More on culture and traditions! After a Mexican Fiesta for our Macedonian friends two Saturdays ago, at which only a handful showed up, many still wanted to “taste” the food. Though they appear to be emancipated working-women, my colleagues from work are unable to move freely without censure in the evenings and weekends.
So I volunteered to host a quick lunch during the half an-hour long midday break during a working day, making one of the items from the fiesta – chili. I added fresh parsley potatoes to the menu using my first batch of homegrown parsley. The lunch menu was rounded out by a bag of tortilla chips, which were purchased in one of the big international stores in Skopje.
In order to rustle up this meal, I took a longer break, in fact I went to work only for one hour and that was to make sure that my guests were coming! The lunch was a success. Now, if I continue to host lunches such as this every couple of weeks, will that be considered a skills transfer or just a “fun break” from work for my colleagues?
Volunteers in Macedonia are either CD’s or TEFL’s. CD is the acronym for Community Development and TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Having been assigned to the CD sector because I stated that I have no teaching experience and have no interest in teaching during my period of service, I find that my biggest contribution to the skills transfer aspect of my service is teaching English and sharing culinary skills every once in a while!
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