Four days of good bye...

As the title of the post suggests, we faced four days of good byes before we all left. At this point, Daniel was already back in Arizona and we hadn’t seen Naum in a few weeks. While an emotional time for us, it was also just what we needed for closure. We started off in Tetovo with Jen’s last kids club at the American Corner. They gave her so many gifts, so many kids loved her. And boy the car was packed! We barely had any room to sit.

On the 2^nd, we had out last goodbye party. It was at our lovely little kebab place we found. Everything with food for what felt like 40 for pretty cheap. We had a blast just sitting around talking with everyone. A nice mixture of people just mingling. We then went out to a club afterwards. It was a perfect MK ending to the year.

After a day of packing and just hanging out with friends, we spent the next day relaxing at a spa. We all had massages and either a pedicure or a facial. The prices were so great I wish I had done this about once a month. We all then went to join Erin at Ajana’s. This was one of the first places I ate at in MK and one of the last ones. It was touching and difficult to understand how 9 months had already passed. We saw Lizzie off to Bulgaria where she was going to catch her plane.

My last day in Skopje was spent hanging out at home and with new friends. I made sure to go see Hyun and Vancho one last time. As well as my friend from Macedonian 2025 before I left. Jen and I had made up our mind to not go to sleep before leaving thinking it would help us re adjust to US time zones. I think it did help, but boy was it super hard to do so! I have to admit, that I think the bit of wine and coffee helped us both.

We headed off to the airport at around 2:30 in the morning. The last bit was epic! We had been told by United that whatever we got to take over the Atlantic, we could take on every leg of our trip. We already had to pay for three suitcases so we went and paid for them, then we stood in line to check them. We also had our two carry on’s, which we thought were fine. Then we went to security….and we were only allowed one bag. At this point we didn’t want to pay for another over limit bag for our 4^th checked bag. We tried explaining what had happened and got mad, threatening to complain to United…speaking really fast in English at the same time (I felt a little bad afterwards) but I think they decided to left us go just to get rid of us. We kept talking about how we were going to complain to United until we got past security…we looked at each other, laughed and said there is NO WAY we are complaining…this was the best last minute gift from MK.

The planes were nice and almost empty the whole way home.  In case you don’t remember, we had to go from Skopje à Vienna à Zurich à New York à Houston/Chicago à Home. The first transfer was super easy…Switzerland was a bit, well stereotypical….line and directions and organization and comfy waiting locations and free wifi. And we had to go through security all over again. I thought Erin was joking when she told us about them looking at her weird with her glass bottle, but no they totally did. We barely had time to get through the airport before the plane loaded. We had to go through one last security checkpoint where they asked us questions about “Have you had your electronics repaired recently?” I mean is there a terrorist out there going “I only accept and repair electronics that are flying internationally so I can set you up to take the blame and blow up the plane?” oh well, it wouldn’t totally surprise me. We had a whole row to ourselves on the transatlantic! Totally nice. It was hard to say good bye in New York, but we knew we would keep in contact over FB.

It might be sad, but the first thing I bought was Auntie Anne’s Pretzels…delicious and American. When I got into Houston, I was dead. I couldn’t sleep because I was afraid of missing my flight, I couldn’t eat because I could barely stay awake, but I needed food. (Chili’s with a veggie burger and fries). And then my plane was a bit delayed.  But eventually (or so it felt) I made it on the plane and was finally going home.

It was nice to be home, to see family and friends. But I still miss the lifestyle of Macedonia and the food. I want to go back. I will go back, who knows when, but it will happen.

See you around the globe!

Two Lakes Hike with Lizzie

We woke up a bit early to go get lunch at the market. We found tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, bread, and sausage. Then we were off! Today was a big day for me. I was voluntarily hiking up a mountain. Yup, read that again. Hiking up a mountain by choice.

We were hiking to the Two Lakes View in southern Macedonia. There are (obviously) two lakes there- Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa. Between these two lakes there is a mountain: Galichica. At the top of the highest point in Macedonia in this mountain range is Magaro at 2255 meters high. At this point you can see Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa.

