetless 14 year olds.