Trip’in

This month I received two invitations to travel with two different school groups to destinations that I had wanted to eventually visit during my service in Macedonia. The first was an invitation to travel to the city of Strumica on Tuesday March 8th which is what we know as Fat Tuesday, Mardis Gras, or the day before Ash Wednesday - the beginning of Lent. People from around the country come to Strumica to observe or take part in the celebrations and parade – Carnival. This year there were also groups from Albania and Bulgaria that participated. Last year the students from Probistip won a major prize for their costumes (masques) and this year they returned en-mass dressed as Alexander’s renowned phalanx warriors. They spent many weeks preparing their masques for their return trip this year.

David and I were invited to accompany them on a very nice chartered bus to the Carnival and watch the evening parade. We were treated to a lunch along with the students and later on to a sandwich and juice for the return trip. It was a great photo-op (check them out) and would have been better if there wasn’t a security guard stationed every 6 meters along the parade route blocking the view. I believe it was one of the coldest days of the winter with steady wind, but many of the participants wore some pretty skimpy outfits. After the parade, people partied, as they do at Mardi Grases(what’s the plural of Mardi Gras?) around the world, with lots of loud music and drinks of your choice. I didn’t see any beaded necklaces. Being that we were with the students, we left at 8PM and returned to Probistip at 10:30, although some of the chaperons stayed to party. The students were well behaved, had a wonderful experience and did Probistip proud. Check out www.strumickikarneval.com and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7K36oyNg7o to learn more about the Carnival.

On the 15th, I was invited to accompany a group of eighth graders that were going on an excursion to view the new dam that was being built on the nearby Zletevo River. This was part of the geography teacher’s lesson on studying the water systems of Macedonia. Ivanchay, the teacher, asked me to take photos of the day’s events and wanted me to teach the students how to test the water at various locations. So I had two responsibilities besides being a spectator. The students were thrilled that I was going along and many of them spoke very good English, so there were no communication concerns. Once the 15 passenger mini-bus that Tito rode to school on (why do we ride on a bus but we ride in a car?) arrived, all 25 of us, along with lunches, drinks and backpacks piled onto it for the trip up the mountain to our dam destination.

Ivanchay did a great job planning the day’s events and as it turned out, we precisely followed the time line that he had planned and written out. Timeliness is not a common Macedonian trait, so I was thoroughly impressed. The trip included stops in the town of Zletevo; a stop at a monastery in the mountain inhabited by Orthodox nuns; a stop at a small waterfall for testing the water; a stop at a water treatment facility; a tour of the new dam; lunch along the river where we once again tested the water; a stop where selected individuals descended a 60 degree, 150meter, rain-slickened, rock-strewn incline to view a breathtaking waterfall; and a stop on the way home at a restaurant for tea (Ivanchay and I had a couple of beers. Drinking on field trips in front of the students is acceptable adult behavior, I was told.)

Some of my thoughts along the way: These students really, really get along well with each other. This country is soooo beautiful! How many nuns live in the monastery, do they teach school and if they do, do they rap students’ knuckles with rulers? Why don’t they install guardrails along this narrow mountain road with the 200 meter drop-off to my left,? These rock slides that block the road and that require us to de-bus to clear out of the way, do they occur at scheduled times or could one of them randomly occur at the moment we are passing and sweep the bus over the cliff? Do we have a First-Aid kit with us? Will the girls who were considered to be too-girlie, have their parents give Ivanchay a hard time tomorrow for prohibiting them from descending the slick, rock-avalanche-prone mountainside to see the waterfall? Will I have a heart attack climbing back up the mountainside after proclaiming to the students that I was in an Infantry Division for 21 years and I was used to such challenges? (N.B. I did receive an ovation from the students for having successfully completed the trip and I further embellished the reputation of ALL 64 year old American men in the minds of my Macedonian friends.) Maybe passengers' laps count as a place to sit when considering maximum seating capacities on buses in Macedonia? How well can the driver see now that it is raining when only one windshield wiper works and the windows are fogged-up? Will the bus driver (who by the way was very professional) answer his cell phone if it rings as we’re going around the next blind curve? How qualified is the mechanic who performed the last brake job on the bus and was he in a good mood when he did it? We sure did laugh a lot today.

