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!

Venice- Day 4 (without Mama)!

We woke up bright and early to take Mama to the bus stop to go to the airport. She had to catch a 6:30ish bus. We got there in plenty of time, I then proceeded to go back and sleep for a few more hours! I then proceeded to finish packing and then headed out.

I wanted to try to find this guy’s house that was included on our museum pass (eh, why not?). It wasn’t worth the trouble to find it. I started off by walking towards it, seemed easy enough. But this is Venice mind you. About 45 minutes later, and asking about 3 different people where it was, I found it. And it was totally not worth it to pay to see it unless you have that snazzy museum pass. It was about three rooms about this guy’s life. Apparently his father built him a theater inside the house and then he became a famous playwright.

Afterwards, I took a boat to the center and bought some pretty art. Then wandering towards another museum that looked promising.  But it was closed.

Then I began the long process of finding a post office or even a drop box for the post cards I had. And when I mean long, I mean bout 45 minutes long. FINALLY I found a drop box, dropped the letters off and walked back to the hostel. I grabbed my stuff and headed to the boat stop. When I got there, I was able to hop on the first boat that went to the bus station.

Then I waited. And waited. It was about a 45 minute wait once I was there, but I thought it was going to be shorter. There were a few other people waiting for the same bus. It took about 45 minutes to get from the bus station to the airport.

Wizz Air has a strict one bag, 10 kilograms limit. I knew with my snazzy three new dresses from H&M. So I had my wallet, the travel book, and a few other things in my jacket (they don’t weigh you) and my camera around my neck. My bag was 9.3 kg. OH YEA!!!! But I had apparently forgotten about that little 3 oz rule (which is 100 ml in case you needed to know) and put some balsamic cream in my carry on. Now MK doesn’t really care about these rules, but the EU does. So she took my yummy cream. I had to buy it for 8 euros in the gift shop/duty free.

Then I was there about 4 to 5 hours because the plane was delayed. There was a big storm in Sofia, and the plane couldn’t take off. They didn’t even know when it would take off. But since we were in the EU, we got free food and drink. I met some awesome PCVs there and some MK’s who were also returning to Skopje. We had some good conversation. Then there was the added benefit to have a cheaper taxi ride into the city with their taxi driver. :)

Then sleep. Lots of sleep.

See you around the globe!

Venice- Day 3 (with Mama!)

After a delicious breakfast, we headed back out to Ca’Rezzonico. It was easier today because we took a vaparetto directly to the boat stop where the Museum was. It contains furniture, decoration, and artwork from the 1700s. It was apparently “the best place in town to experience the luxurious, decadent spirit of Venice in the 1700s.” It also looked like a really cool place to host a wedding, by the way. They had some really cool paintings in there, but it was kind of cool to see the rest of how the house was set up. On the top floor they had a special exhibit of random paintings by locals, but they were some really cool paintings. Also, they had it set up so you could look outside and see the skyline of Venice. Kinda cool, if I say so myself.

We then caught 2 vaporetti (?), to go visit one of the islands in the lagoon. We stopped off in the Cemetery island, technically called San Michele. We weren’t supposed to take pictures, they claimed that it wasn’t respectful enough. I disagreed and took some pictures anyway. It was created when Napoleon decreed that no bodies could be buried on the main islands of Venice. he claimed it wasn’t “healthy;” imagine that- dead bodies on the sinking islands where everyone lives?

We then headed off to Murano, our main goal for the day. Murano is famous of it’s glass factories. In 1292, a law restricted the factories to the island of Murano- they were afraid of setting fire to the islands where people lived. (We got off where Rick Steves’s suggested but I disagree with his suggestions. I think you should take it all the way to the museum stop, visit the museum first and then walk back through town. ) We walked along a canal to head towards the museum of glass (also included in our museum pass). We bought some cool non-breakable-ish glass stuff on the way (including my bridesmaids presents!).

The museum was cool- it actually reminded me a lot of the other glass museum I had visited- except this glass was so much more intricate! I got some cool pictures of stuff you weren’t supposed to take pictures of again. But these works of art were amazing!

Then we waited for the next vaporetto and headed back to Venice. We shopped a little on our way back, and then ate some dinner. We also decided to take a night time tour of the canal, so we caught a boat to catch a boat. We got to see part of the city that tourist probably never go to. It looked pretty residential. Apparently there is a really fancy hotel there. Then back to pack and eat some more before going to sleep!

