16 March 2010
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
07 March 2010
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.
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.
10 January 2010
Jingle Bells
A short holiday video while you wait for our next update on our continuing period of holidays and celebrations:
And another song (not related to holidays or celebrations) with the first graders :
And another song (not related to holidays or celebrations) with the first graders :
28 December 2009
Holidays & Celebrations
This past month we've enjoyed, learned about, and celebrated a multitude of holidays:
Day of the Albanian Alphabet - Albanian:
The Albanian alphabet was formalized on 27 November 1908 in what is now Bitola, Macedonia. Language is integral to their cultural and ethnic identity so this is more than a celebration of the alphabet. For more information and to see the Albanian alphabet, click here.
Thanksgiving - American:
Every year Peace Corps Macedonia organizes a Thanksgiving celebration. This year 26 turkeys were shipped in from the U.S. and all the Volunteers brought food to share...ours being mashed potatoes and party potatoes. Because the new group of Volunteers came about two weeks earlier this year, their swearing-in ceremony happened to coincide with Thanksgiving. We celebrated in a restaurant in Kumanovo with our fellow Volunteers, the host families of the new Volunteers, as well as the US Ambassador to Macedonia and the Macedonian Minister of Education.
Eid al-Adha, called Small Bajram here- Muslim (primarily Albanian & Turkish in MK):
This is a "Festival of Sacrifice" celebrated my Muslims in remembrance of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son. In thanksgiving for having food and shelter, families sacrifice sheep and cows and give them to the poor. This is a major holiday for Muslims and we were invited to our good friend Vjosa's house where we enjoyed wonderful food and sweets -- primarily baklava, which is made in every home. We then visited our other friends, Hyrije and Amir, for many more sweets. The hospitality of the people here is incredible and you are sure never to leave a house hungry!
* Every day around Bajram I came home with a plate -- or four -- filled with treats (mostly baklava) from friends, students and women from my English course. Being the huge baklava fan that Conor is, he loved seeing another plate in my hands.
Saint Clement of Ohrid Day - Macedonian Orthodox:
Saint Clement is a Macedonian saint and national hero. It is akin to St. Patrick's Day in Ireland (without the huge celebrations). For more information on Saint Celement, click here.
Slavas - Macedonian Orthodox:
Each Macedonian Orthodox family selects a saint to watch over and protect its house. Each year the household celebrates the day of its chosen saint. These are the most important celebrations of the year for Macedonian families, even bigger than Christmas and Easter. Families spend days preparing vegan foods and desserts and on the day or night of their celebration friends and family stop by.
We have attended four Slavas the past few weeks:
* Our good friend and language tutor Alek and his family
* Marija, Club GLOW leader, serves Conor a sweet wheat dish. It is a tradition to eat one bite of this upon arrival. And look at that bread! Marija's mom made it herself!
The Turkish also recently celebrated the standardization of their alphabet on 21 December. To see the Turkish alphabet, click here.
Albanian Wedding - Albanian:
Traditionally Albanian weddings here in Macedonia are a week long with specific celebrations each night. On the night before the final day women gather and spend the night dancing and eating together. Halfway through the celebration the bride and groom enter and join the party, however no other men are allowed. Often the close family members put a spot of henna on the bride's hand with a gold coin to symbolize a prosperous marriage. I was invited to attend this night with some women from my English course. The dresses were amazing and many of the women at the party changed up to three times throughout the night. It is also common to see several young women in bridal gowns. I have to admit I was very confused the first time I saw this, however I learned that it is custom here for women to continue wearing their gowns to other celebrations up to one year after their marriage -- at least they get a lot more use out of them than we do!
Christmas - American:
This year we celebrated Christmas with several other Peace Corps Volunteers by renting a house on a local ski hill near Tetovo. We had a great couple days and feasted on chili Christmas Eve and enchiladas Christmas Day. Unfortunately we weren't able to ski because the snow all melted due to the warm weather we've been experiencing lately, but we still enjoyed our holiday and the company of the other Volunteers.
** Stay tuned for an update of our coming festivities: **
Day of the Albanian Alphabet - Albanian:
The Albanian alphabet was formalized on 27 November 1908 in what is now Bitola, Macedonia. Language is integral to their cultural and ethnic identity so this is more than a celebration of the alphabet. For more information and to see the Albanian alphabet, click here.
Thanksgiving - American:
Every year Peace Corps Macedonia organizes a Thanksgiving celebration. This year 26 turkeys were shipped in from the U.S. and all the Volunteers brought food to share...ours being mashed potatoes and party potatoes. Because the new group of Volunteers came about two weeks earlier this year, their swearing-in ceremony happened to coincide with Thanksgiving. We celebrated in a restaurant in Kumanovo with our fellow Volunteers, the host families of the new Volunteers, as well as the US Ambassador to Macedonia and the Macedonian Minister of Education.
