25th-31st. Rapid Update

WOW

Ok I knew I had been neglecting this, but until just now I didn't realize how badly so. I have been thinking about what I will say in this post regarding last week - honestly, I'm still working on it. Really, last week was a good week, no major complaints, nothing EXTRA exciting. I caps Extra because one of my favorite things I learned last week is that extra along with super, and bravo, are both words that are used in place of cool. Ha. told you last week was a slow week...

The days are kind of blurring together... So I'll just hit the high points and try to fill in some gaps as we go. Forewarning this might be long winded.

Monday and Tuesday were pretty uneventful. I have realized -- and I may have said this once before -- that being in a new country, living by myself, and not having the ability to call Mom to ask what I do next when making microwave popcorn (I'm kidding I'm not that bad) has turned me into a much more adventurous and well rounded cook. My teacher is always giving me simple ideas of foods that she is making for dinner so that helps too. The last thing I made was a pasta with a creamy sauce/soup thing. peas, carrots, potatoes, pasta, curry, and onion. Something I never would have made at home, and fun. Sunday I was hungry and had time to kill, so I started to boil water to make a potato, all the sudden I was peeling carrots, chopping more onion, cooking chicken and getting out pasta... apparently I like to make soups. Add that to the fact that the guys at the butcher shop laugh at me, and I tend to make some fun stuff.
Last week (from last post) when I went to the butcher shop and stammered when I didn't know what I wanted, everyone behind the counter laughed at me. I am not exaggerating. This last weekend (Saturday the 30th) they recognized me and in unison chanted "ummm ummm hmmm..." I'm a celebrity. haha. They were very helpful yet again. I think next time I go in, I'll tell him to pick what I get. I know where the liver is, and I won't let him pick that. Gross! The thing is GIANT!
Wednesday I skipped Ice Skating. I am still wrapping my ankle everyday; while it is improving I regretted not wrapping it today. The kids were bummed Thursday morning, and I was bored Wednesday night. I will be going ice skating tomorrow. YAY! Thursday night I bailed on basketball, partially due to my ankle, and the other part I'm just not that good at basketball. Side note someone who played the week I did cracked his rib while playing in one of our games. That is how competitive they are. Sick.
Thursday night - food again - I decided that I wanted to try out crepes. Actually thursday morning I wanted crepes, but had to wait for dinner. It was the best decision EVER. SO GOOD! and way easy, I thought they would be damn near impossible. Turns out they are easier than pancakes. YAY! After crepes -delish- I went out for a late night machiatto with my friend Dalibor and his friend BB. We went to this cool restaurant Anja (Anya) BB had been in Wisconsin studying abroad a few years back, and traveled the states a little bit while she was there too. We did a compare and contrast of the two cultures... There was a lot of laughing involved. At times it seemed that we were all interviewing each other, "Tell me what your views are on the education system here in Macedonia." "What is/was your favorite thing about your travel?" on and on. I should have written some of this stuff down while we were there. A number of times we would say "That has to go in the blog.." the only thing I can remember is the realization that there are very few drinking fountains here. I don't think the school I teach at has a single drinking fountain. The malls don't have them and there are only a few out door drinking fountains. We discussed tipping, and how it isn't customary here. I was told that my monthly rent is what most servers or bartenders make a month. I now tip. I wish I could think of more things... either way. It was nice to get out of the house for a night. I got home around midnight, which trust me, on a school night is something I NEVER did in Lewiston, it always seemed like a terrible idea. Then again, if I were to stay out til midnight in Lewiston I would probably have been drinking a fine IPA or Stout of some sort and not a coffee. Either way Friday was a long day.

All last week was exam week for the high school students at school so school got out early. Really that just meant that teachers could leave at 2 instead of 4. I think it was Wednesday that I got to have the class to myself while my teacher went to take an exam for her masters. I only had time to review the previous day's test with the class, but it felt good to do some "teacher work" other than grading. It was at this point that I realized - and this might seem like a no brainer, but was a slap of reality to me - I will be adapting my instructional methods a great deal to be able to teach these students. Up until this point I believed that the methods, strategies, and routines that I used in Lewiston (which are still flawless in my mind haha) would work wonders in this classroom. That all I would have to do is snap my fingers three times, and TADA, I would have Room 6 from Webster Elementary back in business... Problem is just like the students I left back in Idaho, I left some American ideal of education behind. Here there is a lot of stress put on teaching and learning the theory behind information, and little emphasis on practical knowledge, inquiry, and exploration. In fact, when I told my friends over drinks on Thursday that I wished there was more inquiry, dialogue, and exploration at school, they both laughed at how "American" I sounded. When I took the class on Friday, I thought my old approach would be seamless. Well I learned better. : )

that was the week. Weekend was grand. lots of home time. I went to the market first thing Saturday morning, tried to monitor my spending and keep track of how much each different item was... This will be something I will have perfected by the time I leave. I gave the apartment a deep clean and took a walk around the neighborhood. Sunday, feeling antsy, and not being happy with the gym around the corner, I decided to walk to the hotel 15 minutes away and get a membership to their gym facility. It's nothing fancy, but it is well lit, clean, and has all the equipment that I would use anyways. It's pricier that what I was looking for, but I can easily cut out my cab rides for a walk to the center instead.

After struggling both Friday and Saturday night with the idea of going to a cafe/bar alone with a book I finally got the nerve to go out on Sunday. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and as I venture out further and more often i will surely meet more people because of it.

OK. So I think that catches me up until Monday. It's 11:30 P.M. here and I need to head to bed soon. I am actually teaching English now! the first hour and 1/2 of the day. woot woot. coffee is my friend.

Either way I want to end on this note - I keep saying so far so good about this experience, and really it has been good. I think part of last weeks lack of posting was that I didn't feel like I was doing anything with this experience. I wasn't teaching (which ultimately is what I came here for) I hadn't traveled yet, nor had a booked tickets to do so. (Barcelona April 2nd!!!! YAY) I am still not meeting as many people as I had initially imagined, blah blah. Then during this weekend, I thought about all the things I HAD done, what I HAD seen, and where I HAD traveled already in just one month. Sunday afternoon was a good time for realizations. So, at this point I think it is safe to say, so far so good. I think I'm really getting happier here. --- not happy enough to stay for 3 years, but happy enough for 14 more weeks. : )

Good night! thanks for reading. I'm going to try to post for Monday through tomorrow night after ice skating.

Ciao!!!

Evan