Can any day get much better than this day in Macedonia was?

Your Trash Could Be My Treasure

This blog entry is directed to my fellow TEFL Peace Corps Volunteers who have little resources to use in their classroom other than a textbook and workbook. Others are more than welcome to read it if so inclined.

One day when I could no longer fit another one in my kitchen drawer, I finally decided to put to use the beer, soda, and juice container discarded bottle caps (DBC’s) I had been saving (TEFL PCV’s rarely discard anything that may someday prove useful in a resource-less classroom).

To help some of the struggling students who were having trouble with the Latin alphabet, I took 26 of the DBC’s and drew one letter on each. The students thoroughly enjoyed the task of putting them in order while singing the Alphabet Song, or not, and they became somewhat proficient in the sounds of each letter.

This one small success led me to come up with a myriad of uses for the DCB’s. Of course I needed to renew my supply, so I conducted a contest among the 2 fifth and 2 sixth grade classes - the class that collected the most caps in one week would receive a batch of my famous homemade cookies. That alone inspired them to collect over 1400 multi-colored caps. Plus we had a lot of fun competing.

But rather than go on here and describe other ways I found to use the DBC’s in the classroom, at the top of this page, click on to My Photo Albums and open the album “Bottle Caps” where you will find annotated photos describing some of the ways we use the DCB’s with the students to reinforce what they have learned. I am sure you will find many more.

Eat To Live

Having been here in Macedonia for 29 months I have had the opportunity to sample most if not all of the traditional food dishes. All of them are made with the home grown ingredients that are seasonally based and are very fresh and quite delicious. So right now, root vegetables-potatoes, carrots, onions, leeks, garlic, beets- are easily found at the market here in Probistip. Sometimes you can find lettuce and broccoli because some of the growers have installed plastic covered hot houses. Imported oranges, mandarins, kiwis, grapefruit, bananas and local apples are plentiful. For some reason, dried cranberries are available. Hats off to the marketing people from the cranberry growers of America who have overcome the Macedonian tradition of reluctance to try something new or different.

The five meat stores make it easy to procure pork, chicken and sometimes, beef. It’s still very difficult to find lamb in this part of the country. The beef I have bought, however is very tough, so I have been unsuccessful in making a nice roast beef or beef Wellington. The ground beef makes excellent low-fat hamburgers and Shepherd’s pie. You can, of course, find a better variety of meat in the bigger cities. There are quite a few “meats” that are available that I have not developed a taste for or in some cases have not identified, but are quite popular here. Tongue, hearts, intestines, brain, kidneys and all sorts of dried smoked meats and sausages fill the meat displays.

As good as the traditional food is, there is a real shortage of variety in the towns and villages. Here people eat to live, not live to eat. Each of the dozen-or-so restaurants have the same menu and choices. No Italian, Chinese, Turkish, or Mexican. No chain restaurants. But for the equivalent of $5, I can get an enormous salad, fresh bread, 2 beers or 2 glasses of wine, an entrée with fries and a pancake dessert (a crepe). I can get a large roll filled with a “hamburger” (a pork-beef mixture) and fries and covered in ketchup and mayo for 65 cents. A beer would make it $1.05.

Every Wednesday in Probistip is market day, a day to meet up with neighbors and friends from the villages and a day to procure items which aren’t readily available in the stores in The Probe. It’s a very big social event. I am always amazed at the pint-sized babas in their traditional dress who have come out for the occasion to shop. not even 4 ½ fee tall pushing a wheelbarrow or pulling a shopping cart full of a week’s necessities, whether it be fresh produce, paper products or some new clothes.

A frustrating task is trying to get an older Macedonian to try a new food. Some won’t even try, some will try reluctantly and some look forward to the new experience. Jell-O because it wiggles too much and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because “we don’t eat salty and sweet together” (Payday), received a thumbs down. Some children at school liked Toll House cookies, others didn’t. Fruit pies when I make them, which are unknown in these parts, generally receive a thumbs-up.