Day 2 in Venice! (With Mama!)

The next day we attempted to go to Ca Rezzonico, But apparently picked the only day that it wasn’t open on to go. Which was in the guide book but somehow we both missed it. Oh well, now we knew where it was the next day! So we decided to go to the Academia museum.  That museum is the “greatest museum anywhere for Venetian Renaissance art and a good overview of painters whose works you’ll see all over town.”

One benefit: you can take pictures in here. No flash, but better than the other museums that are not picture friendly. It had some amazing paintings. There were lots of funny descriptions that Rick Steves provided. Such as “swarming beehive of saints,” or the party version of the Last Supper, with Protestants and “a black man”, to the “even the spear couldn’t deter his worship.” We spent like two hours in this museum. And I started wondering how many “Madonna con Bambino”s exist in (1) one museum or (2) all of Venice. My guess is more than 2-300 hundred.

After the Academia museum, we bought a vaparetto (public boat) pass for the next few days. TOTALLY WORTH IT. If you will be there for longer than 3 days, you will use it. A lot. And it will help with the lots of walking you want to avoid. Then we went towards the Costume Museum (it is technically called Plazzo Mocenigo, but it was described as the costume museum in all the books). Rick Steve says to avoid this museum, but if you have the museum pass- it is so worth it! It was super interesting to see the different clothes that people wore back then, as well as how the house would have been set up. It was a cute little museum.

Then we went to Ca’ Pesaro, the “modern” art museum. It needs a new definition of modern however, because there were only about 5% of the museum as modern. It also hosts the Oriental Museum. Apparently a rich dead Venetian guy went to the “orient” and donated all of his stuff to the City of Venice to start a museum about it. There is a lot of swords and pottery and other kink-knacks. The guy was actually nice (a rarity in Venice) and told us we could take pictures in this part of the museum.

The rest of the museum was actually pretty interesting. It was showcasing the acquisitions that the city Museums had made throughout the years at the modern art showcase “Biennial” that is hosted every 2 years. I’m sure that some of the paintings were “modern” in 1903 when they got them,, but they are not modern now. It was actually pretty nice museum- because of this. Neither of us expected to enjoy the museum (modern art is not my taste, it’s just weird and most of the time I could paint it). There were some amazing paintings- and I even wrote down some names to go look them up later. I of course gave the piece of paper to Mama so now I have no clue what those artists names were, but many of them were in the style of Edward Hopper (who I fell in love with the summer). I apparently like real life like paintings with a touch of commentary on life.

After this museum, we went to the bus station to figure out where Mama was to catch the bus to the airport (since she would be taking a different one than I did). We bought her ticket and then caught a vaparetto back to the hotel. We decided to go to Hard Rock for dinner. It was a nice place, but super expensive. The table set up was weird too, but the food was pretty good.

Then it was home and to bed/ See you around the globe!

First full day in Venice! (with Mama)

The next day/first day in Venice, we headed out to explore! We had some rough estimates on what we wanted to do.  We knew that there were 3 English led tours at the Doge’s Palace (no I don’t know how to say that), but they don’t post times anywhere but in the museum. So we stepped out into St. Mark’s Square, and wow. The movies don’t lie. It is beautiful. Lots of arches. Venice has apparently a mixed history of architecture...Some Gothic thrown in with Ottoman and a pinch of traditional Catholic. The clock tower looked closed (it seems you Might have been able to do it if you were able to book a tour, but no one was clear on where it was you booked said tours). The rest of it looked amazing!

When we went into Doge’s Palace “housed the fascinating  government of the rich and powerful empire. It also served as the home for the Venetian ruler known as the doge (pronounced as “dohzh”, aka duke). For four centuries (about 1150-1550), this was the most powerful could govern itself without a dominant king, bishop, or tyrant. The doges wanted their palace to reflect the wealth and secular values of the Republic, impresing visitors and serving as a reminder that the Venetians were Number One in Europe.” (All quotes taken from Rick Steve’s Guidebook.) We took the Secret Itineraries guided tour. We got to learn all about Cassanova and the dungeons of Italy. They had one section that allowed water to come in and fill up to the prisoners chest. And this usually happens in winter. And in the summer they are really hot due to the roof design. Also, this was very interesting to me: the government seat was on top of the prison. They were so interconnected.

