Чао Макадонија!

Се Најдобро преку склики!

This week a few of us are leaving Macedonia. I am heading home to be with my family for the upcoming holidays, Liz is headed to visit her friend in London and travel a bit and other folks are going to Russia to take the Siberian Railroad.

Its still hard for me to believe that this time has come to an end, especially considering the times in the beginning when i thought it would never end. It was bittersweet saying good-bye to my friends, in part because I have no idea when I will see many of them again.

Ajде Чао Драго Цемејство!

Pictured here are my host-sisters and host-grandparents



Last weekend I went to visit my host family for one last time before I returned to the US. It was pretty hard to say good-bye, for a number of reasons. They have fallen on tough times, like a decade ago. Blatec, a village outside of Kocani, is a village in a region that is severly economically depressed with little hopes of climbing out of a long-term economic slump. All the factories have closed down and most villagers live off the subsistence agriculture products they grow in their yard.

It was hard knowing that things aren't going to get better for them anytime soon, and I am powerless to do anything to improve their current situation.

It was hard knowing that my friends that I have now grown to know and love (although I was not allowed to wash my hair on a daily basis and was strongly encouraged to eat chicken soup for breakfast) will be far away and difficult to reach.

It was hard realizing that this is the end of a very exciting time in my life.

New Friends and Last Minute Trips

A new Northern American recently moved to Gostivar (well, a few months ago, but I just met him recently) and its been nice since Shaun moved to Veles to be a trainer for the MAK 10 volunteers.

He is here with through an internship with the canadian government, working for an NGO on human rights initiatives. Like I said, tts been really nice having another person from North America who I can relate to, but even better is that it isn't a Peace Corps Volunteer. Don't get me wrong, I love all of us PCVs, but the conversation is always so similar that it is refreshing to have a new and unique perspective.

We went to Ohrid and saw the sites. The weather cooperated with us this weekend, but the week before it was horrible!

Mom and Dad visit Macedonia!

After my Brother's wedding I dragged my parents back to macedonia with me and it was an outstanding visit. I tried to pack everything in to their two and a half day visit, and I did a pretty good job, but it would have been better had they a few extra days.

We saw Skopje, visited with my landlords (pictured here), and went to the market in Gostivar.

We also briefly saw Struga and Ohrid and then went to Lord of the Dance in Skopje (funny, we saw a celtic performance in South Eastern Europe).

Pictured here is me taking a picture of my dad taking a picture.

This is me and my parents in Ohrid