Macedonians spend this day at picnics, making barbecues and enjoying time with friends or family.
My friend Susie planned a nice weekend for my birthday but we had to change our plans when 2 friends couldn't make it in the end to Skopje. We decided on Friday to go to the Matka Canyon for a picnic. This in it's self was an adventure. It seems like every Macedonian had this idea in mind and all the buses to the canyon with extremely full.
We managed to ask a few college students for help and they were also going to Matka and said they would show us where to get another bus. When the bus came, we managed to squeeze on it but it did not take us all the way to the canyon. Along with the group of 4 college students, Susie and I squeezed into a taxi. It took some serious bribing to convince the taxi driver to take us there since the road is very narrow and would be very crowded with cars. I have no idea how we all fit in the taxi but it was nice getting to know the Macedonians for the ride to the canyon.
Once arriving, we got some ice cream, and found a nice place to sit near the water. We hiked the whole trail after lunch and decided we better get back to relax before dinner. Getting back to Skopje was even harder then getting to Matka. We waited for 30 minutes for the bus that never came. 2 small conveys came and it was a mass herding to get one of the 20 seats in the convey. They were so tiny and there was no way we were fitting in there. We felt we had no choice but to walk 3-4 miles to the next town to try and get a taxi. It doesn't sound so bad but I had my luggage for the weekend with me, it's a very hilly road and we were tired from hiking all day.
God answered my prayers and just when I wanted to give up after making it to the town without a taxi in sight, one drove by and Susie flagged it down. We made it back to the hotel and collapsed on the beds.
Later that night, we went to my favorite restaurant, Pelister, and had an absolutely delicious meal!
Crepes!
yum!
The next day, we planned on going to Kumanovo to the observatory there but we weren't sure if it was open. The receptionist at the hotel mentioned a monastery we could hike to that was built in the 11th century and we thought this sounded fun. It was a beautiful hike there and hardly any people. I saved a little puppy from getting run over by a car (It was hiding underneath the car and they were about to back up). I just wanted to take him home with me.
The church with the man that was "the bachelor"
The Church of St. Panteleimon in Gorno Nerezi, Republic of Macedonia, is a small 12th-century Byzantine church located in a monastery complex. The church and monastery are dedicated to St. Panteleimon, the patron saint of physicians.
The cute puppy I saved
Log cabin house?!
We hiked to the other church in this town where we were met by a Macedonian who was very eager to tell me he was a bachelor who really liked Americans and even wanted my phone number. Susie quickly made up an excuse that we had to go and saved me from that marriage proposal!
Later that night, we went to the Mexican restaurant for one last birthday dinner and it was pretty good. I even got tofu for the first time since I have been in Macedonia!
My host mom's birthday is May 5 so we celebrated our birthdays together on this day by going out to a nice restaurant. I was thankful to have a family that wanted to celebrate my birthday, even if I couldn't be with my own family. They ordered a big cake and sang to both of us!
The cake!
It was definitely a memorable birthday and I am so thankful for the people who helped make it so special.
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