After the Doge’s Place, we went and took a picture of the “Bridge of Sighs.” Legend has it that as they were sentenced to death/jail for the rest of their life, they were taken over this bridge and sighed that they would never see Venice again. I think this is just part of the romantic ideas, because the views were not that great.  We then grabbed a very very pricey lunch. We were told that we would get charged an extra euro for sitting down. But we thought that it was 1 euro per person. OH no, it is 1 euro per item! So that overpriced tomato and cheese sandwich that was 3 euro- well now it is 4 euro. Lunch cost almost 20 Euro or at least $25....for basically nothing. It was horrible! I mean the food was good but not THAT good.

After the Doge’s Palace we went to St. Mark’s Basilica. It basically looks like a traditional Orthodox church to me. There didn’t appear to be anything that was traditional catholic church.  It was super beautiful. Everything was mosaic. Like EVERYTHING. The walls, the floors, the ceiling. But randomly in the center was an HD big screen TV. I guess you have to get with the new program.

When we walked out of the Basilica, we saw the Correr Museum right across form us. Since it was on our Museum Pass, we decided to go there.  We needed more time than we gave the museum, maybe like at least another 30 minutes or so. However, we got to see most everything. There was this AMAZING exhibit on Armenia. Apparently many Armenians came to Venice way back when, and many Italys/missionaries went to Armenia (“the only Christan country in the caucuses”= their catch phrase, not mine). The Armenians were very influential traders way back when. The rest of the museum had many different exhibits on Italian history and culture.

After the museum we went to find the grocery store. However, our map from the hostel had it in a 5-10 Venitian block radius. Needless to point out, we got lost. But not really. I do have to thank Mama for the innate sense of direction she installed in me by letting me help navigate across the country at age 5. I always got us in the right direction, maybe off by a few blocks, but always near, no matter how many twists and turns we completed. The grocery store we went to was cramped and crowed. But it had delicious store brand chocolate. We decided to cook at home for the next few days. It was yummy pasta and salad. We had balsamic cream, have you heard of this? It is a yummy version of balsamic vinegar. Then sleep. Lots of Sleep.

Off to Venice (with Mama!)

On Sunday we were headed to VENICE! So excited to go see another country! We took it pretty slow this day, just trying to make sure everything was packed! We had to go de-register Mama with the police, then we went to get Hot Chocolate/palachinki.  Then it was to the airport (thanks Hyun!) and off to Venice via WizzAir.

For those of you who have never lived in Europe, they have these things called “budget airlines.” There is no real comparison budget ailine in the states. Some here are RyanAir and WizzAir, but there are others. They fly you from place to place packed in like Sardines for pretty cheap (30 Euro round trip to Venice or London from Skopje?). You do have to pay extra for ANY extra services (food, drink, checked luggage [sometimes this is more expensive than the ticket]). We decided to take advantage of the opportunity and go to Italy when my mom came to visit!

Upon arriving in Italy, we hopped the bus to go to the Piazzale Roma (AKA the bus station on the island). I sat next to this really nice Serbian lady pursuing her PhD in Climate Change in Venice. The hostel told us to call them when we got to the bus station and hopped on the public BOAT. Well, they didn’t pick up the phone the first 3 times we called. And then when we did, they were all “it’s going to take at least 30 minutes.”  Well, I was a bit aggravated. It was cold and we had all of our stuff. I mean, you could have told me to call earlier if it would take you that long! But a nice old man (read 70s or so) meet us at the boat stop about 30 minutes later and took us to the apartment. But this nice man couldn’t speak any English. But with my old dusty French skills and ways of thinking for the past 5 months in broken English we figured it out.

We went downstairs to the little restaurant that was like 10 feet from our entryway to eat. No need to explore when all we had to do was grab a quick bite to eat and crash! the food was pretty good, a bit on the expensive side, but still pretty good. We had....ITALIAN food, how’d you know? Pizza and one of those wrapped pasta things with stuff in it? (the word escapes me right now). Also a delicious chocolate desssert.

Then sleep. nice nice sleep in a nice dark room due to shutters!

see you around the globe!

 

P.S- there are no pictures on this post, since we only used my mom's camera and since she is in the US, can't get the pictures....

saturday, saturday

On Saturday, we were getting ready to go to Italy mostly and finishing up around Skopje. We stopped off at the American Corner to pick up some travel books from Nevenka about Italy (since ours had not come in!). Then we drove to Tetovo in a combi (with one of the drivers that recognized me....I guess the random American girl who tries to speak Macedonian is memorable) to pick up Mama’s suits.

