Kaleidoscope

The best thing about spring is unplugging my heater but second to that is the explosion of color. It is the perfect time for a project going on at the American Corner, Picturing Macedonia. Those great teens I'm always talking about are at it again, this time using photography, art, and literature to capture images of the country. I was lucky enough to tag along on one of their trips recently. My favorite stop was the Painted Mosque in Tetovo, which inside and out is covered with colorful paintings.



We also stopped at the "World's Smallest Etno Museum" which is literally a closet, spilling out into the curator's yard, and then the modern art museum in Skopje where parts of the collection are hung with duct tape. We ended our tour at a Turkish cafe with tea and a traditional food kind of like pizza, a good end to a good day.


I took this next shot at a rest stop on the way back to Bitola--the beauty here is almost inescapable. More photos from Tetovo and Skopje here.


Before I could blink, I was back in Skopje to run the half marathon. The half was much, MUCH less painful than doing two laps last year. Also, Kerry and I did the whole race together and it was great to have each other's encouragement. Together with Kaylee, running her very first half marathon, we kept each other going with periodic shouts of Beer!, our prize at the finish line. The golden hefeweizen and the dark stout, some of my other favorite colors.

Whose stupid idea was that? Oh yeah, mine.

Sunday was the Skopje Marathon and I ran it in 3 hours, 52 minutes, 37 seconds. If you asked me at 3 hours, 53 minutes, I'd say choosing to run the Skopje Marathon was one of the stupidest things I'd ever done. I went out too fast, I started walking in the second half, and the heat was a lot more noticable as I went a second time around the exact same course. However, I can say that I finished in the Top 10--okay, it's true there were only 8 women in the marathon and I came in 6th. And to add insult to injury, if I'd come in 5th place then I would have won 150 Euros. But still, I was the top--well, only--women's marathoner from the U.S. and I had a fantastic group cheering me on. There were about 10 Peace Corps volunteers (most of whom did the half marathon or 5K) cheering me on and another 5 or so language instructors from our training who were rooting for me. I've never had so many people on a race course shouting my name, it was really awesome. I posted some photos from the official photos and from fellow volunteer Kerry on Picasa. Will I do the marathon again next year? No. The half marathon? Maybe.