The Muslim World

Happy New Year!

From the Seattle PI, this is a well-written article about the need for compassion and tolerance for those of different faiths. I recently had a chance to learn a little bit about the Muslim faith when visiting a friend in Dubai, UAE, my first time in the Middle East. It made me realize that our society has a lot of misperceptions and misunderstandings about this part of the world and the people there. Not every place in the Middle East is dangerous and not everyone who is Muslim is a terrorist. We are quick to judgement and fear to make these kind of damaging associations. Extreme religious fever of any kind can be dangerous, and does not represent the vast majority. As a global village we are in need of more tolerance and understanding. I hope that this article can help people to realize that the common thread for many people of different faiths is for peace, love and compassion.

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> I didn't find 'them' in Muslim world

> Muslims are savages, a reader told me. So I flew overseas to
> part of the Muslim world to see for myself. What I
> saw is something that can help people, in Seattle and
> beyond, grapple with the kinds of religious flare-ups that popped up
> so often in 2006.
>
* Read the full article at: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/297855_robert30.html

Burj Al Arab Hotel, Dubai

This lavish luxury hotel of 202 suites is an architectural marval, designed to resemble the sail of a dhow, a type of Arabian vessel. It opened in Dec '99 as the World Tallest Hotel (at 321 meters or 1053 ft) and has been a controversial project. It includes 3 restaurants, an enormous atrium, a helicopter landing pad and gold-plated furniture with rooms starting at $900 USD. 22-carrat gold leaf and marble are also part of its construction. It also sits on its own artificial island. Just to go inside and take a tour is 40 Euros (about $50 bucks). I'll see the outside and save my money on a desert tour and camel ride instead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_al-Arab

In Dubai

I am currently in Dubai, UAE in the middle east, at my friend Renee's Private International American school. I arrived at 2am this morning with no problems, flying from Skopje with a stopover in Istanbul. I'm at the school library and they are playing "The Nutcracker" music. This is such a strange and wonderful place, Dubai is a modern, multi-cultural, unique city with massive growth, commercialism, and attracts a lot of international business. It has amazing buildings, signs in Arabic and English as well as different ethnicities, with people in western dress intermingled with men wearing white robes with head coverings and sandals. It is "cold" at 60 degrees and winter time. I can't imagine how hot and humid it is in the summer!

I haven't seen much of the city yet, but I will in the next 3 days. Renee has been living and working here for the last 9 years and says there has been a lot of recent growth. More than 70% of the population is made up of foreigners and ex-pats (although the number of Americans is about 1% of that).

Renne's apartment is beautiful, right in the center of downtown and has a swimming pool. I have discovered that there is Starbucks here (as well as Seattle's Best!) and I can't wait to eat some Middle Eastern Food.

After school today Renne will take me around and give me a tour. I'm especially looking forward to seeing the world-renown "Burj Al Arab" luxury hotel that is shaped like a billowing sail and is an amazing architectural accomplishment. Also I'm hoping to take a desert tour which will include a 4 X 4 dune drive and a camel ride!

On Saturday the 23rd I fly to Tanzania and take a 1 day safari tour of Ngorongoro Crater and Wildlife Park (with views of Mt. Kilimanjaro. I'll be camping out on Christmas Eve and the next day fly to Dar es Salaam to meet my friend Maki with two of her Japanese friends. We will rent a car (safer than the bus) and go to a small village near Songea, passing thru Mikumi National Park to get there. We will also spend a few days visiting the touristy island of Zanzibar.

I arrive in Seattle on Jan 8th and will be in town until Jan 17th, with my sister's wedding on the 14th. It will be an exciting and busy time.

I don't expect to have internet access while I'm in Tanzania and don't know when I'll be back online.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Chreken Bozheek and Happy New Year!

Another Great Travel Opportunity

January 14th is my sister Heidi's wedding to my future brother-in-law Rick. I am excited to be the maid of honor. So, naturally, I have been planning a trip back to Seattle at that time.