I rarely eat out simply because there is no variety in the restaurants. I can always find something of interest to make at home with the ingredients I have on hand. Frequently I must make substitutions for ingredients but the final dish always turns out edible. The Peace Corps Volunteers in Macedonia put together a cookbook filled with recipes that can be made using ingredients that can be found locally.

Lately I’ve been making my own bread, much to the dismay of the students at school and my male and female friends. Men don’t bake. That’s impeding on the roll of the women folk (clever play on words). Freshly baked buttered bread, 15 minutes hot out of the oven ranks in the Top Ten Pleasures of life on earth. Why couldn’t God have made vegetables taste like freshly baked bread? I would surely look forward to eating my brussel sprouts and green beans.

Most Macedonians in the rural areas have never left Macedonia and are unaware of the overwhelming variety of foods in the world. They are content eating the foods that their families have been preparing for hundreds of years. Variety doesn’t really matter – unless you’re a PCV who has lived in-country for the last 29 months.

Classroom Management 101

A milestone was reached upon our return to school on January 24th. It became very apparent to me very early in my classroom observations in Negotino and in Probistip, and verified by almost all the PCV TEFL’s throughout Macedonia, that the students behaved somewhat like the characters in the novel Lord of the Flies. By this I mean there didn’t seem to be any behavioral direction for the students to follow, so they more-or-less behaved as children would behave, given no supervision. When I asked the Macedonian teachers if students were always so “uncontrollable”, they would respond that when they were in school under the Yugoslavian Government, things were quite different and discipline was not an issue.

So the missing key here in “Deadwood”, as I soon realized, was that the students didn’t really know how to behave and were ignorant what the teacher expected of them. To address this hole in their schooling, I put together a Power Point Presentation for Alexandra entitled “My Expectations in My Classroom”,“My“ referring to Alexandra. She accepted the idea and presented it to each of her classes (5th, 6th, and 8th grades) on their first English class of the New Year.

The topics covered in the presentation were: Do Your Own Work; No Leaving the Classroom Once You Enter; Be Ready to Work When the Bell Rings; Check the Chalk Board for Your First Assignment of the Day; Follow Our Classroom Rules As Posted on the Wall; Look at Me When I Am Speaking; Rules for Conducting a Class Discussion; Bring Your Handout to Class; When Another Student Is Speaking, Listen; Do Your Homework; Ask Questions; Comply With Our Noise Level Chart; Be Prepared to Answer Questions; and Listen and Learn.

These topics might seem rather basic, but each one of them was something that the students needed to hear from the teacher. So Alexandra spent the period explaining in detail what she expected in her classroom. Other teachers may have different or no expectations, but her English class would be conducted in compliance with her expectations (a new marshal in Deadwood).

The difficult part for Alexandra now, is to enforce and reinforce her expectations. It’s a lot of work initially to change behavior patterns and it’s tiring. She is letting the students know she means business and she’s getting wonderful results. The students, for the most part, have bought into her ideas. The students now come into the classroom knowing they can’t leave to wander the hallway and hangout near the water closet. They know they must be ready to work with pen/pencil, textbook and handout when the starting bell rings, not starting to get ready (they have a five minute transition time to get to their next class). They must check the board and begin their assignment while the teacher fills in the Dnevnik (another story). They know if they break one of the class rules (developed by the students themselves) they will write the rule out 15x’s in English and 15x’s in Macedonian for homework. They know they must face the teacher and look at her when she is speaking and not be doodling or daydreaming. They know they must bring their handouts that Alexandra and I put together to save time by eliminating copying vocabulary and grammar rules into a notebook. They know they must raise their hand to make a comment during class discussions and not just yell out their opinions while another student is speaking. They know Alexandra keeps a record of completed homework assignments. They know they should not be embarrassed to ask questions and that the teacher thinks they understand what she is talking about if they don’t. They know they must be silent when the teacher gives them a “One” command; whisper on a ‘Two”; indoor voice on “Three” and rarely, if ever, use the “Four” or “Five” mode. A “One” is the default mode.