Lizzie is obviously a hiker, but I was the one convincing her to go! The day started off cold, rainy, wet, and cloudy. But we decided to try anyway. Off we went. It looked pretty nice until we made it to the stopping point. But first, as we were driving on this little back road/main thoroughfare  and through villages , we were once again laughing at what was considered a major road in these countries. This road was barely able to hold two cars on it. But we got to see Lake Prespa as we drove by. No pictures sadly because there was no place to stop along! We kept following this little road up and we came to one part with hiking signs. It was about where we thought we would have to stop, so we backed up and looked at the map. While the map and the guide book called them separate things, and we were a bit turned around, we did determine that we were in the right location! We hesitated about going up, but in the end decided that we were here and in 3 weeks we wouldn’t have the chance, so why not? And off we went.

What we should have done was take the car up a bit further and then walked. It would have saved us about 30 minutes of walking. Which I would have enjoyed, but oh well. There was a Red Cross Outpost that is more than likely open in the summer but not in any of the other seasons. There was also a small weather station. The first part was easy compared to the second part, but at the time, we didn’t know that. It was steep and wooded and made me out of breath very quickly! But then.

Then.

We got to this one part that should have been easy, but it was covered in snow. Yes, snow. In May. Like SERIOUSLY? But oh well, we decided to try to scale it. Remember that I am in Tennis shoes and have no winter coat or gloves. But we made it to the center area and then starting half climibg/half walking up the face of this mountain! We were laughing the whole way! I lost my water bottle and decided that it would still be there when I went down, so I waited to go get it (Mostly I didn’t want to have to climb down to climb back up). So off we went. Grabbing on to grass and rocks and sand, even snow to be able to keep going up.

The only thing that made it worth going up was what I was going to see when I got to the top. That is was a great motivator. We made numerous stops along the way to catch our breath. I was really glad that I had asked Lizzie to borrow some jeans because I had been planning on wearing capris and not very warm ones at that! We made it most of the way up when we turned and saw Lake Prespa.

Worth it. At that moment, everything that we had done was worth it. IT was totally worth it. The view was breathtaking and almost unbelievable. Hard to describe. The glistening lake and the mountains surrounding it, washed with snow and sprinkled with green. Breathtaking. We stopped and just looked for a bit.

Then it was onward! It got really steep and the trail markers disappeared. Like we couldn’t see any of them! It was a bit scary, but we figured we were only supposed to go up, right? And up and UP an d up we went. We stopped for an apple once, just to get our bearings. We had thought it would be clearing before we stopped, but then the clouds rolled in, So we sat a bit longer than we would have otherwise to just see if we could wait them out. We couldn’t so we started up to see if maybe we could go up while they were there, but then they would blow over!

This is where it got really interesting. I was grasping snow and bent over and holding on to anything. But then. Then we got to the  top! (Well almost, I think there was something that was a bit higher, but oh well. ) And we saw the views. Oh the views! AMAZING!!!!

After looking around and SEEING BOTH LAKES, we headed back down. Lizzie was walking it, but I couldn’t get any traction, and then I slid. Then I decided that I would shoe-ski down the mountain! Like, use my tennis shoes as skis, and just slide down! If you put your pressure on the back of your heels and balance with your arms- you slid down a mountain!! SUPER SUPER DOOPER FUN!!! Like enough fun to make me want to go on a ski trip!

Then we came to an area where we had found a yellow raincoat that we had decided would work for sledding down the mountain. And then we sled! Oh so much fun! Like it was amazing! I’m not sure if it was fun because we were so tired or fun because it was legit fun.

Afterwards we headed to Sv. Naum, which is a famous monastery in Macedonia where Sv. Naum is buried. If you listen closely you can hear his heart beating, supposedly. I didn’t, but maybe they would say that it is because I am not a believer (in Eastern Orthodoxy). But the area around it was beautiful, as was the architecture. We took a mini boat ride out to view it from the lake. Oh, did I not mention that it was located on Lake Ohrid?

Very peaceful. We took a walk back to a spring that leads into the Lake. We even sat on a rock and dipped our feet into the water. Or in my case my ankle, which was killing me! Then we wandered towards another church located on the same ground. It was nice, and the lake springs were so refreshing! The spring ran through the church! I guess the whole lake was blessed!