We then grabbed lunch at the delicious burek place. The guy remembered us and brought over an extra drink than we asked for. On our way home we caught a combi home. This one was a “15” passenger van. We had way more people this time! There was even a poor guy in the back where the luggage would go!!

When we got to Skopje, we were dropped off near the lion bridge. Then we bought a suitcase so Mama could take back some extra stuff I had picked up. We went home and went to Ramstore to get some stuff I needed around the house. One of the things I needed was light bulbs. The ones in my bedroom had been out for, oh, about a month. And then the lamp there died while Mama was there, so I really needed a new light bulb. And the one in the entry way was acting up too. The bulbs in the bedroom had no identification wattage on them. Nothing. But the single one in the hallway did. So we guessed at a lower wattage for the bedroom. But as soon as we put the bulb in the hallway one- it died. So apparently the wattage was wrong there. But it sure is nice to be able to see in my bedroom at night! (but at least the days are getting longer! )

For dinner we tried to go to Mechos- a pizza place/ traditional food place but they were closed! So we went to Pilister, the hotel restaurant on the square. I personally don’t really like their food. They are one of the most expensive places in town and the food is just not that good for the prices. But we were able to get Mama some ajvar. Ajvar is a red pepper spread that is baked, roasted, pounded, and cooked. Yea, a bit of overkill in my opinion, but who is to argue with tradition? And if you like red peppers, it taste pretty good.

See you around the globe!

 

Ohrid with Mama!

I guess you are noticing a theme with the post titles...What can I say, not feeling that inventive!

We woke up early to go to Ohrid. I called a cab, but they had no cabs, so we had to walk to the next taxi stand near-by and get a cab. There were only 2 cabs there, and my first woman taxi driver! She was nice and got us there on time. We bought a return ticket to come home that night as well. The bus left Skopje in a way that I had never seen before, it came back the same way. It was difficult to figure it out. We went through Tetovo, Gostivar, and Kichevo before arriving in Ohrid. We slept most of the way there.

When we got there, we changed our “return any time with in 30 days” to the “5:45 bus home to Skopje.” Then we caught a cab to the center. We then wandered around the down town up to the top of the mountain. We stopped into the Paper Making shop and museum on our way up.

We also stopped off at the old Roman Amphitheater. This guy started talking for us for like 10 minutes. Offering to be our guide. No matter how many times we told them that we didn’t need a guide, we still had to chat for a bit. This was just the first in a long line of people who felt the need to tell us that we needed a guide for the city.

Next we went up to the Old Gate and this really old church. There was this nice lady who gave us a personalized tour of the church. She apparently had done her PhD on the church and the frescoes in the church. Apparently she believes that Mary was 14 and Jacob was 80ish and seen more like a father figure. And that Mary was granted a prominent place in this church like she should be in the Christian religion. All in all the paintings were nice and worth paying to go into the church.

We then went up to the fortress, but along the way we met our second annoying person of the day. He was supposedly a professor, and told us about the history of Ohrid. We told him that we couldn’t pay for a guide and didn’t want a guide, but he followed us anyway and said for free! We let him talk and talk and talk and then said that we were going someplace. And he directly asked for money for alcohol from the “Rich Americans.” When he finally left, my mom and I went into the Samuel’s Fortress.

Samuel was a king of Macedonia in the 900s. He was eventually killed by competing forces, but left the foundation for a later Macedonian state. His history is disputed, with the Bulgarians claiming his birthright. (Wikipedia even calls him Samuel of Bulgaria).

There was much infighting while (Macedonia) was under Byzantine control, including the short kingdom of Samuel. King Samuel ruled from Ohrid from roughly 976 to 1014 AD.[1] His kingdom included most of geographic Macedonia.[2] Samuel’s kingdom is one of the historical areas that receives much attention for later nationality struggles: Was Samuel Bulgarian, as he often called himself? Or was he Macedonian, but used Bulgarian for ease? Is his kingdom the beginning of the struggle for international recognition of the ‘down-trodden Macedonian people’?[3] Adding to the confusion, Samuel’s kingdom fell to the Byzantine Empire under Basil II,[4] and afterwards Serbia briefly gained control of the area of Macedonia and established its capital in Skopje. However, the Serbian kingdom also fell to the Byzantine Empire.[5]

---

[1] Panev, 589

[2] Shea,58; Panev, 590

[3] Panev, 589-590; Cosmopoulos, 57; Shea, 58

[4] Elizabeth Barker, Macedonia: Its Place in Balkan Power Politics (London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1950), 14; Cosmopoulos 58; Panev, 590

[5] Barry Turner, “Macedonia” in The Statesman’s Yearbook 2011: the Politics, Cultures, and Economies of the World (New York: Palgrave, 2011), 813.

