Thankful, Thanks, Thank you, благодарам: Gratitude

Fall in Skopje 

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I have been reflecting on the the many things that I have to be thankful for in my life. This concept seems so simple, yet how often do we reflect on all of life's blessings that are constantly poured out each and every day.

As a spiritual person, I try each to live each day with an attitude of gratitude. As St. Ignatius said "The deadliest sin, is ingratitude. It is the cause, beginning and origin of all evils." This comes as a great challenge.


 Having a grateful heart is so important because in our world today, it seems that the media is constantly telling use that we are never enough. We always need more "things," whether it's a new car, a new hairstyle or new wardrobe. How can one be grateful when they constantly are left feeling unsatisfied and wanting more?


Living in a completely new country, I have come to appreciate the luxuries we have as Americans. The simple things we take for granted and never think twice about, that many people across the globe live without. There are many things in Macedonia that I also have to be thankful for because I am constantly blessed here.


I am thankful for a hot shower, because it means I am not showering in a bucket and have clean water

I am thankful for the language I am learning, because it means I have the capacity to learn a new language and challenge my brain

I am thankful for the heater in my room, because it means I am warm at night

I am thankful for fresh fruits and vegetables, because it means I can sustain my vegetarian diet in a country where vegetarians barely exist

I am thankful for wifi and FaceTime, because I am able to keep in contact with friends and family despite of the many miles that separate us

I am thankful for the bed I sleep on, because it means I am not sleeping on the floor or on a wooden plank

I am thankful for the walls that surround me, because I am protected from the harsh elements

I am thankful for my legs, because I am able to run each day and release my stress

I am thankful for my glasses/contacts, because I am able to see and would struggle without them

I am thankful to be living in a country that has Christians roots, because without it would be an immense challenge

I am thankful that I came from a family that values service, because without it I wouldn't be in the Peace Corps

I am thankful for the country I come from, because it means I have religious freedom, an insane amount of food variety, job stability, and less political tension then many of the countries around me now


I am sure my list could go on and on.. I challenge you today to take a step back and reflect on the things just in this very day that you have to be thankful for.

Macedonia vs. Slovakia

When you think of a European sport, what's the first one that comes to mind? Football of course or fútbol, or even фудбал depending on where you are in Europe. This past weekend, I and 14 other volunteers went to Skopje after language class to experience the passion and love of Europe's favorite sport. You would think a stadium that can hold thousands of people would be full, but contrary to popular belief, the stadium was almost empty. 

The fans there were very enthusiastic but it was nothing like the Arsenal game I went to 2 years ago. I guess you can't compare football in London to Macedonia though! 

We booked a hostel 2 minutes from the stadium and had the whole place to ourselves. Something about the atmosphere made this extremely relaxing. 

Group photo at the hostel 

We sat around playing games and laughing for hours before the game. It was like a mini vacation away from the stress of training. With less then 2 weeks left in PST, we wanted to spend one last time all together while we are living close to the capital. 

Soon enough we will be official volunteers, living in various parts of the country with different schedules. As much as I wanted to be a grandma for the weekend and go to bed early, I chose to spend this precious time with my friends and I don't retreat this decision. 

The Veles crew

Macedonia's national team is not very good and I guess that plays a big part in why a lot of fans do not attend the games. There was a huge group of crazy fans behind us covered in Macedonian gear and blowing in noisemakers. 

This past week we have been practicing the Macedonia national anthem for our swearing in ceremony and we were able to sing along at the start of the game. 

Macedonia is the red team, of course! 

Sadly, Macedonia lost 2-0 but I had a fantastic time at the game. 

I am reminded to live in the moment and take advantage of every opportunity I have here. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to see 2 European teams. The tickets were extremely reasonable, unlike trying to go see a national sports team in America. Also transportation here is very reasonable so getting around is easy. 

Go Macedonia! 

I look forward to exploring the many opportunities this country has to offer and continuing to follow football so I can adapt to the culture! 

Cooking, Baking and Eating: Life in Macedonia

So when you hear the name Macedonia what comes to mind? Well for most people, very few things come to mind because most people have no idea where this place is! After explaining to people that it's above Greece, they instantly think I am living in Greece. Macedonia is very different from Greece in so many ways. You may assume that I am eating food similar to Greek food, but this is far from true.

