Vevcani Carnival 2012

Well, I've successfully survived Vevcani's carnival, and it was a blast!! Here's the video, although I suggest you watch it AFTER you read this.

Vevcani video

VEVCANI CARNIVAL 2012!!

Ok, so this is just a preview : )

So our trip began with a 6hour bus ride down to the beautiful town of Ohrid:

 We stayed in an AMAZING place, called Villa Boban. The entire first day there, we basically just enjoyed our accommodations. We walked around the waterfront and ate at a fancy place, where I totally ordered a steak. We ate so much food and drank so much wine, we ended up in bed by 11.

The next morning, we decided to take ourselves on a walking tour through the old part of town. In Ohrid, there are 365 churches, one for every day of the year. While walking through the old part of town, you find churches on every corner!! Some are extremely old and tiny, while others are old and big. They are all elaborate and unique. Our personal favorite is this one:

Check out that view!!

Our walk took almost all day, and a lot of it was uphill, which made for quite a hike. Thankfully the weather was nice, and we had some excellent suggestions from the people who ran our Villa. We were able to find little hidden walkways and bridges that took us along the water. 

We ate, relaxed, took photos, and drank lots of coffee. By midday, we were pooped!! That night, we went out for another nice dinner in the old part of town, only to hit the hay early again. The next morning, we woke up to a snow storm.

This is the view from our villa. We were honestly shocked when we woke up, because we were supposed to head out to Vevcani that day!! We had at least a couple feet of snow, and the roads were COVERED in ice!! We went and spoke with the people running our villa, and we learned we were really going to have to be creative in getting to Vevcani. To make matters worse, Rob did NOT have appropriate shoes, so our host handed him some of his own Italian leather boots to borrow!! Sometimes, I'm just shocked by the hospitable people here!! 

Before you knew it, we were in an illegal taxi, hoping a ride into Struga. From there, we stood in the snow for about an hour, before a combi came and swooped us up!! We made it into Vevcani, but the bus was unable to properly take us up the hills leading into the village, because the ice was just too bad. At one point, the bus was spinning slightly on the ice, so the driver decided to back up and try and run it up the hill. Yea...it didnt work. Regardless...we managed to walk the rest of the way.

Vevcani is built on the side of a mountain. For this reason, it provided some of the most breathtaking landscapes, but so of the most snow and ice I've ever encountered in my life. The temperature that day got down to -6 Fahrenheit. SO COLD!!!!

Anywho!! Once we got there, we had to find the other volunteers. I called Sara, and she said "We are drinking rakija with some trees." Intrigued, we decided to wander the village until we found them. The hills in the village were like veins in a body. They connected every inch of the community, but often times would lead us in complicated twists and turns that eventually lead us back to the same places we were before. We'd pass people in costumes, who were always in character, and we'd pass people going about their daily lives, just trying to shovel the snow from their doorsteps. We decided to wait on a corner, because we hear music approaching us. Eventually, we were hit with quite the crowd!!

The costumes follow a type of Pagan tradition. It's almost all men who participate. There are themes that follow the costumes...some of them being demons, some of the them extremely crude, and some of the mocking some present issue. Regardless of the costume, everyone was in character at all times. The monsters would come up and growl in your face, and even kids were involved!!

After a while of watching, we finally managed to find "the trees!!"

We continued the rest of the day, hanging out with the trees. We were also joined by walruses, Nazis, Osama, various devils/monsters, and the Taliban. We went around and visited numerous houses with these people. At each house, wine, rakija, beer, and brandy were served. Fresh cuts of meat and cheese were provided, along with some bread and fruit. Our visit to each house only lasted about 10 minutes at a time, if that.

Quite frankly, our entire experience was really quite remarkable!! I believe the only reason we were invited to become part of these peoples' lives on this day was because we spoke some Macedonian. Most of them knew who the Peace Corps was, and they loved the fact that we made it to their village for the event!! Throughout the day, I kept thinking "wow....this kind of stuff just doesnt happen."

By midday, most of the characters throughout the village gathered in the center, where they did a type of parade, where everyone pretty much danced around the center. This part last for hours, and the view of it all was amazing. In the very center, people were burning their masks and/or other parts of their costumes, which is part of the tradition. 

By the time the sun was going down, we were all feeling extremely tired, a little intoxicated, and very hungry. A few of us were invited to join one of the trees back to his house with some of the other characters from the day. Upon our arrival, we were greeted with more food and drinks. We spent hours at this house, and I once again found myself amazed at the hospitality. Where on earth can you find yourself in a village on the side of a mountain, eating homemade chicken with a local family and their friends?? They love sharing their lives and their culture, and sometimes you just have to soak it all in. 

My experience in Vevcani was one of the most unique I've ever had in my life. Even in writing this particular update, I find that words just cant do it justice. 

Macedonian Xmas

Video!!
Macedonian Christmas

It's been a hot minute since I last updated, because we've been busy!!This past weekend, we traveled down to my original home of Lozovo to celebrate the Macedonian Christmas with my Macedonian family.

Macedonian Christmas is very similar to our Xmas: you visit with friends and family, you drink, and you eat. That's about it. And that's exactly what we did. Friday, we got in early in the day, so we took our first opportunity to visit some people. My "brother" (the volunteer who had my family the year prior to me) also came in for the holiday, so we spent the rest of the evening catching up with him and the family at home. That night, all of Lozovo throws bonfires. I think there were 5 total around the village, but the largest one just so happened to be right by my house. We spent a few hours there drinking and dancing the Oro around the massive bonfire. I was able to see LOUIE (basset hound), who I swear recognized me. We had a moment too, hahaha. Afterwards, we headed over to the fire on Kenzie's side and stayed there until sometime after midnight. Rob and I went back home only to discover we had to sleep in the coldest rooms EVER. I cannot exaggerate how damn cold these rooms were....