Then we were done we headed to Ohrid, where we were to meet Jen and her parents for dinner. But we had a real MK dinner at about 9pm. It was yummy! Then they offered to let us stay at the apartment they were renting, which was nice, because Lizzie and I weren;t sure if there would be any water when we got back and we wanted to shower! It also ended up being the most expensive meal I had ever eaten in MK!

Road Trip Day 4: The Long Drive Home!

The final day of our road trip got off to a really slow start. Justin didn’t want to leave until 11am for our 13 hour journey home. But hey, he was the driver. Sadly this was just early enough to not get to go see another museum :( But it started off again with burek! And French fries. Don’t ask, but they were yummy! We drove north towards Croatia, hoping to avoid the bad roads that we encountered on our way here, and shorten the time (only worked by 2 hours, but we saw something different).  On our way out of the city, we pasted the site of the 1984 winter Olympics!
It was cool to drive by.

On the way out of the country we also saw something not cool- signs warning us to stay out of the mountains because of mines. We even saw a team de-mining an area. Just another reminder of the war. But beautiful countryside none the less. We were able to stop for lunch before we left Bosnia, but this was an adventure in itself. We tried about 4-5 different places advertising food before we actually found food. Yummy food, but just the same thing we’d been eating all four days- salad and fried stuff nothing too fancy.

warning us to stay out of the woods

 

Then we were in Croatia, to jump on the interstate (I use this instead of highway because it was a legit interstate! or in this case intercountry?). Then we were in Serbia. No it was really that quick. Serbia looked a lot different than what we had been seeing when we drove the rest of the time- it was pretty flat! We drove through Belgrade and Nis on our way to Skopje, but didn’t really stop anywhere. We did buy gas, and I found a CD of a singer I had been looking for that is Croatian! There were no real funny stories to make this part of the trip more interesting, sorry guys. Just a normal day on the road! We got back to Skopje at about 12 am  and Jen, Justin and Lizzie decided to keep driving to Tetovo and spend the night there. I tried to find food, but failing, just went home and ate some cereal.

See you around the globe!

Road Trip Day One!

We all got up bright and early on Friday the 13^th for our long road trip through 5 countries. I have to admit. I was SUPER SUPER nervous for this trip. Jen and I had it planned for about a month, and invited Lizzie/Justin/Aryn and others who couldn’t make it along with us. And then they changed the plans. I get car sick ever since I was 15 if I don’t start out driving. So we were going to rent an automatic, but a few people refused to do so and said if I wanted an automatic and the ability to drive I needed to pay the difference by myself. All 130 euros of difference. Needless to say I was not happy to be starting this trip. I felt like people were telling me that my health/comfort didn’t matter and they didn’t care if I was sick for two of the 5 days of our trip. And there were other things involved, but to keep things nameless, I will leave those concerns out.  I almost backed out a few different times. Every time I thought about it, I got nervous and a little sick to my stomach. However, with medication and Justin’s driving skills I only got nauseous 3 times.

We started almost exactly at our target time of 6AM in our tiny Kia Rio towards our first border crossing of the day. We pull up at the Macedonian side and the guy waves us through. We slow down and look at the next group of guys and they don’t move or even look at us. We basically stopped and they did nothing, so we start going forward and Then They Care. So Justin backs us up and we pass through customs on the MK border. Then we drive through no man’s land to the Kosovo border. Where he accidently misses one window (because there were two) and has to back up again! They let us through after laughing a bit and asking us what we were doing in Kosovo.

The mountains were beautiful. Breathtaking. Even though it was cloudy.

We stopped once for a bathroom break and then got lost in Prizern. Apparently signs aren’t as necessary in Kosovo as they are in the US. And a straight arrow actually means turn left. So after about 30 minutes of driving, I check on our GPS (aka my US HTC Evo that allows GPS to still work w/o a data connection), and see that we seriously missed the highway.

bridge we wouldn't have gotten to see if we didn't get lost!

