Oh, Ohrid...

My Macedonian hometown, Bitola, is beautiful but it is one-upped by the city of Ohrid because Ohrid has a lake--a big, deep, lovely, freezing cold lake. It would be reasonable to assume that I wouldn't take a dip in said lake until the summer but instead I swam on Tuesday, part of a holiday (yes, another one!) called Vodici or Epiphany. The holiday commemorates when John the Baptist baptized Jesus and at lakes and rivers across Macedonia, an Orthodox priest blesses the water and then throws in a cross. Men (more on this later) then dive in and swim to grab the cross. Whoever retrieves the cross is said to be blessed for the next year and is celebrated for his swimming prowess. The cross is brought through town and people put money on it. As with other Macedonian holidays, rakija was provided (before and after the ceremony). Good thing too, since the temperature was hovering around freezing.

Following in the footsteps of prior Peace Corps volunteers, I decided to take my first and last polar plunge and swim for the cross. Really I didn't try to get anywhere near the cross, but I did swim out to the boat they tossed it off of and back, farthest of the volunteer swimmers. The wisdom of this is dubious since it took about 15 minutes to feel my toes again afterwards but if I was only going to swim once, I wanted to go all out. Apparently some women volunteers got an earful from a woman in the crowd for swimming with the men but I know I saw at least one other Macedonian woman in the lake. Also, I asked some Macedonian friends afterwards about the comment and they did not see any problem with us swimming.

I arrived in Ohrid two days prior to Vodici to attend a tourism conference. My counterpart and I staffed the National Park Pelister booth together the first day and the second day I flew solo. I think it went well, given my limited Macedonian and the fact that I've still only been to the park itself once. There is a photo of us at our booth under the Picasa link, at the end of the Vodici swim album. I think I'll put off my next swim in Lake Ohrid for a few months, but I would like to do some hiking in National Park Pelister earlier than that.

Frights on Parade

Continuing my new tradition in Macedonia of celebrating holidays twice, this week I repeated New Years or what is known as Old New Years. Although Old New Years is celebrated throughout the country, I traveled to the town of Vevchani (about 2 hours from Bitola, as the bus drives) for its elaborate holiday parade. The townspeople dress in costume--historically things that frighten them but nowadays also simply wild get-ups. Every year the costumes are different--they have to be because the day after the parade, they build a huge bonfire and burn the costumes, symbolically destroying the evil spirits. Some of my favorites from this year were the Ents (like from Lord of the Rings), invisible men, and the seamstresses in drag. There are pictures loaded on Picasa, definitely worth a look.

Christmas: Round 2

Last Tuesday through Thursday, I celebrated Christmas again--the Macedonian version. Tuesday was Kolede, which involves people setting bonfires in the streets and gathering around them with neighbors to chat and snack. I think the fires symbolize a fresh start to the new year and people used to burn old, undesirable items but I didn't see anyone burning anything but wood. Kids also go around singing songs for candy and money, ala Halloween in America but sans costumes. My fellow volunteer neighbor Heather and I joined our landlords Ljube and Dushko for our street's bonfire. It was nice to meet some of the neighbors and listen to the conversation. Luckily it was not a super cold night but we did sip some rakija to help keep warm. Afterwards, Heather and I went to a celebration held by a friend of hers, Denny. His father started the party tradition because Kolede coincided with his birthday and now Denny continues the gathering as a memorial. More rakija and snacks were consumed and I met more of Heather's friends, so my circle of acquaintances is growing.

On Wednesday, Christmas Eve, I took the bus to visit my host family in Sveti Nikole (about 3 hours from Bitola). It was great to catch up with my family--I swear my host nephew Mario looked bigger after only 6 weeks. I watched my host mom, Viki, prepare some of the traditional dishes. There is an Orthodox Lent here before Christmas, so no foods with dairy, eggs, or meat are eaten on Christmas eve (or by traditional families the 40 days prior to Christmas). As we were sitting down to dinner, I was surprised to learn that it would be just me and my host parents--traditionally everyone stays in their own homes for Christmas Eve dinner so my host sister Kate and her family were at their house. Suffice to say I was also stunned to discover the food covering three-quarters of the table was just for the three of us. I loaded some new photos on Picasa, you'll see what I mean. There is an oak branch on the table, which I've read is supposed to symbolize health and long life. This makes sense because one of the most common holiday greetings here is, "For many years," i.e. may you have a long life.

Christmas itself in Macedonia is pretty low key. I went with Viki to the Orthodox church to see what the services are like. Men stood on one side of the church, women on the other and there are no seats. There are priests conducting a mass but at the same time people are walking around lighting memorial candles and leaving offerings. The offerings are most often money, cooking oil, towels, and food. As the offerings are laid down, people often kiss pictures of saints and other religious icons. The church later resells the offerings, so it's more or less a form of tithing. Viki and I left after about an hour but my understand is that the service goes on most of the day. Later I visited Viki's parents and had a big lunch with my host family, breaking the Lenten fast by eating a meal with meat and cheese.

Many other volunteers were also in Sveti Nikole, so we got to catch up and share stories. Even though we are all serving in the same country, everyone has very different situations for work, home, etc. and thus different challenges and successes. We try to support each other and yet not get jealous when somebody's "farther along," if you will.

It was wonderful to have my host family include me in their holiday celebrations, especially since it was my first time experiencing them. In some ways the trip was also stressful because my family gave me the impression that they thought I would have made more progress with my Macedonian. I guess if there's anything family is for, it's to give you a good kick in the pants when you are slacking off. It is easy to speak a lot more English in Bitola than I did/could in Sveti Nikole, but I am going to make a renewed effort to improve my Macedonian.

Believe it or not, the holiday season rolls on in Macedonia. This week is Old New Year and next week is the Epiphany, then things finally wind down--expect to hear more about unique Macedonian celebrations soon.

Santa successfully evades fireworks

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...