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Monday, September 19, 2011

A long and much needed update!!


Ok, so I am officially a Lozovo resident!! I live with my mother, Melevka, and my father, MetreeThey are awesome!! My mother is a teacher at the school, and my father is an epic gardener. From the first night I was in their house, they prepared me a fantastic meal, complete with fresh eggplant, meats, cheeses, bread, etc etc etc. Their house is fantastic. Through the front gate is a walkway that is covered with grapevines. Grapes are literally hanging down from above, and you just want to jump up and eat one. To the left and right are gardens that stretch all the way to the next house. Peppers, eggplants, melons, cucumbers, and tomatoes are just a few of the many veggies they grow. We also have some chickens and roosters. I know this, because I hear them outside my bedroom windows, although they aren’t as disturbing to hear as you might think.

My room is pretty small, but they have two couches (one that folds out into a bed…a not so comfy bed J ) , a table with chairs, and a small wardrobe. They provided a few hangers, so I hung up some stuff and then cleverly fold and store the rest. I wish I had brought some nice sheets though, because the sheets and towels here are rough!! So far, that has taken some great getting used to. The toilets and showers aren’t bad at all. I still cannot put any toilet paper in the toilet, but we do have running water. Showers are all the handheld kind in a tub, although as of Saturday (when I am actually writing this) I have not yet been able to shower, because the handheld bit is broken.

The first night was a bit rough for me, because you know I can hardly speak any Macedonian. I can speak simple hellos, how are you, I like this, I don’t like this, no more that, and so on. So yea, the first night was all miming!! It was fun, but it was also really difficult. I felt like my mother and father get frustrated and wish they could communicate better with me, and visa versa, but none of us can do anything about it. I have honestly never been in a situation like this in my life…so out of my element…I cannot even begin to explain. That being said though, I am still feeling strong about the experiences, and Im going to work my butt off to learn the language.

So anyway, there are 8 of us here. We all have totally different situations. A lot of the volunteers have at least one English speaker in their family, which really helps them with being able to communicate and get things done. There are only a few of us whose parents literally speak no English. From what PC says though is that it is people like us who will learn the language quicker, because we will be forced to. So it’s a good and bad thing. Haha My parents have also had a volunteers from last year, so they spend a good majority of the time talking about him and Chicago (where he is from). I’ll get to meet Chris this coming weekend, so I hear.

The village itself is tiny. About 900 people, if that. Everyone knows each other….literally. I run into another volunteer, Kenzie, quite often, because his host father is my mother’s nephew. Yesterday, my mom swooped up Kenzie and me and took us into a city that is about 20 minutes away. At one point on the way back, my father stopped the car in the middle of a massive sunflower field…I’m talking MILES long and full of sunflowers. He got out of the car and disappeared for a hot minute before returning with some of the flowers. He wants the seeds!! So Kenzie and I ate the seeds right off the flower in the middle of a fantastic picturesque field. It was fantastic!

One thing to note, before my post gets too long is that I don’t have internet at home. Some people do, but I do not, so I will have to rely solely on the internet at school, which I can only access Mon-Fri, as long as they have it turned on. We don’t have internet cafes, or anything like it. It’s a village in the most literal sense. If you need to call me, call my mother and ask for directions on how to do so. Otherwise, feel free to email me…PLEASE EMAIL ME!! J

You know, I’ve shown everyone here photos of all of you. Especially my family. I have bragged and bragged about everyone. My family here thinks my life in America is wonderful. I miss and love you all more than you know!!

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