Yesterday after we had left Strumica, a thunderstorm moved in. On his previous trip, James got to stay at the monastery in Novo Selo and the monks he befriended there had told him to stop by if he was ever in the area again so we decided to ask for shelter there. We werent sure if they would let us stay overnight because women are generally not allowed in monasteries at night. But the monks were super nice and even set up a bed for us in the dining, apologizing that all the rooms were occupied. We ended up staying for two nights. Father Jakov and Father Antoni were the two monks we spent most our time with since they speak very good English and were around our age.
We went for a nice walk to a little lake with Antoni and the young, extremely playful monastery dog Griffin. The view over the valley was beautiful.
I had never visited a monastery before, let alone vacationed at one, so this two night stay was very interesting for me. The calm atmosphere was very relaxing and the monks were great company. Antoni told us that one of his dreams is to go to the USA someday and visit Disneyland. The mental image of this well humoured, bearded Orthodox monk on a Disneyland ride is so funny. I REALLY HOPE YOU CAN GO, ANTONI!
The devout, monastic lifestyle made me ponder, in some ways it impressed and inspired me while at the same time I am not in the least drawn to living such a life. Wouldn't it be ideal if we could live such a devout life while still being able to have a family, a job etc.
JAKOV AND ANTONI, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE GREAT HOSPITALITY. IT WAS SO GOOD TO MEET YOU/SEE YOU AGAIN. HOPE YOUR EXAMS WENT WELL, JAKOV. TAKE CARE YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS.
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