My running continues to make progress. On Sunday, Oct. 1, I finished the 5K race that’s held as part of the Skopje Marathon with a chip time of 34 minutes and 53 seconds. For those unfamiliar with running lingo, “chip time” refers to the time from when the runner crosses the starting line to crossing… Read More »
OK, folks. I’ve had a lot of confusion come up about the “Benjamin Franklin” post. Here’s what it’s all about. I’ve already explained that it was an assignment for an Albanian class, which is why it was written in Albanian. I live and work in an Albanian-speaking part of the country, which is why I’m… Read More »
(Following is a homework assignment for studying Albanian.) Të martën shkova në një konferencë gazetarie për të rinjtë. Isha i lumtur të flisja për lajme të rreme. Një vajzë në konferencë ishte dikush që e kisha takuar muaj më parë. Ajo po aplikonte për një mundësi për të studiuar në Shtetet e Bashkuara. Programi për… Read More »
Well, I did it. I completed my first 5K race. I’ve been running for some time now, with most of my running on treadmills. I did take a “5K buildup” class from a trainer at the Wellness Center at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, which involved running outdoors. That was a big help. But… Read More »
I’ve been in service for some months now, so it’s time to update everybody on what I’m doing. For those who are new here, I’m a community development volunteer in the Peace Corps. I’ve been assigned to two workplaces: the Language Center at South East European University and the Center for Equal Opportunities “Mollëkuqja” (“Ladybug,”)… Read More »
I stopped running back in September, shortly before I left for Peace Corps staging. I didn’t do it during pre-service training, in part because I was planning to use the gym at the university (one of my workplaces) after I completed training. I learned embarrassingly late that the university doesn’t have a gym. Since it’s… Read More »
An interesting thing about Albanian is that the names of occupations all seem to be gendered. (At least I haven’t yet learned of any exceptions.) A teacher or professor is “profesor” if male and “profesoreshë” if female. An accountant is “kontabilist” if male and “kontabiliste” if female. It got me thinking a bit about how… Read More »
Until my swearing-in on Dec. 7, I’d been studying Macedonian exclusively. Now I’m studying Albanian, which is the main language of the area where I live and work. It’s a challenge. There are a number of issues that create challenges. For one thing, I was getting about 16 hours of instruction in Macedonian each week… Read More »
Well, I made it. It took more than three years after I first accepted an invitation to serve, but this week I took the oath and officially became a Peace Corps volunteer. And now I’ll share some information about how I got this far and what you should do if you want to do it… Read More »
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m in an Albanian-speaking area of the country. So far, all my language classes have been in Macedonian, which presents some challenges. For one thing, I don’t get practice in the language I’m studying; for another thing, I have trouble understanding the words spoken around me when I go out. I… Read More »