Commitment Accomplished

The Peace Corps commitment is for 27 months. My group, the MAK 13’s have now been here for 26 months and individuals have started to return to their home towns in the USA . The out-processing procedures limit the number of Volunteers who can depart to 4 or 5 a week, so the whole process of getting everyone out of Macedonia takes about six to seven weeks. Some Volunteers (I being one of them) choose to extend their time so they can complete projects that they are working on. At least eight Mak13’s have extended for various lengths of time (6 months to a year) which is an unusually high number of extendees. I chose to extend six months so I could complete several in-the work-projects and so that I could finish the school year with the students whom I have grown so fond of.

Meanwhile, the MAK14’s have almost completed their first year on site (plus three months training) and the MAK 15 Trainees will complete their training and be sworn in as Volunteers on Thanksgiving Day, the day after which they will head out to their new assignments in villages, towns and cities throughout the country.
The eight Trainees here in Probistip found out last week where they will call home for the next two years. They had a chance to visit and spend a day there, meeting their counterpart, getting a feel for their new village, town or city, and seeing their new digs. They all seemed very pleased.

Here at Nikola Karev, the computers that were installed 10 months ago in the our English classroom are now fully functional. We have the internet and the teacher can control and monitor each student’s computer, so that FaceBook and sports betting sites can be locked out. Alexandra has found various TEFL sites that enable her to work with different levels of students simultaneously and it throws a little variety into the usually mundane teaching strategies that teachers are forced to employ because of their limited resources. Alexandra has embraced this new technology but I am not sure if many of the other staff members who have this technology, have. Time will tell.

Alexandra conducted a brief workshop for the Trainees on using the computer network and monitoring the students’ work and I gave a presentation on a Model Classroom and on my lessons learned as a TEFL. Hopefully they gained a few insights into teaching in Macedonia but there was no test, so I don’t know how much of it they absorbed or found useful.

Speaking of useful, I finally found a use for all of the plastic bottle caps that I have been throwing into a kitchen drawer, caps I figured I would someday come in handy. I took 26 of them and wrote one letter of the alphabet on each cap so that I had the complete alphabet. I employed them as a manipulative at school when I worked with some of the students who were having a difficult time. It was so successful that we needed more sets so we had a contest to see which class could bring in the most plastic caps, with the winning class getting Michael’s (me) homemade cookies. The winning class brought in 1173 caps and we collected more than 2500 in one week ¬(Only the 5th and 6th Grades participated). We can now make all sorts of manipulatives to reinforce tenses, parts of speech, sentence structure, colors, sounds, etc. All for free!

Despite all of the good things happening in the classroom, there is still room for improvement. Time could be used more efficiently during the 40 minute class. Students’ study skills could be improved. Advanced students could be challenged more. Slower students could be more involved. Class discussions could be better managed. Parents could be more involved. Student accomplishments could be better recognized.

So each day we strive to sell the concept that I have written on a sheet of paper taped to the classroom wall – “Better is the Enemy of Good Enough”.

A Family Visits

The highlight of the month of October was the fourth visit of my wife, Lee, and the first visit of my younger son and my “idna snaa”(translated “maybe my future daughter-in-law), Jesse and Nicole. My wife stayed for a month but Jess and Nicole could only stay for five days due to their limited accrued vacation time.

It rained everyday they were here but really didn’t prevent the four of us from having a wonderful time. They stayed in a huge elaborate hotel room in Probistip at the Hotel Cresovo Topce which had the most fascinating shower stall. The shower had a radio, blue lights, and nozzles that shot water from every direction (a truly unexpected perk). The hotel staff went out of their way to make sure they enjoyed their stay (45 dollars a night which included a large breakfast).

During their stay we all visited my host family (the family I lived with during my 10 weeks of training) in Negotino where they were treated with the celebrity status that was afforded to me during my stay. We hung around watching and learning how to make rakija, ate a traditional breakfast and lunch, and toured downtown Negotino. We also visited, via a three hour bus ride, the cosmopolitan city of Skopje and the old Turkish bazaar with my Peace Corps buddy Michael F. We had innumerable “na gostes” with all my Macedonian friends and hung out at the cafe’s meeting and talking with the locals. We visited Alexandra in her home in Zletevo. Jesse and Nicole spent a day at school meeting the students, participating in some language games, and answering all sorts of questions from the students. They said they had a great time, wished they could have stayed longer, and couldn’t wait to tell their friends about the hospitality and friendliness of the Macedonian people. If there is a next time, perhaps there will be some sun so they will be able to see that there really are beautiful mountains in Macedonia.

Meanwhile Lee B. was here for her fourth visit. It meant that for four weeks I was no longer a bachelor and had to share computer time and bathroom usage, eat vegetables, and endure her chronic habit of misplacing her things. I calculated that I spent at least 37 hours waiting for her to “be ready in a minute” or find something that was lost in her purse. As a “bachelor”, I drink out of the carton, eat out of the pot, use the same fork and spoon for days, change the sheets semi-annually, wash dishes weekly and have twice, in two years, cleaned the bathroom. My way of life dramatically changes during her visits. I have to readjust to talking when I have no interest in the topic, to taking walks for the sake of walking, to express my feelings, to eating when I’m not hungry, to listening to cat stories, and to purchasing stuff that I don’t need.

But when it’s all said and done, I find it’s all worth enduring. It’s the price I have to pay to be with my honey and best friend of 38 years (and counting).

Harvest Time

In most of the villages and towns and even in some of the larger cities in Macedonia, the people are preparing their winter stock of food, just as they have done for centuries. It’s a social time when neighbors get together and roast their peppers, salt/vinegar their cabbages, cauliflowers, peppers and green tomatoes, make wine and rakija, and split and stack wood. It’s a busy time but everyone seems to enjoy the season.

The market on Wednesdays is now stocked with canning jars and equipment, giant heads of cauliflower, peppers of every shade of red, yellow, orange and green, pickling cucumbers and cabbages that require a forklift to move.

Various varieties of apples, plums, blackberries, apricots, figs, quince, pears and earlier in the summer peaches, melons, cherries, and strawberries are being made into slatko (fruit in a thick syrup) and compote (fruit in juice) for something sweet to eat and drink during the winter months. Chestnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts are being shelled. Red peppers and eggplants are being made into into ajvar while tomatoes and peppers are being made into pinjur (a paste if thick or a soup if thinned) or are being preserved in oil and spices. Cabbages, cauliflower, green tomatoes and garlics are being preserved in a salt and vinegar solution in large barrels or large plastic containers. Strings of drying red peppers, to be crushed into paprika, are visible on almost every yard and balcony. The root vegetables –potatoes, carrots, beets, onions and garlic are available all winter at the local produce market, so that they are being somewhat ignored at the moment.

Hunters, with their hunting dogs, are industriously procuring their winter rabbit meat. Most of the winter supply of pork, goat, mutton and chicken is still wandering around the barnyards and fields, blissfully unaware of their date with the dinner table, not as a guest but as the main course. They will soon be butchered and the meat salted, smoked or packaged for the freezer.

So temporarily, during this harvest season, the outside air is filled with the aroma of roasting peppers and eggplants and the smoke and smell of burning wood from the outdoor grills and the sound of logs being cut and split. It’s an ambiance that I will miss upon my return to Massachusetts where open fires are prohibited between May and December ( and only between 10AM and 4PM with a permit between January and April on days when it is safe to burn) and where cutting firewood at 7AM or after 5PM would be inconsiderate to my neighbors.

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.