About Me

My name is Brendan and I will be spending my senior year of high school in Macedonia on a Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study scholarship. Before going any further, I would like to thank my friends, parents, extended family, teachers, and mentors, who have helped me get to the position I am in today. Growing up in a military family, I have lived in Hawaii, Virginia, Washington State, and Connecticut. I come from a small family where I am an only child and have little extended family, which makes having host siblings in my host family exciting. I am extremely grateful and enthusiastic to have this opportunity to integrate myself into another culture, establish intercultural connections, and work toward a more peaceful world.

About This Blog

This blog is designed to tell readers about both my experiences in Macedonia as well as the stories of Macedonian people, Macedonian culture, and Macedonian society. The posts under the page, “My Journey through Macedonia,” document my adventure in Macedonia. Under the page, “The Stories of Skopje,” you can read posts about the many facets of Macedonian people, culture, and society. If anything you have read leaves you with a question about my exchange or Macedonia, please email your question to theskinnyboyofskopje@gmail.com and I will answer it on the “Questions and Answers” page.

About Macedonia

Macedonia, or the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, is a small country in Southeastern Europe (there is also a region of Greece named Macedonia, but that is not where I am going). Located directly north of Greece, Macedonia is a landlocked country. Most people are familiar with Macedonia from their high school world history class, where it is described as an ancient empire led by Alexander the Great. Though the powerful empire collapsed, Macedonia continues to be a unique society that has given rise to extraordinary individuals, such as Mother Theresa, who was born in Skopje. Macedonia was, until 1991, a member of Yugoslavia and is one of the only former Yugoslav states to gain its independence by peaceful means and remain peaceful throughout the Balkan Wars of the 1990s. Today, Macedonia is one of the least visited countries in the world with only 300,000 people visiting the country each year.

About Kennedy-Lugar YES Abroad

Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study, more commonly known as YES Abroad, is a U.S. Department of State funded program that provides scholarships for high school students to study abroad in countries with significant Muslim populations for one year. Implemented after 9/11, the program has helped develop healthy relationships between the United States and countries with high populations of people who belong to the Islamic faith through public diplomacy. Every year, YES Abroad sends around sixty American high school students to countries few people would expect the U.S. government would send high school students to. For the 2015-2016 program year, these countries include: Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Senegal, Ghana, Turkey, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Morocco. The reciprocal program for YES Abroad, YES Program, sends over nine hundred high school students to the United States from more than forty countries with predominant Muslim populations.