Peace Corps mentions that the lifetime of the average
volunteer has highs and lows throughout service. These past two days have been
incredibly amazing for me, and I can say that I am finally a Peace Corps
Volunteer (and not a trainee).
Yesterday, the families of Lozovo joined the trainees in
celebrating the great American holiday of Thanksgiving! For once I felt like a master in the kitchen
as I slaved over a hot stove while my host mother watched and laughed at my concoctions.
For Thanksgiving the USA ships two American turkeys for each
training community to enjoy (sorry, American tax-payers, but however much you
paid for those turkeys definitely had their worth and were appreciated
here!). Once the turkeys were thawed, we
sent them to the motel to be cooked by the staff there. All trainees and families were tasked to make
side dishes to accompany the turkeys, which in my mind resembles even more the
spirit of the first Thanksgiving. Therefore,
the table was filled with a smorgasbord of American and Macedonian cuisine.
What did I decide to make?
1. Macaroni and cheese with bacon, squash, and leeks and my favorite
food to eat 2. Lumpia! The morning was
spent making the dough for the lumpia (aka spring roll wrappers). This involved smearing the dough on the hot
pan, and then lifting the wrappers from the pan with my fingers. Not only was I holding dough for an hour
straight, but I am pretty sure that I burned my fingerprints off from my left
index finger and thumb. I concurrently
made my macaroni and cheese, which was stuffed with the best ingredients
possible (squash, leeks, and bacon). I
would not have been able to cook both dishes without the help of Emily and my
host mother.
Afterwards, all of the trainees and families headed to the
motel to feast. We all sat for a while
until the turkeys were ready. They were
cooked almost to perfection, as both were butterflied to speed up the cooking
process. After we were all stuffed from
dinner, some families thought it would be a great idea to dance the oro around
the table. This is where the cultural
lesson of Thanksgiving was lost on the people of Macedonia. Never have I moved so much after a
Thanksgiving dinner, but it was definitely a blast!
Today, we all left our communities and left for Kumanovo to
swear in as official Peace Corps volunteers.
Some of us had some jitters, but maybe Brit and I had the most since the
other trainees selected us to represent the group by giving the speech in
Macedonian and Albanian. We were honored
to give the speech on their behalf, and we worked for the past week writing the
speech, translating it, and practicing it.
While I had translated the speech on my own, my Macedonian instructors
also had a translated copy ready, which was much better. Therefore, all of my thanks are devoted to
them!
The ceremony was attended by our current and future host
families, our counterparts, the Peace Corps staff, the US ambassador, and
representatives of the Macedonian government.
Throughout the ceremony, we sang both the American and Macedonian
anthems, heard speeches from the new Peace Corps Director for Macedonia, and
recited the oath to become volunteers.
Interestingly, the oath we recited was the same as that recited by
ambassadors and the president of the United States! We hope to serve our country with the highest
honor possible.
Following the ceremony, a Macedonian news network wanted to
interview me. I had no idea what the
context was, so I basically said that I was happy in Macedonia and that I loved
learning the language. You can watch me
stumble through the embedded video provided in the link below.
Tonight I enjoy my last day in Lozovo, and I leave for a bus
to Prilep early tomorrow morning. I know
that I am going to miss Lozovo, my host family here, the other (recently sworn-in)
volunteers, and all that this part of Macedonia has to offer. Luckily, I plan to return soon for Macedonian
Christmas (Божиќ).
I have plenty of pictures to share, but I think I will add them to another post since I have so many.
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