Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I wasn't able to post because my Internet was down for a week or so. Finally it's fixed and I'm leaving. I leave tomorrow and will arrive Saturday evening. YAH! I've been sicker than a dog though. My voice was almost completely gone on Christmas, so I decided the next day to go to the doctor. I went and was told I have para influenza. =S I went to the pharmacy and got antibiotics and cold meds for about $8. Can you believe that?! Also, my trip to the doctor was $10 and that's without insurance. I will go again today just to make sure the meds are doing what they are supposed to.

I hope to see you soon. I'm looking forward to 20 degree warmer temps. It snowed yesterday. It's not fun anymore!!!!

Christmas Package!!!

Today I was still in my pajamas and heard the door buzzard (not doorbell, you would know if you heard it!). I wasn't going to answer it because I thought it was the cable guy. Then I heard him saying my name, which the cable guy doesn't know, so I opened it and it was a package!!! I opened the package and to my delight there was an abundance of my mom's homemade goodies!!! Also, there were Christmas cards that smelled like chocolate! =) I was so happy to receive the socks from Grandma because I was just telling a friend about getting them every year and wondering if she would have some for me after new year. I hope none of the cousins read this because then they might not be surprised that they are getting socks for Christmas!!! ;)

And to Grandma Helen, I didn't open the cards early. I promise. I have set them out for the three days till Christmas.


Thank you for contributing to the Christmas package. Thank you Mom and Deb for my Thanksgiving package. I can't wait to see you soon!!!

The picture I added is of Leshok. It is an Orthodox church that was destroyed in the recent war and then rebuilt. I added more pictures on Flickr.

The First Snow

I woke up this morning and looked outside. I thought it was raining because the ground was wet and there were drops coming from the roof of my apartment. Then I was told it snowed. I took a closer look, and sure enough... SNOW! I think I'm going to have a white Thanksgiving. =)

Do not be alarmed

To say I had an interesting night is an understatement. The “fantastic four” (Christina, John-Paul, Ben, and I) went to meet some students at a restaurant for food and drinks. After, we went to a club to meet another student whose birthday is on Monday. She had reserved a VIP section. When we were entering the club there were some men who were arguing and pushing each other. If this were to happen in Fresno, security would have escorted the men to their cars and made sure they left the premises; however, this is Skopje, so the men were hurried into the club. Ten seconds later I hear fists hitting skin. They started to fight, but thankfully none of the fantastic four were near or injured.
Eventually we made it to the VIP section and soaked up our environment. It was a techno club with three levels. We were at the very top. We sat in a corner section with small love seats. Christina and I decided to go down to the “dance level” to see what it was like and possibly dance. There were hardly any people dancing. It gave me the impression that people just came to this club to drink and hear loud music. No socializing because the music was too loud. When Christina and I returned to the top, there were two women with almost nothing on dancing in front of the guys. If you knew the guys and saw the women, you would know that this wasn’t a treat. Finally, we left the club and called it a night. I left out a lot of detail to keep the story short. Also, I experienced all of this sober. So…who wants to visit me? :D

Kozle Puppy

I was walking back from buying water and this little puppy came up to me wagging its tail. I think it wanted food, so I went to my apt. and brought down some milk that was about to expire. The puppy ate it "all up" (as Gage would say). I had to fight off the cats. There are about seven cats that live in the dumpsters outside my apt. and they can get food easily, but it's more difficult for the dogs. The poor puppy was shaking because it was so weak. I hope it is ok during the winter becasue I am NOT brining it into my apartment. I also took pictures of the snow on top of the mountains near my apt. Enjoy.

Sofia, Bulgaria

We went to Sofia on Thursday and returned last night (Saturday). The first day we didn't have much time because it was dark when we arrived, but we did go to a very nice restaurant for dinner. The next day (Friday) we went walking around the city and it was beautiful. There were a lot of places of worship (churches, mosque, synagogues, etc.). There was a lot of old architecture. As you will see in the pictures, it was beautiful. We entered one to see the altar and old paintings. There were paintings dated back to the 12th Century. I regret not reading more about the history before I went. There were obvious differences if compared to Skopje. Sofia was cleaner, had nicer restaurants, nicer buildings, and vegetarian friendly. :D I could easily be a vegetarian there. There are two veggie restaurants. Their food was ok, but tofu was available at a couple of restaurants we went to. There was an earthquake in Skopje in the 70’s and it demolished most of the buildings. After, they wanted to rebuild as quickly as possible, not spending a lot of time on details, so the architecture isn’t that beautiful in Skopje. Back to the trip, on Friday night there was a thunder and lightening storm. It was difficult to get a taxi, so we decided to walk once it wasn’t raining cats and dogs. The streets were flooded, so we went wherever we could and ended up at a mall. We went to a tea café and a vegetarian restaurant in different buildings. Both of them seemed to be a great find though because they were in odd places. To sum things up, it was a very nice trip. Now I’m back in Skopje, and the weather is COLD!!!

