When "t" and "h" go walking...

When "t" and "h" get together, they say "thuh," as in Thessaloniki, which is where I went last Saturday for a day trip. I got to see the same sea that Paul saw when he went there to share the Gospel with the Thessalonians! I saw a lot of Thessalonians, but I didn't share the Gospel with them. I don't speak Greek. I don't even write Greek. And I'm not as cool as Paul. Oh dear.

Happily, some of the Thessalonians Paul and the other apostles met accepted the Gospel and started meeting secretly in the catacombs, where people were buried. It was a good place to hide! Who would want to look there!? I think it would have been difficult to worship in such a place, but if that were the only place available, then I imagine it was appreciated! I can't imagine having to hide in order to meet with other Christians to worship. I was so excited to find the catacombs!

There are some ruins of things like baptismals and columns in the catacombs now, which I suppose were added when Christians were allowed to worship freely. There is a big Greek Orthodox church built over the catacombs now, too. It was full of worshippers when I was there. There are many religious icons. There were lots of Orthodox nuns there! I think maybe there was a nun field trip that day. :)

A group of us from my school hired the school van driver to take us down there. It was a three hour drive through the beautiful mountains of Macedonia and the flatter land of Greece. The group split up and I got to hang out with my friends Mike and Sondra for the day. They are believers too, around my parents' age, and have lived overseas most of their married life.


The sun was in my eyes in this picture, but I still like it. My face is saying, "The sun is in my eyes, and I think you're really ridiculous." :) These are ruins from the ancient city. I wish I could tell you more about it, but like I said, I don't read Greek.
These are more ruins of the ancient city!
This is inside the church built over the catacombs. I don't imagine I was meant to take photos inside the church, but I did. Please don't frown at me.
The church was full of beautiful icons! But I did not kiss them. I am not into that.


This is another lovely part of the catacombs.


Another shot of the catacombs...

This is the famous White Tower from the 15th century. Scary things happened here.


I just like this picture. :) No special meaning.

So it was great to be in Thessaloniki. I really liked being near the water for a few hours. Mike, Sondra and I visited several churches and ate lunch at a side street restaurant. We ordered gyros, so I expected meat with cucumber dressing inside a fluffy pita, but instead we got a portion of mixed pork and lamb with fries and a few pieces of tomato and mustard. Go figure. We also had a nice Greek salad with olives, onions, tomatoes and chunks of feta cheese.We visited Starbucks, where I got coffee for Rachel and a city mug for myself. I love how big those mugs are! There were lots of American restaurants in the city, such as Ruby Tuesdays, Applebees and Burger King. But I couldn't go to those places while in Thessaloniki because it's against my religion. I only make exceptions when it comes to large coffee mugs and caramel frappuccinos.

I am sorry to tell you that after all that sightseeing, I was dragged along to the big retail store, IKEA. It's a useful store of course, and I found some nifty household items, such as a laundry drying carousel and note cards, but I still have moral objections to going to big, bright stores when I'm meant to be seeing the things the Apostle Paul saw. Oh well. There's grace. :)

La la la la lemons

I REALLY want a Chick-fil-A sandwich right now. With extra pickles. But...there is a really lovely loaf of fresh, round, flaky bread on my dining nook table that would not be available if I were in a place where I could readily get Chick-fil-A sandwiches. So there.

Happily, one of my cravings will soon be satisfied, when I eat at a Mexican restaurant with Rachel and Leonie tomorrow night!!! So exciting!!

This past weekend, Rachel and I went to an Italian Cafe downtown where we could sit and write letters and drink delicious, hot beverages. I ordered hot chocolate and they brought me a mug of hot, chocolate pudding! No kidding! I was so glad to have the little coffee spoon that came with it! There is no way I could have drunk that! It was wonderful.

Last night I had my third Macedonian language lesson. Vanetta comes to my apartment one night a week for two hours, and I feel like I'm making a little progress with the alphabet, at least. During the first lesson, I couldn't stop giggling at the strangeness of the Cyrillic letters, and how I sounded as I tried to repeat what Vanetta said and sound out each new written word. I am convinced that I really can't hear some of the sounds in this language! Brain research supports that theory!

