It is not that cold here but every day is gray and damp. It is discombobulating to walk around each day and see nothing American- no KFC, Subway, McDonalds, Starbucks - stores that are mostly everywhere in the world. The cars are different too. Lots of people have Opels, which are not sold in the U.S. They are no "brand name" clothes. Just lots of odd vinyl-type pocketbooks.
Jelena had her hair professionally straightened last night. She wanted to "look different." Biljana thinks she may be getting sick- her throat bothers her so she will take lots of antibiotics- very easy here since they are sold over the counter.
Today we had lunch with some Embassy staff that are also lawyers and doing rule of law type work. Philip, who is Macedonian, is sad about the lack of forethought and proportion that did not go into designing all the new "statues" populating the main square although everyone agreed that way it was before - just a large slab of empty concrete was not so nice. The square is now a little like a very grayish, not so fun Disneyland of fakey random monuments and statutes. People would like to see something colorful and maybe something alive and growing- like a tree. I would vote to fix the pavements, sidewalks and manhole covers- Coca-mentioned in an earlier blog actually fell into a manhole- it flipped when she stepped on it. Only her head was sticking out but luckily her husband noticed she was gone and found her.
According to Philip, most of the population lives in rural areas and have only about a 7th grade education. Thus, the government easily diverts people from real problems onto the never-ending fights about whether the name of the country should be changed so the Greeks won't oppose EU membership for Macedonia. Philip does not see much hope for jury trials since in a country of 2 million, it would be impossible, he believes, to find 12 people who don't know each other and the defendant, prosecutor and judge. He is, however, very impressed with the American jury system- he feels it must be very hard to convince 12 people of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Yesterday we met with some representatives of the Young Lawyers Association. They are monitoring the courts for discrimination and litigating some cases in the European Court of Human Rights. They said there are many cases where Roma people want to leave Macedonia- and under the EU laws- they have the right to freedom of movement but the Macedonian police will not allow them out of the country. The reason for this is that the rest of Europe is quite upset about Roma people coming into their countries and if Macedonia lets them out, the EU may be less likely to grant Macedonia EU membership.
Whenever I ask Jelena a question, she says several times- don't worry about it, don't worry about it. I jokingly told her I worry about everything. She then must have realized that I could not tell whether I was bothering her or just being appropriately supervisorial so she told me that this is just a saying in Macedonian- it really just means something like ok. OK- don't worry about it!
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Walk this Way
The Warrior on a Horse statue- it is purposefully not officially called Alexander the Great so as not to further antagonize the Greeks
The Stone Bridge in the distance leading to the Old City
One of several restaurants in Macedonia Square
Passing by a shopping center
What I have been told will someday be a Marriot Hotel
The statue of the Tsar
One of several new museums in the distance - built for "Skopje 2014"
The new façade on an old building to "beautify" it
The accordion player
Entrance to large shopping mall behind which is my office. The floors of this partially open air mall are some marble or marble -like substance that is treacherously slippery. Skopje is a nice example of the dangers the pedestrian faces where there are not zillions of product liability lawyers and litigation. Yeah lawyers!
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Meeting, Greeting and Teaching
On Monday, I received notice from my realtor that they had been reminded by Biljana that I needed to register with the police. The landlord, Mr. Dusha and Ana- an asst from the realty agency met me at my apt and we walked over to the local police station. Ana said the police were upset that I had been in the country for over 24 hours without registering. She tried to explain to them that I had been in a hotel, and I told her, I assumed as in other countries that the hotel would have registered me but the police seemed upset that I had not brought some sort of document from the hotel. After quite a long discussion between Ana and the police I was allowed to register. While there, what could be some undercover officers seemed to bring in a juvenile and took him to a back room where I thought maybe I heard some shouting.
Monday through Thursday, myself, Beth ,who I am replacing, Barb- a law professor from the US, here just for the trainings, and Jelena did a training for Macedonian criminal defense lawyers and law faculty in legal writing and trial advocacy. They wrote a short suppression of evidence memo and did some mock suppression hearings. We had some excellent lunches with Macedonian salads, shish kabob ,cheeses, olives and desserts.
Tuesday evening we went to the residence of the head of the USAID mission- Jim and Coca. They had previously been posted in Afghanistan, Guatemala and Indonesia, among other places. In Guatemala, the peace corp volunteers were allowed to stay with them for R & R and use the pool because they would not typically even have running water in their villages but Skopja is not considered a hardship posting so they are not allowed to stay at the residence if visiting the city. Jim and Coca have two large dogs- a bassett hound and Labrador. We had a dinner of Macedonian specialtiess including a delicious home-baked bread, roasted red pepper dip (IVAR), cheeses, stuffed pastries and local wines. They had just gotten back from a weekend at a ski resort in Bulgaria.
