Snow! It just may be a White Christmas this year!

Last night I went to bed very late after a very full day exploring all around Skopje with friends, shopping, enjoying the lights, restaurants and cheeriness of the city bedecked in holiday enchantment. At the end of the day I Twittered that the only thing that could have made it even more picture-perfect was if there were snow. Unfortunately the weather forecast was only for rain.

So you can imagine my surprise (and JOY) to wake up this morning to a fresh blanketing of snow over the city, piling up on rooftops and clinging to trees! This is a site I've come to really look forward to just after the New Year... I was hooked three years ago when it snowed right on New Years Day. Then last year it was January 2nd. This years New Year dusting happened a little later, but JUST IN TIME to fulfil a childhood dream of a "White Christmas." Can you hear my girlish squeal of delight???

White Christmas??? Yes, I did say Christmas. That's because Macedonia celebrates the holiday according to the Julian calendar, so January 7th is the day. You might find it interesting that "Santa", Christmas trees and gift-giving happen for New Years. I've recently learned that this transition happened during communism where New Years, being smack in the middle of the "Catholic" Christmas and the "Orthodox" Christmas, seemed the right compromise. The happy by-product of this is that Christmas is just about Jesus' birth, which is pretty cool.

Christmas in Macedonia is celebrated a bit differently as well. I've shared some of the celebrations and traditions in previous years' blogs and so will try to take a different perspective this year. The festivities start tonight with the Kolede bonfires, which have their roots in old Slavic folk religion, but like the Christmas tree, have taken on new meaning over the years ("Christ's light coming into a dark world."). Still, though, the locals tell me they go just for the fire, dancing, food, rakija and visiting with friends and neighbors. With the new layer of snow today, it should make the fires a bit more inviting. :) Anyways, as the tradition unfolds this year I will try to share some stories and pictures along the way.

Until next time, here's a pic of the pile of fuzzy snowflakes that I awoke to this morning....