So far the results have been wonderful. The students now have understandable guidelines and they are very content to follow them. I also have noticed Alexandra’s surprise and elation how classroom behavior has changed and she admitted that it’s fun to come to school with a new idea to try out on the students. She also knows from experience over the last few weeks, that initially it’s going to take a lot of effort on her part to reinforce and enforce her newly codified expectations. But she fully understands that her efforts now will result in a better learning environment for her students for years to come. It’s all up to her.

I challenged Alexandra last December to see if she could teach her lessons for the month of February without using the designated textbook that was selected to be used in Macedonia (and which I hate for many reasons – another story). Sadly, most teachers only have the text and workbook and no other resources and couldn’t accept such a challenge. We’re now half-way through the month and she has yet to use the textbook. Instead, she has devised some wonderful activities, found relevant websites on the internet, introduced the students to ThinkQuest on the computer, and used pertinent music and lyrics. I don’t doubt that she’ll make it to the end of the month and meet my challenge.

I’ve been busy building up a supply of teaching resources that the English teachers can use to supplement and reinforce their lessons. My son Jesse and his friends made a donation of a continuous ink-flow printer and supplies necessary to make laminated flash-cards, game boards and other materials that need to be protected for re-use. The materials will be available for use by any of the English teachers in Probistip.

I’m also completing “Operation Bottle Cap” so there will be a handy supply of manipulatives for working with students of varying abilities, from the simple making of the Latin alphabet to irregular verbs and opposite adjectives.

My next immediate goal is to conduct a workshop for all the English teachers during which Alexandra and I will present all of the strategies and materials that we have developed over the last two years. I’ve got to convince the manager of the schools here in Probistip to allow the teachers to attend. When the Ministry of Education sponsors a workshop, the managers and directors jump through hoops to insure teachers attend. Locally initiated workshops are unheard of so I’ve got to make a convincing argument to have one.

How’s My Liver Doing?

During this holiday season, a lucky member of each Macedonian family has the opportunity to be blessed with health, good fortune and happiness on Badnik (Christmas Eve). How? If you are the one to acquire the coin hidden in a piece of homemade bread given to you at dinner, then you will receive many benefits in the New Year. And if you are a male married during the previous year, you are afforded a SECOND chance to win such blessings. It happens on Voditci.

Voditci is the day commemorating the baptism of Jesus. In the Orthodox Christian community, there is a tradition whereby the local priest, after a short ritual ceremony, tosses a cross into a lake, river or whatever body of water is available. Recently (within the last year) married males from the village or town compete to retrieve it. This is the strict tradition in Zletevo but in many communities now, any adult male willing to confront the frigid waters, can participate.

The previous two years I attended Voditci in Probistip where the event is conducted at the town swimming pool because there is no lake or river in the Probe (see my blogs from January 2009 and 2010). This year along with David and our good friend Clavche, I went to the nearby, (15 minute taxi ride) town of Zletevo where they have a river. At 6AM we set out and were among the first to arrive at the site on the Zletevo River where the ceremony would take place. The only ones there before us were the individuals warming the rakija and tea and the individuals setting up the sound system. This gave us the opportunity to get the best spot to take photos.
Traditionally, men from the community contribute to the rakija pot and so there is plenty of the stuff to go around and it’s free. So in order to meld into the community as envisioned by the Peace Corps, at 6:45 AM I had my first rakija of the day solely to be “one of the guys” (AKA “peer pressure”). In 64 years I had never had a 104 proof alcohol so early in the day but its warmth and sweetness was comforting on a cold winter morning. Plus the men in the town were pleased to see that I was participating in one of their beloved traditions.

We were told that the ceremony would start about 7AM, so IAW Macedonian convention, people started to arrive at 7:15 and the ceremony began at 8:15. Time is an approximation, not an exactitude, here in this wonderful country. But since my fingers were pretty numb from the cold, I was glad when the priest and his entourage finally arrived. After a brief liturgy under the gazebo, the pope (the Macedonian word for priest is “pope”) and the men from Zletevo who had been married the previous year, participated in the traditional throwing and retrieving of the cross (check out my photos).

