Currently I’m jamming out to the entire the Young and the Restless album by Good Charlotte, bringing me back to the summer days during high school. I’m procrastinating finishing packing for my 2 week adventure with my bro! I’m very excited, yet I want to pack my bag up shortly before I leave so I can make sure I have everything.
The past couple of weeks have been similar to my last post-lots of traveling throughout the country and seeing volunteer friends in their sites. Although it is summer, TEFL volunteers must travel on the weekends since we are technically always working from 8am Monday until 5pm Friday, according to Peace Corps policy. During summer we focus on our secondary projects that are through school or the community. So, my weekends have been go go go!
I visited my friend with a few other volunteers for her birthday-that was a fun time because she has a water park in her town! It cost 350 Den (about $7.00) to ride the water slides as oppsed to the 100 Den (about $2.00) to only swim in the pool. Of course we chose the first option! It was so fun feeling like a kid again, riding the slides with inner tubes and screaming at the top of our lungs.
The past couple of weeks have been similar to my last post-lots of traveling throughout the country and seeing volunteer friends in their sites. Although it is summer, TEFL volunteers must travel on the weekends since we are technically always working from 8am Monday until 5pm Friday, according to Peace Corps policy. During summer we focus on our secondary projects that are through school or the community. So, my weekends have been go go go!
I visited my friend with a few other volunteers for her birthday-that was a fun time because she has a water park in her town! It cost 350 Den (about $7.00) to ride the water slides as oppsed to the 100 Den (about $2.00) to only swim in the pool. Of course we chose the first option! It was so fun feeling like a kid again, riding the slides with inner tubes and screaming at the top of our lungs.
Next, I went on the best hike I’ve been on yet!! I traveled to Skopje with Beka early one morning and met up with a few other volunteers and some friends of theirs who were visiting from the states. We began our hike from where the gondola can take you up to the Millennium Cross, one of Skopje’s attractions. It also has an amazing view of Skopje from the top. I had made this hike once before, but we went off the beaten path the first time and nearly killed all of us. This time we stayed on the trail, although it was still very steep. Once we reached the cross, we had a quick lunch break before heading to Matka Canyon, another beautiful attraction outside of Skopje. This hike was much easier because it was mostly downhill. The views were incredible with bright green painted mountains all around us. We even ran into a herd of cows hanging out near a gazebo. When we reached the water, we treated ourselves to a quick break dipping our feet in the nearly freezing fresh spring water. By that time, my feet were covered in blisters, but I couldn’t complain-the views were worth it. The day ended at a fancy restaurant beside the dam. You can imagine we were the smelliest and dirtiest group there-most people here wouldn’t hike to the canyon. White wine never tasted so good! Beka and I had to depart from the group to catch the last bus back to our town. After paying for a bus and a taxi to get us to the bus station, we made it just in time for the cab driver to wave our main bus driver over to let us on. We sprinted on and collapsed in our seats, giggling at how ridiculous the adventure was. All that matters is that we made it, but man was that a close call!
Another travel adventure I had was in a town called Gostivar. This is on the west side of Macedonia and I hadn’t traveled to this area since our first week in Macedonia in Tetovo. It was great to see new scenery versus what I see on the east side. Her town has about 80,000 people, much bigger than mine. She lives on the 7th floor in her apartment building, so you can only imagine how beautiful the views are! Gostivar has a mixed population, about half Albanians and half Macedonians, so it had a slightly different vibe being there. Also, if you don’t know, it’s Ramadan right now and has been going on for a couple of weeks. Ramadan during the summer months can be the hardest because the days are the longest. Here, people don’t eat or drink (including water) from about 2:30am until about 8:30 pm. As soon as the Call to Prayer chimes after sunset, the breaking of the fast occurs, called Iftar The last meal before the sun rises is called Sahoor. Some people stay up all night eating and sleep when the last meal is over. It was very interesting hearing my volunteer friends speaking Albanian. The Albanian language is part of it’s own, completely unrelated to other languages, especially Macedonian. It’s a very difficult language to learn, so I was very impressed when they had conversations with people we met!
Then, this past weekend for the 4th of July, I traveled to Ohrid. I believe I made a post in December about my first visit here-it’s still just as beautiful and even more so now that we can swim in the lake! Lake Ohrid is the oldest lake in Europe and although it doesn’t have sandy beaches, the water is very clear. Many volunteers gathered there to celebrate on the beach together. We had a big potluck, mostly containing hot dogs and alcohol (can’t complain!) Some others joined us from a hostel that a few volunteers slept at, so there were some attendees from other nationalities to make it an international celebration
One morning, a few of us went to another touristy spot of Ohrid-a monastery called Sveti Naum. This is located about 30 kilometers from the city, so you must go by taxi or bus. We walked around the monastery, saw some peacocks, as well as found a very special spring where 3 springs meet up in one spot and then lead out another hole together. It was extremely cold water but very refreshing.
On our way back from Sveti Naum, I was dropped off in a small beach village where another volunteer lives. I spent the day with her at the beach and saw the most beautiful sunset I’ve seen since being in Macedonia. It was definitely a reflective and peaceful moment. Most of the weekend was spent on the water and I could not have been happier.
I think those are enough pictures for now. Get ready because coming up is my 2 week trip with my brother to Slovenia and Croatia!! Even more pictures!!
Thanks for checking out my blog!
XOXO
-R
Thanks for checking out my blog!
XOXO
-R