And just like that, I’ve been in North Macedonia for a month (WHAT)! It feels like I’ve been here for about a week and a year simultaneously. The busyness of PST has allowed the days to flow easily, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon!
The beginning of fall is in full swing and we’re continuing to make our way towards our Swearing-In Ceremony where we become official Peace Corps Volunteers! We’re one third of the way through PST and got to have discussions about our future sites last week as well as check-in on our language skills. I was blown away to have a list of all the things we’ve learned (see below)!
I find myself missing the familiarity of life in America and the community I got to be a part of for so many years. However, I’m also grateful for the hospitality of all of the people I’ve met in a relatively short period of time, both Macedonians and Americans!
This week we entered into another phase of our Pre-Service Training called Practicum where we are paired with other currently serving volunteers. For the next five weeks, we will engage in a mini “project” to exercise all of the skills we’ve been learning in our technical sessions. These skills include things like developing relationships, designing and delivering a project, and more.
Another volunteer and I were paired with a local women’s organization in our training community. Their work serves the community through supporting women’s health, youth, and rural villages in various capacities. We got to meet the team and had a taste of the workplace in Macedonia which consisted of coffee, an unhurried pace, and lots of laughter. I’m already looking forward to next week when we get to begin dreaming about what mini project we will deliver our last week! чао (ciao)!
So far in Macedonian, I can…
say the alphabet
say hello, goodbye, good morning, afternoon, evening
count from 1-1,000
say my name, where I am from, and my profession
introduce other people
ask questions about other people’s name, job/profession
name different professions
name fruit and vegetables and different foods
say what fruit and vegetables I like and don’t like
say what fruit and vegetables somebody else likes
say what I eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner
say what I have and don’t have in my fridge
say what is cheap and what is expensive
say what kind of meals I like to make
say what I need to buy to make the meal
ask about prices
name the colors
say what I eat and drink
say what my friend likes to eat and drink
name the family relations
talk about my family and their age
say where I live and give my address
say what I do and where I work
describe a friend
compare people/things
name different places/facilities
say what facilities there are and there aren’t in my community
ask about/give directions to different places
tell the time, say different dates
name the days of the week, months
ask about working hours
say what I do every day
say how often I do something
Can you even believe it?!?!!?
With that amount of language, you can have 75% of the conversations you need to have with people you'll meet on the streets. Keep up the good work and recognize that while intense and tiring, training will lay the foundation for the next 2 years. That is a solid foundation of language in only one month, super impressed.
That's great that you get to work with a current PCV on a mini-project.
Meanwhile in TX it is still 90 degrees :(
Well, you have certainly been busy!! That's a lot of learning in a short time and all in another language!😊 You are going to soar in the field! I know you are already planting lots of seeds! Sending you a hug! ❤️