After Kim and James left, I had just two weeks of school remaining. We gave tests during the second-to-last week of school, starting on Monday, they flew out. Each day that week, we finished early as it was nice outside and students didn't stay once they finished their tests. The first week of June was our last week of school. Students came in to find out their grades and then went to the cafe (or anywhere but school). By Wednesday, we were done letting students know their grades, and the school year was over. Each day when I walk, I see students from the school and I hear the voices calling "teacher".
There was no graduation ceremony for seniors at my school, but the gjimnaz had a ceremony, and Gazmend told me about it. Thom and I decided to go. It was at the cultural house, and students wore caps and gowns. There was a guest speaker a distant relative of Kastriot Skanderbeg (the school is named after Skanderbeg). He is a historic figure to Albanians as he helped to repulse the Turkish invasions in 1443. Florije Luzha (whom I met on a hike last year) was the student speaker. It was a nice ceremony.
There was a hike around Kaçanik to Stagova and the UÇk memorial on the Sunday right before school ended. Danny was able to go along and meet the group. It was a beautiful day and a really nice hike.
Photos from our Hike
Friday of that week was Kurbani Bayrami (Feast of the Sacrifice). During the week, I saw pens with lambs in them in Kaçanik and other communities. Many families purchase lambs to sacrifice as part of the holiday tradition. We left on Thursday to go to Prishtina as the buses don't run on holidays, and we had plans to hike with Birgid in Germia Park on Friday. Our plan was to make the 16-mile round-trip hike to the bear sanctuary. We knew it was a holiday and there was a good chance it wouldn't be opened, but we made the hike anyway. We did see snakes and frogs along the way. The bear park was closed. I was surprised at how nice and well-kept the facility looks, and I look forward to coming back sometime.
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Noah also stayed at Birgids. Our original plan was to stay Thursday night, but the buses weren't running on the holiday, so we stayed two nights. Noah stayed as well. We went to the Himalayan Gorkha Restaurant, which had some good traditional Indian / Asian food. We had a nice time at Birgid's and enjoyed her hospitality.
On Saturday, we headed back to Kaçanik and had no problem getting a bus from Prishtina to Ferizaj. On my ride into Ferizaj on Thursday, I switched buses at the old bus station and had my Albanian lesson at the usual cafe that is close to that station. On our way back to Ferizaj, we started heading in a weird direction, and both Thom and I were wondering where we were going. I heard a lady behind me asking the bus assistant about getting to Kaçanik. I could not understand all of the conversation, but I believe that we were still alright. Ferizaj has a series of underground roads with roundabouts, parking, and bus stops. This link is to a video taken in 2021, before the underground road opened to traffic. They are currently adding on to it. I was surprised by it when we started driving through the underground, as had never done that before. It really is pretty amazing. We ended up at the new bus station with our new friend. She was also trying to get to Kaçanik; however, we soon found out the regular Kaçanik buses weren't running.
Even before we got to Ferizaj, we knew there was a problem. Danny was trying to get to Ferizaj from Kaçanik because he wanted to go to the flea market to see if he could find a pair of hiking shoes. He sent us a message while we were on the bus that he didn't think the buses were running. But the lady we talked with on the bus was determined to find a way for us all to get to Kaçanik. She went inside the new business station (which is really nice, big, and well-organized) and came out and told us to follow her. The bus to Skopje had just pulled in, and although that bus doesn't typically go through Kaçanik; today they would. This was the 10:30 am bus with the bus company, I had taken previously to meet up with Matt, Betsy, and Thom at Lake Ohrid. Typically, the bus takes the highway, which goes over the Kaçanik. We were still not entirely sure what to expect, but we got on the bus and they charged us the normal fee to Kaçanik and not the fee to Skopje.
And indeed, we did go to Kaçanik and they dropped us off at another location, but it was not a very far walk to the apartment. A car picked up the lady we met and we said "goodbye" after getting a photo with her. As we walked home, we passed by the vegetable market, so I got my vegetables for the day. The super helpful lady gave us a card with the bus's phone number. We believe that if we need to go to Skopje, we can call the bus company and they will actually drive to Kaçanik and pick us up the way. At any rate, it is always interesting to get around on a national holiday. On Saturday, we invited Danny to dinner as he never made it to Ferizaj, and it gave us all something to do on our holiday weekend.
This past week was my first week of summer break and the first part of the week, I did not have much going on. So it was a chance to clean the apartment and to get organized. There was another holiday on June 12th (National Liberation Day), but it did not impact our buses. There was, however, a folk dance competition on the shesh (town square). Tuesday, we went to the shesh to watch, and Danny joined us. There are several folk dancers for the Kaçanik troupe that went to the high school I volunteered at, and it is fun to watch them perform.
Photos from the Folk Dancing Competition
On Wednesday, I was not feeling well and needed an antibiotic. I talked with the Peace Corps doctor, and he told me to walk to the pharmacy, and when I got there, to call him on the phone, so he could talk with the pharmacist. So I walked to the nearest pharmacy, got the doctor on the phone, and handed it to the lady at the counter. He told her what was needed, and the antibiotic cost me €3.53. There was no prescription and no questions asked.
On Thursday, I was feeling better, and I headed to Prishtina for a meeting at Peace Corps Headquarters and for my mid-service health exam. I met the new doctor, Votim, whom I had talked to on the phone the day before. He was so super nice and cheerful. He was a little surprised that the antibiotic worked so fast. He thought I might not make it to Prishtina. He is 33 years old, which is the same age as my son Matt. He was an emergency doc at the hospital before this, and he said he likes the pace of being a PC doc.
I saw Alyanna and Sarah. They were also in Prishtina for their medical exams, and it was nice to talk with them. I met Mary Quigley from the new volunteer group. She is from Ohio and likes to crochet.
Let the summer begin...
My planter garden
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