And these lessons are a total role reversal for me, since I spend my days trying to teach the same concepts to kids, only in English. It gives me some perspective on the frustrations my students must feel sometimes, the smart mistakes they make and the questions they have when they compare English to their native languages. Thankfully, my background with French language has really helped me with Macedonian so far! There are some similar grammatical constructions which would have totally confused me if I hadn't already gotten over that confusion in learning French. Language learning is fascinating. Wow.

Speaking of French, I tried the Pirate English version of facebook and that was entertaining for a few days, but now I'm trying the French language version and that makes me even happier.

Last Friday, I traveled to a neighboring city with the other three American women who are new to my school staff. They had asked Amir, one of the school bus drivers, to take us to a big store where we could buy kitchen things and blankets. I got a big, poofy blanket!! And the best part is the slipcover! They use slipcovers on their blankets here! Why don't we do that in America? It makes more sense than trying to stuff a big comforter in the washer and dryer like I've always done in America. Gosh. I will write a letter to whoever is in charge of deciding whether or not a culture as a whole should use slipcovers on blankets and then maybe we can have those in America too.

I also got a big, fluffy bath towel! Oh, happy day! Now I am definitely living in the lap of luxury. And I found marbles for my class! So they can earn marbles for being good and "lose their marbles" for making bad choices. I think this is hilarious. Now if only more parents will send in the small jars I need to contain these marbles.

OK, so when I was shopping, I began to get a little bit frustrated that I couldn't read any of the ten or more translations of what the blankets were made of or how to wash them. So I really appreciated having Amir there to translate between myself and the store clerk. It's kind of annoying that the title of the product and the "made in..." part are in English, but nothing else. OK, OK...so it's like the first time in my life when I can't get by with just English, and that's OK.

When I've visited other countries in the past, I have always felt a little strange knowing that I am a native speaker of the language that so much of the world sees as a very useful, international language. I always thought it wasn't fair and I should have to struggle with language like everyone else. So it's good for me to be in the position of someone who can't communicate. I can't even read my bills! So don't even try to talk to me about how people who come to live in America from other countries should learn the language immediately. I will not agree with you. And I might even frown at you. (Insert soapbox speech).

My class has been listening to lots of Sesame Street songs, especially those pertaining to the alphabet. My favorite is the one about the letter L. It has been playing in my head a lot lately.
"La, la, la, la lemons...la, la, la linoleum!" It's a great song.

We have also been talking about helping each other. Here is a personal narrative I modeled for the class today:

A Time When Someone Helped Me

One day, I could not find my book. I thought the turtles ate it! Miss Mia said, "No. The turtles did not eat your book. Here it is!" Miss Mia found my book! She is a good friend.

I have much more to say. Stay tuned. :)

Eyeballs!

I am ridiculous. Like, if there were a boggart terrorizing you and you used the Ridiculous spell to make it stop, well there's a chance it might turn into me. That's how ridiculous I am. :) Hah. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, you should read Harry Potter. If you haven't read Harry Potter, then that's a sad story. But maybe if you haven't read Harry Potter, then you've read The Chronicles of Narnia, and then you would be OK. But...if you haven't read either series, then I'm not sure you've read any good books at all. Oh dear.

The first exciting thing is that we had communion at church yesterday! That was the best thing ever! I haven't had communion since I've been here and I was really missing it and worried that I wouldn't be able to have it again until I get back to America! And there was one loaf to break and a choice of wine or juice to swig or dip it in, because there are people from so many backgrounds in that congregation...So yay! I feel much better about that.

After church, I was invited to have chili with Mark and Patty and Joshua at their house. And it was cold outside, and I have been wanting to hang out with them again, so I was really excited! Several things made me homesick there: Bluegrass music, Sesame Street music sung by Bert and Ernie that reminded me of a dear friend back home, bookshelves full of good books, talking about the theology-type stuff, chili, corn bread, baked apples and ice cream. And warm slippers. And the cat, who was so kind as to spend some time curled up in my lap.