Then, about two months ago, my friend Maki (from Japan & came to visit me with my sister last Spring) called me up and told me she is going to Tanzania in December with some friends and would I like to come along?

Would I?

This is a dream come true for many reasons. Not only have I never been to Africa, but it is the last of the 7 continents for me to visit! I am incredibly grateful and blessed to have been so fortunate with opportunities to travel the world, it has always been a lifelong goal to visit all 7 continents. It's also been a dream of mine to see Mt. Kilimanjaro. I also plan to take a safari of the Ngorongoro crater (a World Heritage site), where I'll get to see all the typical wildlife in their natural state.

A couple of weeks later, while investigating airfair costs and itineraries I happened to notice that many European flights to Tanzania have a stopover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in the middle east.

...and it just so happens that I have a friend Renee (an American ex-pat) who lives there, teaching at a highschool.

So, now that I have managed my itinerary, budget and flight details I can announce my next adventure!

Starting Dec 19th I leave Macedonia for Dubai, spend 3 days there, then fly to Tanzania, take a 1 day camping tour of Ngorongoro, fly to Dar es Salaam on Christmas day, meet Maki and her friends, travel to another safari site, visit a village school and Zanzibar island with a total of 2 weeks in Tanzania. On Jan 7th I fly to Seattle, the wedding is on the 14th and I return to Macedonia on the 18th after 10 days home.

It's going to be a real whirlwind experience I have no doubt.

So let the adventure begin!

Kitten Caboodle!

I don't remember if I said this or not, but my kitten Miloyka was adopted by the PCV couple who took care of her while I was on med evac status this summer. They fell in love with her and asked if they could keep her. It was a tough decision but I decided to let them keep her. Besides, I have a cat back in America anyways. That was back in August. So once again I was living solo without a "roommate" this fall.

But I have a soft spot in my heart for animals and Macedonia has plenty of stray animals to go around. So, about a month ago after returning from a weekend in Skopje I discovered a little kitten crying in the hallway of my apartment building. This is not the first time that this is happened, so I did what I normally do and gave it a bowl of milk. This kitten didn't act afraid of me, as most other stray animals do. She was very affectionate and purring all over the place and...

Well. You know the rest. I now have another kitten as a "roommate".

Her name is Mila, which means "dear" in Macedonian. Don't be fooled by her adorable looks, she really is quite a rascal and gets into more trouble than Miloyka did.

However, it is nice to have some company around the apartment, especially now that winter is here and it gets pretty cold at night, so I have something warm and fuzzy to snuggle with now.

Mila 


Mila, the "Angel" 


The Rascal 


Mila's favorite place 

Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving 


Thanksgiving dinner is a big celebration in Macedonia where all PC volunteers and the new trainees attend along with their host family members. We must have had about 300 people there. Turkeys are ordered, everyone brings food, and an entertaining program follows dinner. This year, due to the large size of attendees, was held at a Veles hotel instead of at a local restaurant. I believe 17 turkeys were consumed. I made a Jello salad topped with whipped cream (I had brought Jello back with me when I was in the states this summer). The Macedonians didn’t know what it was and asked me if it was sweet or salty. They must have liked it because it was all eaten up. In fact, all the food was consumed. Dinner was served buffet style. I made sure that I got a little turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and desert. It was delicious! After dinner all the training groups put on skits or songs, one group even did a fashion show of traditional Thanksgiving dress including an American Indian and a Puritan Pilgrim. It was really funny! That weekend Shauna and I went to visit our host families. One sunny afternoon we got together with our host family children and went on a walk in the nearby hills.

The Turkey 


The Dinner Dash 


The Dinner 


Yum! 


Host Family Members 

The Roman Aqueduct near Skopje

I went to Skopje to visit PCV friends Noell and Anya in November and we went to a cool historical site nearby. It is called the Roman Aqueduct. No one knows how old it is, some say it goes back to Roman times and it is believed to have been used in the 16th century by the Turks (perhaps to fill their baths?). It is possible that this one was built on the ruins of a Roman aqueduct, hence the name. Unfortunately there is little being done to protect it, although a small portion has been renovated.

