Day 194 - Friday - 3/23/12

Some of the Language Center Staff and I

After weeks of planing and preparing the Language Fair was finally here. The combined efforts of the professors, students, administration, staff, high school students, and so many others came together today.  Our purpose of celebrating languages and cultures, and promoting South East European University was realized.  As we at SEE-U started setting up the cultural booths and setting out food, High School students in Kumanavo, Skopje and Gostivar were loading buses to come to Tetovo.  I have to say that today was such a celebration... the SEE-U students were so impressive.  The booths they set up were so creative and well planned out.  This project was not typical for these students, the education that students receive here tends to be more of a traditional approach of lectures and memorization.  Many teachers are implementing new teaching techniques in their classrooms, but this project and the requirements of it were not typical for what these student have experienced in the educational journeys.  But I can say they not only rose to the occasion, but surpassed expectations!  Not only was this something new for the students behind the planning, but it was also something new for those who came to see.  One of the SEE-U students that came to browse pulled me aside and said, "I didn't even know this was going on today, I am glad my professor brought us. This is really neat, I can't wait to see what cultures they do next year so I can learn about those too."  For me this summed up my emotions, I was so glad to be there, it was so awesome, and the learning these professors and students provided was something unmatched!  I hope that the Language Center is able to do it again next year, learning from our places for improvement and making next year's even more successful than this year.

Throughout the morning/afternoon, I took pictures of each of the groups, the attendees and the booths.  I was also able to take some video of the presentations that were given.  The presentations included Tango Dancing, a drama performance by the Drama Club, a poem reading, a singing performance and of course the Essay Contest Announcement. 

Opening Tango  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pox7UVaSbo&list=PL0BAC64E4AB10C85B&index=6&feature=plpp_video
Introduction and Welcome  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzwTavq_GdQ&list=PL0BAC64E4AB10C85B&index=7&feature=plpp_video
SEE-U Drama Club  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NK_LyMKicg&list=PL0BAC64E4AB10C85B&index=8&feature=plpp_video
Rezarta Zhaku Sings http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAe_mD-zM_c&list=PL0BAC64E4AB10C85B&index=9&feature=plpp_video
Veton Jonuzi Poetry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdLPSVvReuk&list=PL0BAC64E4AB10C85B&index=12&feature=plpp_video
Essay Contest Winners http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqYYb56Zf_Y&list=PL0BAC64E4AB10C85B&index=10&feature=plpp_video
Closing Tango http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlrrIHCoSbo&list=PL0BAC64E4AB10C85B&index=11&feature=plpp_video

Turkish Food Booth

The food on the Turkish Food table

Turkish Wedding Tradition Booth

American Culture Booth

Australian Culture Booth

Part of the British Culture group

More of the British Culture

The Macedonian Culture group with me!

Macedonian Culture booth

One of my students, Eglantina

German Culture Booth

WE MADE THE NEWS!!!!

American Culture table with Cassidy and I

The Albanian Culture's Booth

Lesson:  Today was such a celebration. A celebration of learning. A celebration of cultures. A celebration of unity. It was an honor to be a part of!
With permission from Veton Jonuzi, SEE-U student, here is the poem he wrote especially for today's Language Fair:

Summer days and high school ways


Summer days are always great 
Always warm and blessed by fate 
Getting together with friends and all 
Enjoying laughs and the happy calls 

Summer days are even better in high 
when lessons fly and days go by 
What makes school great and all 
is the time to rest from spring to fall 

With benches close and papers out 
crumbled and yelled till fights broke out 
but so close we were so close we are 
even if we live afar

High school friends are always great 
knowing how to laugh and chalenge fate 
To comfort and hold when all dreams fall 
it seems they are the best after all 

I only want you to appreciate 
the things we love and the things we hate 
and high school is a part of this 
Another curse of the old abyss 

In the end I wish you all the best 
Chalenge the world and enjoy the rest 
To seize the dream, to take what's ours 
to the sky and beyond, to the sky full of stars... 

Day 190/193 -Monday - Thursday- 3/19-3/22/2012

Spring has definitely sprung here in Macedonia! The air feels fresh, the sun is shining and there are bits of green popping up all around, including on the mountain-sides. There is still snow up on the tops of the mountains, but the river that flows through Tetovo, was running fully and fast with the melting that has started.  It's almost ironic though...because the city doesn't always have running water, but the river is full. 

Monday I had the honor to assist in interviews with the US Embassy for the Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellow Program. This is a month long conference that will be held this summer in Washington, D.C. Students from the U.S.A and Europe, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia come together and discuss and learn about democracy and civic engagement through workshops and discussions. It is an amazing program that gives High School Students from around the world to learn together and from one another. It was my honor to be a part of the committee and meet 6 amazing youth from around Macedonia. 

The Language Fair is getting closer and closer... Friday should be the big day! It is a bit of a buzz around campus this week. The Academic English students are preparing their booths with brochures, posters, and power point presentations. I really cannot wait to see what they all come up with!

I feel the need to document the way I dry laundry here... after soaking and washing my clothes in a bucket in the sink...after scrubbing with my hands... after rinsing, wringing, rinsing, wringing and wringing some more... the clothes are put out to dry. I do not have a clothes line here at the dorms so a different plan is needed. This winter I would wash enough clothes to dry them on the heating units in the dorm, but now that spring has come the heat is not on like it was so I have resorted to group drying.  3 dresses, one bucket to catch the drips and you will have dry clothes by morning!  This process has created another moment that I will remember with a smile, but will also help me not take little things for granted!

