How’s My Liver Doing?

During this holiday season, a lucky member of each Macedonian family has the opportunity to be blessed with health, good fortune and happiness on Badnik (Christmas Eve). How? If you are the one to acquire the coin hidden in a piece of homemade bread given to you at dinner, then you will receive many benefits in the New Year. And if you are a male married during the previous year, you are afforded a SECOND chance to win such blessings. It happens on Voditci.

Voditci is the day commemorating the baptism of Jesus. In the Orthodox Christian community, there is a tradition whereby the local priest, after a short ritual ceremony, tosses a cross into a lake, river or whatever body of water is available. Recently (within the last year) married males from the village or town compete to retrieve it. This is the strict tradition in Zletevo but in many communities now, any adult male willing to confront the frigid waters, can participate.

The previous two years I attended Voditci in Probistip where the event is conducted at the town swimming pool because there is no lake or river in the Probe (see my blogs from January 2009 and 2010). This year along with David and our good friend Clavche, I went to the nearby, (15 minute taxi ride) town of Zletevo where they have a river. At 6AM we set out and were among the first to arrive at the site on the Zletevo River where the ceremony would take place. The only ones there before us were the individuals warming the rakija and tea and the individuals setting up the sound system. This gave us the opportunity to get the best spot to take photos.
Traditionally, men from the community contribute to the rakija pot and so there is plenty of the stuff to go around and it’s free. So in order to meld into the community as envisioned by the Peace Corps, at 6:45 AM I had my first rakija of the day solely to be “one of the guys” (AKA “peer pressure”). In 64 years I had never had a 104 proof alcohol so early in the day but its warmth and sweetness was comforting on a cold winter morning. Plus the men in the town were pleased to see that I was participating in one of their beloved traditions.

We were told that the ceremony would start about 7AM, so IAW Macedonian convention, people started to arrive at 7:15 and the ceremony began at 8:15. Time is an approximation, not an exactitude, here in this wonderful country. But since my fingers were pretty numb from the cold, I was glad when the priest and his entourage finally arrived. After a brief liturgy under the gazebo, the pope (the Macedonian word for priest is “pope”) and the men from Zletevo who had been married the previous year, participated in the traditional throwing and retrieving of the cross (check out my photos).

During the event when I was changing lenses on my camera, a lens cover flew off and landed on some rocks at the edge of the water. It would have been very difficult, if not impossible to recover it, so I kind of wrote it off. But the many Zletvoians who witnessed it, were deeply concerned about the situation. Remember that David and I were visitors in the community and stood out from everyone else. People were always looking at us out of curiosity, but in a very friendly way. And so it was important to them to retrieve the lens cover for their guest and they did so when one of the non-recently married swimmers climbed up onto the rocks to retrieve the lens cover. Everyone nearby was sincerely relieved that I it was returned to me.

When the ceremony was over and after my third to-be-sociable-rakija (and to prove my American manhood to the Macedonian men), we headed back to the center where we would search for a taxi to take us back to Probistip. However, on the road back, Stojche, one of the gentlemen we had been talking with, invited us into his home for a “na goste” (a visit). This always sems to happen here in the smaller towns and villages. People invite strangers into their home for food, drink and conversation. We went.

Two and one-half hours later, 5 more shots of homemade rakija, salad, coffee, lots of laughs and a sharing of life’s experiences with Stojche and his wonderful wife, the three of us headed back to Probistip. Cab fare was 160 denari ($2.50) split three ways. I appreciated the fact that I wasn’t the driver and not in the position of having to prove to my Macedonian friends that I was capable of driving after consuming an inordinate amount of alcohol.

When I returned home I needed to get some shut-eye. The rakija had taken its toll. I grabbed a blanket and headed out to my chair on my balcony. It was a somewhat mild winter day and it was sunny. As I lay ensconced on the recliner, I briefly reflected on my wonderful 8 rakija-day among the wonderful people of Zletevo before I fell asleep (passed out) for the next well-deserved two and half hours. This gave my liver a chance to do whatever God intended it to do. I was pleased knowing that I survived the binge and that the men of Zletevo appreciated my participation in their tradition and rewarded with an A+ (when it comes to drinking their National beverage). All in all, a challenging day’s work as a PCV.

I’m now looking forward to a couple of alcohol-free months. And, I believe, so is my liver.

Many Traditions

The month of January is basically a month of celebrating. It’s like the time in America between Christmas and New Years when everyone “goes to work” , however you want to describe work. The holiday spirit lasts three to four weeks. Why not? We can always accomplish tomorrow what we could have accomplished today.