Wednesday evening, we went to a reception at the American embassy. The American ambassador to Macedonia is a graduate of Univ of Washington law school. I met many of the people I will be working with including the head of the Macedonian Bar Association, the resident legal advisor, program directors for the European Union's rule of law program, etc. One of the deputy advisors, from Milwaukee, had lived for awhile in the Longfellow neighborhood in Minneapolis. He had just gotten back from vacationing in Barcelona.
After our training ended on Thurs., myself, Beth, Barbara and Jelena walked over to the Old City (what is left from the 1963 earthquake and a more Moslem/Albanian area to share some wine and cheese/dates/figs/prunes. Skopje produces some very nice local wines. Jelena said she would be climbing Mt. Vodno this weekend. Some Skopjians climb every morning. Climbing above the pollution and gray skies is a popular activity.
Of course people came by our table to beg. Mostly people just ignore them until they finally leave- although this can take awhile. A dog came by to beg and stood next to me for awhile but then he left too. On the way home, a mother and baby and her two elementary school children were sitting on the ground outside of a pizza parlor. In Macedonian, the older boy asked Jelena for some food. Because he was asking for food - not money- Jelena went in and bought him some pizza.
It was in the high 50's today but Jelena said it can be very cold in winter and lots of pollution form all the wood burning. Beth explained that when it snows, the problem is that the snow and ice will not be cleared and everyone will fall and hurt themselves on the uneven pavements where they can't see the ice. An average salary might be about $450 US a month.
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Monday through Thursday, myself, Beth ,who I am replacing, Barb- a law professor from the US, here just for the trainings, and Jelena did a training for Macedonian criminal defense lawyers and law faculty in legal writing and trial advocacy. They wrote a short suppression of evidence memo and did some mock suppression hearings. We had some excellent lunches with Macedonian salads, shish kabob ,cheeses, olives and desserts.
Tuesday evening we went to the residence of the head of the USAID mission- Jim and Coca. They had previously been posted in Afghanistan, Guatemala and Indonesia, among other places. In Guatemala, the peace corp volunteers were allowed to stay with them for R & R and use the pool because they would not typically even have running water in their villages but Skopja is not considered a hardship posting so they are not allowed to stay at the residence if visiting the city. Jim and Coca have two large dogs- a bassett hound and Labrador. We had a dinner of Macedonian specialtiess including a delicious home-baked bread, roasted red pepper dip (IVAR), cheeses, stuffed pastries and local wines. They had just gotten back from a weekend at a ski resort in Bulgaria.
Wednesday evening, we went to a reception at the American embassy. The American ambassador to Macedonia is a graduate of Univ of Washington law school. I met many of the people I will be working with including the head of the Macedonian Bar Association, the resident legal advisor, program directors for the European Union's rule of law program, etc. One of the deputy advisors, from Milwaukee, had lived for awhile in the Longfellow neighborhood in Minneapolis. He had just gotten back from vacationing in Barcelona.
After our training ended on Thurs., myself, Beth, Barbara and Jelena walked over to the Old City (what is left from the 1963 earthquake and a more Moslem/Albanian area to share some wine and cheese/dates/figs/prunes. Skopje produces some very nice local wines. Jelena said she would be climbing Mt. Vodno this weekend. Some Skopjians climb every morning. Climbing above the pollution and gray skies is a popular activity.
Of course people came by our table to beg. Mostly people just ignore them until they finally leave- although this can take awhile. A dog came by to beg and stood next to me for awhile but then he left too. On the way home, a mother and baby and her two elementary school children were sitting on the ground outside of a pizza parlor. In Macedonian, the older boy asked Jelena for some food. Because he was asking for food - not money- Jelena went in and bought him some pizza.
It was in the high 50's today but Jelena said it can be very cold in winter and lots of pollution form all the wood burning. Beth explained that when it snows, the problem is that the snow and ice will not be cleared and everyone will fall and hurt themselves on the uneven pavements where they can't see the ice. An average salary might be about $450 US a month.
wine and cheese in the old city
old city restaurant
view of the fort
Saturday, January 18, 2014
The cats welcome me
Today, in the Skopje "fog?!", I made several trips to my new apartment to bring over the bulk of my belongings. The apartment is about a ten or 15 minute walk from work and the city center. The name of the street on the street signs is long and I have not yet memorized it- I have to make sure I am pronouncing the first letter "X" properly- (Macedonians use the Cyrillic alphabet). When I rented the apartment, I was told it was on Maxim Gorky street. Happily, I passed Lermontov street on the way over- get out of here Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln et al!. At my apartment, I noticed that Maxim Gorky is in quotes. Ah- this is not really the address or the name of the street, although it is. The quotes let everyone know the real name of the street is not real. Good to know. I have an inkling this will insure that I will never be able to get a taxi to drop me off near where I live. Not to mention the street seems to be closed off by a mechanical arm to all traffic except those with a parking card.
