One week into Kocani

So I havent been home much, so I havent had time to write a proper update. But before I forget, here is a link to some of my photos from the swearing-in ceremony. You will also find a couple photos of my new home at the end of the album!!

Swearing-In Ceremony

Everything is going really well. I started teaching, and I think the kids all really like me, and Im sure they think I'm a little crazy, haha!! I'm still finding it hard to fully adjust to being here....don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it, but Im just trying to adjust still. I had a great day today though....here is a photo one of the students at my school took. Her name is Lilika, and we are going to become photography buddies!!

I like the photo. Anywho, I am making new friends already! I made friends with a French guy. One of the guys who works for Peace Corps put him in touch with me and some of the other volunteers that live around here, so that was fun. I also met CJ this week. He lives super close, and we will be doing the Model UN stuff together. Paul and Elena, two more volunteers, came over the other night. I made RANCH DRESSING (thank you, women and men of Willowbrook), and we ate the living hell out of it!!!!!!! Goodness it was so good. For the record, if you want to send me Ranch dressing and other seasoning packets, please do so. I also made my lemon alfredo pasta I love so much, AND I had to make more sugar cookies, because people are in love with them. My counterpart's son wont stop talking about them, so I made more and gave her some to give to him. Haha, fun fun!! 

Now all I need is to find some Xmas decorations. I hope I get to feeling festive sometime soon. Im feeling really fortunate to have such a great placement. That's all for now!!

My sister is in Macedonia!!

My sister is in town!! IT IS FANTASTIC!!

Jessica arrived about midday on Wednesday. Unfortunately for me, I still had a little over 3 hours left with PC things, so my language teacher agreed to walk her back to Milevka's house for me. By the time I got done with my PC stuff, I ran home and greeted my sister, who was sitting in the kitchen with my host father. He was showing her all of his "homework," which is basically all the stuff I wrote out for him to pronounce different simple English words. He was showing off!! Jessica and I sat around and caught up a bit. We drank a lot of coffee and relaxed a bit with the folks. Andres swang by for a hot minute and joined us for dinner, before the three of us headed out for a short walk around the village.

The walk was really nice!! Jessica was able to see what Lozovo looks like at night, and we were able to do some much needed chatting about what's been going on at home and such. The entire time it felt so surreal....just the fact that my sister was in Lozovo!! Later that night, Jessica and I organized all the fantastic items my mother sent my way. Later, we laid in bed until around midnight just chatting up a storm...again, MUCH needed!! It felt so good to have my sister.

Yesterday, Jessica came to school with me for the day. She mainly sat in the back and did some stuff on the internet and read a bit, but it was nice to have her see what class is like for me. Luckily for us, it was an early day, and we were out of school by noon. After school, Jess and I caught a bus into Velec. We walked around the city, ate at a local restaurant, visited my old counterpart, and shopped a bit. We arrived back in Lozovo after the sun went down and decided to visit Andres's house for a quick visit! I wanted Jess to see what another village household was like, and Vera is by far one of my favorite women in Lozovo.

There, we were offered MANY drinks (surprise, surprise) and food. We sat around just chatting a bit with everyone, and around 7, we went back home for dinner. It's really quite entertaining to be in the middle of my sister and Milevka communicating. There's a lot of "What did she say?" going on, and me doing my best to translate on both sides. Sometimes, I caught myself speaking poor English even, because Im so used to thinking in the Macedonian sentence structure. My host father walked around all night showing off his knowledge of the phrase "oh my god," which we all found to be hilarious. After a while of relaxing with the host parents, Jess and I retreated back into my room where we spent another night just laying in bed and talking.

