The End of the Holiday Season

So not a lot has occurred here over the past week, but enough small things happened that are worth noting.

Old New Year

In Prilep, Macedonians celebrate Old New Year by baking bread or a burek with a coin inside.  Most other Macedonians celebrate this tradition on Macedonian Christmas.  Last Tuesday, as soon as I returned from Ohrid, I met my colleagues at a restaurant to celebrate the tradition.  As the burek was passed around, I was the third person to pick up a slice, but my counterpart took a slice after me and picked the burek with the coin inside.  Angela was happy to receive the coin, and it was a bit of a preminition since she hopes to be president of AIESEC Prilep next year.  If the coin falls to you, you are destined to receive good luck for the next year.  I am sure Angela will welcome this luck for the year ahead.

I was also surprised to receive a birthday cake and a wonderful birthday gift!  I will surely wear my gift often to represent the organization that I work with.

With my birthday gift!

Vodici

On Sunday, many Macedonians celebrated the tradition of Водичи (Vodici).  The event is hosted in every city on Macedonia to commemorate the baptism of Christ.  In each town, Macedonians gather by the closest body of water (whether that be the lake in Ohrid, the rive in Skopje, or a dinky little pool in Prilep).  In these locations, a lkocal priest blesses a cross and tosses it into the body of water. Afterwards, Macedonains plunge into the water to try to retrieve the cross.  This year was momentous because, in Shtip, a woman had retrieved the cross for the first time in memorable history!

http://travel2macedonia.com.mk/event/bogojavlenie-vodici

A picture of Vodici, borrowed from the internet

Back at Work

So the holiday season is over, but many students at the university are still on break.  The last two weeks of January are finals weeks for the college students, but students are only required to take these tests if they failed their midterms in December.  Some of you back home are asking me if work is picking up.  Others are still confused as to what I do.  My role with AIESEC will likely evolve as my time passes in Prilep, but we are currently working on our Local Recruitment campaign to encourage students in the southern part of Macedonia to consider volunteering or interning aborad for the summer.  We are also recruiting new members to plug some of the personnel gaps in the organization.  So I am busier, but I am still learning about the organization, and I feel like I have entered the “Trial and Error” phase of my service.  Overall, I am happy to contribute to the organization, and when I am free I usually spend my time studying Macedonian or preparing for the Foreign Service Test. 

My 26th Birthday and Vevcani

This year marked my second birthday abroad!  Last year I spent my birthday at my best friend’s brother’s wedding in India, and this year I spent it in a much more closed space.  However, the celebration was still fantastic.

On Sunday I decided to leave Prilep and travel to Ohrid again.  Many volunteers would be in the area to attend a carnival in Vevcani.  The town is located the mountainside just over the border from Albania and is a quick bus ride from the city Struga, which is located on Lake Ohrid as well (ehh, just Google Map it).   Not sure whether I would be well enough to attend the event or if I could request time off from work, eventually I decided to attend the event late and was offered lodging at Dan’s again in Ohrid.

When we arrived in Ohrid, the other PCVs asked me if I wanted to do something special for my birthday.  I answered that I would rather stay inside, save money, and take it easy so that we could celebrate the carnival with more zeal.  We succeeded in accomplishing ALMOST all of these goals :=).  We started the birthday celebrations early, and after a quick game of “Cheers Governor” we were in the perfect state to dance off some of the booze.  There is nothing more I can ask for on my birthday than for my friends to celebrate with me and for them to allow me to be an autocrat with the music (I was able to control the turn table with an iron fist).

Birthday Celebrations

We passed out by midnight, and thus we were ready to head to carnival as early as we wanted to.   The crew in Struga decided to leave for the carnival at 11AM, but we stalled a bit to enjoy a late breakfast.  After catching a taxi from the pazar in Ohrid, we arrived in Vevchani just in time for the parade.  We followed the parade along the main road to the town square, and throughout the walk we were surrounded by people in costumes.  The people wearing costumes took this Halloween-like tradition to an impressively creative level.  Not only were people wearing masks, makeup, and costumes, but each group in the parade had a theme.  Some dressed in drag, others looked like demons, others dressed like injured pensioners in cross-country skiing gear, others wore large snowmen costumes.  The link below provides pictures of the carnival from this year and years before.