Outside the door to my apartment is a welcome mat. Of course, it is a drawing of 2 cats with their paws up over their head in joyful welcome. If cockroaches own NY and we just rent, here the cats own Skopje.
I popped into the local grocery to see what my options might be. it is small but the basics are there. The store plays Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side and jazz for the shoppers- and you can buy any type and amount of beer and liquor while shopping for your yogurt ,cheese and olives. And you have a choice of about 45 different types and styles of salami and sausages.
I saw no cats shopping in the grocery. They seem to prefer stalking prey among the rare patches of grass and weeds outside the buildings.
Near to my apartment is a coffee shop. called The Hot and Cold. They have wi-fi and beer "as cold as your ex-girlfriend's heart."
Skopje has it all- don't believe anything else.
Outside the door to my apartment is a welcome mat. Of course, it is a drawing of 2 cats with their paws up over their head in joyful welcome. If cockroaches own NY and we just rent, here the cats own Skopje.
I popped into the local grocery to see what my options might be. it is small but the basics are there. The store plays Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side and jazz for the shoppers- and you can buy any type and amount of beer and liquor while shopping for your yogurt ,cheese and olives. And you have a choice of about 45 different types and styles of salami and sausages.
I saw no cats shopping in the grocery. They seem to prefer stalking prey among the rare patches of grass and weeds outside the buildings.
Near to my apartment is a coffee shop. called The Hot and Cold. They have wi-fi and beer "as cold as your ex-girlfriend's heart."
Skopje has it all- don't believe anything else.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Cat hair sweaters?
As we left work on Friday evening, walking through Alexander the Great Square, Biljana wondered where the loud noise was coming from. It was the call to prayer from the mosque across the Vardar. Biljana kindly walked me over to my appointment at the realtor's. When we got to the building, Biljana wanted to escort me up to the fourth floor office. I had told her how the night before I had gotten "lost." After quite a bit of negotiating, I convinced here she could go home.
Biljana has tickets for a Saturday performance of Carmen Burana.
As it turned out, I did mistakenly try to enter the wrong office on the third floor. The people inside were quite surprised to see me. I will not tell Biljana about this.
I had told Rozeanna - the realtor - that my wire transfer had not yet been completed and I wondered how I could sign the lease and take possession without giving anyone any money. Rozeanna had assured me this would be no problem. At the office, she confided that she had not informed the landlord, Mr. Dusha, about this. She simply hoped he would not mind renting to me without any immediate payment.
Mr. Dusha arrived a little late- his friend had died recently. As Mr. Dusha noted, "this is life." Mr. Dusha was actually representing the real landlord, his daughter, who lives in Holland. Mr. Dusha had no problem allowing me to move into the apartment with the idea that if I ever come into some money, I will pay him. He was, however, quite concerned over Article 13 in the lease. According to Article 13, although I am signing a lease for 6 months, I can terminate at any time with no penalty if I give 30 days notice.
Between jet lag and traveler's intestinal distress, I did not even care what the terms were. I told Rozeanna's asst that I would be happy to just cross out Art. 13. Mr. Dusha and Rozeanna then began a long discussion in Macedonian (Mr. Dusha does not speak English). Mr. Dusha has been to America 10 times- to NY, Florida and California. He is partial to San Diego. We paused our business activities to admire Mr. Dusha's cellphone pictures of the sign outside the Hotel Coronado and his relative standing in between two large teepees - of which he assured me were in Calif.
In a spirit of compromise to move things along, I then said that perhaps as is often the practice in the US, if I should terminate early, I would pay the rent or a penalty if the agency in good faith used due diligence to rent it to someone else to mitigate. This, according to Rozeanne's asst did not sit well with R. She does not cotton to whatever we may do in the U.S. If something is a law or provided for in Macedonian law, then R will fight to the death for it and so eventually poor Mr. Dusha and I gave up and Article 13 remained in the lease. We are in Macedonia- not the USA.
R had on a sort of mustardy yellow sweater from which protruded numerous tufts of what looked like some sort of fur tassels on the top part of the front (cat hair???). I complimented the sweater- R assured me it was a Macedonian sweater. Then, in a fit of graciousness and cultural rapprochement, she complimented me on my sweater of whose origins I remained silent . Of course, isn't it quite possible Eileen Fisher has sweatshops in Skopje?
