Summer is coming to a close

Today is August 29, and this week holds the last few days of summer, if summer is marked by the empty classrooms in the skeletal schools where we work. My summer was full of adventure, hard work, and new experiences, mostly unforgettable. From June through July, I held bi-weekly summer English camp in our main school in Rankovce. Nearly 60 children participated, and I had a blast creating lessons. I also continued with my adult English classes, and we opened the doors of our computer lab several days a week to hold open internet hours. Everything seemed to come alive with the passage of summer. Children walking to the swimming pool, aunties watering their flowers, and street vendors selling watermelons for $0.25!! You can sit on the verandas of the cafe's until 1 am, and for the first time, (since I arrived here in the fall) I wore skirts and sandals! In July, we held the first National Boys' Outdoor Leadership Camp in Berovo, in a dormitory in the mountains. 50 boys from all over Macedonia came and we held 6 sessions a day plus sports, meals, and fun. I was an administrative helper as well as gave seminars about Leadership and healthy living. The following week, we held camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) in the mountains outside of Bitola. 60 girls of all ethnicities from all over the country came together to discover what it means to be a strong woman, and how much potential they really have. From tie-dying to yoga and self-defense, to my own goal setting and career seminars, the girls were engrossed in a series of activities that streched their minds to unknown limits. It was a fabulous experience. That weekend, I hiked to the top of Mount Baba in Pelister national park with Douglas, which is one of the most beatuiful things I've ever seen, and also very strenuous! We left Bitola for Skopje, and took an overnight train to Ljubljana, Slovenia. Finally, I was taking a vacation, and it was much needed. I felt so good to leave Macedonia for 6 days, and see another country (Slovenia) which had also been a part of Yugoslavia but has progressed much faster. It was incredibly beautiful and we spend most of our time on the Adriatic coast in the quaint little town of Piran (but we took a day trip to Venice!). Returning to Macedonia, I went back to school and have been working together with several of my co-workers to write a grant project to develop a Language learning center in our school. The grant-writing process has been very interesting, and I hope that we will be approved. Next week the students will come back, so I can't wait to see what this next school year brings to me! The bus ride to the village has become much longer and much less exciting, and working with foreign people in a foreign language in an underdeveloped country makes things happen much slower. Douglas, the love of my life, has decided to stay another year as a Peace Corps volunteer, which will make this next year full of new adventures together. I don't know who reads my blog, but I do know that I appreciate it if you do! You can leave comments, e-mail me, and look at some more pictures at my Yahoo! Photos site. Wishing you peace, love, and adventure <><>