I was worried about that, but we trusted the sign (not the last time of this problem on this trip, spoilers!) and got a bit lost. Eventually we found the correct way and made it to the border. The Kosovo border police literally just waved us through. I have no idea if Kosovo computers still show me in Kosovo or not. But we actually stopped at this crossing and they (from inside the office) waved us through, and there was only one office so we didn’t miss it. The Albanian side actually had a bit of a bottle neck- many cars waiting to get through. So about 20 minutes later we make it through and our on our way!

Shkoder Lake

We get to pass through a 5.3 KM tunnel, and as we are coming out, we get flagged by the police. In this part of the world, the police stand on the side of the road and flag people over rather than follow them with lights and sirens on. So we pull over. (I’m going to tell you as it happens rather than how I found out, which was after we left the cop.) He walks over to us and tries talking to us in Albanian but only Aryn speaks it and she is in the back seat behind the passenger side. So she starts speaking to him in Albanian (he speaks a slightly different dialect and the car is beeping so she can’t hear him all that well). But he tells us that it is illegal to pass a truck coming out of a tunnel (which we were inadvertently doing) and asks for Justin’s passport (I had to look through about 5 of them to find his! All of ours were just in the glove box for easy border crossings.). Then he looks in the car and through the passport a bit and asks Aryn what Justin’s name. And she blanks and has to ask Jen what it is! Then she calls him over to her side of the car so she can hear better. The conversation goes something like:

Cop: Are you the only one that speaks AL in the car?

Aryn: Yes

Cop: Can anyone else understand?

Aryn: No

Cop: Are you being trafficked?

Aryn: What? No!!!

Cop: So you are really American? All of you?

Aryn: yes

Cop: Then what are you doing on this road? American’s don’t take this road!

We were all glad that he was concerned, but it was HIRLARIOUS in hindsight! He let us go, and we then had a good laugh when Aryn said “He thought we were being trafficked!” We continued on the road until we got to Shkoder we ate lunch. We ordered salad, and the waiter had to go get the veggies from the market! I had pilaf with yogurt and salad. After walking a bit, we got back in the car and were off. This is where the day got interesting. Up until this point the word “highway” meant the same thing in every language. Not so from this point on. Highway in Albanian can apparently mean ½ finished highway with gravel connecting the parts that aren’t finished. And to stop you from going over the bridges that aren’t finished there is rocks placed across them. It made for some interesting roads and stories! Like this video! (The video is not as scary as it was!)

We then made it through both the Albanian and Montenegro borders with no incident. (or any funny stories.) But the “highway” in Montenegro was a one car lane road up a steep hill. We stopped because Justin’s nerves were on edge by some goats, and this car come careening around the corner at breakneck speed!

it was raining and I didn't have my umbrealla out, but I had just straightened my hair and didn't want it to get ruined by the rain!

We had thought that this was a one way street and were a bit freaked out. So he drove extra careful until we got to a real road. (which was a bit far away, by the way…we had a fun time following the “highway signs”) We drove through a few towns and some mountains with no eventful happenings. Then we stopped for coffee. (That sounded more eventful than it was. We just stopped for coffee at a lake. Had coffee. Got some pictures of the lake. Left.) Then we drove through some breathtaking scenery. Like wow. Gorges and lakes and rivers. That you can apparently raft. There were a lot of guard rails, and some of them (like literally every single one) had been hit in some way. We figured that most of them were from snow plows since they were the first part of the rail.

these were taken byholding the camera out of the car window and snapping as fast as it would let me!

When we made it to the itty bitty border crossing in Montenegro and handed over our passports. Then the guy proceeded to talk on his phone, talk to whomever stopped by, joke with the other workers, and generally just try to show off his border crossing power. About 20 minutes later (we were the only car on this side, so no blaming it like the Albanians with actual people there) we cross through no man’s land over a rickety one car bridge and in Bosnia (and the Repulika Srpbska)!

said bridge and view. Juston drove slow so I could quickly snap this picture before we got to the other side

It was odd that the EU was supporting a border creation/joint post. But the Montenegrins were in a fancy building, and the Bosnians were in a shack. But off we went on our last border crossing. If you are counting that was 8 (if you count them as leaving MK (1) entering Kosovo (2) etc…)! This road was a bit scary. We knew what the mountains looked like off the side, but this time there were no guardrails and it got dark, and there were no lights, and there was mist. But we didn’t really see any cars, so we were lucky.