Lesson: You can see the hope in the eyes of students with a dream.

Day 188 - Saturday - 3/17/2012

The day of the Irish :)

We started the day by walking through the Bit Pazar or Old Market of Skopje.  As we were walking my purse strap broke. But we were in the best place for this inconvenience!  All throughout this area of Skopje there are little shops of all kinds, and several shops that repair clothing. We entered into the next shop we came to that had the possibility to help.  I was in luck the man inside was very helpful and repaired not only the broken strap, but also re-enforced the other 3 in the same way.  As we were standing there, I remembered that my belt could use a few more holes… so we asked about that too, and without any hesitation he punched 4 more holes!  He was such a kind man. He also said that since we were students we didn’t need to pay. This really touched me because, I know how little people live on for income here, and for him to give his time and resources to me and was offering for it to be free. (That wasn’t okay with me though, I had to give him at least some money)

We continued our journey through Bit Pazar and then to Plastic Alley… a road with lots of shops with home wares and goods. Cassidy and Erin were able to find new dishes for their apartment. Very successful trip!  As we walked back towards the center we walked by a mosque I had not seen before. I took a few pictures of it. I am not sure you can tell, but the one picture has the mosque in it, and in the background you can see another mosque and the cross at Vodno. Pretty amazing site- reminded me of what a diverse country I live in.

For lunch we had a VERY special treat!! A new Thai restaurant has opened in Skopje, and the even better part, is it is only a block and a half from Cassidy and Erin’s place!  I will say that it was good, but the Thai Food in Prilep is still better- that place is amazing :)  Today I had green curry with vegetable and shrimp and sushi!

Since it was St. Patrick’s Day we had to go and celebrate somewhere. Since it is not a holiday celebrated in this country, we decided to go to the Irish Pub because we knew there would be others wanting to wear green and celebrate as well!  I didn’t get to have corned beef and cabbage, but it was still a wonderful time with friends!

Lesson: There is great beauty in diversity.

Day 187 - Friday - 3/16/2012

Today I became a 4-country ballet attendee!  Thanks to my parents and grandparents I was able to go to many theater performances growing up.  I always looked forward to getting to go to the theater, and then for days after I would relive it over and over again in my mind… Since coming on this journey I have gone to a ballet in Croatia, Slovenia and tonight Macedonia. Along with three of my girl friends here in Macedonia we were off to the Macedonian Oprah and Ballet Theater for a performance of Swan Lake.  I had never seen Swan Lake in my years of theater performances so I was especially excited to attend.  The theater was very modern…inside and outside the theater there were amazing angles and lines we took a few pictures inside. The seats on the inside were not straight rows, they went down at an angle towards the middle and then the middle isle went from the center in the front to the back corner. It was very unique to say the least.

The ballet was wonderful… but I didn’t expect anything less. As a former dancer, I did at times finding myself noticing the differences in the techniques that these dancers had learned and what I was taught as a student.  We also had wonderful seats, we were 2^nd row behind the orchestra… WOW!  Besides how amazing it was to be at a ballet and Snow Lake, one of my favorite parts involved the four girls all under 12 years old that were sitting in front of us.  It was the first act and the famous part when the four swans dance together in unison across the stage, the moment the four dancers began, the four little girls in front of us simultaneously sat straight up in their seats and leaned forward towards the stage. It was a most precious moment…they were experiencing the same thing my parents and grandparents had given to me as a child. It was one of those life is a full circle moments.

Inside the theater

Looking back in the theater

In our seats!

After the ballet we went out to a traditional Macedonian restaurant in Carsija (Char-she-uh).  It was a cute tiny restaurant with 6 booths.  We also ate in the traditional Macedonian style ordering a Shopska salad to start, and then other dishes to share- they included ajvar, cheese, kebabs, Tavce Gravce (Tav-chay Grav-chay) a traditional bean dish… all so delicious!  It was such a wonderful night on the town!

At dinner

At dinner

Lesson: The arts are a universal language.

Day 186 - Thursday - 3/15/2012

This week my roommate Rezehana and I chose to do more walking rather than go back to the gym. This is not a permanent decision or one that we may change even next week, but with the weather being so beautiful we decided to walk each day of the week. Every year I am reminded how much I appreciate the spring weather following the winter. Getting to be outside and enjoy the air, and the sights brings such a positive outlook on a day. Today we walked down an area that I had not gone down before...luckily I brought my camera along just in case!  This first building in the pictures is a building I spotted as we walked...it looks to be a medical facility. I had not seen any buildings like this in Tetovo, so I felt it was a worthwhile picture to share. It does not match the other architecture in the city.     

These next pictures are of the river that runs through Tetovo.  In the first picture you can see the minaret of the Colored Mosque along with the bridge that I usually walk across to the center.  This is looking to the West.  The next photo is the same direction, just zoomed in.  The third photo is the river but looking to the East you can see some snow left where the sun doesn't shine on it during the day. 

Lesson: I sometimes wonder if there are 4 separate seasons (in most geographical locations) so that we appreciate more fully the beauty of each!