The lease signed, I learned the evening had just begun. R's other asst, Rada, myself and Mr. Dusha had to go to the apartment where Mrs. Dusha was waiting to show me around.
Rada explained to me that the 40's F degree weather would be over by March and that Macedonia actually has over 200 sunny days a year. He explained in great detail that if I took a special bus to the end of the city, I could take a chair lift up Mt Vodno where it would be sunny no matter how foggy and gray it was in the city center. He seemed quite certain I would do this.
It is important to only take taxis that have numbers on the side - the others are "illegal."
Having lived in China, I have learned a few things the hard way. I asked, through Rada, if there would automatically be hot water. No. One has to push a special button on the hot water tank and wait till it heats up. There is a limited supply at any given time. Mr. Dusha assured me that the TV would get stations from all over the region. Rada showed me the grocery store and explained that no one walks by the main roads- there are a million little shortcuts through the side streets and apartment complexes that one should use to get back and forth. This is very helpful to know, since many of the street crossings do not have lights - you must rely on the cars to stop for you. But this is not Singapore. You must be aggressive and gauge if the car is going to stop or not.
Everyone complains about the traffic.
Leaving the apartment, Mr and Mrs Dusha saw their car was blocked in by a BMW. This made me homesick for Brooklyn.
Rozeanna gave me a handful of her business cards. I had to promise to refer to her all my friends who are coming to Skopje to live. She is very happy to have met me.
Jelena called in sick today. I think we have all exhausted ourselves with our week of activity, arrivals and changes.
Tomorrow I begin the move. Priatno Hotel Solun.
After all was said and done, I still do not know where I will deposit my garbage. Can it really be that I take it a couple blocks to a dumpster by the side of the main street?
Biljana has tickets for a Saturday performance of Carmen Burana.
As it turned out, I did mistakenly try to enter the wrong office on the third floor. The people inside were quite surprised to see me. I will not tell Biljana about this.
I had told Rozeanna - the realtor - that my wire transfer had not yet been completed and I wondered how I could sign the lease and take possession without giving anyone any money. Rozeanna had assured me this would be no problem. At the office, she confided that she had not informed the landlord, Mr. Dusha, about this. She simply hoped he would not mind renting to me without any immediate payment.
Mr. Dusha arrived a little late- his friend had died recently. As Mr. Dusha noted, "this is life." Mr. Dusha was actually representing the real landlord, his daughter, who lives in Holland. Mr. Dusha had no problem allowing me to move into the apartment with the idea that if I ever come into some money, I will pay him. He was, however, quite concerned over Article 13 in the lease. According to Article 13, although I am signing a lease for 6 months, I can terminate at any time with no penalty if I give 30 days notice.
Between jet lag and traveler's intestinal distress, I did not even care what the terms were. I told Rozeanna's asst that I would be happy to just cross out Art. 13. Mr. Dusha and Rozeanna then began a long discussion in Macedonian (Mr. Dusha does not speak English). Mr. Dusha has been to America 10 times- to NY, Florida and California. He is partial to San Diego. We paused our business activities to admire Mr. Dusha's cellphone pictures of the sign outside the Hotel Coronado and his relative standing in between two large teepees - of which he assured me were in Calif.
In a spirit of compromise to move things along, I then said that perhaps as is often the practice in the US, if I should terminate early, I would pay the rent or a penalty if the agency in good faith used due diligence to rent it to someone else to mitigate. This, according to Rozeanne's asst did not sit well with R. She does not cotton to whatever we may do in the U.S. If something is a law or provided for in Macedonian law, then R will fight to the death for it and so eventually poor Mr. Dusha and I gave up and Article 13 remained in the lease. We are in Macedonia- not the USA.
R had on a sort of mustardy yellow sweater from which protruded numerous tufts of what looked like some sort of fur tassels on the top part of the front (cat hair???). I complimented the sweater- R assured me it was a Macedonian sweater. Then, in a fit of graciousness and cultural rapprochement, she complimented me on my sweater of whose origins I remained silent . Of course, isn't it quite possible Eileen Fisher has sweatshops in Skopje?
The lease signed, I learned the evening had just begun. R's other asst, Rada, myself and Mr. Dusha had to go to the apartment where Mrs. Dusha was waiting to show me around.
Rada explained to me that the 40's F degree weather would be over by March and that Macedonia actually has over 200 sunny days a year. He explained in great detail that if I took a special bus to the end of the city, I could take a chair lift up Mt Vodno where it would be sunny no matter how foggy and gray it was in the city center. He seemed quite certain I would do this.
It is important to only take taxis that have numbers on the side - the others are "illegal."
