Last year on New Year's Eve, I was riding a camel in the dark, in the rain, through the Sahara in Morocco. I had no idea then that I'd ring in the next year in Bitola, Macedonia where unseasonably warm weather brought lots and lots of people onto the pedestrian mall to rock out and say happy new year--Среќна нова година. I put some photos of the festivities in a new Picasa album. As you'll see, I was with fellow volunteers Heather, Mike, Dave, Mike, and Phil and an Australian for good measure, Ed. We started by toasting the new year at Phil's apartment then caught the fireworks at midnight, followed by strolling the pedestrian mall, listening to bands, and finally eating chicken sandwiches at 2:00 a.m. I'd feel guilty about the late night grub except I took a nice hike earlier in the day, also in the photos, to a church in the hills near Bitola. At the church, I enjoyed the sunshine and chatted with a local who had also made the windy trek. My Macedonian is still quite limited, so I was soon on my way back into town, passing by an abandoned tank and climbing a fence to get back to civilization.
The subject line references the fact that Santa comes on New Years Eve in Macedonia. I have heard that this was a way to continue the tradition under socialist times and its nice now because regardless of religious beliefs, everyone can anticipate Santa's arrival. Plus, it helps explain how Santa can deliver all those packages if he has an extra week to get to the Balkans. Santa brought me tea, hot sauce, and cookies from the States, just like I asked for in my letter, so 2010 is off to a great start already.
Today kicks off three days of Orthodox Christmas celebrations. Tonight I'll be in Bitola for the traditional bonfires in the streets, then I'm off to my host family in Sveti Nikole to celebrate Christmas with them. Details on Christmas, Round 2 later...
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