This weekend, I spent in the mountains in the western part of Macedonia near the A
lbanian border. I went with my coworker and her family, pictured right. They have friends who own a hotel/restaurant in a town on the other side of the mountain from the town that hosts the traditional Macedonian wedding. It is interesting because there are a lot of Macedonians in this region who also speak Italian so our hosts were bilingual. My friend's husband, Daniele, (the baby's father) is Italian so he got to speak in his native tongue. Daniele's parents are here from Italy and came with us so they had no problems with communication. I speak Spanish so Daniele's parents and our hosts and I could half understand each other.At any rate, Saturday, I got to experience a Macedonian sheep shearing contest, Turkish wrestling (I still don't understand) and meet various Macedonian livestock and dogs. After going to visit this fair, we went on a tour of the town we stayed in. I know it is not that old for Europe, but there were homes that were over 300 years old in this village. There were roofs made of slate type rock and most of the buildings were built from stone. There are Macedonian Muslims and non-Muslims who lived in the village. You will see the Mosque in the pictures below. We had a fantastic dinner and I met a Macedonian woman, my age who is living in Denver! She and I are at similar stages in our life and she knows all my old haunts. It is almost like we switched places.
On Sunday, we went to the wedding where we met the King of a Pakistani region who says he is a decent of Alexander the Great's Army. He was visiting his homeland. He had bodyguards and everything. I took a picture of the royal family and some of my new friends. The wedding was very interesting, with lots of dances, traditional Macedonian music and loads of spectators. I felt bad for the performers because all of their outfits were made out of wool and it was H-O-T. We hiked around the town for a bit, then went back to the hotel, ate a delicious lunch and chatted. I cannot tell you how beautiful it was and how great it was to get out of the city for a while. Here are some pictures.
Macedonian sheep dog puppy
Adult Macedonian sheep dog
Um, speaks for itself
Turkish fighting/
wrestlingThe village where we stayed
Hello Mr. Rooster! He woke us up at 4:30 on Sunday morning.
The Mosque in the village
On the other side of the Mountainwas where the traditional
Macedonian Wedding
takes place
Wedding participants
The wedding from afar
Pakistani Royal decendants of Alexander the Great's army and my friends
Cheese! The rounds are a yellow cheese and in the cans is feta
Posts
2 comments:
Emily,
I'm loving the pictures. It looks so beautiful and lush. Question...what are the wrestlers wearing, because they look like rubber pants.
Denise
The pants aren't rubber, they are covered in oil. I am not sure what the material is. Basically, the guys douse themselves in oil then try to flip each other upside down. They grab their opponent's pants, on the inside and outside, to try to flip them on their shoulder to get it to touch the ground.
Post a Comment