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Here are some pictures from our 45th Anniversary event
in Gostivar.
I spread the word to my coworkers to come to a birthday
party on the 1st and they came! So far, meeting times
and days to consult together have been very "flexible"
so I was psyched to see my co-workers come at the appointed hour to celebrate Peace Corps' anniversary.
They brought food for the occasion too! I made posters
explaining the origens and goals of the Peace Corps as
well as a 'Happy Birthday to Peace Corps' sign. Included on this sign is "crekna nova godina!' which is an
inside joke at our office because on my counterpart's
birthday I had a brain-fart and accidentally shouted
"crekna nova godina!" instead of creken rodenden like
I'd rehearsed. It's been running joke ever since. Melissa
Hearne baked some fantastic apple and bananna cakes
and came to the festivity (as her organization's office is
her counterpart's car and he was out of town that day). I
made some chocolate chip cookies that ACTUALLY
WORKED! (I used real chocolate chips sent from the
states - maybe that was the trick). We all sat down to a
little feast and talked about the Peace Corps and it's mission, but the conversation soon turned towards offcolored jokes and a session of lets-make-the-Americansblush. It was a well desearved pauza from the work of
the organization and a good time was had by all.
P A U 3 A !
I wrote up a little “piece”, in Macedonian, about
Peace Corps. What is it, what the goals are, where
volunteers go and what we do. I also included
project examples in an attempt to help them see
what I can do other than be my counterpart’s
shadow and to maybe spark their imaginations. I
also made brownies. They were very impressed
with my writing and helped me correct mistakes
and it really seemed to help them warm up to me.
I don’t think many of them were really told why I
was here. They weren’t suspicious but unsure of
what to think of my being here. They talk to me
more now and some have even asked for English
classes to learn basic communication. Over all I
feel much more a part of the group now and they
seem more willing to include me now. It was a
great week!
Sarah Church
Here are the pictures for my 45th anniversary
party. These are the students of my english conversation class enjoying home-made brownies
while we talk about Peace Corps.
Vanessa Perry
Mary and Melissa