However, we went up to the top and saw a bunch of really cool views of Ohrid! Have I mentioned that it was cold this day? Like Really REALLY COLD! So cold, that my mom sat up in the wind to get her feet warm.

Then we wandered down to this church. We are guessing that it is St. Ohridski, but Mama just kept calling it “The Church of the Warmth” because it was  heated! One of the few places that was. I say it is St. Ohridski, because I think it was his body in there, and the nice lady earlier had told us his body was moved when a church was built.

After the church we went down to the little church on the edge of the mountain. It is just so beautiful there. Just breath taking-ly beautiful.

We walked past the sign that caused so much trouble with a few people, and I took an ironic picture that I will not be posting do avoid further unwarranted criticism. You can contact me if you want to see it. ;)

Then it was randomly wandering into a celebration. Apparently it was like the Voditi, but with wine. You put like 12 barrels of wine in and one is white- you get lots of wine or something if you find the white one.  And they made (I’m assuming) fish stew in a gigantic pot. But they gave out free (nasty) wine.

Then to lunch at Leonardo’s, since Mama had worked at a Leonardo’s way back when. We had pizza and spaghetti alfredo!

We also wandered a bit through the center before meeting up with Emilija (Vensa’s friend that we meet the first time we went to Ohrid) for coffee. It was great to talk with people! (not that we weren’t talking all day Mama). We had a few drinks and met a new friend. We were also just killing time until our bus left.

When we got into Skopje, we just crashed!

Водици / Vodici

January 19, on the Orthodox Calendar, is known as Водици/voditi. It is, apparently, the celebration of the baptism of Jesus. It is very good luck to catch the cross, especially the cross in Ohrid. We were warned that trying to get to Ohrid would be really really difficult! So we decided to stay in Skopje.

We wandered through Old Town/Charshia a bit before going to watch The Event (which was an AMAZING show that some stupid execs cancelled). There were a ton of people there. Oh and did I mention that this religious event seemed to be sponsored by a winery? Yeah, I was a bit shocked too. The City Red Cross was also there to help out in case anyone gets hurt.  (Although, legend has it that no one will get sick trying to catch the cross in the almost freezing water in the freezing temperature. God will protect them.)

See...sponsored by wineary. Also, "sup? no worries, just walking home after a day's work"

We stood around for about 10 minutes before the singing started. Then then there was a speech by the head priest guy (yea, my orthodox religious topics need some work). I didn’t understand much, but there was a lot of talk about water (Daniel later said that he thinks they were retelling every story that had water in it. They started with Moses or Noah and went from there. About 10-15 minutes later they tossed the cross into the water. One very happy man caught it. Then everyone tried to kiss it and hug that man. Eventually the priest guys congratulated him and his family and wished him luck.

Someone was carried out in a stretcher (see above?).

Mama and I then went to The Cuban (it has a different name, but no one calls it anything but the Cuban) for lunch with the Pouts. Mama and I order pumpkin soup and carrot chips. Everyone liked the carrot chips! Especially Eliana and Aidan.

Afterwards, we went back to Old Town and wandered around some more. Then we went through it to Kale (the fortress) to over look another view of Skopje and see the closed off fortress. If we had just stayed around a bit longer, we could have sweet talked our way into the fortress with these other tourists, but no avail. We stopped off in a cafe to have Salep and just talk. Salep is a flour made from orchids and sweetened into a hot drink, sprinkled with cinnamon. It was very delicious!

Then we went to Anja’s again, but this time we got shopska, pizza, and palichinki. The guys remembered us, and brought us free rakija after dessert.

The waiters are really super nice, by the way. We just talked for an hour or so, and then we  went home to go to bed for a early start the next morning.

Exploring Skopje with Mama

On Wednesday we decided to go up to the Millennium Cross where you have amazing views of the city of Skopje. You can catch a city bus for 25 MKD to the top of the mountain. Then there is a cable car that you can take for 110 MKD to the actual top.

