The visit with Kocho, Slavitza, and Violetta for the celebration of the Orthodox Christmas was wonderful . The food was delicious Macedonian fare in unending amounts, made from scratch, with local ingredients. I was unable to be in Negotino on Monday evening when the men in the village make bon fires, sing songs, and drink heated rakija with added water and sugar. But there were also bon fires all over Probistip and the sound of the men singing folk songs could be heard from all directions. The fires remind everyone of the fire set by the shepherds for the birth of Jesus. I’m not sure where or when the custom of drinking alcohol began or its relevance.
On Tuesday morning on my bus ride to Negotino, I noticed many children walking in groups as the bus passed through the villages. I found out later on that this event occurs on January 6th, the morning before Boshik (this is a transliterated way to say the Cyrillic-spelled word for Christmas). It is very similar to our Halloween, in that the children go from door to door as early as 4 AM, singing a song for the residents in return for goodies such as fruits, candies or money. They carry a stick or small pole (reminiscent of the shepherds) and make their way through the neighborhood collecting goodies.
Boshik Eve is spent with immediate family members. Kocho led a ritual with candles that highlighted the birth of Jesus . He invited God into his home and he gave thanks for the previous year’s blessings. He then distributed chunks of a loaf of bread that Slavitza had baked earlier in the day to each of us. One coin was hidden in the loaf of bread and the person who found the coin in their chunk of bread would have good fortune in the next year. Kocho got the coin this year. Relatives and friends called throughout the day to report who got the coin in their family and to find out who got the coin in Kocho’s family.
Boshik is also a day spent with family members. All we did was eat and eat and eat. We all rewarded ourselves with two hour naps which got us ready to eat some more before we retired for the night. It is very similar to our Thanksgiving Day meal when we gourge ourselves, watch football, and take naps before we eat our turkey sandwiches. Later on in the evening, Brittany dropped over for a visit. She was visiting her host family and we had a pleasant time as she updated us on her adventures as a Volunteer.
I left Negotino on Thursday morning at 10:30 and arrived in Probistip at 3:30. The five hour bus trip would be reduced to no more than 90 minutes when driven by car, but taking a bus lets you enjoy what Macedonia is all about. My host family stocked me with a supply of pickled vegetables, jarred plums, and a new supply of rakija which I will enjoy for the next few months.
Since we had a few snowfalls in the days prior to Boshik, the landscape took on a new appearance, so the bus ride afforded me some terrific views through the iced up windows. Generally, snowfalls melt quickly in this part of Macedonia but this winter has been colder than usual (this debunks Rob’s theory of global warming) and so the snow is sticking around. People use spades, pointed shovels, handle-less brooms, and dustpans to clear sidewalks and stairways. I didn’t see a single snow shovel , a lightweight tool which would speed up the snow removal process. I’m going to try to convince one of the local hardware stores to stock a few next winter. Some entrepreneur could do well selling snow shovels throughout the country (although they probably have them in the mountainous west). Then again, maybe not.
Dodging vehicles on unplowed roads is a skill that I have quickly mastered. The snow gets packed down on the side roads and village roads. There is generally one travel lane down the middle with snow piled up along the sides. So the trick is to move as far to the side as possible and tromp through the piled up snow when you hear a rear drive, bald tired, mufferless, first- gear-missing, four cylinder, diesel engined, inspection-expired, four passenger (with six passengers) vehicle sliding through the iced up grooves towards you. Fortunately, most people leave their cars at home when it snows.
I started Macedonian language lessons with my tutor Jasmina. She is an English-speaking lawyer who has lived with her family in Probistip for her entire life and she will help me expand my communication skills. Her family is very charming and friendly and her father and I try to communicate, somewhat successfully , with limited language skills in each other’s native language. The Peace Corps will pay for 24 hours of lessons per quarter so that Volunteers can continuously improve their language skills. There is also a great staff in Skopje ( especially Ivana the language program manager), which will provide us with any resources that we may need to help us master a new language.
My language skills must be getting a little better because I’m getting fewer puzzled looks from the clerks at the shops. If my skills aren’t getting better then the clerks must be getting used to my New York/ Massachusetts accent and I’ve been speaking well enough all along.
1 comment:
The bon fires and some other Christmas traditions such as Kolede are actually pre-christian pagan traditions which have survived to this day because they got incorporated in Christianity.
The Macedonian Church speaks out against the fires all the time, but they can't do anything about it. It's tradition, and it's just good fun.
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