First Week of School

I started teaching!!! My first class I had 17 students enrolled and only 5 showed up (the whole week). My elective class has 30 signed up and I had 17 show up. The elective class is public speaking and they are very active, which is great. I know that it will be a great class. My other class is English Skills. The students are what we consider Seniors. Next semester they will graduate. It’s hard to tell what the class will be like because the students that bothered to show up the first week are the cream of the crop, so there’s no telling what the other 12 will be like. I might have an idea by a guy that came on Thursday. He showed up 10 minutes late. The other students were filling out a survey, so I gave him the survey, and then we moved on to a timed writing. He didn’t do the timed writing, instead he completed the survey and asked me if he could leave. What could I have said? He’s a grown man; I can’t say no! He ended up leaving after being in my class for about five minutes. Let me describe his appearance and what he said on his survey. He was wearing all white, with a shirt that said “Husla”, and a headband that was like this /\/\/\/\/\/\ (remember those, they’re kind of old). His answer to what are your long-term goals was “to become a star”!!!! His interests were working out, and hang out. He marked all of his English skills as poor. Remember, this guy is a Senior and in theory would be teaching English next year!!! I’m getting excited because the graduate course starts next week. I can see that my challenge for this semester will be providing material that is a challenge for the top students, while keeping the lower students from drowning. Wish me luck!

FOOD

I went to “Beverly Hills” today. It’s a shopping center that is kind of high class. There is the one and only place that sells tofu. I bought 3 blocks and some energy bars. I came home and prepared it with a red curry sauce. It was really gross. So I thought “who cares, I’ll have cereal tonight”. I prepared a bowl of cereal and took one bite, the milk I bought today was sour. I’ve been really frustrated not being able to eat a full meal. My oven is broken. I must have been craving protein because I wanted eggs this morning. It’s to the point that I might have to resort to an occasional meat to keep myself healthy. Yes. It’s in writing. I’m tired of eating bananas and peanut butter. The first thing I want when I get to California is a large cold glass of milk. mmmmm Sounds sooooo good. ☹

Cream Sauce...

Finally, I’m feeling better. Yesterday, I think I had the flu or some type of bug. I was in bed all day. I’ve never slept so much in my life. Today, I don’t feel 100%, but I feel better. I’m optimistic about tomorrow. It seemed as though everything hit at once. After I threw up, my electricity went out, and then I called John-Paul and my credits ran out on my phone, so I couldn’t use my landline because the electricity was out. It was one of those days. Everything worked out though. John-Paul came to my rescue. He brought bananas, medicine, water, and some movies.

Enough about me being sick. A funny story, which would happen probably anywhere in the world because people can be ignorant when it comes to being a vegetarian. Christina and I went to a pub/café a couple of days ago. It had a vegetarian section! I was so excited. I had some questions for the waiter. I asked what the cream sauce was mixed with vegetables. I asked does it have animals? Meat? He said no. So I asked one last time, no animals? He said no, just bones. o_0 HAHA! I said, so it’s not vegetarian? He shrugged his shoulders and said, well I guess not. I now know that cream sauce means gravy. :P Just another day in the life of a vegetarian.

Tetovo and my new apartment!

I wrote this on different days because I didn't have the internet for a while. Enjoy!

Today I arrived in Tetovo, which is where the city is. I woke up this morning with a little cold and that took my emotions for a roller coaster. I took a bus to this city and then went to the supermarket with Bruce, who also lives on campus. He’s from the states. Bruce is very passionate about helping the dogs. He has two that follow him around campus. I bought a ton of things for my dorm. I still can’t believe how cheap it is and it makes me feel guilty for some reason. I will return tomorrow by myself to make sure I know how to get around before all the students show up. I found something I need. Bug spray! I watched a movie on my laptop and when I got up to go to the bathroom I saw three roaches!!! Two were…not small. I was a little hesitant to live here because the guy who worked here last year lived in this dorm and he just disappeared, so some of his things are still here and it hasn’t been touch in about nine months.

