Extra, Extra Read All About it

I was recently in the Community Courier newspaper and here is the link to read it!

http://townlively.com/elverson-resident-to-begin-peace-corps-service-in-macedonia/

Veles, a new city adventure!

The park with my school in the background 

After much anticipation, I finally got my sight placement for the next 10 weeks. On Friday morning September 19th, we were walked into the meeting room to find chairs with our names posted on them. After going through the basic morning agenda, we were told to look under our chair and there would be the name of our placement. I opened mine and was shocked to see Veles or велес in Macedonia. Our group will be split up in 4 different towns ranging from a small village to a big city. Veles is the largest of the 4 placement sites and I was beyond excited to hear that there are plenty of markets with fresh fruits and veggies.

Just after finding out my site placement! 

My official first week in PST (Pre Service Training) has been exhausting to a new family, new city and classes. I have language classes for 4.5 hours each day and then some afternoons consist of information sessions such as TEFL, safety and security and medical. Learning a new language is hard enough but having a completely new alphabet with new sounds brings many challenges. Slowly I am learning the language and my host family is helping with that!

Here are some photos of the city of Veles where there are parks, Orthodox churches, many stray dogs and plenty of markets and stores. In my next post I will talk about my new host family!

Right outside my flat is this amazing artwork 

The park right near my school 

                                                       New Orthodox Church

First Week in Macedonia

So much has happened in my first week in Macedonia. After arriving in Macedonia, MAK19 moved into the Woodrow Wilson School in a town called Tetovo for orientation week. This school was absolutely beautiful and we were informed it is the nicest in Macedonia. It is a private school and mostly Albanian students attend this school. The school screams "America" with English signs and posters, American flags spread throughout the school and even pictures of American celebrities in the cafeteria. It appears brand new and I felt really spoiled staying here with brand new bathrooms, comfortable beds and hot showers! They told us not to get used to this and not to think that this is typical for Macedonia. Even the furniture was from Ikea in the dormitories!

This week consisted of many long sessions full of paperwork and information such as safety, culture and language training and an introduction into our sectors. With the Peace Corps, I was nominated as a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) teacher. This is not the only sector that volunteers in Macedonia. Some volunteers will be doing Community Development which consists of working with Non profits and Non Government Organizations.

The Woodrow Wilson School, my home for the first week 

This building is still under construction. 

My view out my window! 

We were taken into town by some MAK18 volunteers. These are volunteers that came this time last year and are the 18th group in Macedonia.

Macedonia has Albanians which are Muslim and Macedonians which are Orthodox. We were able to see both aspects while visiting the town. We first visited the Painted Mosque which is 3 years older then America! It is commonly known as the Pasha Mosque. The mosque was originally built in 1495 but was damaged and had to be completely renovated. America gave Tetovo the money in order to renovate the mosque. They used thousand of eggs for the paint so that it would not wash off in the rain.
In this mosque, the woman pray upstairs and the men pray downstairs.

The Painted Mosque

Inside the Painted Mosque

We then visited two Orthodox churches that were on a huge hill that over looked the Pena River. We first visited the Church of St. Friday and St. Peta and then the Church of St. Nicholas. There were so many children outside the church asking us to take pictures with them. On Sunday is the feast of the Virgin Mary's birthday pronounced Bogo Varitza. There will be a huge celebration in the churches.

I have never been in an Orthodox church so seeing the saints covering all the walls and not many pews were very unique.

St. Friday and St. Peta Church

St. Nicholas Church 

Arrival in Macedonia!

After much anticipation and several hours and even days of packing, it was time to depart for Macedonia. All 44 volunteers met in Philadelphia on September 12 for staging. We are the 19th group to volunteer in Macedonia so we are called MAK19. Staging began at 12:00 pm for registration. We then had a break until 2 pm. Many volunteers flew from the West Coast so they flew in the night before for staging.

That morning I had my last meal which consisted of veggie omelets with orange juice and a cookies and cream donut from Shady Maple. I could hardly sleep because I was full of so many emotions. My parents and I packed my carry on bags and then it was time to leave. Saying goodbye to my home was difficult but nothing compared to holding Riley (my dog) one last time. He is a 9 year old Shih tzu and is a seizure dog so who knows how these next 2 years will go for him. After many tears it was time to leave and we were on our way to Philadelphia. I met other volunteers and said goodbye to my parents.

Last photo at home with my dad 

Last photo at home with my mom (She tried to stay strong but the tears kept coming!)

Saying goodbye to Riley was so hard, missing this fur ball 

Staging was from 2-7 and then we were free to have dinner and prepare to leave in the morning. We would be flying out of JFK and were leaving at 9:30. My parents came early that morning and took me out to breakfast. I am not good with goodbyes so this was the hardest thing I have ever done. We boarded the bus and were off to the airport. Out flight left at 6:00 pm and we would have a layover in Vienna, Austria.

                
                            Last photo in America, my parents dropping me off at the hotel for staging

Thank you to everyone for you prayers, support and encouragement so far. It is because of the amazing people that have touched my life that I am able to embark on this new chapter in my life. God bless!

It's Not Goodbye, But See You Later

This week was tough to say the least. I spent a few days down my Grandmom's house and she made me promise that we wouldn't say goodbye to each other, only see you later. I couldn't stop hugging her before I left. So much can change in 27 months and that's the scary part.

As if that wasn't hard enough, Sunday came faster then I could blink. We had a Peace Corps send off party which consisted of my Mom's brother and sister and my cousins. It was an enjoyable time with delicious food and many laughs until it was time for them to leave. 

Not shortly after saying "see you later" to each of them, it was time for my brother to go back to college. He is a freshman at Muhlenberg and this was my last time seeing him. All of sudden, everything hit me at once and I didn't want that moment to end when we were hugging. Thankfully my brother and I are very close so I know that we will keep in touch but it sure isn't the same as being able to go out for ice cream or go on a run together. We managed to get one last family photo on US soil. 

I say last photo on US soil because I know sometime next year, my family will be over to visit me in either Greece or Croatia. I look forward to us all being together again and I am thankful for the last memories we had. It's only "see you later" and not "goodbye" because "saying goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting" -Peter Pan