Roman Aqueduct 


The Aqueduct 


Noell & I 


Anya & I  

The 2nd Annual Field Day Extravaganza!

October 21st was the 2nd annual Field Day of all PC volunteers in Macedonia. This tradition began last year by the Mac 9’s and now it was Mac 10’s turn to try to do as good a job, if not better than the previous group. This is a project that I headed up with an organizing committee of about 10 other PCVs. However, because I was the closest to the location (Prevalec) and because I was the head of the committee, yours truly ended up doing a lot of the work! There were games to organize, budgeting to sort out, awards, lunch items to decide on, T-shirts to design, supplies to collect and purchase and lots of logistics! We had the fortune to use last years’ event to base our plans off of and improving on. So this year was quite a success and a lot of fun for everyone. At the time we had almost 100 PCVs in country (Mac 9’s are in the process of finishing their service and returning to the US and the new group, Mac 11, is an unusually large 49 trainees!) We had about 80 people in attendance and 60 of them were participating with about 10 people running the games. There was a potato sack race, tug of war, egg-toss, steal the bottle, 3-legged race, shoe kick, egg-spoon relay, limbo and a potato chip eating contest. I hope this tradition continues as long as Peace Corps exists in Macedonia. It is the only official volunteer event that is purely for fun and socializing amongst the volunteers and it is a chance for the current volunteers to meet the new group of trainees and often the last time that the “old group” get to hang out before the end of their service. We were also fortunate to have good weather and lots of helping hands to make the day a lot of fun and well worth the hard work!

A Great Line Up 


Tug-of-War 


Potato Sack Race 


Lunch Time 


3-legged race 


Eating Contest 


My PC Training Put to Good Use 

Work? What work?

I realized that I never mention my work on this blog, just about my travels, discoveries inside fruit and special events like holidays.

Well, I actually do work. I go to school 5 days a week and work with the local Macedonian teachers teaching English. This year I loathe my schedule because classes start at 7:30am everyday (except Mondays, which are at 9am). Ugh. There are three English teachers that I work with, following around and going to class with them. All the teachers in Macedonia use the same book, "Dream Team" and all the kids here learn British English (also, all the teachers have British accents, which was weird for me to get used to at first). During the lesson, from time to time I am able to teach part of the lesson, or add to it if I have personal experience. For example, yesterday the lesson was about London, so I shared a little bit about my being a tourist there in the past. One time last year there was a lesson about Australia and I brought in some Aboriginal music for the kids to listen to, which they loved. Sometimes I do the reading so kids can hear a native speaker. Sometimes the teachers are absent so I teach alone, which is, at times, nice because then I get to do my own stuff and make the lesson a bit more interesting. "Dream Team" is a fine book except the kids need more practice speaking English and learning grammar.

So I am at school about 25 hours a week in the classroom (which is a full teaching load in Macedonia) and then I have my afterschool English club. All the kids are welcome, but there are often just a small core group of about 8 girls who attend. We meet twice a week for an hour at a time and we play games, read books and sometimes listen to music, which gives them a chance to practice their English. I also have some crossword puzzles that the kids can also color, which are a real hit.

In addition, I just started up a Club GLOW at the local highschool. This is a club that is based directly from the girl's summer camp I worked at this summer. We just had our first meeting and we will meet once a week for an hour and learn about topics similar to camp like leadership, health, environmental issues, self esteem, etc. Think of it sort of like Girl Scouts. I never thought that I would enjoy working with highschool students, but I really love these girls, they are so much fun to work with.

