features: spring 2013
Tran
Before applying to Peace ment meetings. As the ences of serving in the wanted to do more than preparations to apply w meant to be: application, interview, m was a long process and at each and eve finally received my long-awaited acce For the first time in a very long while s
Other than several trips to Mexico I h had never even seen the east coast. Th was its connection to Alexander the G subjects which I know little about. Disc donia was perfect for me. I knew I wo I laid eyes on it. I felt like I’ d pulled ou ture, and the Balkan faces looked like also felt like a stranger in a new land w and signs that I couldn’ t make sense of me, Macedonian music that I had n meals, to name a few. But non fact, I wanted to know mo merging me in the langua with workshops to intro settled into my permanen
Life’ s Only Constant:
Chan
Living through 27 months of service in Peace Corps Macedonia is like one endless stream of transformation that inevitably affects each volunteer in surprising ways. Who knew at the outset that we’ d become completely comfortable with( or at least not completely disgusted by) gutting a pig, sampling delicacies such as the holiday pork Jell-o known as piftija or pacha, or sharing a taxi with some rakija-laden dedovci for a carefree afternoon jaunt down treacherous mountain roads?
The never-ending stocks of sunflower oil and white bread flowing freely from host family dinner tables during Pre-Service Training transformed our bodies in ways unexpected, but it takes more time to notice the mental evolution we undergo from the start of service. Peace Corps Training Manager Evelina Alibegovska has seen hundreds of eager Peace Corps Trainees transform from dewy-eyed idealists into successful volunteers during her 12 years working with Peace Corps Macedonia.
Evelina says no PCV can claim they haven’ t changed during their time
in Macedonia. Eventually all volunte through the same“ roller coaster” p our own individual ways and on our not realize the progress we are ma phase near the end of PST, the cha they see us at trainings after an in service conference, Evelina says sh
“ Many of them have regained their stories,” Evelina says.“ With others a bright spot. I call it their mid-serv individuals going through tough tim
At the Close of Service conferenc have grown up from being“ babies” crowd.
“ They’ ve all become more mature changing experience,” Evelina says
40 – Pauza Magazine