As in many corners of the world, the lead-up to Easter begins in Macedonia with carnival. The main celebration is in a city called Strumica and last week I took a 4 hour bus ride to this southeast corner of the country for my first carnival. I stayed with Jim and Dianne, a volunteer couple in their 70s who put many of us "youngins" to shame with their energy. Dianne fed me and her other guests with the ease that comes from being a mother of 5. I must say one of the highlights was toast. Toasters are available in Macedonia but not common and it's not an exaggeration to say that I probably hadn't eaten toast in a year and a half and I hadn't thought about it much but man, it's some delicious stuff.
This year, carnival fell on May 8th which is International Women's Day which is a holiday for honoring women and our many contributions. The holiday is marked by giving flowers to women from their families or coworkers and often women will go out to eat together to mark the occasion. Below is a photo of Dianne and Kerry with flowers they got from Dianne's language students.
After carbo loading on toast, Kerry and I did some exploring of Strumica. We came across a trail with signs instructing dubiously advantageous exercises and we proceeded to take photos of each other trying them out.
The evening was the carnival itself and it was rather frigid and blustery out, which made the slow procession of the parade (about one float every 5 minutes) hard to enjoy. By far the most fun was taking goofy photos pre-parade and watching the fireworks that were launched directly above our heads.
Robert and Aimee having a Mustache Party
Me, Jim, Lillian, Kerry, & Gordana As I had been warned, the second year of service is much busier and it was hard to get away but once I was out of town, I realized that a break was a welcome breather. Plus really, how could I miss my last carnival in Macedonia?
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