50 days out!

Update

T-minus 50 days! Apparently 60 was the magical number. I had prepared my last post and shared it already, and lo and behold I received a couple of emails later that Monday and then the next day. The first one had a number of on-boarding tasks: life insurance, direct deposit, some permissions (media, etc), generating some forms I might need for finances and other things, amongst others. 

Tuesday's email was from our training manager in Macedonia. It contained a link to a survey (to gauge our comfort with some of the skills that will be useful in our time of service), information about upcoming conference calls (to gain some more information and ask any questions, if so desired), as well as letting us know about upcoming emails that will advise us of our online training platform for pre-departure and pre-service training. 

Countdown! Today's Ten Things

Keeping with my idea, here are ten more things I've thought about. I realized last week it was a bit harder than I thought, so I thought to give it some guidance and have categories each time.

1. Language: In previous posts, I've mentioned a bit about the Macedonian language. I also mentioned in my last post that the country has six minority languages. One of the major ones is Albanian. Many of you might be familiar with the Indo-European language family. It's one of the wider language families that encompasses a variety of sub-families like Romance languages (such as Spanish or Italian), Germanic languages (like English and German), as well as Slavic languages (including Russian, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, and Macedonian).
   
   Albanian, or shqip, is unique. It's classified as an Indo-European language, but is related to nothing else. It has no sub-family to which it belongs; it is a lone branch. It is the official language in Albania and Kosovo, and possesses official minority status in Italy, Romania, Montenegro, and Serbia, as well as Macedonia. In Macedonian, the name for the Republic of Macedonia is "Република Македонија", or transliterated, Republika Makedonija. In Albanian, it is "Republika e Maqedonisë."
2. Music in Macedonia: Relatedly, I thought I'd share a piece of music in Albanian this time. Adrian Gaxha is a 34-year-old Albanian singer from Macedonia's capitol, Skopje. He's also one of my favorite singers in Albanian! He was part of a trio that represented Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Competition in 2008. Below is the video for his recent release "Lujmi Krejt."
   
   
3. History: Macedonia lies at geographical crossroads that have left it privy to an impressive amount of history. As the name suggests, it was part of the ancient Kingdom of Macedon, territory under Alexander the Great and his vast empire. It also was part of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and the Ottoman Empire, amongst other administrations.
4. Geography: The highest point in Macedonia is Mt. Korab, which straddles the Albanian-Macedonian border. It reaches just over 9,000 feet.
5. Animals: One of the rarest animals to be found in Macedonia is the Eurasian lynx. Its habitat ranges across much of Europe Europe to Siberia and central Asia.
   
   

   

   [Image source: Wikipedia]

6. Nature: Macedonia may be small, but it possesses three national parks: Mavrovo, Pelister, and Galičica.
7. Religion: The majority faith in Macedonia is Eastern Orthodox (Christianity). Most Orthodox Christians in Macedonia belong to the Macedonian Orthodox Church. 
8. Art: Macedonia has a variety of art styles across its long history. There is a style of art common to Eastern Orthodox Christian traditions called iconography, that involves the painting (called 'writing') of religious icons depicting saints and scenes holy to many Orthodox Christians. Below is a picture of some religious icons from Macedonia's Markova Monastery.
   
   

   

   [Image source: Macedonia for 91 days] 

9. Holidays: Most Eastern Orthodox Christians follow a religious calendar that is slightly different from the Gregorian calendar. While Protestant and Catholic traditions observe Christmas on December 25, Orthodox Christians observe it some 2 weeks later.
10. Food: As Macedonia falls at a crossroads, so too does its cuisine fall under many influences, including Mediterranean and Middle Eastern. The country's national dish is fun to say: "tavče-gravče," with the letter "č" being read as a 'ch' sound. In Greek, it is known as fasoulotavas. Traditionally served in a small, earthenware pot, it is comprised mostly of beans, and includes onion and red pepper, and can be served with meat.

[Image source: Wikipedia]