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/01/the-carnival-of-vevcani/100661/

Before I continue, many may wonder what the point of this carnival is.  Supposedly the carnival is over 1400 years old, and thus it has many Pagan traditions.  Some say the carnival started due to a marriage that went awry.  The best-looking man in the village was arranged to marry with the best-looking woman, but during a trip abroad for work he fell on his face and disfigured it.  In order for his fiancé to become used to his ugliness, he asked his friends to wear masks so that his wife could become familiar to his face less painfully.

There is another story regarding the origin of the festival that seems to lead to its more “extreme” nature.  As the Orthodox New Year approaches (January 14), people are welcomed to ask for forgiveness for their transgressions.  Thus, people wear hideous masks and wreak havoc through the town just before the New Year.  When the New Year arrives, the people then burn the mask and start the year anew.  With this mindset, people in Vevchani let go of all of their inhibitions, and the town experiences public indecency that far surpasses the South Side Irish Parade (South Siders from Chicago know what I mean).  Alcohol is encouraged, so most of the people at this carnival are drunk.  Since people can act their worst, they do things that beg forgiveness on the following day.  For example, dead chickens and pig skins are carried by some, and these people slap bystanders with the carrion.  Sometimes animal blood and feces are tossed at people.  Some participants dress in offensive costumes- Nazi costumes and KKK costumes are some of the most popular.  I have heard (but cannot confirm) that sometimes Islamic symbols and a casket with the Greek flag are burned in effigy.  (For more information regarding the carnival, see below).

http://www.balkaninside.com/the-carnival-of-vevchani/

Given all of this mayhem, PCVs are told that they should not attend the carnival if they are easily offended.  In my opinion (and of course, not that of the Peace Corps or any other organization), many of these people do not understand why dressing like a member of the KKK or a Nazi is offensive, but understand that it is, which is a part of the idea behind the festival.  Therefore, I personally do not take offense to some of these people dressing in offensive costumes because they understand that the costumes are evil and will burn the costumes on the last day.

The Vevcani Parade 

Dressed as pensioners affected by a skiing accident.

Some participants flailing dead chickens and pig skins

By the time the parade was over, we were able to meet with the other group of volunteers who had traveled from Struga.  Joining them were PCVs from Albania who had traveled to Macedonia for the carnival.  It was great to meet another group of PCVs in Macedonia, especially when their whole day involved day drinking.  Many of the volunteers adopted the spirit of the carnival and did away with their inhibitions.  For example, one volunteer from Albania decided to borrow the skis from a participant in the parade and ski down the concrete hill (there was no ice or snow that day).  I was in complete shock when I went to give a goodbye hug to one of the volunteers from Albania, but instead of accepting the hug she slapped me hard on the face, turned me around, and insisted that I joined her and the group in their departure.  Just in case if you are thinking “oh boy, sounds like a bunch of drunk Americans making a scene at a foreign festival,” please remember that the locals were acting in a similar fashion.  For example, my jaw dropped when I saw a Macedonian in costume pick up a table from a café, lift it over his head, and throw it into the middle of the square.

An unfortunate victim of the carnival

One of the volunteers from Albania doing the oro.

We eventually left Vevcani after nightfall and traveled to Struga to enjoy dinner and bar hop across the city.  It was a great night to party, as many of the participants from the festival were in Struga to celebrate.  Thus many of the patrons at the bars were fully decked in costumes.  The Macedonian and Albanian PCVs were even lucky enough to dance the oro with a bunch of minions from “Despicable Me”!  By 4AM, all of the volunteers were tired of listening and dancing to traditional Macedonian music and turbo folk, and thus we decided to head home and end the celebrations.

