Lots to Do

I have been crazy busy. The weekend before last I hosted a practice conference for Model UN. Three other teams came to participate. It was a great practice for the kids so they could see a little of how things will be run for the big conference in March. There is a pic of my team this year. Then my birthday. Wow. I am now 30, but do I feel 30? NO. My actual birthday was quiet and nice. My site mate Kate made me cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then my knitting teacher and second mom came over for a visit. Kate and I went out for dinner. February is the last month I can leave the country so I thought it perfect to treat myself for my birthday to a nice weekend in Ohrid Macedonia. It is a quiet lakefront town on a lake(Ohrid) that borders Albania. I got there a bit early in the morning and found a very quiet town. Apparently the cafes don’t open until 930-10. It is also winter and not a busy tourist season. It snowed and rained a lot. When I was going up to the fortress the sun came out. It was a real treat. The town is filled with 10th-14th century Orthodox churches. The town has a lot of hills so there are so many great views. I wanted to post many more pictures. The picture of the tree is a 900 year-old plane tree. There are supports on it to help preserve it. The church is Sveti Jovan and is 13th century and is the picture most common when looking up the town. It is right on the lake. The picture of me is on the wall of Samoil’s Fortress built in the 10th century and has the best views of the city. I wanted to put up a picture of the amphitheatre but not enough space. It was built around the time of the birth of Christ but wasn’t fully uncovered until 1984. The other picture is of a view of the old town from the fortress. Most Macedonians are vegetarians and a popular local dish is called Cheese on Pot. It is a clay dish filled with baked cheese and served with freshly baked bread. Yum. They also eat a lot of pizza and sour cream and they even put the sour cream on the pizza. The nightlife was pretty strange. The local bars were mostly dead. There was a happening bar that looked to be frequented by 15 year-olds and there was another bar that was packed and people were dressed too nice for us to go in. We picked a dead bar and had fun. I was sad to leave. At the border crossing I had to walk across and was walking through so much snow it was hard to see. Luckily there was a taxi waiting for me just on the other side. I now have a conference next week to talk about leaving. We will be talking about reverse culture shock and how to adjust. I wish they would say the economy is better and we will have no problems getting jobs. There will also be a lot paperwork to do. Fun. It will be the last time my group is all together and will be the last time I see some people. After that conference there will only be 3 months of service left. Oh, where did the time go?