Wednesday, September 24, 2014

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 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Translate