We have arrived in a country that has already welcomed us. Our time has been busy learning the language (Cody and I have both "learned" the Macedonian Cyrillic alphabet), walking into the city, and learning more about the other volunteers with us (there are a total of 36 volunteers in MAK16).
We arrived on Sunday as the first group of Peace Corps volunteers to fly into the Alexander the Great airport- it's a brand new facility that only several planes have landed in so far. Cody and I knew that our timing here was unique, but had no idea of the significance until we arrived. Not only does this year mark the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps, but this is also the 20th year of independence for Macedonia and the 15th year for Peace Corps in Macedonia AND we arrived on September 11th. I think it's safe to say that our group is preparing to do great things.
When we arrived, we were overwhelmed with screams, signs, and greetings of Zdravo (which means welcome in Macedonian) from the Peace Corps staff and volunteer. We were then shuttled to Kumanovo, which is about 30 minutes from Skopje. Our hotel is adorable, the people are great, and we even have names on our doors- just like college!
The two days since our arrival have been a blur, filled with language classes, safety training, medical training and orientation, and other informative meetings. The one thing helping the most with jet-lag and the 6-hour time change is definitely my morning runs. A group of 5 or 6 of us have been going each day and it has helped us keep our sanity. It's nice to have that consistency and to relieve some stress first thing.
Cody will update again soon with some fabulous pictures that show the beauty of this small country. Here's hoping that we never get used to everything Macedonia has to offer!
Shelley
P.S. If any of you are interested in sending us a care package or quick note (for the cheap price of $0.98!), you can do so by mailing it to the bottom address. Disregard the top one- I have only included it for your reference, so you understand what you are writing!
Matthew Davis/Shelley Sellwood-Davis
Peace Corps
Macedonia
Oslo 6
1000 Skopje
Republic of Macedonia
Matthew Davis/Shelley Sellwood-Davis
Miroven Korpus
Makedonija
Oslo 6
1000 Skopje
Republika Makedonija
We're so happy you arrived safely and are already learning so much. We look forward to your future updates.
ReplyDelete-Fr. Jeremiah & Margaret