Sudden Epiphany. Right on Schedule

I really timed this trip right in terms of holidays. Yesterday was a working day for Macedonians, MLK doesn't really mean much to many people here. It was only briefly mentioned by one of the Croatian students in the class, and the topic didn't go any further than that. I was kind of surprised, but then again maybe that is just an American thing. Who knows.

--- History Lesson ---

While everyone back home was able to enjoy their day off yesterday I was able to enjoy today off. 13 days ago (January 6th) was the Western Christian celebration of Epiphany meaning that today, the Orthodox Christian celebrated. I had to Google what the Epiphany is all about. After going back and forth between Western Christian and Orthodox I am still a little bit confused, but I think I've got it right. This day is a celebration of the baptism of Christ. It's a pretty big celebration; lets find out why. In every substantial town and/or city a/the churches will hold a special service. The priest blesses a cross, and then meets the masses at the nearest large body of water. The priest says some prayer and tosses the cross into the water. Here is the fun part. Men of all ages, like teenagers to whatever... jump in the water to retrieve the cross and return it to the priest. The man who retrieves the cross (along with his family) is blessed by the priest, and in some communities receives some sort of prize.

--- End of lesson---

The large body of water here in Skopje is the Vardar River. -- I think I have mentioned it before; it is a highly polluted river, the waste water from the cities population, among other things, go directly to this river -- Today I ventured down to the city center to witness this event take place. It was massively populated. Once I got to the outlying parts of the center I knew this was a bigger deal than I had previously pictured. The streets were packed with people. The ceremony was held at the Stone Bridge (see earlier pictures) and was WILD. I couldn't believe the amount of men that actually jumped in and were swimming around for that cross. Dedicated. The energy was contagious and exciting, what a fun holiday! Once Mirko Petrovski got to the cross there was a burst of applause and cheering. Mirko returned the cross to the priest and received blessing for himself and family, a TV, an electric stove, refrigerator, a coin from the mayor and other gifts as well. --- I still don't have my camera so I am posting pictures that I got from the internet - they are probably better quality anyways.

Shortly after this event people went around doing their own thing. Most people left the center, but I took the opportunity to do some more exploring of the Albanian bazar. This place is like a giant flea market it is possibly my favorite part of town. It also holds much of the original architecture of Skopje unlike the Macedonian side of Skopje which was affected largely by Earthquake in the 60s.

I took a cab to the center to see the events at the bridge, but after walking around the bazar, I didn't see the harm in walking even more to get home.

Now I'm home, have updated the blog, and am thinking about walking to the nearby cafe for a drink. Hope your week starts well!

Cheers and Ciao!

Evan