Pathogens

Today I did something that I thought I would never do- I went to the Peace Corps office in Skopje for a medical visit.  For those of you who know me well may know that I am not a fan of doctors.  I get sick often, but it is usually with the cold or flu, and only rest and time can help me get better.  Yet, for the past three weeks I have been sick with cold-like symptoms, and I was not sure why.  I personally blamed this on the “Balkan Virus”.  I had heard from others (including PCVs and country nationals) that they had caught a disease with cold-like symptoms that lasted for a month.  Therefore, dealing with this unknown disease prompted me to contact Peace Corps for a quick check-up on my health.

Actually, I have had more health problems in the Peace Corps than I thought I would.  It seemed to me that Macedonia had health risks similar to that of the United States. For example, there are no issues with malaria or yellow fever.  The vaccinations I was required to receive before leaving the states were mostly boosters of vaccines I had when I was younger.  I figured that I would not likely be much more sick than I usually am in the United States.  But I was wrong.  I have been sick 4 times since coming to Macedonia- three times with cold-like symptoms and once with the flu (despite receiving a flu shot from PC).  Before moving to PST, Peace Corps issued us a large medical kit.  I thought to myself, “This is just extra baggage!  I do not need to carry this with me to site.  I will never use the items in this box.”

By the end of PST, I had used almost half of the items in the box, including

1. Pseudophedrine (for my colds)

2. Throat Lozenges

3. Ibuprofen (stuffed nose)

4. Anti-itch cream (from the scratches I received from hiking through the brush to Bogoslovec)

5. Anti-fungal cream (for athlete’s foot from running)

6. Anti-diarrhea tablets (flu)

7. Bug Spray

8. Bandage and antiseptic (for my host nephew who cut himself)

Below is a picture of the PC kit plus the medicine I picked up today from the office.

PC Meds!

So what was the diagnosis regarding this “Balkan Virus”?  I have mild bronchitis in my left lung.  I was definitely shocked by this announcement.  My health had never really failed me in the States, but in the Peace Corps fashion it is starting to unravel here in Macedonia.  Overall, there are many reasonable explanations for getting bronchitis.  I caught a cold (for the third time in 3 months? Ok, maybe no explanation for that), and it was then further irritated by all of the cigarette smoke (my host family smokes, as do many young people when we hang out) and the pollution (see previous post from December).  Such irritants can cause an infection in the lungs, which causes the mucus membranes in the lungs to become inflamed and filled with thicker mucus.

The silver lining in all of this is the great care I received from the Peace Corps.  Upon hearing that my sickness had not subsided after 2 weeks, the doctors called me in for tests.  My bus ticket and lunch will be reimbursed by the PC (don’t worry, tax payers, the total price was less than $15) and after the check-up and diagnosis, I received so much free medicine!  More pseudophedrine, throat lozenges, two different brands of cough syrups, vitamins, and antibiotics in case the infection becomes bacterial.  The level of medical care here is beyond satisfactory and really makes me re-think doctors.  I knew there was nothing the doctor could do for me if it was a viral infection, but decided to make the trip because my stock of pseudophedrine was finished.  Back in the States, I am sure that if I had visited the doctor’s office for the same reason, I would have waiting longer to see the doctor, and upon receiving the same diagnosis, would be told to rest and purchase pseudophedrine on my own.  I do not understand why doctors in America do not give over-the-counter drugs to patients free as prescriptions.  We are already paying so much for medical insurance, and a free box of aspirin or cough syrup is the least a doctor can do to affect the recovery of a patient from a viral infection.

So, after my check-up I was able to chat with the Director of Peace Corps Macedonia for some time (she is amazing!).  After, I met a few other volunteers who were in the capital and enjoyed their company over burritos and wine. 

After being sick for three weeks on end, I have decided to try to get on with my life.  I do not want to sit at home all of the time and miss out on opportunities and experiences that occur every day in Macedonia.  I have two years to take it easy, but I will make sure to drink plenty of fluids and get a full night’s rest in the short-term.