I have been a bit more homesick lately. It must have come on when the temperature dropped from the 70s and 80s to the 40s and 50s within about two days, and I'm from south Alabama, so I am COLD!!! I've been thinking about fall festivals in North Carolina and how I'd love to go and sometimes the thought pops in my head that those are coming up and I think I'll go, but then I remember that I'm in Macedonia and I'm all like, well darnit. And now I'm planning Christmas in France (I just went to the travel agency and bought my tickets today!), and that's a little emotional. But you know what? If Harry Potter can survive six years at Hogwarts with the Dark Lord on his tail, I think I can handle two years in Macedonia, even if the real Dark Lord would like to have me think that he is on my tail. Goodness gracious.

OK, so "Eyeballs!" is what I have started saying when I want my class' attention. I started out ringing a bell and saying, "Hands in your lap, eyes on me." Then it was, "I need your eyes." Now it's, "Eyeballs!" And it works every time. Sometimes it's hard not to laugh, so I don't really try. I laugh a lot in my classroom. My scary teacher faces are balanced by my silly faces, so I think the kids know I mean business, but they're not scared of me. They're only five and six. I don't think it's appropriate to try to make them fear me. So all those scary teachers of the world can hush. Right now.

Another hilarious thing that is actually starting to get a little annoying is when I say, "Oh my goodness..." and the kids chime in, "...gracious alive!" OK, so I've trained them like I wanted. But golly. What have I done? :)

I have a new assistant!!! Her name is Mia and she is amazing! I don't know what I did without a full-time assistant the first three weeks of school. Mia is 23 and Macedonian. She immediately fell in love with the Sound of Music soundtrack playing in my room, so now that's all she wants to listen to when the kids are out of the room and we're working. She even wanted to borrow the DVD. She had never seen the movie. So, even aside from this newfound mutual love of The Sound of Music, I think we have a lot in common. I hope we can be friends as well as colleagues. It seems weird that she calls me "Miss Virginia" even when the kids are not there and asks my permission to leave in the afternoon or do certain other things. But that's how it is, and I'll get used to it. She's super nice and helpful. It's nice to have someone to smile and laugh with when the kids are being especially charming. She remembers things for me when I forget and finds things for me when I misplace them. Now, when I lose a certain book I was using, I don't have to blame it on the turtles (which the kids think is hilarious)!

I walk around barefoot in my classroom a lot, because I want to and I can. I mentioned to Mia that I was surprised no one had said anything to me about teaching barefooted, and she said the teacher who was there before me taught barefooted all the time! Isn't that an odd coincidence? No wonder no one ever critized me for it! So now I don't worry at all that people will disapprove of my bare feet. Awesome. I would never be able to get away with that in an elementary school in America.

I could tell so many stories about my students. Maybe I will make a post just of funny things they say one day. On Thursday during calendar time, I said tomorrow would be Friday and that's my favorite day of the week. One of the girls said, "Why? Cuz you don't like teaching?" Oh my.

The kids like to copy me. When there's free time at the end of the day or during snack, the little girls will often go up to the chalkboard area and start playing teacher. It's interesting to see how they interpret what I do in class. At Open House, one of the moms told me her daughter won't tell her what we do in class, but she finds out when she watches her playing teacher at home.

One of the girls has taken to putting her pencils in her ponytail and behind her ears like I do. Another teacher scolded her for this the other day and I felt kinda guilty. I don't see anything wrong with putting pencils in ponytails, but people are always telling me there's a pencil in my hair as if maybe I didn't know and they were doing me a favor by telling me. Hmmm.

I have been ordering food from a macrobiotic restaurant for lunch. It's sandwiches with a main part like mushrooms or falafel with lettuce, peas, shredded carrots, etc. inside. Quite interesting. Very healthy. But I don't know how long I'll continue ordering from that place.

As I was passing the butcher shop the other day, I noticed that the butcher looks like George Clooney. This did not entice me to go into that store then, and I don't think I ever will. This is because hanging meat is not attractive at all, and handsome as the real George Clooney may be, I do not have a very high opinion of his character. That is all.

