1:00 on Thursday October, we Veles PCTs gathered in our
language learning classroom. We waited through a short introduction, holding packets
of information with our future, and then tore into placement locations.
My future two years in… Bogdanci? I started sifting through pages of
municipality, school, and family information. The Bogdanci municipality has
worked on recent water and park city projects, and their city report depicted
an environmental focus. I learned my high school had a previous PCV and wants to continue developing English lesson planning and conversation
clubs. I read about my future
homestay. I started imagining life with
a 34-year old host mother, 50-year old host father, and 9-year old host
brother. Ten kilometers from the larger
city of Gevgalia in the Southeast of Macedonia, Bogdanci is near the
Greek border with a mild climate with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. I didn’t know how to react. It sounded great,
kind of like my dream when I thought about Macedonia in the recruitment
process. Still the unknown of it all was also a bit uncomfortable.
I remember knowing nothing about Veles before I arrived
here, so after the unveiling, I waited out my initial shock. After talking with the previous volunteer and
other current volunteers in the surrounding cities, I know my experience will
unfold when I am there and will be specific to me. The Peace Corps often walks a fine line
between general preparation and emphasizing that each volunteer has a very
individual experience.
I will say my life in Veles feels like home now. I am getting ideas for projects and using
language in my community with strangers with greater and greater ease. I am developing strong ties to fellow PCV’s
and Macedonians here. All of this just before I visit Bogdanci, before I open
up a whole new thinking realm related to my placement. Ima Vreme they say, there is time.
I have included some shots of a trip to Skopje for the field day. We played Frisbee, ate snacks, and walked to the stretch along all the new government buildings and monuments. I also photographed the school where we study Macedonian and have weekend trainings. I wanted to share some visuals to help flesh out the stories.
