Humble?

Today is a national holiday in Macedonia. Most people are either out of town, picnicking, or spending the day eating and celebrating with families. Personally, I have a lot of work to finish, as my dance camp begins this Saturday, and everyone will be coming into town tomorrow.

I have to admit, I have felt extremely stressed lately. Ive had a lot of work pile up in the past week or two, and it all makes me feel unorganized. I have everything done for camp, but Im still nervous it wont turn out as good as Im hoping. I know its unfair to think that way, and I know its kind of normal to be stressed over big events. Thankfully, I've got a lot of people coming into town to help me with the camp. I'll have 3 volunteers staying with me for the week, and two of them will be teaching their own dance classes. Right now, we will be teaching Zumba, hip-hop, ballet, modern, jazz, swing (Charleston), and a "Dancing the Classics" class, where the kids will learn stuff like the thriller dance. Originally, I had the boys teaching a breakdancing class as well, but they've dropped out. Instead, I want to offer an advanced choreo class, but Im still in the air about that one. I've also got some younger Macedonian ladies, who I worked at GLOW with, coming in to help me with whatever little daily things need to be done. They will be lifesavers, I just know it!

Right now, we've got the Mayor's office donating us bottled water for every day. We will be providing fruit every day, and we even have camp t-shirts made! On Wednesday, we will have our dance recital, where we will have about 13 or 14 dances total. I know it isn't that much, and the show won't be that long, but it isn't really the point. Honestly, I sincerely hope the dancers will all be willing to perform, as I know the concept is intimidating for those who've never been on stage before. There's no point in worrying, and I know this, but it still makes me anxious. : )

On a total side note- I've had a creature living in my kitchen walls for almost a month. If I had to guess, I'd say it was a rat. My walls are wooden, and most are slanted, so I can always hear where IT is. Well last night, a SECOND creature appeared and battled the other one! There was squealing and claws scratching, and the entire thing lasted for quite a while. They sounded like two mini-pigs, with all the squealing. I heard what I think was one death, possibly of the smaller creature. Then, for the rest of the night, I heard the winner slowly clawing its way around my walls, looking for a new opponent. The entire time, I laid on my couch just staring at the walls with my mouth open and my computer on mute. I kept thinking, What if they fall out of the wall? Always an adventure!

Humble people, I've found, don't get very far.

-Muhammad Ali

Finding

It's been a hot minute...I know. And yes...it is HOT AS HELL HERE!!

I've been quite busy lately, I must admit. With the daily temps ranging between 93-100+, my daily activities have been varied. Recently, I've been spending an increasing amount of time up at the lake near my city. The lake is said to be "unclean and unsafe," but it hardly stops me from swimming. Honestly, the unclean part is the only semi-concern of mine, and the unsafe bit is from people swimming too close to the dam....or so I think. Regardless, I love it up there.

I've also recently been introduced to a new restaurant in my city. The place itself isnt new, but my discovery of it is! It's technically a "men's place," which really means it's mostly men there. Women rarely eat there, and when they do, it's with a man. Wellllll, let's just say I got there A LOT now, and I looooooove it!! They make this chicken dish pronounced "oo-vee-ya-chee," which is chicken stuffed with cheese and bacon. It is then rolled in bacon and grilled. Typically comes with fries, and I always get some fresh veggie salad and a beer to top it. Goodness, that dish is divine.

After getting home from camp, I also spent some time with a fellow PC friend, Carly. She lives on the Western side of the country with an Albanian family, so life over here for her is totally different. In short, we stayed up way too late every night talking, eating good food, making funny videos, and getting hair-wraps...yes, hair-wraps. Today was her last day with me, and we had another PC volunteer friend, Nicola, come into town for coffee this morning. Nicola is the oldest PC woman here, and she lives in a tiny village close to me. After hours of endless filter coffee and PC rambling, we decided to make a trip into her village. There, we got to see her apartment, which is furnished with the most amazing homemade trinkets, mobiles, origamis, and felted crafts. Her place felt like a tree house to me!! Afterwards, we walked across the street to one of two restaurants to eat platters of fried frog legs. Honestly...I LOVE frog legs here!! It was a great little day, and I was glad to have Carly visit.

This week and weekend are already packed. I've been finalizing plans for dance camp. I'm getting PC volunteers emailing me lef and right asking to come to my camp. I'm flattered that people are willing to help, but this is what I wanted to avoid: a huge PC event.....it isn't about PC....it's about Kocani and the kids. With already 3 volunteers coming to teach and help, plus a few other volunteers who are just coming to observe...well, let's just say Im hoping all the company doesnt stress me out. : ) I'm the kind of person who desperately needs some space, but it may get tight with too many people. Regardless, I think we will have a blast! The girls I have coming are so much fun, and Im really looking forward to having some epic slumber party nights with them, along with lots of cooking and impromptu dancing! We've even added some fun things to camp, like little electives the kids can take during a break between classes. We're going to offer makeup and hair design, along with some other crafty things, which we hope will help everything on the day of the show. If they kids know hairstyles by then, maybe they can do it on each other for the show!! :D


Other than that, the other thing keeping me busy is more company. This Sunday, I should be reunited with my 2 close friends from Lozovo, Andres and Claire. You should remember them from my earliest videos, if youve been following me. They will be passing through, and having them for a reunion will be awesome!! Then a week from tomorrow, I've got 3 people on their way here to help prep for camp. My oh my.....so so so busy.


