A Great Macedonian Birthday

Despite waking up with an awful cold, I had a great birthday here in Macedonia. Conor and my friends went out of their way to make it a special weekend, full of surprises. The morning of my birthday I had a meeting at the PC office and Conor was also in Skopje as he had been invited to be a guest lecturer on Lewis and Clark at a university there. After work we went to eat with some other Volunteers and then enjoyed the beautiful weather by listening to a Mariachi band that the US Embassy brought to Macedonia. Our good friend Benson surprised me by asking them to sing me happy birthday:

The next day I led a Kids' Club session focused on St. Patrick's Day (as you can see by the leprechaun hats) where I was surprised by a cake, juice and presents. I had a little trouble keeping a few little "leprechaun" fingers from digging into the frosting every time I turned around.

Immediately following Kids' Club I joined the high school girls for another Club GLOW session focused on the environment. There was a great turn-out and we hiked to the old fortress above the city to have a picnic. Little did I know that the girls had another idea in mind as well! Some of the girls had gone up earlier to prepare things and as the larger group reached the top they started singing to me and again surprised me with a delicious cake and gifts! I was given a cute stuffed bear and a great t-shirt that you can see below.

I'm so grateful to have such great friends - and of course Conor! - to celebrate with me. Thanks to everyone for making me feel so special!

New Yorker Essay

An essay written by a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, partly in response to Nicholas Kristof's New York Times Article. Click here

Holidays & Celebrations Part II

Finally, here's part 2 of our period of holidays and celebrations (in reverse chronological order):

Vodici (Epiphany) - Macedonian Orthodox
Each year throughout Macedonia, Orthodox people gather to celebrate Epiphany. The tradition is a priest blesses the water and throws a cross into it. Men swim out in hopes of being the first to retrieve the cross. Whomever gets the cross is said to be lucky all year and goes around from house to house blessing people and receiving money. This year we traveled down to Ohrid to partake in the biggest festivities in Macedonia and we both swam in the frigid waters!

Old New Year's - Macedonian Orthodox
Our favorite celebration of the year is the Vevchani Carnival, celebrated for Old New Year's. The Vevchani Carnival has been celebrated for over 1400 years and takes place over the course of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day on the old Julian calendar. This holiday is full of debauchery as the people of the village celebrate with a parade in which they dress up as their greatest fears. The next day they gather again and burn their costumes in a big bonfire. Macedonians spend months creating their costumes and because fake animals parts, and Walmarts, are hard - or impossible - to come by here, it is not uncommon to see real animal organs, heads and teeth as part of the costumes.

Christmas - Macedonian Orthodox
Macedonian Orthodox celebrate Christmas on January 7th (Julian calendar). Families gather to share a meal, however Christmas Eve is the bigger celebration. No gifts are exchanged.


Badnik (Christmas Eve) - Macedonian Orthodox
This holiday is celebrated much like Halloween in the U.S. In the early morning children go door to door with oak branches, the symbol of Christmas here, asking for candy. Then, in the evening and on through midnight neighborhoods gather outside and enjoy food and rakija and oro (dance) around a bonfire. In Tetovo, young adults dress up in costume and go out. This year we partook in the festivities as fork and spoon!

New Year's Eve - All
New Year's Eve is celebrated much like in the U.S. We ate sushi at home and then decided to head to the center square in Skopje and enjoy the concert there before taking the 2:50 am train home. The Croatian singer has a few moves Bono and/or Lady Gaga might benefit from learning.