it was one of the most enjoyable weekends to date in this country, full of new and interesting celebrations, cheap beer, a cacophony of kukeri bells, peaceful and rowdy companions and... pine tree-clad mountains. i set off to visit a volunteer from my group in her bird's nest of an apartment. nestled in the highest town of the southern end of the country, this little mountain abode awoke my homesickness for mountains and for colorado.
the view from her apartmentwell, let's be honest. being in this apartment, staring out from her balcony at this view made me ache to be anywhere else than where i currently am. it made me want to beg for an immediate transfer to any vacant apartment in her town. fortunately, the cultural offerings of the weekend saved the day and i got over my longing quickly enough.
a 45 minute bus ride with standing room only brought me and my packer's bag full of superfluous stuff to a tiny mountain village, home to the best musical high school in the country. i managed, too, to stumble across a ticket to the lively production of music performed by students of said school that evening.
the village played host to a famous festival that occurs every year on the first sunday in march-- the kukeri festival. the gist of kukeri is that surrounding villages come with masks and costumes and preposterous enactments of life (mostly parodies of gypsy life) in tow to entertain large audiences. kukeri, as i learned it, were once thought to ward off evil spirits at the beginning of spring, though i'm sure my wikipedia link above affords a more concise detailing of just who these kukeri folk are.
in sum: the weekend was absolutely enjoyable, as all escapes from my rather sleepy town tend to be. i currently am nursing my emotional hangover and working on getting myself caught up on sleep. again.
so far, this experience feels a lot more like the college experience i did not have than anything else. but, oh, what fun all this debauchery is.
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