By the time I decided to actually go to sleep, I felt an enormous weight of sadness run over me. I realized Jessica had not much time left with me, and that I was beginning to miss her again already. I now see why PC suggests we do not have company from back home for the first few months, because seeing and speaking with her has just made me feel homesick. She has promised to come back for a couple week in the spring though, so I'm going to convince her to bring momma with her so we can all be together!! Dont get me wrong....it's really difficult to not have my family here, but you know I am doing just fine. : )

Today, we are going to Skopje after school!! We will be having dinner at an Italian place, relaxing at a bar later, and enjoying a nice breakfast together tomorrow morning, before Jessica hope on a plane for Istanbul. I'll still get to spend the rest of the day and night in Skopje on Saturday, followed by coming back to Lozovo Sunday night for a party at Kenzie's house. Monday, we are in Skopje again for PC stuff, and Milevka has said she'll make the Funfetti cake mix my mother sent me in the mail for that evening. YAY FOR FUNFETTI!! More of an update on Tuesday, seeing as how I'll be out of town until then. Miss and love you all!!

Kocani!!

So, I dont have very much time to write an update, but I finally got access to some internet, so I figured I'd fill ya'll in on my new soon-to-be-home!!

Kocani is FANTASTIC!! I love it here already!! I spent my first day running around the school I will be working at with my counterpart. My counterpart, Emilija, is AMAZING!! We made an instant connection, and I seriously adore her already. She is a fantastic teacher, which I got to observe while sitting in on her classes. Her students were wonderful as well. Most of them can speak and understand a great deal of English, which is going to make things go smoothly!! The school itself holds about 900 students, and a lot of the teachers are young and nice. i havent gotten too much time to speak with many of them, but the ones I've met seem great. Oh!! and the Director is wonderful!! He speaks fantastic English and is so excited to have me there. Not only will I be helping Emilija out in her English classes, but her and I will be setting up a school newspaper and radio station, along with a photography club!! I KNOW!! IT'S AWESOME!!

So after running around school all morning, I met up with Laura, the current PCV living in Kocani. She is leaving the day before I move in, because her 2 years are up. Having her has been a blessing!! She will be handing off some things for the house to me, which is fantastic. She's also going to take me around today to tell me about all the places she likes to eat, shop, and drink. Kocani, although is a "big city," doesnt really look too big when you're in the middle of it. There's a small creek/stream that runs through the center of the city, and everything follows it. My future apt, which I got to see yesterday, is smack dab in the center!!

First off, you have to go up 6 flights of stairs to my apt. I will have some killer legs when I get back, haha!! My apt is basically just a kitchen, bathroom, and living room. Currently, there is no real bed in it, but we are going to fix that tomorrow. It's pretty tiny....just like a studio apt or something, but it is nice! What i really like is the amount of ORANGE that is everywhere!! The carpets and chairs add to the orange, and the entire apt. has a sort of retro feel to it. I also have a washing machine, so i wont have to wash my clothes by hand. YAY!! One thing that does bum me out is the lack of a real stove or oven. I have a type of toaster oven, but that's it...and I have some hotplates, instead of a stove. I will totally make due, so dont you worry!! : )

I've spent the whole morning at school, and now I am resting for about an hour. I'll be doing a late lunch with Laura and her husband before they take me around to show me the rest of the city. Later tonight, Laura is introducing me to a close local friend of hers, who is actually an artist!! I am SO excited about meeting her, because as you all know, art is very important to me. Hopefully, I can find out where to buy paints and canvases here!!

Tomorrow, I will travel back to Lozovo. This next week will continue to be crazy!! I'm out of town on Saturday and Tuesday. My family is throwing that epic party Tuesday night. My sister comes in town on WEDNESDAY (yayy!!!!!!!), and we will all travel up to Skopje that next weekend for my birthday. Basically, every day for the next 3 weeks is totally booked with seminars, language classes, workshops, and conferences. On November 24th, I will swear in as an official volunteers, and on Nov 25, I will move into my new home of Kocani. I cant express how lucky I feel to have been given Kocani as my permanent placement. If any of you could see this place, you would say "oh, that looks like Morgan!"

As always, thanks for everyone's love and support. Miss ya'll!!