Language and Cultural IST 2014

From June 10 until June 13, all of the MAK18s were required to attend Language and Cultural IST which took place at Hotel Biser in Struga.  This is one of four In-Service Trainings that PCVs in Macedonia are required to attend (one was held in April for In-Service Training, another will be held in March 2015 for Mid-Service, and the last will be the Close-of-Service training).  Of all of the trainings, it is said that L&CIST is one of the most fun since it brings all of our group together to partially celebrate a close of a school year (for TEFLs) and to reign in the beginning of summer for all volunteers.

As I mentioned, the IST took place on the shore of Lake Ohrid at Hotel Biser.  Hotel Biser is located just outside of Struga and only a few minutes drive from the border with Albania.  Given such a beautiful location during the warm summer months, it was great place to swim and relax in between classes.  The MAK18s were joined by a few PC staff and about 8 Language teachers.  Throughout the day, we were required to attend 3-4 classes in Macedonian language.  Of course, there was plenty of downtime between classes or during lunch to swim in the clear, cool Lake Ohrid or to relax under the summer sun. 

The main drag in Struga

The river walk in Struga

The view of the shore from my hotel room

Hotel Biser is partially built into a cave along the cliff

As this IST approached, I really looked forward to learning more Macedonian and to speaking with other volunteers during classes as we practiced the local language.  However, as soon as the choice of classes were announced, it was evident that our language abilities had diverged significantly throughout our service, and it would be impossible to teach a class that benefitted a whole class of volunteers.   Some grammatical points were covered, like Perfective vs. Imperfective verbs and Clitics.  Other classes revolved around topics like Movies, Music, or Slang.  In my opinion, the content and challenges of the classes were very underwhelming.  Of all of the classes that I took, only the class on Literature was slightly challenging.  Within most classes, I learned new vocabulary, but many of these included topics that I never use, including the roles during a Macedonian wedding (for example, we were taught the term for the male relative of the groom who has to buy shoes for the bride) and newspapers (a somewhat failing industry that I do not need to learn too much about).  As I always argue to PC Macedonia, classes would be improved significantly if they concentrated on teaching and practicing verbs (vocabulary and tenses), but most vocabulary centered around superfluous nouns. 

Even though I accepted early on that I would not gain much from the daily classes, I focused on two goals throughout the IST- relax and gauge my language ability through a Language Proficiency Interview, the same test we were all required to take at the end of PST.  According to the Language Coordinator, my language abilities lie somewhere between Mid- and Low- Advanced, almost two levels above where I was in November, so I am happy with my progress.  Of course, I still understand that I have a lot of work to achieve before I can speak fluently in all situations, but I still have quite some time left to continue to improve. 

In regards to my second goal that week (relaxation), it was easy to fill that order.  As I mentioned before, there was plenty of time to relax, swim, and sunbathe in between classes during the IST.  The only factor that may have intimidated some volunteers from swimming everyday was the presence of snakes in the lake.  Lake Ohrid is somewhat famous for its water snakes, and I found them kind of intriguing since I had never seen snakes swim before.  A few times we saw snakes catch their meal near to shore, and as they struggled with consuming a whole fish, I pondered on the evolutionary logic of these snakes. 

One night while relaxing after dinner, we were told by the Language Coordinator that a professor for Macedonian language from Toronto was also staying at the hotel.  As she introduced the professor, it dawned on me that this was the professor that wrote the Macedonian Language book that I had been studying for over the past year.  Elated and surprised, I rushed to ask her why she decided to study and teach Macedonian and to discuss with her more about her book.  It was interesting to learn more about the characters in her text (for example, the child who is described as a nuisance in the book is modeled after her son, and Brajchino, a village mentioned various times in the text book, was chosen because it was the hometown of a Macedonian author and friend of the professor).

Meeting the Professor (far left) who wrote the Macedonian Language book 

Hotel Biser is also conveniently situated next to an old monastery and church, so there was plenty of time to soak in some cultural and historical indulgence along with sun and water.  One of the churches was built in a cave, so it gave volunteers a chance to explore a claustrophobic sanctuary.  The hotel was also connected with a lovely trail and road that headed south toward the last remaining villages in Macedonia.  This was my first opportunity to run regularly outside again, so it was a great introduction to running after recovering for a couple of months from my injury.

Hotel Biser

The hotel was a bit far from Struga, and the internet connection was horrible (I was not able to connect with my computer all week), so all of the volunteers were required to be creative with how they spent their free time at night.  Many nights we spent our time sipping wine or beer while we played Cards Against Humanity or Mad Libs.  We celebrated the last night in style by watching the opening match for the World Cup between Brazil and Croatia.  We all crammed into Ted’s and my room as we cheered the two teams on (many in the room were fans of the underdog and former Yugoslav republic).  After the game ended, we enjoyed our last night together for that IST with a small dance party.  After spending a few days in such a luxurious setting, I was ready for the Young Men’s Leadership Project, a week-long camp that immediately followed this IST.