Facebook, through some magical time warp sidebar, reminded me that 2 years ago today I was fending off raccoons on a beach in Costa Rica, two weeks before my departure to Macedonia. Flash forward to this afternoon, with me sewing up yet another tear in my pants, trying to get them to last a few more months until I'm finished in Macedonia. I can't believe this journey has come and practically gone already. Still, I'm trying to wring the most out of these final moments, which this weekend included some "official business leave" in Greece.
How sad it will be when I can't consider going to a summer camp in Greece "work." I traveled with 10 Macedonians to a YMCA camp held near a village called Nymfaio in northern Greece. Relations between Macedonia and Greece are strained, illustrated by the fact that Greece actually refuses to stamp a passport that says "Macedonia" and instead stamps a separate document with a country name more to their liking, but the camp for many years has brought the two nations together as friends. One of the highlights was the campers making games and putting on a carnival for the village kids.
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| Village kids fishing for candy |
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| Playing Twister in the center of Nymfaio |
Also, there was a 5K race where I placed first for the women, third overall. Below is a photo of me with a valedictory laurel wreath and cat face paint, something surely never to be replicated.
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| Me and the other top women, all from Bulgaria |
I also learned this weekend that the saying, "It's just like riding a bike," does indeed hold true--you can not ride a bike for two years and pick it right back up. I am cautiously optimistic that other skills which have not been a part of my life during Peace Corps, e.g. wearing business attire, driving, showing up places on time, grocery store self check-out, using a microwave, etc, will come back just as easily.
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| Macedonians & me (2nd from left), ready to roll (photo taken by Maja, YMCA Bitola member) |