Having lived in China, I have learned a few things the hard way. I asked, through Rada, if there would automatically be hot water. No. One has to push a special button on the hot water tank and wait till it heats up. There is a limited supply at any given time. Mr. Dusha assured me that the TV would get stations from all over the region. Rada showed me the grocery store and explained that no one walks by the main roads- there are a million little shortcuts through the side streets and apartment complexes that one should use to get back and forth. This is very helpful to know, since many of the street crossings do not have lights - you must rely on the cars to stop for you. But this is not Singapore. You must be aggressive and gauge if the car is going to stop or not.
Everyone complains about the traffic.
Leaving the apartment, Mr and Mrs Dusha saw their car was blocked in by a BMW. This made me homesick for Brooklyn.
Rozeanna gave me a handful of her business cards. I had to promise to refer to her all my friends who are coming to Skopje to live. She is very happy to have met me.
Jelena called in sick today. I think we have all exhausted ourselves with our week of activity, arrivals and changes.
Tomorrow I begin the move. Priatno Hotel Solun.
After all was said and done, I still do not know where I will deposit my garbage. Can it really be that I take it a couple blocks to a dumpster by the side of the main street?
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Pay it forward, backward and everywhere
For some reason, people here say Ciao for goodbye. In fact, Skopje is not too far from Italy. Today, my staff (Biljana and Jelena) and I lunched down by the river (about 2 minutes from the office). I ordered spinaci (Italian for spinach pizza). It was almost as good as pizza in Brooklyn and a relief from what I do not consider to actually be pizza (anything ordered in Minnesota!).
A recent campaign to upgrade the city, known as Skopje 2014, has resulted in a massive number of outsized monuments scattered throughout downtown. Jelena (She is actually Serbian and, therefore, is neither Elena or Helena but Jelena) - finds the new monuments mimicking old-style arches and statutes to be nothing more or less than kitsch- and, there is no one in Skopje, apparently who can explain why a choice was made to erect fakey looking fake monuments and statutes - not just a few but everywhere.
Skopjians have high confidence in foreigners. Upon buying a book to begin learning Macedonian, the salesgirl assured me she expected to chat in Macedonian with me the next time I came by.
Jelena's last name ends with a k but be cautioned - it is a placeholder for a sort of a ch type sound that does not exist in Macedonian and for which there is no equivalent letter. Biljana and Jelena tried several times pronouncing the different ch sounds to see if I could hear the difference and of course I could not.
After getting lost within the five blocks from my office to my hotel returning home (in fairness to me - IN THE DARK), I stopped to get a water and then at the falafel shop next door to my hotel. The falafelers did not speak English but a wide sweep of the arm towards the door allows them to fully understand that you want yours "to go." The falafelers do not like big bills - a 1000 denar (44 denar to the dollar). They would not accept it. After scraping through all the denars I possessed I showed them
I was short some denars. They indicated that was fine and I could have my dinner for however much money I possessed. Retuning to my hotel, I stopped in the lobby to see if they could give me change and explained I had to short the next door felafelers. The lobby person went to see if she had change and came back and said she could not change the bill either. She insisted I simply take the amount I owed the felafelers. I took it, went back to the felafelers. They were so genuinely joyful and surprised I had returned with money. They should have replaced Hillary Clinton with me.
Back in the hotel, in my room I found the amount the lobby person had given me and went down to give her back the money. She was genuinely taken aback and refused to accept it. I guess I won't really carry any money anymore- I'll just run a tab in Skopje.
Somewhere between buying the water, trying to pay everyone back and going back to my room, I lost my water. Back to the hotel minibar- the beverage dispenser of last resort.
A recent campaign to upgrade the city, known as Skopje 2014, has resulted in a massive number of outsized monuments scattered throughout downtown. Jelena (She is actually Serbian and, therefore, is neither Elena or Helena but Jelena) - finds the new monuments mimicking old-style arches and statutes to be nothing more or less than kitsch- and, there is no one in Skopje, apparently who can explain why a choice was made to erect fakey looking fake monuments and statutes - not just a few but everywhere.
Skopjians have high confidence in foreigners. Upon buying a book to begin learning Macedonian, the salesgirl assured me she expected to chat in Macedonian with me the next time I came by.
Jelena's last name ends with a k but be cautioned - it is a placeholder for a sort of a ch type sound that does not exist in Macedonian and for which there is no equivalent letter. Biljana and Jelena tried several times pronouncing the different ch sounds to see if I could hear the difference and of course I could not.