When the rain comes

I have always loved the song When the Rain Comes, by Third Day. It was on my mind when I woke up this morning, because it actually is raining outside...and that made me really not want to go to church, but I went anyway. I threw on my jeans and wore my flowered socks with my mary janes and walked around the puddles like a champ. It's a good thing I finally found an umbrella to buy yesterday.

I have a covered balcony where I can sit, safe and dry, and watch the rain. I think I have always been able to sit, safe and dry, and watch other people's rain without ever really having to get in it myself. I haven't had much of my own rain...some, yes, but nothing compared to other lives I have been a part of or watched from afar. I've been sheltered, and I'm thankful.

The sermon today was on John 14, and the pastor talked about how maybe many of us there (as an international community) didn't quite know where we belonged, because none of us were in our hometowns and many of us had moved many times and we might not be quite sure what to say when someone asked us where we were from and where our home was. I have a better idea of my earthly home than a lot of other people in the church here, I'm sure, but sometimes I do wonder where I belong.

The disciples were so closely identified with Jesus that they didn't know what they would do or where they would go when He was no longer on earth. He told them they could come to where He was going, so they thought He meant a physical address, and they wanted directions...but He explained that He is the direction. There is no place to go but to Jesus Himself. We actually carry our home with us in our hearts, because Jesus is home. We belong to Him and with Him and He is always with us.

Of course this answer doesn't satisfy the human longing for familiar people and places and food and culture (all of which can be good things), but Jesus didn't come to satisfy those needs. God knows we need those things. He knows we need food, shelter and love to live...and He always provides, but usually not in the ways we sometimes think He should. Jesus did not come to fulfill our will, but God's will, and that is very much better.

So I may sometimes feel like the rain has come and everyone has gone away, but that's not true at all. That is a lie straight from hell, as Shawn would say. :) I have lots of love from my community at home and I am surrounded here with a new community. But even if that weren't the case, even if I were out in the middle of the desert without even a dog around to keep me company, I wouldn't be alone. Everyone would not have gone away. I always have Jesus.

And maybe I feel like I have caused the rain in my life because of sin. And maybe I have. But Jesus is bigger than that, and He will never leave me.

A friend from Redeemer Church sent me an email outlining the three stages of adjustment to service in a new country. There's the honeymoon stage, where everything is great and wonderful. Then there's the doubt stage, where you wonder, "What the heck am I doing here?," and then there's assimilation, when you embrace all the positive and negative aspects of the new place. So I think I'm in the doubt stage, to an extent...not that I doubt that I should be here right now. I don't doubt that at all. It is truly a privilege to be here, doing what I'm doing. But I do wonder how long I'm supposed to stay. I have had some reality checks this past week and realize that I have to change some things about the way I live here if I am going to make this my home. So I will make some adjustments.

Here are the lyrics to the song:

When the rain comes
it seems that everyone has
gone away
When the night falls
you wonder if you shouldn't
find someplace
To run and hide
Escape the pain
But hiding's such a lonely thing to do

I can't stop the rain
From falling down on you again
I can't stop the rain
But I will hold you 'til it goes away

When the rain comes
you blame it on the things that
you have done
When the storm fades
you know that rain must fall
on everyone
Rest awhile
It'll be alright
No one loves you like I do

When the rain comes
I will hold you

Two posts in one day....

Because one post had to be dedicated to my vacation...and now for the update on my REAL life.

Today is September 11th, and the United Nations has organized a day of Peace, which will be September 21st, I believe. So the school director came over the loudspeaker this morning and said some words about the lives lost in the terrorist attacks on and surrounding this date seven years ago. There was a moment of silence. This is not easy for five-year-olds to understand, so we had a little talk before calendar time. I told them what the director had been talking about, that some bad people flew planes into some buildings in American before they were born, and that lots of people died there and in other places when more bad people attacked innocent people. I told them that we want to remember what happened during those attacks, and show the world that we can be peaceful and kind and good, instead of bad. Someone asked me which country the bad guys came from, and I told them it didn't matter, because there are good people and bad people in every country, and people being bad didn't have to do with their country or their religion, but it was just that some people have bad hearts (yeh, I know, we all do, but I didn't want to get technical with theology in this situation). We talked about this a little bit, and then they began to wonder about how long we had until snack time, so I think it was a successful conversation. I got a little misty-eyed thinking about it all, which isn't surprising, since I often get misty-eyed when I talk about almost anything important.

