Another Good Week...

The past week went by very quickly, as there were only four school days.  We had clear skies and lots of sun, but the mornings were crisp and cold.  It does seem as though spring is just around the corner and even the hills around Kaçanik are a little greener.  The peak of Ljuboten, however, has gotten more snow and is quite beautiful on the blue sky days.

Friday, we had a girls night in Prishtina.  Of the 29 volunteers currently in Kosovo, only 9 of us are female.  We had 10 of us for girls night, as one volunteer from KOS 7 is back in Kosovo living for a while.  Sometime next week KOS 10 trainees will arrive and they are still expecting 31 or 32.  Once again, there are more males than females so we are still outnumbered.

We met at Napoli Pizza Restaurant across from the Newborn Monument.  I arrived early, so I went by the monument to get a photo.  Each year for Kosovo Independence Day, they repaint the monument.  I am not sure and have not been able to find the meaning of this year's painting.  In 2024, the monument was painted to represent the European countries where Kosovar's could travel without Visa restrictions.

This is the 2025 Painting of the Newborn Monument

Newborn 2024

Napoli had a fantastic selection of pizza, pasta, and salads.  After dinner, we headed to Addie's apartment for dessert, drinks, and a movie.  Cat made chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies.  Addie and Ryn decorated for the occasion.  

Backrow:  Hannah, Me, Kayla, Cat, Cloe, Chloe, Alyanna

Frontrow:  Addie, Ryn, Sarah

Candles, cookies, and cherry 7-up (not mine)

Both Addie and Cat are living in Prishtina.  Addie is a Peace Corps Response volunteer working at the Ministry of Education on Environmental Education.  Cat is a Kos 7 volunteer who has extended and is working with an organization in Prishtina.  They both have apartments with foldout couches and we all had room to sleep between the two apartments.  

Saturday morning, we had breakfast at Cat's with coffee cake, muffins, and a Serbian pancake.  After hanging out for a bit, I headed back to the bus stop with Kayla and Ryn.  

Cinnamon roll muffins for Girls Night

I did not hike with the hiking group on Sunday, because they hiked in Tetova which is in North Macedonia and I did not want to use a vacation day.  When we go out of country, it goes against our vacation days.  I was happy to see photos and there were a number of high school girls and Elisa.  Hopefully, next week will work out for a hike.

Instead of hiking, I made a loaf of sourdough bread, fermented ginger beer, made a pot of vegetable soup, cleaned up the apartment, and took two walks.  I also talked with Matthew, Kim, and Thom, but I missed a call from my niece, Megan and her little ones (hopefully next week).

Vegetable scrap broth for the vegetable soup

The soup is almost done

Getting ready to make sourdough bread

The dough before rising

Rising to double in size

In the pan to rise again

Just out of the oven

Fermenting ginger beer

24 hours later -- Second ferment with blueberry juice

Vegetable soup, sourdough, and spicy cole slaw with corn

Saturday night salad dinner

So Thom took care of paying the bills when he was here, since I was in school.  Now, I have them on the schedule for the last week of the month and I wanted to get them done early this week.  I was able to pay Teuta (sister of the owner and also an English teacher) the rent Sunday night.  We were meeting for coffee and to discuss the Creative Writing Competition put on by Peace Corps Volunteers that I am planning to do with her students.  I killed two birds with one stone.  

Monday, I have two morning classes and then I had coffee with Mirvete.  After that I went to the apartment for lunch and to gather the bills.  I had four things on my list and only a little over an hour to do them.  The electric bill was first and as I had the last electric bill, I had no problem.  Then I headed to the coffee roaster and grinder shop for 4 euros of coffee.  I also wanted to find a printer to print certificates for the writing competition on card stock.  The first printer that my counterpart recommended could not print on cardstock, but he recommended another print shop that was close to the water utility office.  I went in and paid the 1.08 euro water bill.  In the future, I need to remember to bring exact change as she did not have a way to make change.  After that I went to the print shop, but it was closed for a break.  I decided to stop at a nearby store to get pencils and paper for the writing competition.  

When I went back to the printing shop, it was open and the guy was able to print the certificates for me while I waited.  I got everything done in time to stop back at the apartment before heading to my afternoon classes which start at 2:45 pm.  I walked to school and immediately sensed that the building was quieter than normal.  I waited for Besim to arrive, but when the 2:45 pm bell rang, he was not around.  In fact, only a few teachers were actually in school.  I sent Besim a message and he reply that he forgot to tell me that the seniors were on a field trip to Prishtina.  The only classes this afternoon, were the eleventh graders and we don't teach them.  So I had the afternoon off.

Certificates for the writing competition  

I headed back to the apartment and decided to try a new recipe I found for Greek Chick Pea soup.  It turned out really good.  All is good so far in Kaçanik.

Lemony Greek Chick Pea Soup