I faced one of my fears today! No, not jellyfish or bears (bear is "meitchka" in Macedonian)....I received three shots in one day. And one of them was for typhoid. Typhoid, Peace Corps? Really? Is this a problem in Macedonia? My arms hurt SO BAD afterwards, but surprisingly it didn't hurt at all while I received them. Yay, Macedonian doctors!
Afterwards, I then received the bad news that I was NOT accepted into the dual-language program. I was told that they have already picked out a specific spot for me to go to once my training is over. I tried to get them to tell me where it was, but all they would say is, "Well.....it's fun." (C'mon, OHRID! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohrid). As I mentioned earlier, I am a bit different from the other Community Development volunteers here because I am NGO Development-Environmental, which seems to be a bit more specific than other CD volunteers. I was told that the people they accepted for the CD positions were youth development (*sigh*). At first I wasn't too upset...until I found out that the majority of my friends from pre-service orientation in Kumanovo DID get excepted into the program (Beverly, Sam, Alex, Casey, Kelsey, Kevin, etc). So basically, all my friends will be having fun with one another in Romanovce (where the dual-language training program is at) and I will be somewhere else, like this: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigX3fPMibrP3h8BUoScu3-qFWZ6nc9dLZZt3RaPeMHQeOW2Od1VeWAFyNW0tHKbsY1JVengidnrc0irA6ZGt5KB6oeanJRGV5PTsaV55txzzhjDq5xFk42ufg1LQ5VtUT0mmks2yf4Spwp/s1600/dr-who-rain.gif
The rest of the day went okay, but the highlight was visiting the mosque and Eastern Orthodox Church of Kumanovo as a "cultural field trip." Kumanovo has a substantial population of Albanian Muslims in their community, and the Eastern Orthodox Church is also well-known. Check out some of the great photos below (don't worry, I asked before I took pictures). The trip was very informative, and I ended the night at the Irish pub called "The Harp" located in the center of town. The Irish pub was actually one of the places I was told to visit in my Macedonia travel book, and it did not disappoint. I will definitely be heading back there next time I am in Kumanovo. : )
Outside of the Mosque
Writing at the entrance gate
Fountain to wash at before entering mosque.
Inside the mosque. Look at all the eager PC volunteers!
Front of Mosque
Look at all the sad PC volunteers stuck in the rain!
Entrance to Eastern Orthodox Church
Peace Corps Volunteer Group Photo! (Minus a few people) Can you spot me? (I'm near the priest, or "pope" as they say in Macedonian) Check out the great artwork behind us!
Until next time, folks! My next post will update you on where I am going for the next 2-3 months, as well as who my home-stay family will be.
Hello, my name is Martin ,i live in Kumanovo, so i want to inform and ask permission to use your photos from Old Kumanovo Mosque, that you take and post at your blog, as they are in high resolution and with acceptable quality for printing, i will explain you in more details way, for what i will use.
ReplyDeleteI work as freelance Graphic Designer and multimedia artist, and one marketing agency and print_shop company with who i cooperate on some projects from time to time, contact me yesterday and ask from me to produce / to design some presentation materials for some other company, where they request from me, to take some pictures/photos from some famous objects and some recognizable places, land_marks related with Kumanovo city and use inside this designs for some presentation materials.
So because this project is more urgent, i go outside today, and i take some photos with my camera, hoping that i manage to find most recognizable objects ,places and landmarks related with Kumanovo, and just when i was transfering this photos from my camera sd card to my computer, wile copy/paste process finish, i open google/search and i really do not how i manage somehow to open your blog(maybe i wrote some keyword related with Kumanovo landmarks)and notice that you have quality images from Kumanovo Mosque ,THAT I REALLY FORGET TO TAKE PICTURE ,SO I CAN USE INSIDE DESIGN THAT I PLAN TO FINISH TONIGHT,as this object is one of most recognizable and land mark place, plus i in this way i will include and give respect and make gesture of goodwill,to other other ethnic communities in same time.
So i hope you will allow and not make problem ,if i use only images related with Old Mosque ,for production on this design, for some presentation materials, and do no worry, there are not visible faces from any person, just the object/Mosque is visible/appearing in this photo i want to use.
Glad to meet you, i wish you great and exciting stay/residence in our country and city, hoping that you will also have professionally successful visit to all places in our country as well as private good and quality time spending, as you can notice till now, we are small country but with many, many places that can be visit and offer great satisfaction and adventure. Regards and we stay in touch, for any help or support, feel free to contact me.