After getting lost within the five blocks from my office to my hotel returning home (in fairness to me - IN THE DARK), I stopped to get a water and then at the falafel shop next door to my hotel. The falafelers did not speak English but a wide sweep of the arm towards the door allows them to fully understand that you want yours "to go." The falafelers do not like big bills - a 1000 denar (44 denar to the dollar). They would not accept it. After scraping through all the denars I possessed I showed them
I was short some denars. They indicated that was fine and I could have my dinner for however much money I possessed. Retuning to my hotel, I stopped in the lobby to see if they could give me change and explained I had to short the next door felafelers. The lobby person went to see if she had change and came back and said she could not change the bill either. She insisted I simply take the amount I owed the felafelers. I took it, went back to the felafelers. They were so genuinely joyful and surprised I had returned with money. They should have replaced Hillary Clinton with me.
Back in the hotel, in my room I found the amount the lobby person had given me and went down to give her back the money. She was genuinely taken aback and refused to accept it. I guess I won't really carry any money anymore- I'll just run a tab in Skopje.
Somewhere between buying the water, trying to pay everyone back and going back to my room, I lost my water. Back to the hotel minibar- the beverage dispenser of last resort.
Biljana and Jelena
My street at night with Alexander the Great statue at the end
My street (Seats out on the street on the right side belong to the felafelers)
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Cats and cats and cats - oh my
As in some other places, feral cats are everywhere. They prowl the tops of dumpsters, suddenly jump up on top of parked cars, sit curled in corners of all public spaces. Today, leaving my office one was on the stairwell. He was small, cute and fuzzy but quite aggressive - he kept meowing quite loudly and lunging toward me as I tried to walk down the steps. Unfortunately I had no food - only Macedonian denars (as opposed to dinars which are Serbian NOT Macedonian money). Cats don't like money- and they would spend it all in one place.
I read somewhere that once you recognize someone in a public place, it means you have settled into your new locale. Today, strolling down Alexander the Great pedestrian street mall in the gray drizzle, I thought I was about to pass the young lady who helped me this morning open my bank account. Unlike Delta flight attendants who will ferociously ignore you if they see you off the plane in a souvenir shop on a layover, she immediately said hello. I guess by next week, I will know everyone here.
I have found an apartment and hope to move in on Saturday. I passed on the apartment with the mangy dog that seemed to be living in the lobby and the one where the elevator "soon" would be reworking and some other graffiti-infested buildings.
What Biljana loves about Macedonia is that it is very small so easy to get someplace else - like a weekend in sunny Greece or over to Italy. She will soon by off on Wizz airlines (the local discount one) to see Venice. She suffered quite a bit of jet lag returning from Indonesia.
My realtor was happy to see that for a second day I was still in Macedonia. She believes I am now a "citizen" and was ecstatic that on day two I still had no criticisms and offered no hint that I might hold subversive views as to Macedonian independence. It appears, however, that the agency fee and rent would be appreciated to be paid in Euros - not denars.
Tomorrow Biljana, Jelena and I are planning a lunchtime stroll on the banks of the river Vardar.
Biljana and Jelena were excited that I am from Minnesota because two of their favorite characters from the show 90201, which they call Beverly Hills, were from Minnesota.
I read somewhere that once you recognize someone in a public place, it means you have settled into your new locale. Today, strolling down Alexander the Great pedestrian street mall in the gray drizzle, I thought I was about to pass the young lady who helped me this morning open my bank account. Unlike Delta flight attendants who will ferociously ignore you if they see you off the plane in a souvenir shop on a layover, she immediately said hello. I guess by next week, I will know everyone here.
I have found an apartment and hope to move in on Saturday. I passed on the apartment with the mangy dog that seemed to be living in the lobby and the one where the elevator "soon" would be reworking and some other graffiti-infested buildings.
What Biljana loves about Macedonia is that it is very small so easy to get someplace else - like a weekend in sunny Greece or over to Italy. She will soon by off on Wizz airlines (the local discount one) to see Venice. She suffered quite a bit of jet lag returning from Indonesia.
My realtor was happy to see that for a second day I was still in Macedonia. She believes I am now a "citizen" and was ecstatic that on day two I still had no criticisms and offered no hint that I might hold subversive views as to Macedonian independence. It appears, however, that the agency fee and rent would be appreciated to be paid in Euros - not denars.
Tomorrow Biljana, Jelena and I are planning a lunchtime stroll on the banks of the river Vardar.
Biljana and Jelena were excited that I am from Minnesota because two of their favorite characters from the show 90201, which they call Beverly Hills, were from Minnesota.