During the event when I was changing lenses on my camera, a lens cover flew off and landed on some rocks at the edge of the water. It would have been very difficult, if not impossible to recover it, so I kind of wrote it off. But the many Zletvoians who witnessed it, were deeply concerned about the situation. Remember that David and I were visitors in the community and stood out from everyone else. People were always looking at us out of curiosity, but in a very friendly way. And so it was important to them to retrieve the lens cover for their guest and they did so when one of the non-recently married swimmers climbed up onto the rocks to retrieve the lens cover. Everyone nearby was sincerely relieved that I it was returned to me.

When the ceremony was over and after my third to-be-sociable-rakija (and to prove my American manhood to the Macedonian men), we headed back to the center where we would search for a taxi to take us back to Probistip. However, on the road back, Stojche, one of the gentlemen we had been talking with, invited us into his home for a “na goste” (a visit). This always sems to happen here in the smaller towns and villages. People invite strangers into their home for food, drink and conversation. We went.

Two and one-half hours later, 5 more shots of homemade rakija, salad, coffee, lots of laughs and a sharing of life’s experiences with Stojche and his wonderful wife, the three of us headed back to Probistip. Cab fare was 160 denari ($2.50) split three ways. I appreciated the fact that I wasn’t the driver and not in the position of having to prove to my Macedonian friends that I was capable of driving after consuming an inordinate amount of alcohol.

When I returned home I needed to get some shut-eye. The rakija had taken its toll. I grabbed a blanket and headed out to my chair on my balcony. It was a somewhat mild winter day and it was sunny. As I lay ensconced on the recliner, I briefly reflected on my wonderful 8 rakija-day among the wonderful people of Zletevo before I fell asleep (passed out) for the next well-deserved two and half hours. This gave my liver a chance to do whatever God intended it to do. I was pleased knowing that I survived the binge and that the men of Zletevo appreciated my participation in their tradition and rewarded with an A+ (when it comes to drinking their National beverage). All in all, a challenging day’s work as a PCV.

I’m now looking forward to a couple of alcohol-free months. And, I believe, so is my liver.

Many Traditions

The month of January is basically a month of celebrating. It’s like the time in America between Christmas and New Years when everyone “goes to work” , however you want to describe work. The holiday spirit lasts three to four weeks. Why not? We can always accomplish tomorrow what we could have accomplished today.

The town looks very festive during this time and the lights will probably stay up till at least February. I’m hoping we get at least one snowfall during this time. School is not back in session until the 24th so the students are slowly forgetting much of what they learned in the first half of the school year. The teachers have finished their grading and record keeping as required by the overzealous demands of the remnants of the socialist record-keeping bureaucrats. Yet the teachers must still report to school almost every day, be seen, drink a cup of something hot because the building is not heated, and then head back home after an hour or so. Why? No one knows.

Since Phil is always free-loading off of everybody, David, Jim, Michael, Lillian and I decided to invade Phil’s place in Bitola to celebrate the New Year and freeload off of Phil. Much to his credit and my astonishment, he was the perfect host and put together a couple of nice meals. We celebrated with 10 other PCV’s who had come to town and who stayed with a couple of other Bitola-stationed Volunteers. The seniors amongst us acknowledged the New Year with cigars and Jack Daniels ($30 a Liter) on the square at midnight. There were thousands of people attending the event and everyone seemed to be having an enjoyable time. I was able to get a few really good photos of the fireworks because it was the first time I was actually under a fireworks display. They exploded directly overhead. There were no safety zones set up and we stood directly next to the launching area.

I understand from the many people who asked me where I was, that there was a very nice celebration in Probistip. As nice as Bitola was, I looked forward to my return home to Probistip on Sunday, having eaten all of Phil’s food and drinking most all of his hard-to-come-by black tea (You can find a half dozen or more kinds of tea in Probistip. Tea has a medicinal value and there is a tea for every ailment. Apparently there are no ailments that can be cured by drinking India tea (black tea – Lipton) because none of the stores or markets carry it).

