Here I met more international people. At the beginning, I had to check on the internet information about this small country, I only knew that the capital of Macedonia is Skopje, but since I didn’t pronounce it correctly, suddenly I got really interested in reading and searching for more information about the Balkans. Few weeks later, I met one guy from Serbia, he was talking about his country and he told me that his culture was very similar to Spanish culture and the way the Spanish live. The time was passing by very quickly and I had a new goal in my life: going to the Balkans. Suddenly, this day arrived and I went to Macedonia for the youth exchange Youth for Culture:  Back to Vevcani 2012 .

I was so happy because I was going to go to deep Macedonia; I like using the adjective “deep” to talk about these small villages where you could see the best of every country (elderly people, kids, tiny shops and traditional food). Although I have only been in Macedonia, I felt as if I had been travelling around the Balkans because almost all the people I have met were from there ( Bosnia, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Croatia) they thought me how to dance their folk music and how to feel it, even though I don’t understand the lyrics at all…

The reason why we were there was the carnival in Vevcani. We went to our wedding between zombies and ex-Yugoslavian pioneers. It was wonderful to discover that although we have different cultures and language (I will need 20 years to learn Balkan Esperanto) we are similar. Above all, it was the best story and cultural lesson ever. And I have new dream-like place to go

If you go to Macedonia, it will be difficult to come back as your luggage will be heavier and full of great memories and lots of new friends. Written by Patricia Fernandez. *********************** The youth exchange Youth for Culture – Back to Vevcani 2012 took place in January 2012 and provide the participants coming from Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Spain, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Republic of Macedonia an opportunity to take part in Vevcani carnival – one of the oldest Macedonian tradition as chance to learn and discover more about other participants countries.

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