The town looks very festive during this time and the lights will probably stay up till at least February. I’m hoping we get at least one snowfall during this time. School is not back in session until the 24th so the students are slowly forgetting much of what they learned in the first half of the school year. The teachers have finished their grading and record keeping as required by the overzealous demands of the remnants of the socialist record-keeping bureaucrats. Yet the teachers must still report to school almost every day, be seen, drink a cup of something hot because the building is not heated, and then head back home after an hour or so. Why? No one knows.

Since Phil is always free-loading off of everybody, David, Jim, Michael, Lillian and I decided to invade Phil’s place in Bitola to celebrate the New Year and freeload off of Phil. Much to his credit and my astonishment, he was the perfect host and put together a couple of nice meals. We celebrated with 10 other PCV’s who had come to town and who stayed with a couple of other Bitola-stationed Volunteers. The seniors amongst us acknowledged the New Year with cigars and Jack Daniels ($30 a Liter) on the square at midnight. There were thousands of people attending the event and everyone seemed to be having an enjoyable time. I was able to get a few really good photos of the fireworks because it was the first time I was actually under a fireworks display. They exploded directly overhead. There were no safety zones set up and we stood directly next to the launching area.

I understand from the many people who asked me where I was, that there was a very nice celebration in Probistip. As nice as Bitola was, I looked forward to my return home to Probistip on Sunday, having eaten all of Phil’s food and drinking most all of his hard-to-come-by black tea (You can find a half dozen or more kinds of tea in Probistip. Tea has a medicinal value and there is a tea for every ailment. Apparently there are no ailments that can be cured by drinking India tea (black tea – Lipton) because none of the stores or markets carry it).

In the USA, it’s back to our daily routine after New Years. Here, we still have the Christmas season ahead of us. On the 5th of January, David and I were invited to attend a traditional ceremony that takes place on the mountain. Many of the men from town head up to one of the local mountains for the purpose of collecting oak leaves which they will place in their Christmas Eve fire. I’m not exactly sure of the meaning of this tradition, although I did understand oak, smoke, strength, health, and luck when it was being explained to me. Of course the occasion was celebrated on the mountain with blessings by the priests, rakija, wine, food and traditional music and dancing.

Last year I was unprepared for the tradition of children coming around on Christmas Eve morning(December 6th). Representing angels (I am told), they carry a large staff and go house –to-house singing the words:”If you are asleep, wake up! If you are awake, make us cookies! If you can’t make us cookies, then give us walnuts! If you can’t give us walnuts, give us chestnuts! If you can’t give us chestnuts, give us some money? If you can’t give us some money, then we will break your window!” This kind of puts a damper on the “angel” scenario, but according to the police chief there have been no reports of broken windows on the last few Christmas Eve mornings. This year I was ready for the children, although I might have slept through their 6AM arrival had I not heard them singing across the street.

Christmas Eve (Badnik) is spent at home with family. A meatless meal is served and traditional formalities are carried out (see my blogs from January 2008 and 2009 which go into more detail). (Congratulations to my good friend Violeta in Negotino for getting the coin this year!) On Christmas Day (Boshik), families and friends visit one another. Gift giving is kept to a minimum, considering Father Ice made some deliveries on New Year’s Eve. Gift giving is not a big deal in Macedonia. I love the idea. No stress in trying to figure out if your wife wants a new iron or a new vacuum.

After the religious celebration of Christmas, many people look forward to celebrating Old New Year’s Day, January 13th in accordance with the Julian calendar. Another excuse to party! David and I were invited to attend the party of the municipal employees. It took place at the fish restaurant located in a beautiful setting in the mountains and owned by the mayor. It was another fun-filled party with the traditional food, drink, music and dancing that one comes to expect at these occasions. I was even able to throw a few of my infamous dance moves into the traditional Ora which a few adventuresome Macedonians were able to mimic.

The last traditional event of the season will take place on the 19th when the men of the town/village who were married the previous year will attempt to retrieve the cross thrown into the bitterly cold lake/river/ swimming pool by the local priests, commemorating the baptism of Jesus (once again, if interested, more detailed accounts of this event are reported in my blogs from January 2009 and 2010).

During this school break I have been putting together materials for a workshop for all the English teachers in Probistip. I have to try and sell the idea of canceling English classes for one day to the “superintendent of the schools” so the teachers can attend on the school’s time in Alexandra’s classroom. Usually teachers are expected to attend these workshops on weekends (great for morale!) This is a novel approach to offering in-service training so it might be a hard sell. We’ll see.