Then there were signs. Gloriously big signs with big arrows! And we were on our way to the capital! When we got within the city limits, suddenly the radio started working. Literally, we crossed the sign and suddenly there was radio. And we got pulled over by the cops again. This time one he realized we didn’t really speak a lot of Bosnian, and we had US passports he waved us on. We also told him we were tourists. It was a tad difficult to find the hostel. We drove around in a circle and then parked while I went to find the hostel. I guessed a few streets based on how we had drove around and where we thought the hostel was. And you know what? I literally came out at exactly the right place, like next to the hostel! No joke! Ran inside and checked us in, then the guy was showing me where the parking was, and I asked him how to get back here and he said he would show us. So I walked him back to the car and dropped him off with the crew then walked back to hostel. It was nice to be out of the car and walking around.

Aryn, Justin and I were actually hungry (did you notice the complete lack of food throughout the day?) so we went to find dinner. Note that it was 12 AM at the time. There was a place open and we got pizza! We ordered a veggie pizza and it came with tomato, corn and peas. And wine. Then back to the hostel to discover that there was no hot water. Well not for me and not any day was there hot water, ever. Not even lukewarm water. But other than that it was ok. But I do not recommend this hostel. It's called Hostel Tito by the way.

Saying of the day that will only be funny if you were there: “It’s not about you Cassidy, it’s about David.” These will get no explanations. None at all!

See you around the globe!

Ohrid Conference Day 1: Opening Ceremonies and Travel

This past week has been very very busy! I had two conferences back to back in Ohrid and then in Thessaloniki. They were very interesting conferences filled with many wonderful people and new connections. Each day deserves a separate post so I can highlight the special comments and presentations. These are mostly going to be wordy posts- not a whole lot of pictures taken.

The week started off with a fun filled trip to the post office, but as that particular saga is still on going, I will save that story for later.

We started off in Skopje on a bus down to Ohrid with the other participants of the Macedonian Political Science Forum (which is part of the Sv. Ciril I Methodi university in Skopje) for their 2^nd Annual Academic conference: Europe with (out) borders. It is roughly a three hour bus ride down to Ohrid, where we were spending the next 3 days. We stayed at the University’s conference center (literally called Congress Center) which is on the shores of the lake. Sadly, I didn’t have a lakeside view or roommates. I did, however, eat мекици и сирење (mekitsi and cheese). It was sooo yummy! Basically fried dough with cow’s cheese. But yum! When we arrived, I walked down to the beach and took some pictures/relaxed before the official opening.

The conference kicked off with an opening ceremony where they introduced some of the themes of the conference and welcomed us all to Ohrid. There were participants from Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia! It was a great chance to mingle. Although horrible for someone who is not at all good with names (me!).

Afterwards we had dinner (for the program’s 15^th year anniversary). The food was interesting for both conferences. I don’t think I ate more oil and fried/drowned in oil foods in one week than I had in this week. Since food is rather important, and they gave us so much of it, I thought I would share exactly what it is we were eating: cheese burek, tomato/cheese/garlic appetizer, minestrone stew with potatoes (or fish), fried cheese, and Ohrid cake. It was layers of caramel, nut vanilla cake and some sort of thick desserty style thing.

Then we had some time to just relax and hang out! It was nice to talk with people and just relax a bit.

Disabilities in Macedonia

The meeting with Polio Plus (only in MK, the EN page is not working) was a bit different than my other meetings. I recently met a Political Officer at the Embassy who has been giving me some more contacts with NGOs. She had a meeting scheduled with Polio Plus, who I had been trying to meet with for about 2 months, and invited me along. This made for some different observations and discussions that I usually had. They were more direct in asking the US government for help, specifically stating that “we” should help them lobby. At the same time, they were much more critical of the current government and their actions regarding people with disabilities than many NGOs I had visited. I was able to learn most of what I would by myself. I might try to email them a few more questions soon. As I was typing this up, I realized that I actually learned more about how disabilities are treated in MK than I did about Polio Plus, so this is more about that than the organization (thus the reason I am putting it on my travel blog and waiting to publish it on my research blog!).  

