Another Day in Lozovo!!

So yesterday was MUCH better!! I spent most of the day at school venting about my previous day. School was extra long, because we had a technical session with the women who are introducing us to TEFL. I was still feeling mentally drained, so I wasn’t much fun. I spent most of the day talking to my closest friend here, Claire. She lives the farthest away from me here, which is a real shame, so I spend as much time during the day talking with her as I can. Her and Andres are my two closest friends here, although I am quite fond of everyone. Andres is the guy who is in a lot of my videos, in case you were wanting to put a face to the name. Anyway, we all decided to have an “American party” after school, as we all three were in need of some venting time.

My mother was waiting for me as I got out of school at 4pm. She’d gone into the city and picked up all sorts of groceries!! I asked/mimed if Andres, Claire, and Kenzie could come home with us, and of course she welcomed them. I made everyone Turkish coffee, and we sat in the den and watched the new episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. We were fed endless grapes, fresh melon, peanuts, and cookies. Then we turned on Pineapple Express (all of this done on our laptops) and watched that for about 20 minutes. My mother then asked us to sit in the kitchen. She’d prepared the best meal I’ve had yet for us!! We had pork, potatoes, peas, carrots, bread with two types of cheese, and figs. Oh man…it was awesome!! Andres, Claire, and myself all proceeded to sit and talk at the kitchen table for the rest of the evening. It was a PERFECT evening. And I was kind of worried about my guests overstaying their welcome, but my mother kept asking if I was happy, and I kept responding with “monogoo dobro,” which is “very happy,” and then of course I kept thanking her. I think she understands that I really needed all that after my prior day. I feel so much better, you just have no idea. I really love the friends I’ve made here, and I’ll never stop saying it. Haha

On a side note, I recently got my first home remedy!! I have been getting these awful bug bites here. I think they are mosquitos, but I am not sure. Some evenings, I’ll go hit my volleyball around with the volunteers in a huge open field. I always wear shorts while doing this, so I think that is why I’ve acquired so many bites. That being said, I translated in Macedonian to my mother and father that the bites were really bothering me. They pulled out the Rakia (spelling?), which is homemade Macedonian whiskey, and told me to put it on the bites. So I got a tissue, took my glass of Rakia, and put it on the bites. To my surprise, the pain went away!! I obviously still have the bites, but the pain isn’t even noticeable anymore!! And apparently, Rakia is the cure for most things here. They commonly apply it to their skin, even for cuts (I know…ouch!!), or they’ll drink it if they are sick.

They also have something here called “promia.” This is a belief that an indoor breeze is bad for your health. You can have a window open, but you cannot have a door open in the same room. If you have two outlets for a breeze to flow through, it is called “promia,” again not knowing if I am spelling it correctly. This breeze will be the cause of all your health problems, and they really truly believe that. Even in their cars, they will only roll down one window to avoid promia. Promia, I guess, carries bacteria and other negative consequences in it, and it will basically kill you. Just thought it was an interesting cultural difference you’d all find fun to know.

Tomorrow, I have more language classes. I’ve been kicking ass in my homework, but I am overthinking each lesson. I officially dream in Macedonian, so now I’m even studying in my sleep. Haha This weekend, a lot of MAK 15’s (last years group) are coming into Lozovo to visit their old host families. Chris, the previous volunteer from my house, will be coming into town, so I am really excited to meet him and talk to him about my experience. I am hoping he can give me some advice and tell me how my mother is feeling about me. All my teachers say my mom always talks me up to them. They all say she loves me, and I know she does, because she calls me her “American kierka,” which is daughter. I can definitely see us becoming much closer as soon as I can communicate with her!!

Anyway…that’s all for now. Sorry the blog posts are all so long. I feel like I could write for days!! Miss you all <3