By the banks of the Vardar
Entrance to my office
My office
Office keys
Alexander the Great pedestrian mall
Mother Theresa museum
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
I arrive in a fog - literally and figuratively
After leaving MN about 8 am on Sunday, I arrive in Skopje about noon on Monday, which was Monday evening there. In Vienna, after several hours of delay we were told the Skopje airport would be closed until Tuesday due to fog. Apparently, the fog was so bad in the morning no one could see in front of them. Apparently, Skopje is prone to fog because it sits in a valley between mountains that trap the clouds and the moisture from the river, Varda.
So, Austrian airlines (whose flight attendants dress all in red- including shoes and stockings prompting not just me to stare at them to see if they are really going to walk around like that) flew us into the nearest airport in Pristina. Of course, although Pristina is only a couple hours from Skopje it is in a different country - Kosovo. Some passengers had visa problems and had to arrange special dispensation to get to Macedonia to Kosovo. Pristina is ....well,.... from what I saw from the bus the airline arranged to take us from Pristina to Skopje is.... well... not Paris - not even New Jersey. If you leave Pristina around rush hour on a weeknight traveling the main road that is one way in each direction it will take hours. You will also have a passport check on the Kosovo side and then a repeat on the Macedonia side. Hours and hours. Once across the border, the fog prevents actually seeing the city, esp in the dark. The bus nicely dropped us off downtown instead of the airport, which seemed like a good deal since the Holiday Inn where we stopped was right by my new office. However, the bus stopped down the road from the hotel necessitating me rolling my huge overweight excess luggage suitcases over the uneven road across the crazy main street with no stoplight until I reached the hotel and my staff- Jelena and Biljana who waited all day for me to arrive. We taxied to my hotel in the center of town. The tiny taxi could only fit one of my suitcases in the trunk so Jelena had to go home instead of coming with me.
On the bus, by chance, I sat next to the only other American- a young girl who was in hour #50 in her quest to return to Macedonia from Idaho. Hannah is in her third year as a Peace Corp Volunteer in a small village near the Greek border. Her Macedonian boyfriend was waiting all day in Skopje to drive her back- peace corp volunteers are not allowed to drive. (Hannah was unable to visit Istanbul in June with her parents s a peace corp volunteer due to terroristic threats but she agrees with me that it is one of the best cities). Peace corp people like to marry the locals. Hannah has been to 6 such weddings so far. Hannah said in Macedonia how you "be" is more important than what you
do. She must take all her coffee breaks and lunches and be generally extremely available for lots of socializing. People drop by each other's homes with regular frequency and one must be around for the visits. Although the village is at the border, due to the hostilities between Greece and Macedonia, the Macedonians are not welcome to cross the border- Greece will sometimes refuse to stamp their passports. Most of the village is friendly to her despite that they cannot fathom why a young American girl has left home and family to live in eastern Europe. A few people are still mad about the US, in their view, having supported Albania in the 2001 Balkans conflict. Hannah does not like all the indoor smoking. She does not yet have a "life plan" but will soon have her masters degree. For awhile she was a forest ranger in Idaho. She is fluent in Macedonian.
Today, I spent the day with Rada and his young colleague - whose name I have already forgotten, looking at apartments. Rada wonders why the Greeks hate the Macedonians so much. He said traffic was okay in Skopje till bout five years ago. Now, it is impossible to find parking. His colleague was very surprised and glad to be alerted to the fact that I can't be called a native American- that term is for the real native americans. She told me that in Macedonia if you want to insult some one you tell them, for example, you act like an Indian. At stoplights the squeegee people wipe your windshield and you pay them something. There is also a term the Albanians call themselves but you cannot use it when talking about them. Rada and his colleague bemoaned having to remember all these rules about what you can and cannot call people.
I was asked to come up to the office and have a snack with the realty office manager. She feels very sad for the Macedonian people in Greece and Bulgaria whom she believes live oppressed lives as second class citizens. She does not care to join the EU - she feels it was enough that Macedonians had to bossed around when they were part of Yugoslavia. She would love to come to the US. First on her list is Las Vegas - not for gambling which she does not do but for the tops in American entertainment and shows. Then, if possible, Boston and New York since Boston, she believes, is where the US began. She said the Macedonian language is the foundation for all the Slavic tongues.
Mostly in Skopje, at least, everyone speaks English. Do not even bother asking people if they speak English. It is equivalent to asking them whether they appear so stupid that maybe they don't know how to speak it. Assume they do. Macedonia is about as big as Holland but only 2 million people - a out 500,000 in Skopje.
Last night turned out to be Russian Orthodox New Years. Biljana agreed with me that probably what I heard last night were firecrackers and not gunshots. Macedonia does not have a death penalty or life without possibility of parole. A really, really long sentence might be about 20 years. People don't kill each other very much. Jelena and Biljana had a hard time trying to answer my question about the most common crimes people commit , what kind of illegal drugs people sell, etc.
