Peaces of Paige : 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!