I am getting more and more comfortable with my class. Things are going more smoothly. Our line is nice and quiet (most of the time) and the kids even stick together, which is nothing short of a miracle, but it helps them to think of the class as a puzzle that will fall apart if someone gets out of place. My most challenging student has calmed down, and gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek as he walks out the door every afternoon. Everyone else settles for a hug or a high-five, or both. I play music during rest time, while they work independently, during snack, and whenever else I feel like it. Sometimes I even sing along. There's a lot of classical music, but also The Sound of Music soundtrack, of course, and James Taylor, and children's songs in French and math songs. I am slowly adding to the music library on my classroom computer. I like my students to work rather quietly, but complete silence drives me crazy, so I play music. Sometimes when the kids aren't in the room, I dance a little bit on my own. I dance with them too, sometimes. I have taught them the smarty pants dance.

"Oh my goodness gracious alive!," is what I always say to my class. I can't wait to hear them repeating that! I heard one of them say "Oh my goodness" today, so it's only a matter of time. :)
Knowing that my students watch and imitate my every move is frightening, but sometimes I like to think I could use this power to take over the world.

I have been reading Click, Clack, Moo by Doreen Cronin to my class, and I realize that her books have an American slant...but they are really awesome, and I get to moo and quack a lot. We are also into Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom, The Monster Pet and Chrysanthemum. All of these books come highly recommended.

Uga the bulldog has just joined our class. He sits on a coat hook near the calendar area and he will be helping us learn our positional words. The kids like him because he's a cute stuffed animal and and I like having him around because he reminds me of my brother.

I am allergic to peppers and eggplant, and I don't drink much coffee. Some people laugh at me and say I must have picked the wrong country. But it's OK with me, because they have wine, cheese and chocolate here. I think I will survive.

Did you know that everything is smaller in Europe than in America? It's true.
The first week I was here, I was shopping with Leonie. I held up a towel and said, "It's so small!" She said, "It's Europe!" And that about sums it up.

Ohrid

These are a few of my favorite things....

Below are some photos from my incredible holiday weekend trip to Ohrid, Macedonia. Rachel and I visited ruins of a Roman fortress and several 13th century churches. We also spent time soaking up some sun on the lakeshore beaches and exploring souvenir markets.

We took a bus (a nice one) on Saturday morning and arrived in the early afternoon. When we got off the bus, there was a crowd of people standing on the other side of the gate of the bus station, shouting out inquiries as to whether we would like to stay with them. They had postcards and photos and information written in English to try to convince us to choose them! We expected this, and I let Rachel choose, but she chose the lady I would have chosen, so I was glad. :) The lady was about my mom's age and seemed very pleased that we decided to come with her. She led us to a taxi and told us on the way that her son spoke very good English. Rachel speaks some Macedonian, so it wasn't a problem anyway. We ended up only having to pay about $1o each per night, which is a great price!

Lots of locals in Ohrid rent out rooms to travelers and everyone knows about this and it's perfectly fine. The people who rent rooms seem to have a city license posted on their doors with their photo and lots of Macedonian words and the city seal, so there must be something official about it.

I guess the family of this particular house all sleep in the one living area downstairs, because all three of the upstairs bedrooms were rented out. We got a key to the room and a key to the front door. In our room was a double bed, a couch, two tables and a bureau. It opened out onto a balcony with a beautiful view of the city. Towels, cups and toiletries were not provided, of course, but that's OK, because we both thought to bring towels, and we had toiletries and water bottles. No problem! The house was situated on the hillside overlooking the lake. Wow. I wonder if the families who rent rooms depend on that for their whole income, because they have these old houses in prime locations, and of course lots of people want to pay to come stay with them. Hmmm. I'm curious.

