the alphabet and eggs

We had our first Macedonian lesson today! Svetlana, a close friend of the Neal's, is teaching us the basics this week. She is fluent in 5 languages...amazing. I want to be her, but I have a looong way to go! Being here makes me frustrated with the lack of emphasis placed on multilingualism in the States. Oh well, I hope to make the most of it now! Today we worked mostly on reading and writing the Cyrillic alphabet, which I actually find to be quite fun! We all kinda geeked out about learning a new language and conjugating new verbs :) haha Svetlana said we were the most excited group she has had in a while. My notes are pretty messy, but there's a quick look at what I'll be working on this week.

This past weekend was great, and we feel like we are getting more of a handle on getting around the city. On Saturday night Josh took us out to a sit down restaurant, where he ordered us a platter of meat and a ton of bread and cheese. That is pretty much everything we love, so we were happy campers. The food here is amazing. At pretty much every meal out I have ordered "Shopske" salad, which is chopped up tomatoes and cucumbers with shredded feta cheese. It's sooo good. After successfully downing the entire dinner, we went to the midnight Easter service at the Orthodox church near downtown. We bought small candles on our way to the church, and brought some dyed hard-boiled eggs for the traditional "egg fight" that happens at midnight. When Josh first told us there is an egg fight, I felt a little concerned...but then he explained it is merely a game (like rock paper scissors) to crack the eggs and then eat them. If I remember correctly, the burning candles are supposed to symbolize how long your prayers are before God. We were able to push through the crowds to get to the gate surrounding the church courtyard. Hundreds of people surrounded the churchyard, and were inside the courtyard with candles lit. It was a beautiful sight and a cool experience to be a part of.

Eastern Orthodox Church during the day

We made some friends at church on Sunday, and overall have been doing well adjusting to being here. (I think anyway!) On Monday us five girls ventured out on our own to complete a scavenger hunt that Josh and Rachelle gave us in order to help us find our way around. We were supposed to go back to the specific places they had taken us over the weekend and take pictures or get information on the list. We only got a few questions done before it began pouring down rain, and so we found a restaurant to get lunch and hang out for a bit. Here we discovered "Nafura," which is now another favorite snack of mine -- toasted bread with feta cheese shredded and melted overtop. It's amazing, and terribly unhealthy I am sure :) Oh well, it's all part of the experience. I am hoping the extensive walking we do here will assist with balancing out all these carbs! haha.

Tonight we begin observations at the Center for Foreign Language. I am really excited for observations this week. Rachelle has given us a good schedule that sets us up well for teaching. I think after this week I will definitely feel more prepared to begin actually instructing in the classroom and lesson planning. We have been here almost one full week, and even though it feels much longer, everything is going well so far! Would appreciate the prayers as I begin the practicum part of being here and continue to adjust.

Lunch, anyone?

Now this is what they call a hamburger. yuuuuum.

Macedonia!

Seeing as how my efforts to write on my other blog regularly have failed, I decided a motivating reason to start another is a trip overseas! Actually, the decision to travel came first, and then the realization that I have an outlet to process and share about it through this. Since my last post was almost exactly a year ago, and it mentioned the journey of last year's TESOL group to Macedonia, I decided to start fresh and begin a new blog for my own experience. 

view from our back window

For those of you who didn't know this trip was coming...surprise, I am in Macedonia! These next two months of observation and student teaching will fulfill the practicum requirement for my TESOL major.   I have been anticipating this trip since my freshman year, and I can't believe I am actually here. We arrived on Thursday and settled into our apartments in Skopje. There are five of us altogether, and we were able to secure two apartments in one house. Two of us are upstairs (that is where I live), and three downstairs. We have a lot more space than we anticipated, and find that being able to run back and forth to each other's apartments is really convenient. 

We will be creating our own curriculum and lesson plans to teach ESL classes at various schools and organizations throughout our time here, and we have two different weekends planned for trips to Ohrid and then Greece. We conclude our trip with a final week of English camp for elementary aged children. That is the overview...at the moment I can only take one day at a time, however, because thinking about all of that sounds a bit overwhelming!

On our first full day in Skopje, Rachelle took us shopping to get groceries and household items. Rachelle and her husband, Josh, and their 2 little girls live here and teach English. They are connected to IWU and are "in charge" of us and our schedule throughout this time. We are essentially lost without them. Literally...as far as communicating and understanding the city we would not have a clue where to start! They have been taking us around, hosting us in their apartment, and helping us figure out what to do (and what not to do). We will be taking a few Macedonian language lessons next week, which I am sure will be helpful. So far I know how to say "hello," "thanks," and "yes/no"...haha, so I can't get too far! Macedonian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, and so I feel a few steps back with reading anything. Not only is everything written in a different language, but they use a completely different alphabet. I'm excited to figure more out though, and I am really enjoying learning about the culture and taking in everything as we go. 

Alexander the Great fountain downtown

This current weekend is Easter here, and it is one of the biggest holidays in Macedonia. While exploring the downtown of the city today we stopped at one of the Orthodox churches to watch some traditional Easter rituals take place. Tonight we will be attending a midnight service at the same church. I am looking forward to experiencing that as well. My descriptions right now might be rather vague, as I am still processing everything and figuring out myself what to say. I have found that my only international experience to relate this to is Kenya four years ago, and being abroad once again brings up many memories. Those are very helpful ones to recall, however, even if Eastern Europe is quite different. I am realizing I have to adjust my expectations of particular cultural aspects that do not apply in Macedonia. Slowly but surely we are seeing more of Skopje, and I am excited to explore more and become more comfortable getting around. 

I am glad to be the in the minority in another culture -- it renews a perspective that the world is so much bigger and diverse. I hope and pray this time is growing and stretching for me... inevitably it will be a challenge at times. I will post more soon!

Day 2