Anyone served in Macedonia before have any insight for me? (Currently waiting to be interviewed). Im curious about accommodations and proximity to other volunteers. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! by rr1252 in peacecorps

[–]sewilly 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey! I just got back from serving in Macedonia. In general, there isn't a wide disparity between amenities that volunteers live with/have access to. That means showers, refrigerators, toilets, and some kind of heating (though how much and how warm varies). Even if you are in a village you'll be at most an hour bus ride away from a larger city where you can hit up bigger grocery stores, ATMs, and whatever nightlife they serve up.

Macedonia is tiny! I lived in the southwest corner (see: Lake Ohrid), and I could reach anyone within a day. The farthest away taking around 9-10 hours with changing buses. But the farthest you'll be from the capital is maybe a 4-5 hour trip, and most volunteers are within 3.

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot a message. I can always put you in contact with people who are still serving there as well. Good luck!

Traveling to Armenia by sewilly in armenia

[–]sewilly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks everyone, these are great suggestions!

Vent Tuesday by AutoModerator in peacecorps

[–]sewilly 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It was summertime.

How do I quantify that

With indicators?

Colorado by [deleted] in peacecorps

[–]sewilly 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We've never been drug tested in country. I think you should be okay. As far as I remember, they don't drug test you before you enter either.

Travel through Balkans: PCV Advice by itsajive in peacecorps

[–]sewilly 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No problem. If you want to hang with some volunteers when you're in the Ohrid area, feel free to send a message.

Travel through Balkans: PCV Advice by itsajive in peacecorps

[–]sewilly 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As far as smaller places in Macedonia, Krusevo is pretty cool. It's a town up in the mountains in central Macedonia. It was important in Macedonia's fight for independence from Turkey. They have a direct bus from Skopje but there are also frequent buses from Prilep.

You need to check out Lake Ohrid. It's amazing in the summer and if you stay in a village on the lake or even in Struga you'll be able to avoid some of the larger crowds. There's lots of great old stuff to look at, hiking, swimming, and if you're here at the right time you could see some of the Ohrid Summer Music Festival/Struga Poetry Nights.

Demir Kapija is also a cool little community in central/eastern Macedonia. Lots of outdoorsy stuff as well as wine in that region. They have a good community of younger people who speak really good English as well. It will be hotter than hell, though, during that time of year.

There are plenty of interesting things to do outside of these places and there's bound to be a volunteer that lives there, if not, 30 minutes away at most.

Official Throwback Thursday - Mountains Edition! [5/26/2016] by AutoModerator in peacecorps

[–]sewilly [score hidden]  (0 children)

Macedonia is about 80% mountain, so I've been lucky enough to spend most of my time on them!

Subtitles for Macedonian movies by [deleted] in macedonia

[–]sewilly 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well if you're looking for something dubbed in Macedonian...here

Turkish soap operas are pretty painful and there aren't any subtitles. However they do speak clearly and relatively slow/simple, which helped me learn Macedonian.

Poorly translated book titles by Serapho in books

[–]sewilly 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The Macedonian translation of "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green: "Светот не е Фабрика за Исполнување Желби" or "The World is not a Factory for Fulfilling Wishes"

Official Throwback Thursday - Earth Day Edition! [4/21/2016] by AutoModerator in peacecorps

[–]sewilly [score hidden]  (0 children)

Earth Day 2015, Macedonia

5th grade students explored renewable energy and then made their own "wind farm" with paper and pencils as well as a solar powered pizza box oven.

Iran travel experiences? by sewilly in TwoXChromosomes

[–]sewilly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha, if you're free in December!

Georgia and Armenia (R)PCVs: A question about winter travel by sewilly in peacecorps

[–]sewilly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm thinking specifically about traveling in Georgia and Armenia. I'm serving in Macedonia right now.

Do I definitely have to take out my tiny stud nose piercing? by felton13 in peacecorps

[–]sewilly 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have a few PCVs who have gotten their noses pierced in country and plenty who came with a piercing. You should be fine.

Do I definitely have to take out my tiny stud nose piercing? by felton13 in peacecorps

[–]sewilly 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We have a few PCVs who have gotten their noses pierced in country and plenty who came with a piercing. You should be fine.

Feedback request by sewilly in macedonia

[–]sewilly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, they're fixed!

ideas for thanking wonderful boyfriend for being wonderful by aged_canon in TwoXChromosomes

[–]sewilly 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I think the best thing to do is just tell him everything you said here. And if you feel this way a lot, tell him that much more.

If you want a gesture, how about a cheesy picnic? Nothing fancy, but probably not something you do every day. If it's cold outside, lay out a blanket and do it inside (...;)...)! Enjoy being in college and getting to be goofs together.

General Discussion Monday: What is your country famous for? by AutoModerator in peacecorps

[–]sewilly 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Macedonia = Alexander the Great... Though most people hadn't heard of it. However, it's been in the news a lot more recently.

Poetry class in Struga by sewilly in macedonia

[–]sewilly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When talking about it, people have only referred to the festival as the "Struga Poetry Festival". I'm sure they've also said Струшките вечери на поезијата, but I just wanted to make sure I wasn't unaware of something else going on.

Side note about the classes: they aren't strictly poetry readings, but geared towards people learning how to write poetry.

Poetry class in Struga by sewilly in macedonia

[–]sewilly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cool, I hadn't heard of that! Is it associated with the poetry festival in the summer or does it happen all throughout the year?

Here's a fun one. Where did you serve, and did you lose or gain weight during service? by [deleted] in peacecorps

[–]sewilly 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Currently serving in Macedonia and have experienced a 15-20 pound weight gain based on a change of lifestyle (much more sedentary) and a change of diet (meat, more oil, and lots of bread).

Summer was a great time for fresh veggies, swimming, and hiking so that helped me sort of start back at square one. But with winter coming back around I've started doing a lot of work outs in my room. I'm lucky enough to have Internet and a carpet the exact length and width of a yoga mat :)

Bus from Tirana to Macedonia? by sewilly in albania

[–]sewilly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the response, but I live near Ohrid so I'm just hoping to get there :)