In the USA, it’s back to our daily routine after New Years. Here, we still have the Christmas season ahead of us. On the 5th of January, David and I were invited to attend a traditional ceremony that takes place on the mountain. Many of the men from town head up to one of the local mountains for the purpose of collecting oak leaves which they will place in their Christmas Eve fire. I’m not exactly sure of the meaning of this tradition, although I did understand oak, smoke, strength, health, and luck when it was being explained to me. Of course the occasion was celebrated on the mountain with blessings by the priests, rakija, wine, food and traditional music and dancing.

Last year I was unprepared for the tradition of children coming around on Christmas Eve morning(December 6th). Representing angels (I am told), they carry a large staff and go house –to-house singing the words:”If you are asleep, wake up! If you are awake, make us cookies! If you can’t make us cookies, then give us walnuts! If you can’t give us walnuts, give us chestnuts! If you can’t give us chestnuts, give us some money? If you can’t give us some money, then we will break your window!” This kind of puts a damper on the “angel” scenario, but according to the police chief there have been no reports of broken windows on the last few Christmas Eve mornings. This year I was ready for the children, although I might have slept through their 6AM arrival had I not heard them singing across the street.

Christmas Eve (Badnik) is spent at home with family. A meatless meal is served and traditional formalities are carried out (see my blogs from January 2008 and 2009 which go into more detail). (Congratulations to my good friend Violeta in Negotino for getting the coin this year!) On Christmas Day (Boshik), families and friends visit one another. Gift giving is kept to a minimum, considering Father Ice made some deliveries on New Year’s Eve. Gift giving is not a big deal in Macedonia. I love the idea. No stress in trying to figure out if your wife wants a new iron or a new vacuum.

After the religious celebration of Christmas, many people look forward to celebrating Old New Year’s Day, January 13th in accordance with the Julian calendar. Another excuse to party! David and I were invited to attend the party of the municipal employees. It took place at the fish restaurant located in a beautiful setting in the mountains and owned by the mayor. It was another fun-filled party with the traditional food, drink, music and dancing that one comes to expect at these occasions. I was even able to throw a few of my infamous dance moves into the traditional Ora which a few adventuresome Macedonians were able to mimic.

The last traditional event of the season will take place on the 19th when the men of the town/village who were married the previous year will attempt to retrieve the cross thrown into the bitterly cold lake/river/ swimming pool by the local priests, commemorating the baptism of Jesus (once again, if interested, more detailed accounts of this event are reported in my blogs from January 2009 and 2010).

During this school break I have been putting together materials for a workshop for all the English teachers in Probistip. I have to try and sell the idea of canceling English classes for one day to the “superintendent of the schools” so the teachers can attend on the school’s time in Alexandra’s classroom. Usually teachers are expected to attend these workshops on weekends (great for morale!) This is a novel approach to offering in-service training so it might be a hard sell. We’ll see.

Hi-Tech? No! No-Tech Today

We were finally rocking with our computers in the classroom. Alexandra could use them to demonstrate an English language rule (of which there are thousands that I was, until recently, unaware of)) for all the students to watch simultaneously; she could monitor each student’s computer to insure each student was working on the assignment and not FaceBooking or gathering sports betting information ; she could lock the computers of those who chose to violate the usage rules; she could demonstrate an example of a rule to some students, while those who understood the concept could work on a more challenging exercise; and she was able to play lesson-oriented music through the computer to an external speaker system.

All this ended three weeks ago when her computer encountered a Linux OS problem and became unusable. The regional IT guy who is supposed to keep the computers working, lives in another town and won’t come to repair it until he gets the bus fare/taxi fare from the principal to make the trip across the mountain. One can’t blame him because his salary of 200 Euro/month does not enable him to pay out of his own pocket for the trip and he could never be assured of getting reimbursed anyway. Expense accounts are virtually non-existent because of past corruption practices. So we will wait until one the day when the stars are aligned for him to show up. Prayerfully, we won’t need to order a part.

