Happy Old New Year!!! And then some.

Let's catch up a little bit.

History lesson. So from the 14th century to the 19th century Macedonia was under the Turkish rule of the Ottoman Empire. While under that rule (and less formally since then) Macedonians followed the Orthodox Christian calendar. This calendar is just the same as the one we follow in the states, just the holidays are 13 days off. Christmas was the 6th of January and well New Years Eve was the 13th....

Ok So Radica (my teacher) mentioned to me that on Wednesday a collegue of ours, herself and some old time friends were going to a caferana to celebrate the Old New Year and said that she made the reservation large enough for me to join. A caferana is a cafe(bar) that also functions as a restaurant with a big dance floor. She was very enthusiastic about the celebration, saying that the caferana, 14, had super food and would be hosting live music. Wanting to capitalize on every cultural experience I can, I gave her 500 Denars ($10.oo) to cover dinner, and told her I'd be there. The Denars went towards delicious meat and cheese platters and a large amount of salad. It was like the Olive Garden, just more fun.
When I got to 14 the meat and cheese platter looked like something you could get at Alberstons - fancy rolled ham, with creatively presented cheese -, the salad was pretty much the same - all the veggies were thin sliced carrots, cabbage, beets, cucumber, and something else - it wasn't that I was disappointed; however I was really hoping to get Macedonian cuisine. Wait, I forgot about the rolls, one looked like small grilled cheese, and the other was just your basic egg roll looking wrap. Ok I was stupid to be disapointed, with Radica close by to tell me what that cheese was, and how yummy one roll was paired with the other cheese. Everything was SO good. The cold cuts were mostly ham, but somehow different than any ham I had in the states. 4 different cheeses, each of them very rich, and excellent. This is what I am told is pretty much traditional Macedonian party food. I like it.
The background music (while I was there) was 98% Serbian. Prior to Macedonian becoming independent after the splitting of Yugoslavia, the Serbians and Macedonian culture were very similar. In fact they still are, and the two people of the countries get along very well. Politically however, they do not. It's the old traditional values that these Balkan countries hold onto that really keep them from progressing along with the rest of the world.... throughout the night Radica would fill me in on Macedonian culture while we danced around the table clapped with the music and laughed at her husband and his 4 other friends that he has known for over 20 years. I didn't understand a word they were saying, but really when people are that funny, I didn't need to.

I found out that one of the things I was laughing the hardest about was when three of them were making fun of the other. They were playing around like they were maids, sweeping and dusting things... doing the sexy maid bit. I asked Radica what the joke was about. She said they were teasing their other friend for helping his wife do the house work. I didn't get it. That's when one of our colleagues (the social 5-9 social studies teacher) who grew up in Toronto informed me that Macedonian culture makes it very easy for a man to decide to marry. Apparently it's 1952 and the Stepford lifestyle is still the thing to do. Men rarely help with house chores, and this is a widely accepted thing. Due to low wage pay however, women rarely take more than a 3 month maternity leave and hardly ever become stay at home moms from choice, but rather from inability to find work. - this is just for the majority of the population not all families function this way -
Another thing that almost made me fall out of my chair is when she mentioned one of the shops right next to the green market just down the street. Apparently Macedonians would NEVER go out in public with out underwear. Sure the women dress provocatively at times, but they rarely plan on acting upon it and they will always wear underwear. I wasn't really sure where Radica was going with this, then she dropped it. "You know.?. Like that one bald headed crazy celebrity that held her baby in her lap while driving and smoking a cigarette at the same time... She didn't wear underwear. And you can google her _____." I almost died. If I had to hear this so did you.

After celebrating the countdown, and dancing a little longer I figured it would be time to go home seeing as NOVA only celebrates days off for the calendar that the U.S. follows and school would be starting at 8:00. I guess somewhere around 1:30 the music switched from the Serbian music and dancing (much like something from Jewish Wedding parties in the movies) The place switched to Elvis. Of all things, I missed Elvis. Never again will I leave a bar early while I am here.

I'm trying to think of other things of interest since then, but mostly they pertain to educational differences from here to the states. Really the differences I am witnessing here can be found all over at any school in any nation. Each teacher has such distinct methods and strategies of instruction that something will always be different. These students are very bright, and learn things quickly. Something that I am veyr happy about because it seems the expectation is that students hear facts once, make a comment on the information, and are tested on information. I have never moved so quickly through content in my life. Like I said, students are learning so I am not going to complain.

Otherwise, the weekend has officially started, some how I managed to sprain my ankle and stayed in to elevate and ice. tomorrow I am going into class to put grades into the computer, then depending on weather and ankle Mt Vodno ( a small nearby mountain) is calling my name. Located atop Vodno is the Millenium Cross. Pictures of that to come.

Happy New Year!