Category: Uncategorized
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We Have Time
My time in North Macedonia continues to pass quickly as work has picked up, and there were a few back-to-back long weekends. As of today, I have a couple of weeks left of teaching for this school year. Every day I look forward to classes, and I am now accustomed to my hectic schedule of…
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Getting in the Groove
The past month has been spent getting into the groove of teaching. I am beginning to build strong relationships with my students even though we sometimes struggle to understand each other. The kids are eager to learn and catch on very fast. In addition to teaching, I also bring a basketball to school each day.…
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Tradition
One of the goals of my Peace Corps service was to experience and participate in as many of the Macedonian traditions as possible. The month of January was filled with events and celebrations – more than I thought possible. Most of the January holidays and celebrations are centered around the Macedonian Orthodox Church, which celebrates…
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Holiday
The month of December has been full of adventures with the highlights being sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer and Christmas dinner with my host family and friends. On December 7th, my fellow fourteen trainees and I officially swore the oath to become Peace Corps Volunteers. The three months were a remarkable journey covering…
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Thankful
This was my first Thanksgiving away from home. I missed seeing family and friends, and I missed the food – dressing and sweet potato casserole – I even missed the canned cranberry sauce. Fortunately, I did not have much time on my hands to get homesick, and I was far from lonely. On Thanksgiving, nine…
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Go with the Flow
When I started this blog, I didn’t know how often I would write or what subjects I would cover. Every day I think of a new topic or two to share, but there isn’t much time to sit down and write it out. Life has been incredibly hectic these past few weeks. Little by little,…
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Trial by Fire
It has begun. I am in North Macedonia and living with my resource family (formerly known as the “host family”). Even though I have only been at my new residence for a few days, so much has happened. Before updating you on my new town and home, I wanted to note a few things that…
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It Begins!
Over a week ago I landed at Skopje International Airport with sixteen other Peace Corps trainees ready to serve in Macedonia. For the first five days, we stayed in our hotel rooms due to Peace Corps’ sequestrian policy due to the COVID pandemic. During that time, we worked on language materials and learned about security,…
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Pre-service and Staging
In this next blog post, I wanted to describe the Pre-Service and Staging events/training process if you are interested in Peace Corps service or know someone who might be. I had no idea what to expect after accepting my invitation, so I thought it would be helpful to those who may be interested. Hopefully, this…
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Onwards We Go
For the past year, I have been working on my admission to the Peace Corps. It’s been a long journey from waiting on responses to the medical clearance process. I am incredibly excited to begin my journey as an English Co-teacher in North Macedonia starting September 23rd!! While the job ahead is relatively unknown, my…
To MAK and Back 