Now if that wasn't enough, I also have lots of projects that I work on. I'm very involved with Peace Corps activities and I attend meetings often, and go to the PC office in Skopje about twice a month. The following are projects that I have worked on in the past or ones I'm working on now:

Member of VAC (Volunteer Action Committee), think Student Council
Head of the planning commitee for Field Day (last weekend, more on that later)
Coordinator for the National Essay Contest in English, including holding essay writing workshops at my school and the nearby highschool.
Member of TIP commitee (Human Trafficking, a big problem in Macedonia)
Working on getting the PC traveling photo exhibit to come to Kochani (next month)
Moderator of English Teaching Listserv for PCV's and Macedonian Teachers
Co-editor of "Pauza" the Macedonian PCV magazine
Writing supplemental curriculum (grammar focused) for "Dream Team" and having it available on the listserv (in the future will add it to the Resource room at the PC office)
Working on getting English books donated to my school.

In addition, I started attending the local Methodist church in town. It is very small, many people are surprised to learn that one exits here. The other interesting thing is that all of the members are Roma, there are no Macedonians that go. But just like Macedonians they are very friendly and welcoming. The second time I attended the minister asked me if I would teach the congregation English after the service. I was hestitant to agree (everyone heard the conversation), but I'll give it a try and see how it goes.

Lastly, I also hope to start a class to teach the teachers at my school English, as many have expressed a real desire to learn. So, if I can sort it out in my busy schedule that is also another secondary project I hope to start up this fall.

So, I guess I had more to say about work than I had thought!

Stay tuned for pics and info about the 2nd annual Field Day event that was last weekend.

Baths & Buildings in Budapest

“I’m on vacation” became the theme of our trip, whenever my PCV friend Stuart and I would question whether or not to splurge for desert, sleep in or have to exchange money with a lousy rate. (It also became humorous trying to convert in four different currencies; Euros, Hungarian forint, Bulgarian lev and Macedonian denars)

Budapest is an incredible city and for some reason I didn’t expect it to be crawling with tourists, although I can understand why. This beautiful and ancient city was once actually three cities divided by the picturesque river of Danube; Buda, on the west, O’buda in the north and Pest on the eastern side of the river. There are still Roman ruins nearby, although I didn’t have time to check them out myself. I did however enjoy seeing the very old buildings from the earl 1900’s on the Buda side of the river, including the medieval castle and Independence monument, with amazing views of the city, the Fisherman’s Bastion, Matthias Church and of course, relaxing in the fantastic Turkish Baths which are a true highlight of this wonderful city.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why Budapest is such a great place (some say it’s better than Prague, although I haven’t been there myself yet to say if I agree or not). However, with a mix of old and new, fantastic views and really cool architecture and beautiful buildings, there’s a lot to see and do. It’s also a huge city that Stuart and I ended up spending much time just walking around, especially up and down the river and across several of its picturesque bridges.

The original purpose of the trip was because my friend and fellow PCV Sara is running in the Annual Budapest Marathon and we were going to be her personal cheering squad. But unfortunately, due to an outbreak of violent protests two weeks prior, the Marathon was postponed until later. The protests were a reaction of Hungary's prime minister admitting he and other officials had lied about the economy. It was a tough decision, but I decided to stick with our original plan of going last weekend, especially due to the fact that I’d already booked my flights out of Sofia, Bulgaria and hostel reservation (Sara will go to Budapest with her visiting family two weeks later). I was concerned that the protests might flare up again and make it difficult to get around the city; however we swung by the mammoth parliament building on the last day and found it to be very mellow and peaceful.

Three days ended up not being enough time to see and do all that I’d wanted, but I enjoyed visiting the city and seeing all that I did. And who knows? Perhaps I’ll be fortunate enough to return for another visit after I finish my Peace Corps service next year. I wish I could have had more time there; a longer vacation. But isn’t that often the case when it comes to vacations?

Budapest Photos

Parliament building 


Hungarian Dolls 


Matthias Church 


View of Budapest from Castle Hill 


Gate at Castle Hill 


Church and Park 


Chain Bridge 


Basilica St. Stephen 


Inside St. Stephen Church 


Fishermans Bastion with Matthias Church  


Colorful Buildings 


Szechenyi Bath (by belgianchocolate at www.virtualtourist.com)