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.