They had one of the larger offices that I had seen in Skopje. The had one large office room/entry way where there were three desks and a seating area set up, then there were two smaller rooms off to the side, with a conference room in the back. We met in the conference room.

They tend to focus on policy implementation and legislative changes, rather than services to the people. They do help those who are disabled fight for their legal rights. They do provide some services, such as mediation in the labor market, providing legal advice (such as how to make complaints), and helping them write business plans.

They are mainly funded from international organizations or embassies. The funds are small for NGOs in MK especially if you are focused solely on one issue. Even further, disability is lower on the funding tier in all locations, according to Polio Plus. Disabilities have received some funds from the state, roughly 2 million Euros, but it only goes to the older Union of Disabilities that was set up by the state. In the Union of Disabilities, there are 7 separate organizations that provide services to the disabled. The regulations, however, are from the Yugoslav era. The funding also only goes to the traditional organizations that use the medical approach.

Like in the US and elsewhere, disabilities still face harsh discrimination. Although in MK people with disabilities are almost all treated as if they are “crazy” or “have something wrong” or “aren’t normal and need to be excluded from daily life.” There is a law on discrimination that, according to Polio Plus, is actually discriminatory. In order to be hired as a manager or someone above the bottom level of employment, you have to be tested if you have a disability. The person with a disability, be it mental or physical, has to prove that they are mentally capable by going to a medical commission that examines their ability to work. All people with a disability are grouped together, in the guise of protecting those with mental disabilities.

There is no “gate-keeping” for disability status in MK. Almost any one can be declared disabled. The government then provides a subsidy for the disability (roughly 7,000 MKD/month minimum[$150]). However, with all of the “extras” that people might qualify for, they could end up getting 15-16,000 MKD/month [$318-340]. This is a decent salary in MK, and thus provides no incentive for them to go out and search for work on their own, especially if they are employed at all (even part time), they only get the lower 7,000 plus their salary.

Polio Plus submitted the first (and only so far) Citizen’s Initiative law to the MK parliament. It was essentially a law to retrofit all building to make them handicapped accessible. In order to do this, you have to get 10,000 signatures. To get these, you can’t just sign them with a notary, oh no, you have to go into your local governmental office with an official register and sign there after proving that you are who you say you are. They submitted this law a while ago, but there has been no movement on it in the Parliament. The word is that this law would be too expensive to implement, so they aren’t voting on it.

In the years that Polio Plus has been around (12), there has been a change in the attitudes of people towards those with disabilities, but it is slim to none. The example they gave, is that if in 1991 those with disabilities were considered at step 1 to the rest of society being at step 5, now they are at 5 while the rest of society is at 10.They were trying to show that while changes have been made, those with disabilities are still the last considered group of people. Many people here do not have a creative mentality, and they believe that change is taking too long to occur. While many work to solve the issues that people with disabilities face, no real progress is being made. There has been a shift from institutionalization to community based care, but not enough of one.

They claimed that almost no one is motivated to learn to work with those with disabilities because it takes too much work. There is some training available, but mostly it is in the medical approach. (which is a way of thinking about “what they can NOT do” rather than what the CAN do. According to BFI’s educational resources, the medical approach sees the disabled people as the problem. That the people who are disabled need to be adapted to fit in the world as it is, and if this isn’t possible, they need to be hidden. I had to look this up as I was not quite sure what she meant by the medical approach).

They have tried to work closely with different Members of Parliament, and different governmental bodies, but the others often do not want to work with those with disabilities (they don’t make as good of a picture story). Polio Plus isn’t sure how to change the system. They have to be extra cautious on how they try to change things.

