In-Service Training
Struga, April 2008
By Dan Kearney
On the morning of April 18,
2008, MAK 12
wrapped up its
first In-Service
Training (IST).
The four-day
technical training event was
held at the Hotel Drim on the shores of Lake Ohrid in Struga. In addition to the Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) from MAK
12, there were also a large number of their counterparts
present for sessions on topics ranging from fundraising
to team teaching to project plans.
The sessions, which were often facilitated by PCVs
and their counterparts, provided everyone an opportunity to learn new strategies for working at site and to
share experiences in a rather informal setting.
“Overall, the technical sessions were relevant and useful in sparking new ideas and giving perspective to our
work,” said Mike Szymanski, a PCV session facilitator
who is working in a municipality. “The non-technical
sessions gave us an opportunity to learn more from each
others’ experiences, network and plan with our counterparts.”
Two of the most popular sessions of the week were
not really training at all. On Wednesday, prior to the
arrival of the counterparts, volunteers were treated to a
class with Mitko Burchevski, a political analyst from the
U.S. Embassy in Skopje, whose insights and remarks
were lively and very well-received. The wide-ranging
conversation touched on recent Macedonian history, last
month’s NATO summit, the ongoing name dispute with
Greece, and the cultural context for Macedonia moving
forward.
The next day, PCV Ritch Smith and his counterpart,
Mite Kuzevski, gave a presentation on their work with
Habitat for Humanity, which provides simple and affordable housing for less fortunate Macedonians. Enthusiasm was running very high after Ritch invited volunteers
and counterparts to spend time working with Habitat
during the summer.
The IST also provided many MAK 12s with their first
glimpse of Struga and Southwestern Macedonia. The
official program provided a cultural tour of Struga, but
some PCVs took the extra step and really submerged, er,
immersed themselves in their surroundings with a midnight dive into the lake.
Evelina Dodevska, the IST’s coordinator, was impressed with “the great team spirit that was present” in
the planning and the presentation of the sessions. She
added, “I hope that this workshop made both PCVs and
counterparts realize how important it is to work together
as a team and share their cultures and experiences towards a common goal.”
A Quest to Learn Macedonian
through Song
By Vince Drader
Recently, I have been in a funk. I find it very easy to
not study my Macedonian. There was a time when I would
wonder what people were saying around me. I was inquisitive. Now, I find a quiet comfort in not knowing… anything.
Lately, I sit around, gleaning what I can from the conversation
around me, but past that, I don’t care to know half of what I
hear. I don’t know why… maybe I believe what is being said
is not worth knowing. I mean, it is usually about the weather,
politics, or somebody’s cousin’s uncle’s dentist’s friend who
just got back from vacation. Maybe if someone were talking
about the meaning of life in Macedonian… then I would listen. Thus, I have been overwhelmingly apathetic to learning
Macedonian. Don’t get me wrong, I go to tutoring, I talk with
people, I even read a little, but there is no fire to learn or passion like there was in the beginning. I find it easy too, to find
excuses: “Well, you see, I live in Skopje, and it is harder to
speak with people and whah, whah, whah.” “Well, you see,
we have been in training and I have a lot to do at work and
blah, blah, blah.” These excuses along with my comfort in
“not knowing” had driven me to a linguistic quarter-service
crisis. Until…
A guitar strikes a chord, puttering down the hip-hop scale.
The beat drops, and while I am washing my dishes with A1
on in the background, I hear “????? ?? ?? ??????!”
I peak my head from around the corner of the kitchen at the
music video playing. It is a new hip-hop song from Lambe (a
close friend of Tose’s, who many remember crying at Tose’s
funeral). In the video, he is begging a girl to give him back
his heart, from the seat of a red Renault, a two-door economy
car (very different from our hip-hop stars that apparently need
Hummers and Lamborghinis to win back their women). The
beat is good, the melody is catchy, and so I look up the words.
I feel like Lambe has something to say, maybe not about the
meaning of life, but maybe something closer to what I want to
hear—not more about weather or someone’s distant relative’s
oral hygiene professional’s pet... twice removed.
So I learn all the words—it is easy to do because it is catchy.
I can repeat it in my head all day, and learn. I start listening
to other songs in Macedonian; I even ask others who I should
listen to. Then, a step further: I start translating my favorite
songs into Macedonian. Says the Macedonian man when I
sing, “????? ?????? ?????? ? ?? ????? ??
?????,” the translated lines of the Sir Mix-A-Lot’s 90’s
mega-hit,“At least he’s honest!”
I did this during PST as well. In bed I would listen to
music and think, “Now how would I say this in Macedonian?
I Know! “??? ?????? ????? ???? ? ??????
???? ??? ??? ?????, ???? ????? ???? ??!”
Maybe it gets a few brows raised, but it’s how I learn. And
an added bonus—I learn to sing in Macedonian. And nothing is better than going to karaoke and singing in the native
language. Chicks dig it too.
Hey, at least I’m honest.
spring/summer 2008 -