A Macedonian dinner I was served at my site visit: potatoes, rice and olives with cheese and more olives  on the side 

Greek yogurt can only be found in the capital, contrary to the fact that Greece is our next door neighbor. I have only seen Doner Kebabs (lamb that sits under heat lamps and then served in pita) in one city and the cheese here is not Feta and the people get offended if you try to call their cheese (or сирење as they call it here) feta. This post is to show things that I have eaten while here or things I have made. Of course being a vegetarian, I don't eat a lot of the traditional dishes but I have tried a lot of new dishes. My host mom has altered some of the recipes to exclude meat.

  
I never realized as Americans, how privileged we are that we can go to any store and buy all the ingredients we need for a recipe. Being in Macedonia, almost everything is made from scratch. My host mom still can't get over the fact that I have to look up recipes on the internet when I have to make something!

Cherries used to make juice and also a nice snack

If there is one food dish from Macedonia you should know about, it's Ajvar. It is a spread like relish or salsa made from roasted red bell peppers and garlic. It takes an extremely long time (anywhere from 9 hours to 2 days) to make and is very labor intensive. Each peppers must be peeled and roasted over an open flame. Macedonians eat this with bread, cheese or even plain. I love to put it on eggs in the morning since I try and stay away from the bread. Macedonians use around 60-70 pounds of peppers to make this in the Fall. They store it in jars so that it can last they throughout the long winter months.

Ajvar with сирење 

Some things I really miss that are staples in an American kitchen: vanilla extract (they have vanilla sugar here instead), PAM or some kind of cooking spray, chocolate chips (they don't exist here), evaporated or condensed milk, nutmeg, marshmallows, graham crackers, caramel, easy access to a multitude of cheeses for a small price (anything but сирење is expensive here so no parmesan or mozzarella), vegetable stock, maple syrup, Italian seasoning, taco seasoning/Mexican spices


Now my list could probably go on but for now those are the main things I miss when looking for recipes and attempting to bake and cook. I am learning to improvise and experiment which doesn't always go so well but it's a great experience!

Made brownies with my host mom last night (delicious but didn't taste like American brownies!)

Baking with my host mother has been an incredible joy. This Sunday I was in my room writing a blog post and she said "Paige, come. I am making Palacinke." This is the Macedonian pancake that is more like a crepe. I told her last week that I recently ate this at a friend's house and that I loved them. The one I had was filled with the Macedonian version of nutella (called Alpico and tastes more like a s'more spread then nutella) and it had bananas. Yum! I was so excited to have the opportunity to see how these are made. 

She only used eggs, flour and milk for the recipe 

Earlier that morning, I had attempted to make "healthy simple pancakes" that only use 2 eggs and a banana and they didn't turn out so well. I was excited to see and try her version of pancakes. I sure hope that she doesn't think that those "healthy pancakes" are the actual pancakes in America! 

She is an expert flipper, not a single one hit the floor!

Sweet success: yes those are filled with Alpico and bananas! I was so touched

While we were sitting by the stove and waiting for the Palacinke to cook, we began talking about different things we like to make. I asked her if she knew how to make homemade bread and she said yes. Little did I know that she was going to make me some! Soon after the pancakes were done, she got out the ingredients and began making the bread. I couldn't believe it. 

You have to let the dough sit for a while after making it. We had dinner and let the dough sit and after dinner it was ready to go in the oven. She sent my host father to the store for some jam so that we could have warm bread and jam as a snack. I feel spoiled and so deeply touched. I didn't mean to imply that I wanted her to make the bread today. I was just curious if she knew how to make it. 

Just after coming out of the oven 

The second loaf still looks beautiful the next day

Now my host father was feeling a little left out, in a joking way. He wanted me to take some pictures of the salads he makes for me. Yes every single night, my host father makes me these beautiful salads! 

Now before coming to Macedonia, if you asked me what my least favorite vegetables are, I would say beets and radishes. Well people change and apparently taste buds change because here I am eating these veggies and they are delicious! I sure was missing out at home. Although how we eat beets in America is gross. Here they used a cheese grater and they are very fresh. There are no beets in a can. 

The eggplant parmesan

2 weekends ago, I went over my Macedonian friend's house to make a new recipe. We made eggplant parmesan were able to find parmesan cheese, I can't believe it. The eggplant was very salty but it was still good. Next time I will be sure to use less salt. Apparently I was the expert in this recipe and having never made this, it was a challenge. This took forever to make because unlike America, you can't just buy crushed tomatoes in a can so I had to make this from scratch. Also the main oven is broken so we had to use this portable oven and it could only fit one small pan for all of the eggplant. I was happy that I was able to make this recipe under the circumstances! 