Now that the some teachers are trying to incorporate computer usage into their teaching strategy, they are finding out about the unreliability issues confronting computer usage (hardware problems, internet connection problems, software problems, compatibility problems) which require technical support staff that can be responsive to one’s problem. I can understand their reluctance to use computers and stick with the textbook.

Currently we are back to mostly using the text and the workbook for the time being and are once again limited to teaching without an asset that teases us on a daily basis. (“Will I work today? Or not? Hit the ON button and find out.””Maybe I will work for the first class, but only halfway through the third class. I’ll surprise you with my unpredictable and of course, unreliable behavior!”). (N.B. The italicized text is the computer talking.)

We have had a few days of winter weather but it’s still remarkably warm. The shorter daylight days seem strange when the temperature outside is in the 50’s and low 60’s. On my morning walk to school, the light of the rising sun gives a different and interesting color to the surroundings then it does on the mornings when the sun is higher in the sky.

The people of Probistip are getting ready for tMacedonia’s most-celebrated holiday – New Years Day. The town has added even more colorful lighting to the community and “downtown” is very lovely. Fireworks (illegal) are heard everywhere. The decorated shops are offering a variety of holiday articles. New Year’s cards are being exchanged and a tinge of Western Christmas is sneaking into the community as Santa Claus and gift exchanging are not so unusual anymore. The students love to sing “Jingle Bells”.

I spent December 25th (the randomly selected date that was assigned to be the birth date of Jesus) over in Zletevo where I took some photos of some beautiful winter scenery. I was able to make small talk with some of the residents (it such a pleasure to watch the positive reactions of people when I, an American, try to talk with them in Macedonian. I say try, because I am not that good and it is sometimes a struggle. But they really appreciate the fact that I am trying and it brings smiles to their faces).

I also did some water measuring of the Zletevo River for an environmental project that was supposed to be done by the students of one of the special subject teachers in conjunction with a world-wide effort (www.WorldWaterMonitoringDay.org.). The deadline of December 31st for submitting data was fast approaching and I wanted to provide the data for the site that we registered. And I knew it wasn’t going to be done soon with the students, if ever. So having conducted the tests by myself, I am now familiar with testing water turbidity, dissolved oxygen, ph level, water temperature and I have learned the importance of how these variables interact. Unfortunately, the students aren’t and haven’t.

Upon my return from Zletevo, I Skyped my family back home at the pre-arranged time of 9:30 EST and I was able to cyberly partake in our traditional Christmas morning breakfast and the traditional opening of gifts.

By the way, Phil and, I quote, “his Best Friend” came to Probistip and conducted a very informative workshop to any Probistipian that was interested in learning some basics of photography. There was a decent turnout and Phil and his “Best Friend” were invited back in the spring by the Mayor’s office to conduct a four-day workshop in Lesnevo. Phil has done a very nice job starting photo clubs in quite a few Macedonian cities. He and his “Best Friend” complement each other’s skills exceptionally well. I just hope they can continue to put up with each other and not drift apart. (FYI : During an interview with a Macedonian magazine last year, Phil was somehow misquoted or perhaps misunderstood by the translator because it was reported in a widely disseminated national newspaper, that Phil’s CAMERA was his Best Friend. Of course we never let him forget and bring it up innumerable times when we’re together.)

P.S. The stars ARE aligned. The IT guy was here today (27 December) and got our computer working. And we didn’t need any parts. He told me he had to pay the fare to get to Probistip out of his own pocket (200 denari) and will not be reimbursed. He must manage all the computers in three large towns/cities by himself. He told me it takes months for him to receive his pay and that makes it very difficult for him and his family to get by. Sadly, he is only one of the thousands here in Macedonia who can never be sure if or when they will receive their salary from the government.

Schools out on Friday the 31st and the students will report back around the 24th of January. Michael F., David, and I will be heading to Phil’s in Bitola to celebrate the New Year’s arrival. I can’t believe this will be my third New Year’s Eve in Macedonia. But believe, I must. (don't forget to checkout the photos)