Eid al-Adha, called Small Bajram here- Muslim (primarily Albanian & Turkish in MK):
This is a "Festival of Sacrifice" celebrated my Muslims in remembrance of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son. In thanksgiving for having food and shelter, families sacrifice sheep and cows and give them to the poor. This is a major holiday for Muslims and we were invited to our good friend Vjosa's house where we enjoyed wonderful food and sweets -- primarily baklava, which is made in every home. We then visited our other friends, Hyrije and Amir, for many more sweets. The hospitality of the people here is incredible and you are sure never to leave a house hungry!
* Every day around Bajram I came home with a plate -- or four -- filled with treats (mostly baklava) from friends, students and women from my English course. Being the huge baklava fan that Conor is, he loved seeing another plate in my hands.
* On our way through the village to Vjosa's house we were greeted by several of my 8th grade students who were excited for a picture.
Saint Clement of Ohrid Day - Macedonian Orthodox:
Saint Clement is a Macedonian saint and national hero. It is akin to St. Patrick's Day in Ireland (without the huge celebrations). For more information on Saint Celement, click here.
Slavas - Macedonian Orthodox:
Each Macedonian Orthodox family selects a saint to watch over and protect its house. Each year the household celebrates the day of its chosen saint. These are the most important celebrations of the year for Macedonian families, even bigger than Christmas and Easter. Families spend days preparing vegan foods and desserts and on the day or night of their celebration friends and family stop by.
We have attended four Slavas the past few weeks:
* Our good friend and language tutor Alek and his family
* Marija, Club GLOW leader, serves Conor a sweet wheat dish. It is a tradition to eat one bite of this upon arrival. And look at that bread! Marija's mom made it herself!
Day of the Turkish Alphabet - Turkish:
Albanian Wedding - Albanian:
Traditionally Albanian weddings here in Macedonia are a week long with specific celebrations each night. On the night before the final day women gather and spend the night dancing and eating together. Halfway through the celebration the bride and groom enter and join the party, however no other men are allowed. Often the close family members put a spot of henna on the bride's hand with a gold coin to symbolize a prosperous marriage. I was invited to attend this night with some women from my English course. The dresses were amazing and many of the women at the party changed up to three times throughout the night. It is also common to see several young women in bridal gowns. I have to admit I was very confused the first time I saw this, however I learned that it is custom here for women to continue wearing their gowns to other celebrations up to one year after their marriage -- at least they get a lot more use out of them than we do!
Christmas - American:
This year we celebrated Christmas with several other Peace Corps Volunteers by renting a house on a local ski hill near Tetovo. We had a great couple days and feasted on chili Christmas Eve and enchiladas Christmas Day. Unfortunately we weren't able to ski because the snow all melted due to the warm weather we've been experiencing lately, but we still enjoyed our holiday and the company of the other Volunteers.
** Stay tuned for an update of our coming festivities: **
- December 31: New Years
- January 6: Orthodox Christmas Eve (costume party like Halloween)
- January 7: Orthodox Christmas
- January 13 & 14: Old New Years - Vevchani Carnival
- January 18: Martin Luther King Day
- January 19: Vodici (Epiphany)
22 December 2009
24 November 2009
Más Que Un Club
Have I gone to the dark side? Forsaken all that is holy in American life and traded in an allegience to football for futbol? No. However, it has been fun to gain an appreciation for futbol while at the same time defending, arguing, and teaching about American Football (e.g. despite notions to the contrary, the punt returner is not the best, but, is in fact, the worst position in all of sports -- those with doubts need only watch this). I have come to appreciate the fluidity of soccer, although games can at times be mind numbing. It also takes a lot of persuasion to convince people that a game that stops every 3 to 6 seconds is physically straining. As Dan Carr noted, the best analogy to help futbol fans understand football is to think of it as a giant chess match, as a thinking man's game. Whereas futbolers run around constantly, hoping to get lucky, football teams work together to execute meticulously orchestrated plays, often working to set up plays two, three, four plays, or even quarters, in advance. Defenses try to out-smart the offense. I concede futbol has the fluidity and improvisation of a John Coltrane jam session, but football has the complexity and depth of a Beethoven symphony.
