We have now been on this journey for two months. Just as so many told us, the time is flying by faster than we could have imagined. Though our days here are not nearly as packed as they were at home, the time flies by just as quickly. We spend the weekdays in language classes, training, and other informational meetings. The remainder of our time is filled with playing games with our host family, visiting the other volunteers in our village, and exploring the towns around us. We have traveled to the capital city, Skopje, several times and gotten to explore the "old Pazar," hike the Vodno Mountain to the Millennium Cross, enjoy some fabulous топло вино (or hot wine), and enjoy all the shopping that the city has to offer. We also go into Kumanovo regularly- you may remember that this is the city we stayed in the first week we were here.
The picture above is with our amazing host family (except our grandmother, or as we call her our "Nona"). After nine weeks here, our host family has managed to make us feel like family members, yet constant guests. For example, tonight at about 6 o'clock, Cody mentioned that he loved our host mother's "tost," which is basically like a panini with chicken in sausage form (delicious- though my description sounds questionable). He asked if she could make it again for us soon- and minutes later our host father was running to the nearest market and we were served tost within the hour! Even more, we were blessed to participate in one of their most significant religious holidays- Kurban Bajram. Kurban Bajram celebrates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son and in accordance with this, Muslims typically sacrifice a lamb. Our host family and their extended family sacrificed a cow and split it into seven portions. The most beautiful part of this sacrifice is that it is custom for families to only keep a small portion of the meat they have sacrificed and give the rest to those who could not afford to sacrifice anything. The remainder of the day was spent visiting with family, giving neighborhood children candy as they came around to our houses (sounds familiar, doesn't it?), and eating far too much goulash, baklava, and other sugary goodness.
We have about two weeks left in Romanovce and then we will move to our permanent site, following our swearing in ceremony on Thanksgiving Day. We have been placed in Struga and we couldn't be happier. We had our "site visit" a week ago and were able to visit the city, see our apartment, and meet our organization and the people with whom we will be working. Struga is estimated to have 20,000 people, including the surrounding villages. Nontheless, coming from Romanovce, Struga feels much larger to us! We are fortunate to have a river and Lake Ohrid in Struga. The river in Lake Ohrid is actually fed by the lake instead of vice versa, because of the natural springs in the lake. Our apartment is nestled right off the river and both of our organizations are a 10-15 minute walk from our apartment. After spending just three days in Struga, we already feel supported by our landlord, counterparts (those responsible for us at the organization we are working for), and other people we have met in the community. Moving to site will be a very bittersweet experience. We are eager to work for our organizations, test our language capabilities, and explore the city, but we adore our host family and feel very comfortable and at-home in Romanovce. We have promised ourselves to make the trek back across the country to visit them often.
Stay tuned to our blog for picture updates, and details on our swearing in ceremony, and our first days in Struga. As always, thank you for your support and encouragement- we couldn't do this without your constant strength. We are so grateful for each of you!
For more photos, check out the following Facebook albums:
Korpusi i Paqes - Rramanli/Romanovce II
Korpusi i Paqes - Rramanli/Romanovce III
Vodno Hiking!
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