Macedonian days...

OK, a few have asked what a typical day is like here.  Unfortunately I spend the majority of M-F in language and culture class (for the first ~3 months) - so, not too riveting.  But here's a photo recap of (most) of what I did this past weekend.

Friday, after hiking with my 3 PC classmates in the afternoon, my host family kicked off Ajvar weekend. Ajvar is a traditional Balkan pepper sauce that every family makes together.  It begins with roasting a *!&^-load of red bell peppers, then manually peeling, de-stemming and de-seeding them.
Friday night ~11:30...

Saturday morning I woke up still smelling of peppers so I decided to go for a run, otherwise known as my time to speak English with myself.  Unfortunately Kratovo is situated in a mountain valley, thus the only way outta town is UP:

After that beat down, it was back to Ajvar-mania.  The next step was to grind the peppers and soak them in sunflower oil:

Then it was stew time... (check the bad-axe)...

That's my host dad sweating over the HOT stove, this went on for nearly 6 hours.
So while this was going on I moseyed on over to the bazaar...

*just a sweet pic I took of my village on the way to the bazaar.
At the bazaar I scored some sweet Turkish house slippers.

After only a couple more hours of roasting, it was time to jar the Ajvar...(note the sweet slippers)

Saturday night it was time to experience one of the Macedonian passions - Handball.  So, at the local gymnasium:

(we lost)
...Then I went out to the disco with my host sister and friends (sorry, no photos).

Sunday was more hiking - it's the thing to do in Kratovo, Macedonia!

Here's to a more exciting next post.

Distortion of Time

I wonder if it's a good sign or bad sign that the first 2 weeks here have felt like 2 years.  I guess that's just how it goes when you flip your world in every which way.

apologies

sorry, my video failed to upload on my Internet connection here!

better late than never...

Apologies for my weak blogging, but Internet access and time are at a premium here.  I'll do my best to give a recap of the last ~2 weeks.


First off I'd like to thank all my friends from AT&T, Javelin, agencies, etc. who sent awesome emails and send-offs.  THANK YOU all, I wish I had more time to thank you personally.


All my friends, y'all know I love y'all.


Macedonia is so incredible, so different than America.  It's an undiscovered corner of Europe; full of history, culture, and language (not part of the EU, so it's truly unique).


The first week, me and the rest of my class (the 16th class of PC volunteers in Macedonia), went through Orientation week in a hotel outside of Kumanovo.  It was exhausting, taxing, and HOT...but great.  My class is very diverse, many young people, Masters candidates, older/retirees, married couples, etc..  
A highlight was that the American Ambassodor (Ambassador Wohlers) came and addressed us, which was much appreciated considering he arrived in-country the day AFTER we did.
Here is a photo from my Orientation hotel room...(can you say 'wine country'?)

On wednesday of Orientation week the Macedonian National Basketball Team defeated Lithuania...it was a pretty big deal in a country of ~2 million:

I could blah, blah, blah about the orientation week, but I can't even orient myself at the moment to collect my thoughts.

After orientation we met our host families.  My host family lives in an incredible old home on the main street of Kratovo.  I go to Macedonian language classes ~4 hours a day, and then afternoon training classes on other days....my brain is fried.  Of course I still can't converse with my family (and there are so many other cultural differences), but I feel so lucky to be living this life.

OK, I won't ramble on.  I miss everyone in the States!  See y'all in a few years...

Vienna

...landed in Vienna.  Exhausted, and ready for a 2.5 hour layover here...
I need an airport bathroom and 2,981 moist towelettes.

Bon Voyage

I'm in my last few moments of America, and I have to say I've been amazed and impressed by the motivation and courage of the others in my group. I hope I can live up to them. This is a crazy experience thus far, why don't others take advantage??

This blog feels terribly irrelevant & redundant due to Facebook.  Feels retro.

Why's he doing this?

I've been asked that question so many times.

Honestly I don't really know.  Of course I could spout off 101 stock reason, but I think it's just because I can do it and I'm willing to do it, and I don't want to regret not doing it.  Simple as that.
Over the next 2+ years I'm sure I'll learn plenty of new reasons "why".