There is also a group of companies called “Shelter Companies” (this lead to a bit of miscommunication in the beginning of the description), because they “shelter” those who are disabled. In these companies they must meet a few regulations: have a minimum of 10 people working, with 4 of them with disabilities. They must also keep the people with disabilities employed for 3 years, and in the second company where the person is hired, they have to be employed for 5 years. They get the following benefits as a way of getting companies to hire more people with disabilities:

• they don’t have to pay taxes for any of the people working for them
• The state can pay between 20-100% of the salaries in the form of a grant (less common)
• The companies do not pay the profit taxes.
• The customs fees are free
• they get reimbursed for 10,000 MKD for equipment.
• The social packages are covered by the government for all workers

The companies can request this after 9 months of employing the people with disabilities. Mainly the companies in graphics and printing take advantage of this program. However, there is a large scale abuse in this program. There is a commission that has to determine if you meet the standards for receiving this aid, and it is staffed by those who are connected. They often run the companies that are already receiving this aid and therefore have no desire to allow more companies into this special tax zone.

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

When a new year starts, it seems to be a time of reflection for everyone, and I am no different.

Last year, I had no idea that I would be writing this post in Skopje, Macedonia while getting ready to fly to Slovenia later today. (P.S- I wrote this post on Jan 3, 2012, by the way. I know you won’t be reading it until Jan 5th, but....) I mean I had hoped that I would get the Fulbright, but at this point last year, I didn’t know that I would. I already knew I had gotten into Teach For America and would possibly be teaching somewhere in the Rio Grande Valley. I was super excited.

The last year involved many “life events” that Facebook would want me to include on my new timeline. Things such as getting engaged, graduating college with my BA, or learning a new language. Then there are the little things, like laughing with Ashley over someone’s shirt at chili cookoff, or talking with Andy about a movie on TV and how it would make the perfect subject for a paper, or walking into the DH while I was at college and finding out that the thing I had been craving was on the menu that day! There were times when I was sad, when i didn’t want to be where I was or doing what I was doing, but there were also times when I was so excited but nervous because I didn’t know what the future held (specifically thinking of that bus ride into Macedonia).

When I applied to both TFA and Fulbright, I figured I wouldn’t get either. I had been told by a professor or two that since I had never had a prestigious grant before that I would never receive one. Also they mentioned that since I only had a 3.7 GPA, and was only involved in about 2 clubs, that I didn’t really stand a chance. (if you know me at all you know how much I wanted to go shout in said professors faces, “hey, guess what? I didn’t apply to that grant you told me not to, but guess what? I GOT THE FULBRIGHT!!!! BOO YAH!..and if you know me still, you know I never actually did).

I don’t know why I got either of these wonderful opportunities, but I am thankful that I did. I have learned so much about the world and myself since having these opportunities. There are some things that I can point out, and there are probably more that I could never name. I know that I will be a stronger teacher next year in Jacksonville when I begin to teach high school there because of my travels abroad. This time is different than before when I did a semester in Russia. I guess because I know that it was a longer time, and the fact that I am older, at a different stage in my life.

I look forward to many different dates in this coming year, but a few stand out:

June 6th (155 days) when I return to the US.
July 25 (204 days) when I marry the love of my life.
August 6 (215 days) when I start training/teaching in Jacksonville.

I’m sure there will be many more first’s for me in this coming year, ones that I currently know nothing about, but that could change my life.

I hope that this new year brings you joy. I hope that you are able to have learning experiences, and try new things, go new places, meet new people. Maybe one of them will change your life, maybe you will change theirs.

No matter what this new years holds (or if you believe the fake version of the Mayan calendar debate that it will end) for you, I hope you are able to be yourself and have fun!

Horseback riding!

There is a website over here like is like Groupon or LivingSocial, and they had a deal for a horseback riding! I called everyone up and asked if they wanted to go, and since they did I tried to buy it.

But the website wouldn't take my credit card, since it was a US card. But there is an option to pay in the banks using a little blue form. So I went to a bank and filled out the form accordinly, all but the spot for the MK social security number. When I get up to the cashier lady, she says I can pay in a bank if I go to the bank that the company uses since I don't have the Social Secuirty number.

So I go to that bank and wait in line, and then they say I can't pay because I am a foreigner! A new law passed on Sept 1 for banks. If you don't have a bank account, then you can't pay at a bank. If you aren't a citizen, you can't open an account. Since we have special staus here, we can't open accounts. We don't have foreigner staus, and thus can't open accounts.

So I emailed the company with the horseback riding, and they agreed to honor the agreement that they had. So we were all set for Sept 10!