Futbol does, however, have a much richer history than American football and has occupied a role in society that American football could never dream of emulating (despite Raiders and Eagles fans half-hearted attempts). Clubs have historically been just that -- clubs -- and not until recently, huge entrepreneurial enterprises. A rich and sometimes violent past is put into perspective with the realization that clubs were formed, made up of, and took on the persona of their supporters. Thus, Glasgow's Celtic became the champions and social outlet for Glasgow's Irish Catholic working class immigrants while Rangers became the bastion for the nationalist anti-Catholic Anti-Irish population in Glasgow. Certain clubs have despicable histories, having been the place for people to voice opinions few can praise. A club like Chelsea has a right-wing Antisemitic past, and to an extent, present, which includes fans making "Shhh" sounds, imitating the the sound of gas at Nazi concentration camps. Other clubs have laudable histories they can be proud to stand on. And standing and shoulders above the rest, is FC Barcelona.
Futbol does, however, have a much richer history than American football and has occupied a role in society that American football could never dream of emulating (despite Raiders and Eagles fans half-hearted attempts). Clubs have historically been just that -- clubs -- and not until recently, huge entrepreneurial enterprises. A rich and sometimes violent past is put into perspective with the realization that clubs were formed, made up of, and took on the persona of their supporters. Thus, Glasgow's Celtic became the champions and social outlet for Glasgow's Irish Catholic working class immigrants while Rangers became the bastion for the nationalist anti-Catholic Anti-Irish population in Glasgow. Certain clubs have despicable histories, having been the place for people to voice opinions few can praise. A club like Chelsea has a right-wing Antisemitic past, and to an extent, present, which includes fans making "Shhh" sounds, imitating the the sound of gas at Nazi concentration camps. Other clubs have laudable histories they can be proud to stand on. And standing and shoulders above the rest, is FC Barcelona.
Futbol Club Barcelona embodies what professional sports franchises should be. FC Barcelona was the only futbol club in the entire world not to display corporate sponsorship on their shirts. They would not even entertain an offer until 2003. This changed in 2006. Remarkably, the club turned down lucrative offers that could have brought in tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars to instead display UNICEF on their jerseys. Moreover rather than receive payment for this endorsement, they DONATE nearly $2,000,000 a year to UNICEF! FC Barcelona was the only place during Franco's reign that Anti-Franco, anti-fascist, and pro-Catalan sentiments could be voiced. They also had to fight the fact that Franco's Real Madrid was financed by the state. The club has been a refuge for Catalan culture and leftist belief in Spain. This leftist sentiment transcends mere nostalgia and is manifest in the fact that the club is a true collective -- season ticket holders vote on the club's administration; nationally televised presidential debates decide who will run the club, and the club must answer to its fans (ticket holders, for a rough comparison, think the Green Bay Packers, although this does no justice to FC Barcelona). Historically they have had no problem getting rid of players that fans feel are not giving 100%, even when those players are their stars. And get this, the most visited art museum in Barcelona is not, as one might expect, the Picasso gallery, or any number of other impressive institutions, it is the museum at the football club which houses, maintains, and displays an impressive art collection. Finally, despite the Spain's violent history, Barcelona fans have never exhibited the vitriol or violence of other European futbol fans. Thus, Barcelona's motto, más que un club, "more than a club," makes perfect sense.
In conclusion, there is no need to fear Europe has brainwashed a love of football from my brain, or that I am now in jeopardy of joining the legions of hooligan fans. I still deplore the "everyone wins" attitude of American soccer that disregards the game's score and refuses to teach heading. Upon return to the US I won't be rushing out watch DC United or the Galaxy but will savor having regular access to football and basketball (college and high school). I have though, come to appreciate futbol more than I ever thought I would and I enjoy sitting in giant socialist-era hotel restaurants or small Yugoslav corner places and watching futbol with legions of Macedonian fans. And now, when I'm invariably asked who my club is, I can proudly respond: Barcelona!
(Thanks to Franklin Foer's How Soccer Explains the World, Alek, and Ronan)
In conclusion, there is no need to fear Europe has brainwashed a love of football from my brain, or that I am now in jeopardy of joining the legions of hooligan fans. I still deplore the "everyone wins" attitude of American soccer that disregards the game's score and refuses to teach heading. Upon return to the US I won't be rushing out watch DC United or the Galaxy but will savor having regular access to football and basketball (college and high school). I have though, come to appreciate futbol more than I ever thought I would and I enjoy sitting in giant socialist-era hotel restaurants or small Yugoslav corner places and watching futbol with legions of Macedonian fans. And now, when I'm invariably asked who my club is, I can proudly respond: Barcelona!
(Thanks to Franklin Foer's How Soccer Explains the World, Alek, and Ronan)
07 November 2009
Macedonia Slideshow
Kacey worked hard to put together this slideshow of pictures we've taken over the last year. The pictures are set to a song by Toshe -- who was a national hero and pop star who was killed in a car accident two years ago. Enjoy!
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