Anyway, so the first day, we changed into our swimsuits and walked around looking at the 13th century churches until we found the one we were looking for, which I had seen pictures of online when I googled Macedonia from America. It's a small church with a beach area below, so we visited the church and then went to the beach and sat at a cafe and had a yummy cucumber, tomato, vinegar, olive oil and sheep cheese salad.

As we approached the church, I was telling Rachel that I wished I could find someone in Macedonia who understood French, because then I would feel like I actually knew something that could help me get around, and my brain seems to think that any foreign language can be answered in French anyway, so it would be nice to get to practice. Well! Lo and behold, the caretaker of this particular church doesn't speak English, btu he does speak French! So when he asked Rachel is we understood French, she told him in Macedonian that I do, and all the sudden he starts explaining the church to me in French! Well, my mind had to do a real quick switchover, but I understood most of what he said and was even able to ask some questions. It sounds silly maybe, but that was super exciting for me, since I haven't had to use my French in over four years. I'm glad some of it's still there, and it seems like this experience was another one of those little, but very significant blessings God has been giving me so many of lately.
It's a good thing too, because I plan to spend Christmas in Tours with my friend Aude from college! And I will get to practice French there to my heart's content!

So then we climbed and climbed the little cobblestoned roads up the mountain until we found the ancient gate of the Roman-occupied city and then the ruins of the fortress, which was really cool. From up there, I could see more of the land around the city, and it's no wonder that people have been fighting over this land for thousands of years. Macedonia is a free nation for the first time now. It has always been a conquered land before now.

You can imagine that we were tired after all that climbing and swimming, so we found a restaurant and ate lots of delicious food...trout, omelettes, crepes, bread...just lovely.

The next day, we took an hour and half long boat ride across the lake to a little town called Svete Naum, where there was another church (but this one had peacocks and there was a wedding in progress when we arrived), another beach, a lagoon and a lots of souvenirs for sale. That was lovely too. I especially enjoyed daydreaming all the way across the lake, both ways.

That night, back in Ohrid, we returned to the same touristy market we had visited several times before. At night, everything is lit by torches held by the vendors and there is traditional Macedonian music being played by costumed musicians and it makes everything seem much more appealing and I almost spent way too much money on a beautiful wood carving of the Nativity Scene. I still want it, but I'm glad I didn't rush to an ATM to get enough cash because then I wouldn't have money for food for the rest of the month. :) And anyway, the carving of the Last Supper was much lovelier, so I shouldn't settle for something I like less, just because that particular carving will always be way out of my financial league, and it's not like I need it.

So then we walked along the lake like we had the night before, and talked and talked and I said hello to all the dogs and the swans and we looked at some paintings and wondered why there are no gypsies in Ohrid. There was much festivity in the center of old town, where we were, because it was a holiday weekend. We stood in line for awhile to buy these little doughnuts which are drizzled with powdered sugar and chocolate...kind of like funnel cake, but better. So we took our doughnuts and sat on the ancient stone pier, where lots of people were sitting, and savored the sweetness of the doughnuts and the energy of the evening and the reflections on the water and it was just lovely. I'm so glad to be living in a place where I can make memories like that and I am so glad to have a friend here to share it with. It would be so sad if I had to travel by myself. Nothing is as meaningful if there's no one to share the experience.




Wouldn't you love to see what this fortress looked like when it was in use? But it might have been a little bit scary, so maybe not. There was a big, round enclosure off to the right of this photo and I told Rachel it might have been a torture pit, but she said it might have been a baptismal, but I think it was too deep to have been a baptismal...so I know it's morbid, but I'm pretty sure the Romans were not very nice people.