Last but not least, in case you are wondering what cakes look like in Macedonia, here is a picture from a birthday party we threw last week for 2 volunteers and one volunteer's host sister. One of the host sisters of a fellow volunteer had a connection with a bakery had these cakes made! They were so incredibly reasonable in price. These would be extremely expensive back home. What a fun birthday party with delicious cake! 

Steve loves beer (the popular and super cheap beer here is called Skopsko), Sydney loves ballet and Teadora is a huge Harry Potter (Ravenclaw) fan

Yes that's 4 layers of cake, 2 chocolate chip, 2 chocolate with chocolate and vanilla icing in the middle

Visit to My New Home

City Hall

After waiting 8 weeks, the time finally came for me to visit Kavadarci. This will be my home for the next 2 years. In 20 days, I will be moving to my new site and starting a new adventure. I will be teaching English to students in the local primary school. The school ranges from kindergarten (or 1st grade as it's called here) and goes until 8th grade (or 9th grade). I will be teaching the younger students until the end of December and then our schedule changes and I could possibly teach the older students. 

Meeting my new family was extremely nerve wrecking. My language skills were put to the test once again as my host mother speaks no English. She was extremely welcoming and gave me a giant hug. She had me sit down on the couch and came back with a giant tray of food. I first had to eat a fig dessert because the Macedonian tradition is that when you first enter someone's house, they feed you something sweet so that you start the visit off on something delicious and welcoming. She told me that her daughter is a vegetarian and that the last volunteer was a vegan. I was relieved to hear that she is familiar with vegetarians because so few people here understand my way of life! 

In case you were wondering how to write Kavadarci in Macedonian 

As if meeting my family wasn't nerve wrecking enough, I then had to meet my counterpart. Your counterpart plays a very important role during your time in PC. I will be working with her for the next 2 years. I was very anxious and thoughts were running through my mind "what see is like?, her teaching styles, interests, etc." After talking with her for only 20 minutes, my nerves were eased and a friendship started to form. I discovered she lived in London for 9 months (could this be any more perfect?) and she also lived in America for 3 months working in Virginia and Vermont. Our common interests instantly helped form a bond and her sweet disposition made me feel at home. After touring the city, we made plans for tomorrow and I left to meet Jasmine, the fellow volunteer in my town. 

Jasmine will be working for an organization called Kreaktiv. This organization is very unique in the fact that this is where the EVS (European Voluntary Service) volunteers work. One volunteer arrived from Lithuania and all of the volunteers met at a restaurant to welcome both her and Jasmine. Jasmine invited me along to meet everyone. We had volunteers from: France, Belgium, Lithuania, Ireland, Wales, Estonia and Portugal all at one dinner table. Now that's what I call an international dinner! I look forward to getting to know the EVS volunteers and making friends from all over Europe! 

Welcoming Milda and Jasmine to Kreaktiv

The next day, I visited the school I will be working in. I am the first volunteer placed at this school so the staff were extremely excited to finally meet this mysterious American.When I walked into the classroom, there were so many eyes staring back at me. I felt like an alien and a Hollywood celebrity all at the same time. It took me a moment to realize that this was not the class I would be observing for the day but a welcoming committee of all the older students in the school. Their chairs were arranged in a circle and my chair was placed at the center of the room. One student pointed to the board and I could see the excitement in his eyes. On the board were two posters: one that said "Welcome Paige" and the other that had half of the American flag and half of the Macedonian flag coming together as one flag. It was beautiful! They asked me a series of questions, one kid even wanted to know how to make tacos. They then had me speak about myself in Macedonian to demonstrate my language skills! I think I passed the test!

Reflecting on my counterpart still brings butterflies to my stomach. She defies all odds as a Macedonia English teacher in that fact that she is not traditional at all. She is extremely open to new ideas and has a unique way of teaching. I think that her living internationally has helped her see the world in a different light. I am excited to work with someone who is passionate, dedicated and open to new ideas and new ways of teaching. She is sweet and calming and kids soak up everything she has to say. 

