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.
“The contents of this website are mine personally an do not reflect any position of the US Government or the Peace Corps.”
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