You have heard of Jen, Lizzie and Justin, but I am not sure I ever told you about Mary or Stephaine! Mary is a Fulbrighter in Kosovo teaching English. Stephanie was an intern at the US Embassy this fall semester, and I met her at an Embassy event. (I was smiling at someone and they smiled back and I thought to myself- she must be American! She was!).

We met up on the 10th and caught a bus out to Gorche Petrov (a part of the larger city of Skopje, kinda like New Orleans has parishes, Skopje has districts). Where we were to meet the guy in front of the European Eye Hospital- I know interesting!  I of course took some pictures while we were waiting:

 

Then we walked a little bit over to where they had the horses ready. The guy was super nice, and joked with us a lot! Before we could go up the mountain, we had to "practice" with one of the horses. Walk in a circle, stop and go. Oh and get on and off! It was harder than I remembered! I volunteered to go first and had fun trying it out. Then everyone took a short ride. He then assigned us all a horse and we took off to towards the begining of the trail. I was on Micky!

When we got to the bridge that you saw earlier, we all dismounted and they walked the horses over the bridge for us. We then remounted and took off. We didn't dismount until about 2 hours later! We rode up Vodno towards Saint Panteleimon - Dolno Nerezi, a well known Monastery. We passed some older buildings that looked a little bombed out, but were just old and falling apart. We also passed a cemetary on the way up. When we got to the top, we had coffee at the restaurant and then headed back down. on the way back down, we even gallopped! But here are the pictures! And a video to boot!

Part 2! There is only a link for the second one beacause blogger and youtube are being stupid!

 

Why yes, we HAVE been to Ohrid!

We are finally able to saw that WE HAVE BEEN TO OHRID!!!!

Everyone asks us “Oh where have you been besides Skopje?” And I list off a few towns, but they ALWAYS follow this up with “What about Ohrid? You HAVE to get to Ohrid!” It’s gotten to the point where I always go in my head “ ohasgpoihasgfj8! I know!” but publicly say “I know! I can’t wait!” But now I can say, I have been. It was only for a day, but I saw basically the whole town (minus museums). We also only saw the outside of the churches, and didn’t go into any actually church. We also walked the whole town, but that would be pretty easy, the streets were pretty small.

Jen and I were able to go down with Vesna, Jen’s friend and co-worker at the university. She offered to drive us there because she needed a break. The trip takes about 2 hours from Tetovo through the mountains. The mountains on this side of Macedonia are not as rocky as the other side. They were filled with more trees and less “Caution rocks falling signs!” It was a bit cloudy and rainy the whole way down (and actually the whole day) but I still should have gotten more pictures! I actually didn’t get any on the way down (STUPID!).

When we got to Ohrid, we met up with Vesna’s friend (Emilija) at a café for a coffee. We all sat and talked for a bit, but then Jen and I wanted to give them some alone time, so we went to take pictures at this little old dock. This commenced….

 followed by this:

When we went back, they were done with their coffee and started wandered towards the mountain. We passed through most of the town taking lots of pictures!

I translated this, and went, wait, WHAT...did I translate that correctly? Yup, yup I did: Men know why

Traditional Ohrid architecture



We made it up to this Old Amphitheater, which according to WikiTravel (because they are the only real source about history of the tourist stuff (even the guides don’t tell you about all of the sights)), was from Ancient Greek times. The only Ancient Greek theater in Macedonia, all others are from Roman times.

We then walked towards the Fortifications with a Upper Gate. The whole old town is encircled by a stone wall.

Then we headed to the main church, St. Bogorodica Perivlepta (I think).

We also passed along the First Archbishopric/school of Macedonian.

Also, some GREAT views. The beauty of this city is almost indescribable.  We walked up to Samuel’s Fortress and then down to St. Jovan church along the edge of the lake.

We also encountered this:

It is meant to say “sign” as in your astrological sign:

Then Emilija had to leave us, but Vesna, Jen and I then wandered back to this little pizza joint where we all enjoyed  a different kind of pizza before heading back to the car and driving home.

Ohrid was AMAZING and I can’t wait to go back to see some of the museums and inside some of the churches!