I paid way too much for this famous Ohrid trout, but it was worth it! It was flavored with lemon, and there weren't many bones! It was served with lovely potatoes and carrots.
These churches are lovely, but after awhile, I'm afraid they all start to look the same.
This is the restaurant where I had the trout. We ate here both nights and sat in silence most of the time, just gazing at the mountains.
This is a lagoon in the nearby tourist town of Svete Naum. We took a boat there!
Hi!
This is where I got in the water to swim! Some people were laughing at me because the stones were slippery and I kept stumbling and giggling because the water was so cold and I couldn't keep my footing! When the water got deep enough, I just started swimming...and the second time I got in, I thought to wear my flip-flops into the water.
Wow. That's what I kept saying about the scenery the whole weekend. I think I would say that every day in Ohrid, even if I were to live there my whole life.

crazy job

This is the end of my first full week teaching kindergarten on my own. I have quite a challenge ahead of me, but I'm game. We spent a lot of time this week learning how to form a nice, quiet line with hands at our sides and our lips zipped...and no wandering off. There are some definite cultural differences between myself and most of my students. At my school, teachers go by their first names, so I am Miss Virginia, but most of the time, my students just call me "teacher." In the mornings, they tell me I'm beautiful and compliment my dress, earrings, hair, etc, which is delightful and expected of kids this age. I can always count on five-year-olds to boost my self-esteem.

Adorable as they are, some of the children (and their parents) seem to think they should get special treatment because of the way they're treated at home or how important their parents are. They actually look affronted when I call them out. And given what it costs to send children to this school, I imagine some of the parents are considered very important in certain circles. One of the moms told me I needed to pay special attention to her son because he is the oldest in his family and has always been the center of attention at home. Well, every child in my class is important, and with only nine students, they will all get special attention, but they are not going to get away with unacceptable behavior in my classroom. No ma'am.

I am determined to teach my kids some of the songs from The Sound of Music. The soundtrack has been playing in my room and two of my non-American colleagues have requested burned copies. See? It IS the best movie ever. I don't have the first clue how to teach these songs to the kids, since I don't plan to sing them acapella, but they will learn, by golly.

I have a crazy job. I get to work around 7:15 to prepare for the students to start arriving at 8. I am exhausted when the kids leave at 3:15, but I stay at work at least until 5 and sometimes quite a bit later than that, because I have to prepare materials and study lessons for the next day. When I get home, I have about 3 hours to continue writing lesson plans, check email, find something for supper and maybe go out to do some shopping before bedtime. I have to go to bed before 10 or I won't have enough energy to face the next day. And I don't usually drink coffee...but I might start, since the iced NesCafes I've been getting after school really boost my energy level so I can stay at work later. So this may be a crazy job. But I love it. Of course, it would be nice if I made more money, but I have everything I need and more, so I can't complain.

Lydia, my housekeeper, came today. I can honestly say I have no ambition to be economically rich by American standards (I'm already rich by the standards of most of the world), but it is nice to come home to a clean house that I didn't have to clean. She even irons my clothes!

I just finished a bowl of delicious leftover pasta soup. Rachel and I buy these little pasta and soup packets and last night she made one with a white sauce and put in some freshly cut up tomatoes and it's the tastiness soup-packet soup I've ever had!

I have been eating a lot of watermelon since it was delivered to the school for me the other day. One of the men who works at the school also has a family-owned market, and he takes orders every morning to be delivered the same afternoon!

The other night, Rachel was sweet and made whole-grain pancakes from scratch, which we ate with figs-from-a-jar, honey, and peanut butter given to her by someone who visited the states.

Rachel and I were walking along the river to downtown last week and passed by some Macedonian soldiers who called out, "Hello, sweetie. You are very beautiful." Oh my. That just creeps me out. I wish there weren't so many soldiers working along the riverbanks. I know they won't hurt me, based on my knowledge of the culture here, but I still don't like it. There seem to be teams of soldiers and other workers cleaning up the river, which is good. This city is kind of dirty. But very liveable.

Oh! People have been noticing my southern American heritage. One of the other American teachers told me he knew I was from Alabama when he walked in my classroom after hours and found me barefooted. One of the Macedonians told me I reminded her of the movie Sweet Home Alabama. Hah. :) I take the south with me everywhere I go.

OK. This seems like a rather disjointed blog entry, but I'm done. I have to lesson plan. Rachel and I are going to Lake Ohrid for the holiday weekend (we get Monday off), and if I don't get Tuesday all planned out tonight, I'll get all stressed out worrying about it over the weekend. :) Silly me.