The summer has already flown by, and I find myself wondering where the time has gone. It felt like just a week ago that the weather was fickle and I was leaving my hibernation. It's amazing how much truly changes each month here, and even I feel myself feeling differently about almost everything. My...what the weather can do to you.

“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” 

The Grand Opening

Yesterday was the grand opening of my dance studio. I got to school at 9:30, and spent the rest of the morning setting the room up. We hung up the framed photographs from the photography club photos all of the walls. We hung the dance posters out in the hallway, and the janitors threw down a red carpet that led from the upstairs all the way down to the studio. The girls got there early too! They spent a few hours rehearsing their dances and getting excited. By 12:15, we already had people showing up. The mayor came, along with two news stations, and even Goce from Peace Corps! I was already so excited!

I began the event by introducing myself and the work I do with Peace Corps. I explained what we offered in the studio, and that it all began by us wanting to encourage and teach English outside of the classroom, while offering extra-curricular activities as well. I thanked the dancers for their hard work and efforts, and explained the dance camp I'd be throwing at the end of the summer. Later, my Director stood up and said some excellent things about me and the progress of everything. Goce, my safety security advisor from PC, also stood up and said a few words. Goce is originally from Kocani, so having his support has been tremendous! After some speaking, I let the kids have the floor!

All I have to say about the dances is that they were AWESOME!! My hip-hop dance crew went first with their dance. You can watch that video in my previous post, or you can find it on my YouTube page. The audience really loved them, and they were not expecting it!! Their tricks were great, and the energy was perfect. My Zumba girls also did a FANTASTIC job!! They were so in sync!! Their moves were sharp, and they just looked perfect. I was smiling from ear to ear the entire time.

As I said, there were two news stations covering the event. Thankfully, I was able to record them while over at Emilija's house for dinner last night:

This is from Kanal 8

This one is from TVK

So yea!! I hope to be seeing some photos from the event at some point too. We had a lot of coverage, and if I can get some of the photos, I will def upload them! 

Other than that, today is the beginning of my VACATION!! It's crazy....it does not feel like I am about to go on vacation. I managed to pack everything I think I will need into my small backpack. Two weeks of traveling in one bag is NOT easy for a woman, but I think I will manage. : ) I packed nothing but comfy clothes, and the warm temperatures made that easier to pack. In two days, I'll be laying on a beach in Zakynthos (google it!), eating seafood and drinking girly frozen cocktails. Corfu (google it!) is later next week, and then it will be off to Italy. I am so excited and ready for my vacation. I'll be bringing my Ipad along, so I will try to update the blog at some point while traveling. Yay for summer vacation!!

“Not all those who wander are lost.” 

– J. R. R. Tolkien

Meet me in the morning

I have been stuck on the couch for exactly one week. I have to admit, being stuck at home really frustrated me. I hated not being able to go to work, not being able to dance, not being able to see all my kids, not being able to really be out in public at all! I will say, though, that some excellent things have come out of my time on the couch.

1. Travel Plans- As mentioned before, I got most of my travel tickets booked for my trip in June. Im still not over the excitement of booking those tickets. I began looking up things we can do in each place, and I discovered some really fun things! For instance, we fly from Greece into Milan on the 23rd....in searching festivals and celebrations in Italy, I found that on June 24th, there is a huge celebration over the Como Lake. Fancy that, b/c Como is only an 8euro train ticket away from Milan AND it is on our way to Venice. HOT DAMN!! I'd have never discovered this, if it wasnt for the time on the couch. :D

2.Dance Camp- That's right. DANCE CAMP!! I've mentioned this idea in passing to some of my students before, because I wanted to create something more we could do in the summer. Well, all of my "student dance teachers" came to visit me this week, so I talked with each of them again about it. I then began to put the plan into action. I set dates. I made brochures and flyers, which we plan on distributing to local businesses, schools, homes, etc. I made a website. I made an outline for the classes we will provide. I spoke to people who have offered their time for things like registration and food/water donations. I've done A LOT. The website is complete, but I am not posting a link to it until I get the OK on two more details.

So camp will be a Kocani thing, but it is not limited to Kocani kids. Ideally, everyone who lives within a reasonable distance from the city will be able to attend, free of charge. The website is setup so that kids will register online. From there, I plan on grouping the kids, based off their age, dance experience, and the classes they are interested in. We will have one day of registration and orientation, complete with some activities for everyone. Then we will hold 3 days of dance classes, which will be held in rotational blocks. On the last and final day, we will hold a recital, so the kids can show off what all they've learned. This event will be open to the public, and I hope it will generate even more kids to attend dance lessons during the school year. Furthermore, this will be excellent for my student teachers, so they can start fully taking over more classes next year, allowing me less opportunity to re-injure myself!!

Well, that's all I've got. It is a beautiful day here, and I'm actually going to get out of the house. Enjoy your quote for the day:

"What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do."

—John Ruskin