Get Out of Town

Just thought it was about time for an update. Today (Thursday) I am heading back to the village to take advantage of a spanking-new PC Makdo policy: The old policy was that if we wanted to travel during the work week, we had to take vacation days (we are allotted 2 vacation days per month), even if our host organization or school was closed (as most are during July and August). Now, that policy is still basically the same, but with the exception of visiting our host families. If our local supervisor says it’s okay for us to leave, then we can go visit our host families during the week and not have to use vacation days. Hooray! Actually, I think my host parents are more excited than I am—after all, I’M the one who has to sit on a sweltering hot bus for six hours with people of questionable personal hygiene.

Anyway, I’ll be in Zrnovci making hundreds of jars worth of ajvar (Macedonia’s national condiment) until Tuesday, when I will board another bus (this time, only for about 3 hours) to go to a picturesque mountain town called Krushevo for our Close-of-Service (COS) conference. This will be the last official hurrah for my group, MAK8. We will do exciting things such as learn about the kind of post-service healthcare that PC provides, touchy-feely things such as reflect on our personal growth blah blah blah, and intoxicating things such as down many a gin and tonic. I should be back in Struga next Friday sometime, so don’t freak out if I don’t return your e-mails immediately (Mom).

And two months from today, I will be out of Struga and staying in Skopje to go through the official week-long COS probing.