Happy Birthday Peace Corps!
March 1st, 1961 was the day of Peace Corps’s inception by John F. Kennedy. Now it is 45 years later, and we are celebrating the anniversary of Peace Corps all year. As the kick off event, volunteers in Macedonia all held “birthday parties” at their sites. I made oatmeal cookies and brought soda to my school, with signs in Macedonian saying “Happy Birthday Peace Corps” and a brief description of what PC is (a lot of Macedonians don’t know, it sounds a little militaristic doesn’t it?). We had a little party in the teachers lounge, and they loved it. All the cookies got eaten up and all the soda was drank. I took some pics too.
Strumica and Women’s Day
March 7th was Carnival, held in the city of Strumica, south of Kochani. A bunch of us PCV’s congregated there and took part in the festivities by being in the parade! Also, as a part of celebrating the 45th anniversary, we had a sign, flags of both Macedonia and the US, had our face painted and/or wore masks. It was a lot of fun, despite the fact that it was snowing, at night and cold. I met some jugglers from Belgrade (Serbia Montenegro) and they let me borrow their clubs, so I also juggled in the parade. During the parade they also had fireworks. Afterwards we all had dinner and then went out dancing at various clubs until 3am. Much merrymaking was to be had.
March 1st, 1961 was the day of Peace Corps’s inception by John F. Kennedy. Now it is 45 years later, and we are celebrating the anniversary of Peace Corps all year. As the kick off event, volunteers in Macedonia all held “birthday parties” at their sites. I made oatmeal cookies and brought soda to my school, with signs in Macedonian saying “Happy Birthday Peace Corps” and a brief description of what PC is (a lot of Macedonians don’t know, it sounds a little militaristic doesn’t it?). We had a little party in the teachers lounge, and they loved it. All the cookies got eaten up and all the soda was drank. I took some pics too.
Strumica and Women’s Day
March 7th was Carnival, held in the city of Strumica, south of Kochani. A bunch of us PCV’s congregated there and took part in the festivities by being in the parade! Also, as a part of celebrating the 45th anniversary, we had a sign, flags of both Macedonia and the US, had our face painted and/or wore masks. It was a lot of fun, despite the fact that it was snowing, at night and cold. I met some jugglers from Belgrade (Serbia Montenegro) and they let me borrow their clubs, so I also juggled in the parade. During the parade they also had fireworks. Afterwards we all had dinner and then went out dancing at various clubs until 3am. Much merrymaking was to be had.
As if that wasn’t enough, March 8th is Women’s Day. I took a morning bus from Strumica to Kochani so I could get back in time for the celebration of Women’s Day. The teachers at my school went to a celebration at a nearby hotel. There was a nice dinner and lots of oro dancing, which was great. That night I returned home exhausted!
Tonight I went to a concert of “The Greatest Gypsy Singer” named ECMA who came to Kochani on her tour around the country. She was very cool! I loved her outfits, the music was mystical and a little mesmerizing. To my unskilled ears and knowledge, it sounds Turkish or Indian. She also had a band with a trumpet, bongo drums, accordion, bass guitar, and clarinet. The energy in the room was amazing. I am so glad that I went.
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