This past week was a very humbling experience. It finally hit me that I would be leaving my current host family in a very short amount of time. This brings tears to my eyes because I feel so loved and apart of this family. They took me into their home, welcomed me into their heart and treat me like their own child. I realized the unparalleled amount of patience my family has when I try and piece together something in Macedonian. My list could go on and on. Going forward, I will cherish every moment with my current host family. The greatest moment was coming home from this 3 day trip and my host mother welcoming me with supplies to make guacamole. This touched into the deepest part of my heart and I will forever remember that moment. 

It's hard to believe only 20 short days, I will be leaving Veles and moving to Kavadarci to begin my work as a volunteer. Stay posted for updates about my last few weeks in Veles. 

A Little Piece of Home

Last week, after having a frustrating day, there was a knock on the door during language class and one of my fellow volunteers opened the door with a giant package in his hands. My eyes immediately lit up knowing that my package had finally arrived safe and sound. Two minutes later there was another knock on the door and a letter was also delivered to me. Instantly my frustrating day turned in one of the best days of Peace Corps thus far.

It's so full thats it's bulging everywhere 

We all have experienced the joy of getting mail, and receiving mail in the Peace Corps is no different. Although I think it's even more exciting since the mail has traveled so far and managed to clear customs. Everyone wanted me to open it in class but if you know me, you know that I like to do this type of thing in private to make the moment more personal.

Once arriving home, I opened the package. I still can't understand how my parents managed to fit so much stuff in one box. It weighed over 9 pounds! Some of the treasures inside were winter running clothes, marshmallows, candy corn and even a cake mix with s'mores icing! I plan on using the marshmallows to make sweet potatoes with marshmallows for Thanksgiving and I am going to make the cake for my host family next weekend!

So much love in one package!

What a true blessing this was! Feel free to send some snail mail my way! My new address is listed below. I won't be moving there until the end of November but with the way this mail system works, it will be weeks before I receive any of the sent mail.

If sending a package, we sure to put "old clothes worth $0" on the customs forms or my package will most likely be opened and things may be stolen from the box. 

Paige Gibbons 
Ul. 4 јули 16 
1430 Kavadarci 
Macedonia

The second line is in Macedonian and if you can't write this, you can also write "4 Juli, 16"

Thank you to all my family and friends for taking the time to send thoughtful and inspiration messages, notes and goodies! 

Field Day in Skopje

This post is way past due, but with my crazy PST schedule and many other assignments and activities I haven't had a chance to write.

Picture this: American food along with other Americans in a beautiful park in the middle of Europe. What more could you want? On October 15th was "Field Day" which is a combined welcoming party for the new volunteers, MAK19, and a goodbye party for the MAK 17 group.

The day was full of many laughs, new friends and delicious food. We all gathered in a park in Skopje and had the opportunity to meet many of the volunteers in Macedonia as well as talk to those fellow volunteers placed in our future sites.

If you know me, you know how much I love food and I was so excited to eat guacamole with chips, couscous, brownies, cookies with real chocolate chips (chocolate chips don't exist here), baklava and even kraft macaroni and cheese! Of course this is only a glimpse of the food there! The fellow volunteers were extremely generous in cooking and making the wonderful food for the picnic. We even had shirts made that say "Field Day 2014" with the Peace Corps symbol in the outline of Macedonia.

Peace Corps Friends Iris, Sonya and Jasmine 

After the picnic, we had the opportunity to explore Skopje! Finally we had a chance to see the city and not just from a bus window. You will see a surplus of statues, that seemed to be placed everywhere you turn in Skopje. It's as if they are trying to make this city modern with a twist on recreating buildings that appear old and historic. This city is being rebuilt with the hope to make it more attractive for tourists. In 1963, 80% of Skopje was destroyed by a 6.1 magnitude earthquake. It killed 1,070 people.

Alexander the Great

A closeup on the Alexander the Great Statue 

If there is one thing that Macedonians are proud of, it's that Alexander the Great came from Macedonia.  Now if you are Greek, you may have a different opinion on where he is from. There is a lot of controversy over claiming Alexander and the Greeks are not pleased with the massive statue in the center of the city! We also discovered an American bakery that makes cheesecake, pies, cupcakes and even oreos! If I weren't so stuffed from the picnic, I would have ordered something but I was able to try a few bites of my friends' desserts and it was fabulous!

Notice the random statues across the river

I love this little swimmer diving in! 

Notice the amazing castle wall in the background with the Macedonian flags flying

Recreation of old buildings along the river

The American bakery "K8" in Skopje!