After having a conversation with Bruce and John-Paul, I know a lot more about Macedonia, and the university. In case you don’t know, Macedonia used to be a communist country, so everyone worked, and basically didn’t care about their job because of the security of always having it. At the university there are two basic types: good and lazy. There are the people who are helpful and great at their job, and there are people who are lazy, don’t really care about anything, and make you run in circles. Why don’t they get fired? Because they have a connection to the university, some political connection. What is the result of this? Some people who are actually qualified to have a position are rejected because they don’t have a connection. This is the reason why there isn’t an academic semester already planned (finals didn’t work last year and they’re not planned for this semester), etc. Another result of the past is that students don’t have good work ethics because their parents don’t or didn’t. I’m told students are going to show up late, not do their work, and then cry after they get their grades and ask me to change it. I’ll let you know how much of this is true after I start teaching, which I can’t wait for!

I’ve finally moved into my own apartment. It is very nice. I live about five minutes walking to the major grocery store and about five minutes from my Irish colleague Ben. My landlord is nice. She is well educated. She’s a lawyer and her husband is Montenegrin and an Engineer. Since I’ve been in Macedonia, I’ve thought of some things to be thankful for in California:

1. Flushing toilet paper in the toilet (not having to throw it way in the trash!)
2. Not being asked “Sparkling or still water” (If I wanted gas in my water I would have ordered soda!)
3. Having lines dividing the lanes in the streets. (People drive crazy!)
4. Having a stable shower. (a showerhead that doesn’t face out of the shower, but in the direction you stand)
5. Nobody smoking everywhere you go!!!

Other than those things, I am enjoying this country and look forward to compiling a list of the things I love here.

Greetings from Macedonia!

It didn’t really hit me that I was leaving until I arrived to the airport and was told to pay an enormous amount for my luggage. If my mom hasn’t told you already, I had to pay $762 for overweight and excess luggage, okay, okay, my parents eventually had to, but it still was A LOT!!! All of my flights went well. In fact, the food was fantastic on all the flights. As a sort of welcome to Europe, I noticed how good-looking Europeans are as they were taking their seats on the plane. I was then feeling guilty about the snickers bar I bought and held off on eating it, until a girl sat next to me mid way during the flight and ate a candy bar. She was a cute thin Slovakian, so why not indulge with her? I finally arrived to Skopje and customs was nothing. I couldn’t believe how easy it was.

The country is absolutely beautiful. I haven’t figured out the language yet, the script isn’t helping much. I did learn a new word today. Sit. I was walking to the town center, about a 45 minute walk. It was around 9 am. There were a lot of older men and couples walking. It’s in the open also, so I wasn’t worried. As I was walking, there was a man on a bench (as there was on several benches I had passed). I glance at him and made eye contact, and then noticed his pants were open and he was fondling himself. That’s when I learned the word sit because he said “Sadeuch”. I remembered the word and thought it was some awful meaning, so when I came back to the hotel I asked the receptionist who is my Macedonian consultant. She said it meant sit, so the man wanted me to sit next to him while he enjoyed himself. I know it was very disgusting, but it’s kind of comical looking back and it’s something I won’t forget. Also, there are many stray dogs, harmless, but sad. I counted seven on my walk today. They just lay around and some look for food. They don’t follow people. I was thinking “Thank God Brandi isn’t here, her heart would be broken and so would her wallet from trying to save these dogs.”

Other than that I had a great day with the new friends I’ve meet. The other girl from the states is great. We clicked right away. She has a lot of view points that I do, she loves coffee. Who can’t get a long with someone like that? Tomorrow I will go to the university and put my stuff in the room, but return to the capital to have dinner with more colleagues. I have a phone number that I will write below. You might want to ask my mom how to call exactly. I better get to sleep now. I love you all and miss you.

Moving: First Blog

This whole blog thing is very new to me, so please give me time. =) I am in the process of moving and it has been extremely difficult to get rid of my belongings and choose what I will take with me.