Do You Believe in Magic
There’s a lot of sweetness in recognizing a ‘normal week’ while it’s happening. How lucky am I that I get to have regular weekly rhythms like going to the gym in the morning before work, visiting my local bakery on a Thursday afternoon, and heading to the same place to dance on a Saturday night. Just when I start to feel like I’m trudging through the days — no, I think, it will not always be like this. I try to intentionally practice gratitude for the things that currently seem ordinary. 😌
Speaking of the gym, I’m making major headway with the owner. I thought he didn’t like me because we had a few iffy interactions in Macedonian, and he would always address me in English first. Actually, he just wanted the chance to flex his language skills. I have plenty of people to practice Macedonian with, so even though I don’t like speaking English in public places, I joke around with him now like I would if I were in a gym in the US. Turns out, he likes America and has a brother in law in Chicago! The more you know (cue the shooting star)…
That being said, the weeks do have an underlying rhythm, but all sorts of unexpected things happen. I’ll randomly have breakfast with a friend before work, or run into someone on the street and walk a ways with them, finding a new route home.
The second example happened to me last Saturday, when my friends and I parted ways for the night, and I tried to take a bus home. Normally, buses run until at least 1:00 am, although they become more infrequent after 11:00pm. I arrived at the bus stop and waited with one other woman, who asked me if any buses were still running (I said maybe? Koj znae). After several minutes, we decided to begin walking. As we walked together, we traded questions back and forth, getting to know one another. Her name was Lili, and she was going home from the theater. She’s lived in Skopje all her life. She has two kids, and is really hoping they give her grandchildren soon. She asked where I was from, what I was doing in Macedonia… all the normal queries. This is one of the longest interactions I’ve ever had continuously in Macedonian, and I was so proud that I was able to do it. It made my night, talking to a kind stranger – this is what I mean when I say Maceodnians are incredibly hospitable. Skopje is pretty small, maybe I’ll run into her again someday…
I added a new volunteering gig to my current teaching schedule; every few weeks, I’ll visit a local high school to give a workshop on different topics. This week, I met with the seniors and taught them about persuasive writing. Public speaking is one of my favorite things to do, so I had a blast talking to them and fielding their questions. One of them asked me where I like to go out on the weekends… I said come up and ask me after, I’m not answering that in front of your teachers…!
The Macedonian American Alumni Association posted about my workshop, and one of my work colleagues reposted it with the caption ‘Our Lauren’... the support made me feel like I belong, and who doesn’t want to feel that way? 😊 Next up, a workshop for the underclassmen on how to interview.
The last couple Sundays, I’ve taught Sunday school at church; one week by myself, and one week with Jackson, another Fulbrighter who lives in Shtip. The kids are so energetic and actually quite precocious. I love being able to serve the families at church like this!
The temperatures have gone up to the high 60s/low 70s, so Thursday I capitalized on it by going to Gradski Park for a walk-and-talk with a friend, who bought his fourth coffee of the day there (he works for Telekom as an installation engineer, and when he makes house calls, they always offer him coffee… hence four in one day). I had grapefruit juice, which is atypical for me, but it hit the spot.
Going to a new kafana (Toto) tonight with my girls…!
(Song Credit: The Lovin’ Spoonful)