Well for starters, I could see my breath in my room. I had my own room with a pullout couch, and Rob and Chris got my old bedroom. Neither bedrooms have heaters....why we didn't is beyond me. It was below 20F outside. So I'm standing there trying to figure out how exactly this was going to work. Rob and I decided to layer. We each had on 3-4 shirts, long johns,  pants, two paris of socks, and a jacket. I'd brought my sleeping bag, so I crawled into the sleeping bag with all my clothes on and could hardly move. To make matters worse, having my face exposed wasn't fun. My lungs felt cold whenever I woke up trying to roll over. And to be completely honest, every single night was like this, and it was unbearable to sleep like that..

For the next two days, we sat around at home eating and drinking. We were woken up with fish and rakija on Friday. It's a day where they dont eat any meat or milk products. We snacked for hours before heading out to visit some people. The weather was heavy wind and rain, which we got soaked in walking through it. Each house had a warm room to retreat to though, so we took advantage of that!! That night, we gathered with the family for the traditional Xmas meal, where the family bakes a loaf of bread with a coin in it. The person who got the coin last year breaks off pieces of the bread for each member of the family (including pets), as well as a piece for the house itself. Once this part is done, the family members see who got the coin. In our case, we all got the coin, because my host dad tore off too small of pieces, so we had this big chunk of bread leftover. Of course, that piece had the coin in it. : ) So from there, whomever gets the coin is supposed to put it in a glass of wine and drink from the glass. Getting the coin is supposed to bring you good luck and health all year. It was a special night to share this with our family.

The next day was pretty relaxing. We were able to eat meat again, so we had some chicken and pork with more bread and some other foods. Milevka's family came over, and we spent the day playing cards, watching TV, and of course eating some more. That night, I intentionally went to bed early so I could wake up early to make it back to Kocani. All in all the weekend was nice and relaxing...if it hadn't been for those cold bedrooms, I know we would have been much more comfortable...looking forward to going back when it's warm again, that's for sure!!

Since we've gotten back to Kocani, we've spent the majority of our time resting in my warm apartment. Sleeping in the cold made my cold from last week linger a little longer, so I needed to rest. As always, things are breaking left and right in the apt, but we are making the best of it, haha!! I successfully made baked apples for the first time, and we've eaten the hell out of some Ranch dip as well. All in all, the last two days have made me feel a lot better. This week, we set out for Vevcani and Ohrid. We ride out on Thursday down to Ohrid with my friend Anna. There, we will stay for two nights enjoying the city. (google it!!) On Saturday, we will ride into Vevcani for the 2nd day of the carnival. That night, I think we are getting together with the other volunteers to celebrate Claire's bday. Should be a great weekend....Im honestly really looking forward to it.

Well that's all I've got for now!! I'll have a ton of photos and videos coming soon!! : )

It's that time of year....AGAIN!!

Today, Rob and I got to meet with my Director for some afternoon coffee and chatting time. During the middle of the conversation, my Director offered us some wine. Graciously, we accepted, only to discover the most fantastic looking bottle of wine...

This is called BEAR BLOOD. I mean, look...there's a photo of a growling scary bear on the front. Isn't is fantastic?? Apparently, a close friend of his really likes the wine, so he ordered some from Bulgaria. I just had to share it with ya'll. Oh, and for the record...the wine was FANTASTIC. Seriously delicious. I want to keep the bottles and use them as vases though...seriously.

Oh, and we were able to chat a bit about an idea I have for the Freedom Monument area in Kocani (the place the with graffiti).....kind of like how Nashville does its "movies in the park" during the summers, we were discussing getting the necessary things together to hookup a movie night up there!! It could also be a weekly thing with some vendors. We have access to most of what we'd need, and the advertisement for the event is something that wont be a problem at all!! The idea sounds promising, but right now we really need to concentrate on getting the dance area setup, as well as some of the other after school activities. Point being, I keep getting PUMPED about all the great things I get to do with my school. I love the endless possibilites.

ANYWHO....Tomorrow, Rob and I head out to Lozovo to visit the family for the Macedonia божик (xmas). It's going to be a 3-day celebration; Thursday night beginning with a village-wide bonfire. Friday will probably be an entire day of visiting other families and eating a lot of food. Then Saturday is a "just the family" kind of day with another epic meal. Sunday, we will travel back to Kocani. I'm really excited to see everyone and be back in Lozovo with the family!! I hope my language skills are still solid enough for some catch up convos with the family...otherwise, I'll be getting an ear-full. : )

The following weekend is something to get pumped about as well....today, we just booked a stay down in the beautiful Lake Ohrid area for Thursday and Friday. It's Claire's bday (my best bud from Lozovo), and she lives a stones throw away from Ohrid. So Friday night, a bunch of us will be getting together to celebrate. Then on Saturday, we will travel into Vevcani for the crazy carnival:

Vevcani Carnival info

Just some random photos I found online from the carnival. 

 We were able to book a room at a villa down there too, so we will make a weekend out of it!! Already, I am so excited for the two upcoming weekends. I've been seriously looking forward to the Vevcani bit, and I'm even more pumped that a lot of volunteers will be around to celebrate!! I need to make some masks....

So that's that. I wont have internet again until this Sunday, so if you happen to email me, I wont be able to respond just yet. I'm seriously having a great winter break so far.....having some company surely doesnt hurt!! And I'm looking forward to being able to travel around the country a bit more in the upcoming weeks to help these frigid winter months move a little faster.