Ajvar and everything else: January 2006

Tessa and I went on a hike on the side of the hill in Ohrid that hasn't been developed. This is one of my favorite places in Macedonia.

Looking towards Albania.

Sunset during a hike through the wooded part of Ohrid.

Some birds, from the walkway along the lake

Nothing like a dumpster fire to remind you of home. This is outside the national park office.

To the museum!

For the last couple of weeks Shaun and I had being trying, although not trying to hard, to go to the Ohrid Museum. Like many establishments here, the posted hours for the museum are mostly to create the illusion of professionalism. Any correlation between actual times things are open and the posted hours, however, is strictly a coincidence.

Anyway- we happened to pass by the museum when it was actually open and we went in for a bit. Most of the space is filled with bits of metal, stone, and glass. I can only assume these things represent important periods of Ohrid history, as nothing is labeled and I am not quite finished with my PhD in Southern Eastern European Ancient History. There are a few cool things about the museum, though, even for those of use without advanced degrees in archeology. First off the building is neat. It is an old 4 story house done in traditional Ohrid building style. And inside a few of the rooms are decorated in traditional style. But most interesting, I think, are the wood carvings on the top floor. They are in this really nice sunny room and are really amazing examples of workmanship. I have a few pictures below.

We were lucky to find the museum open when we did, as Shaun left a couple of days later to return to the states. It has been pretty difficult having him gone, especially because I had gotten quite used to having him around during the month he stayed with me. But we had know this was coming for a while, and I have only 9 months left here so it won't be too long apart...

Some detail of the wood carving.

Shaun thinks about the TV in a room full of wood carvings.

Me at the big desk, with the big book shelf behind.

Love birds.

The ceiling. The piece is so large I couldn't get it to fit in one shot even when I put the camera on the floor.

My new mandolin! I am pretty excited about this!

I needed some more kitchen sponges, but I bought these specifically because of the packaging.

Better read and follow these instructions carefully!

Happy Old New Year!!

The month of January is full of holidays in Macedonia. This past weekend was Old New Year (New Year for the Orthodox calendar which is two weeks behind the regular calendar). Shaun, Carla, Kendra and I went to stay with Kendra's boy friend who lives in a village a few miles from the Bulgarian border. It was quite a weekend. The whole village was involved in celebrations all day Friday till late Saturday night.

The 'plot' of the event goes something like this: There is a 'bride', (a man) all dressed in white and covered with a mask, who visits every house in the village sometime during Friday night. She is accompanied by men also all dressed in white and carrying wooden swords. These men are trying to protect her and keep other men from taking the mask off. These other men, who also accompany the bride through the town, are dressed as women or bears or some other such thing, and there faces are totally blackened with soot. These men dressed as women come and black your face for good luck.

Anyway- everyone drinks all weekend and at the end there is a big party for everyone who is still able to sit up and eat. At every house the bride and her group of men collected money or food, and these are used for a party where everyone is invited.

Most fabulous costume: A young man dressed in a red mini skirt, red leather jacket, long black wig, and platform shoes. He seemed to be enjoying his costume very much, and took it upon himself to plant big red kisses on as many people as possible.

Creepiest costume: A middle aged man dressed as a grandma. He carried a baby doll with him all day and would sit on the hoods of cars driving through town till they would give him money.

Worst smell: There was a man dressed as a priest who carried an incense of burning peppers all day. This was in close competition with the vomit smell that filled the bus during the 6 hour ride home.

Biggest fire hazard: At the party the man in the grandma costume took a handful of sparklers and after gesticulating a bit with them, handed them to a child, who dropped them under the table on everyone's feet.

Coldest part of the weekend: This is a hard one... the house we were staying in was so cold you could see your breath. But probably the bathing was the coldest time.

Most supernatural: In the middle of the night on Saturday the cd player in the room Shaun and I were staying in turned on very loud right in the middle of a song. It was really crazy. Then I got up to turn it off and put a log on the fire and the windows were rattling. A 92 old woman had died next door a few days earlier, and after convincing myself that she had visited and turned the radio on, I slept really poorly the rest of the night.