Site Announcement

Peace Corps cake that was served at the Site Announcement Ceremony.

We have about a month left in Veles to finish training before we are officially sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers in Macedonia. On Thursday, the Home-Stay Coordinator, Program Manager, and Country Director came to Veles to announce where we will all be working and living after training. They gave each trainee a packet with information about the community and worksite. At once, we all opened our packets and learned where we will be going. On Friday, we had a training day in Skopje with the trainees from all of the training communities. We had an announcement ceremony so we could see where all of the trainees will be throughout the country. Saturday, all of the trainees and currently serving volunteers in Macedonia met at a park in Skopje for a potluck. We had the chance to meet volunteers that are currently serving in our regions and ask questions about our placements.

Jarred and I are going to Delcevo, a small town in eastern Macedonia about 10 km from the Bulgarian border. Delcevo is at the base of Mount Golak and along the Bregalnica River valley. There are two volunteers who live in Delcevo now, but they are finishing their service and heading back to the U.S. in just a few weeks. They described Delcevo as beautiful, rural, and with friendly people. There are two volunteers who live in a village nearby. They said the region has a lot of hiking opportunities. Because Delcevo is so near Bulgaria, the people speak a specific dialect, which is a mix of Bulgarian and Macedonian.

Map of dialects. Source: Wikipedia

We will be living with another host family. They are an older, retired couple. They have two children – a son who lives in Peru and a daughter in Italy. They have a two-story home. They live on the first floor, and we will have the second floor with our own kitchen and bathroom.

Jarred will be teaching English at a high school of about 500 students. He will be working with a Macedonian counterpart, who is one of four English teachers at the school. He will also be helping with after-school activities and clubs, like Model UN. I will be working at the Roma Educational and Cultural Center. It is a small NGO that works to improve the education of youth, enhance and promote human rights, and increase multiethnic and multicultural cooperation at the municipal, regional, and national level. The organization works with the Roma population to raise the level of education, improve socioeconomic status, and preserve tradition, art, folklore, language, and culture of the Roma community.

In a few weeks, we will have the opportunity to go to Delcevo to visit for a few days. We will meet our new family, visit our future work sites, and meet our counterparts.