However, we missed the first bus up there, so we decided to go to the City Museum right across the street from my apartment. They have a lot of stuff from the timeline of the city- tons of clothing and pictures! There was also a little exhibit of the Culture/History of money and how it was used for decoration. Then it was up to the top of the mountain! The views were incredible!


It was also super cold, and I found out that my boots are not waterproof anymore! We stopped in the little cafe at the top for coffee and tea. I was using the tea to warm up my frozen toes! We then caught the cable car back down the mountain and the caught the conveniently timed city bus back home. We went and grabbed a bite to eat at Aladdin. Falafels and potatoes! So delicious!

We went to the Mother Teresa Museum. It is built in a three part style. The bottom is an open air amphitheater, the second floor is a museum, and the top floor is  church. It is supposed to symbolize the three stages of her life, or something like that. Then we went to have hot chocolate (MK style).

Then it was to the American Corner where she had a presentation about Child Abuse Protection in the US. It went very well. There were a few interested people there. There was a good discussion. I learned a lot about protection in MK. There are a few foster type houses in MK, but not many. There is not a social services type of organization that systematically watches out for children in MK.

ACS-Facebook Photos

After the presentation, Mama, Nevenka and I went out to Plazza de Torres. It has a much more active atmosphere than Anja’s and is usually very very busy. It’s also much louder than Anja’s. Mama and I got a Mozzarella Sandwich and french fries with cheese. (Mama has noted that we eat a lot of cheese here in MK). We stayed there talking for a few hours over a bunch of topics. Finally after a 3 hour dinner, Mama and I went home and went to bed.

See you around the globe!

Mama in Tetovo!

On Monday we went to Tetovo! Mama wanted to get a few suits made at this awesome tailor that I know.

So we visited him and then wandered towards the university seeing the sights of Tetovo as we went. Mostly the little art gallery in an old Turkish bath and the painted mosque.

We were supposed to meet Jen and Lizzie at 12:30 for burek, but we were super early, so we decided to walk to SEEU to meet them, since they were going to take a taxi to meet us there. We hung out at the university for a bit, then tried to taxi down to the center. We had to take a random detour for no reason that we knew of. And then the taxi driver ripped us off and didn’t even take us where we wanted to go. But we got delicious burek!

After lunch, Jen and Lizzie went to the tailor and we tried to make it to the top of the fortress. I use the word tried because we didn’t make it. The road was too icy for the car to make it up the mountain. The taxi driver was super nice! He told us about the history of Tetovo and where the Albanians and Macedonians live. He was telling us how the Albanians have no money to live in the big houses that the Macedonians live in on the mountain. We got some good pictures of the town of Tetovo.

We then had the guy take us back down to the bus station where we caught the bus leaving about 5 minutes after we got to the station!

When we got back to Skopje, we rode to the bus station so that we could walk back looking at new sights. After we stopped off at the apartment we went to Gusto’s! Ask any of the people that I bring to Gusto’s it has AMAZING cheese dip. Delicious rockfort cheese dip as well as delicious veggies risotto!

See the cheese dip?

Then home where we relaxed and went to bed.

See you around the globe!

Mama's in Skopje!

My mom and I had a really great time while she was visiting here. We went to Tetovo, Ohrid and, of course, Skopje. I will do my best to tell you what we did and where we went, but we did have a some what relaxed visit.  Mama arrived on Sunday afternoon and Anjie and I went to pick her up at the airport. Her flight landed right on time!

Then we went back to the apartment where we just kind of hung out and unpacked a bit. Then we went out for dinner and tried to register her. I was told that with my snazzy new “lechna karta” I could register people at the local police station without my landlord present. Well, when I went down there with Mama, they asked for my lease. We went back got it and then came back. Then they said I needed “my Macedonian.” I told them that I could register with out him, so I called Gazmend real fast. As I was calling him, the nice lady that helped us the first time (before we went back to get the lease) just came over and registered us. And then handed us the white card, smiled, and told us to have a good day.

triumphal Arch, did ya' know that it was in Skopje?

For dinner we went to one of my favorite locations for dinner-Anja’s! Anja’s has this great atmosphere where you can talk, and relax or watch whatever sporting event is going on.  We had a шопска салата (shopska salad), “homemade” sandwich, french fries with cheese (supposed to be feta, but it doesn’t taste like it at all!). We also had palachinki/crepes with eurocream, banana, and whipped cream for dessert. After dessert we went home and to bed!

This is my elevator. Yes, I am going through the door to push the elevator button.

See you around the globe!