My office has a list of holidays .Apparently we get off for Pentacostal day but no one could tell me what this day celebrates or whose holiday this is. Yom Kippor was listed but not Rosh Hashanah. Mayday gets us a 2 day holiday - one day of which is for picnicking. Biljana said there were no marches or protests for Mayday- she believed it was simply some holdover from the "communist days."
I now have a Macedonian Samsung smart phone. It will only tell me the temp in Celsius and the time as a 24 hour clock.
Next week we attend a party at the US embassy. It will be "business casual." Jelena was very surprised when I told her I don't wear skirts except in extreme circumstances. Jelena loves to wear skirts. Biljana, who is some undetermined years older than her 43 year old brother lives alone which she told me is very unusual- mostly people are forced to spend their entire lives with all their families due to lack of finances.
The realty people kept asking me if I was oriented to where the apartments I looked at were in relation to the center city. I kept trying to explain to them that I will likely never be oriented. They chose to politely pretend they did not understand. No driers in any apartment but several has dishwashers - very, very small ones.
Tomorrow - picking an apartment, opening a bank account and seeing how long it will take me to find my office from my hotel. Biljana understands she will likely get called to come rescue me after I veer wildly off course.
So, Austrian airlines (whose flight attendants dress all in red- including shoes and stockings prompting not just me to stare at them to see if they are really going to walk around like that) flew us into the nearest airport in Pristina. Of course, although Pristina is only a couple hours from Skopje it is in a different country - Kosovo. Some passengers had visa problems and had to arrange special dispensation to get to Macedonia to Kosovo. Pristina is ....well,.... from what I saw from the bus the airline arranged to take us from Pristina to Skopje is.... well... not Paris - not even New Jersey. If you leave Pristina around rush hour on a weeknight traveling the main road that is one way in each direction it will take hours. You will also have a passport check on the Kosovo side and then a repeat on the Macedonia side. Hours and hours. Once across the border, the fog prevents actually seeing the city, esp in the dark. The bus nicely dropped us off downtown instead of the airport, which seemed like a good deal since the Holiday Inn where we stopped was right by my new office. However, the bus stopped down the road from the hotel necessitating me rolling my huge overweight excess luggage suitcases over the uneven road across the crazy main street with no stoplight until I reached the hotel and my staff- Jelena and Biljana who waited all day for me to arrive. We taxied to my hotel in the center of town. The tiny taxi could only fit one of my suitcases in the trunk so Jelena had to go home instead of coming with me.
On the bus, by chance, I sat next to the only other American- a young girl who was in hour #50 in her quest to return to Macedonia from Idaho. Hannah is in her third year as a Peace Corp Volunteer in a small village near the Greek border. Her Macedonian boyfriend was waiting all day in Skopje to drive her back- peace corp volunteers are not allowed to drive. (Hannah was unable to visit Istanbul in June with her parents s a peace corp volunteer due to terroristic threats but she agrees with me that it is one of the best cities). Peace corp people like to marry the locals. Hannah has been to 6 such weddings so far. Hannah said in Macedonia how you "be" is more important than what you
do. She must take all her coffee breaks and lunches and be generally extremely available for lots of socializing. People drop by each other's homes with regular frequency and one must be around for the visits. Although the village is at the border, due to the hostilities between Greece and Macedonia, the Macedonians are not welcome to cross the border- Greece will sometimes refuse to stamp their passports. Most of the village is friendly to her despite that they cannot fathom why a young American girl has left home and family to live in eastern Europe. A few people are still mad about the US, in their view, having supported Albania in the 2001 Balkans conflict. Hannah does not like all the indoor smoking. She does not yet have a "life plan" but will soon have her masters degree. For awhile she was a forest ranger in Idaho. She is fluent in Macedonian.
Today, I spent the day with Rada and his young colleague - whose name I have already forgotten, looking at apartments. Rada wonders why the Greeks hate the Macedonians so much. He said traffic was okay in Skopje till bout five years ago. Now, it is impossible to find parking. His colleague was very surprised and glad to be alerted to the fact that I can't be called a native American- that term is for the real native americans. She told me that in Macedonia if you want to insult some one you tell them, for example, you act like an Indian. At stoplights the squeegee people wipe your windshield and you pay them something. There is also a term the Albanians call themselves but you cannot use it when talking about them. Rada and his colleague bemoaned having to remember all these rules about what you can and cannot call people.
I was asked to come up to the office and have a snack with the realty office manager. She feels very sad for the Macedonian people in Greece and Bulgaria whom she believes live oppressed lives as second class citizens. She does not care to join the EU - she feels it was enough that Macedonians had to bossed around when they were part of Yugoslavia. She would love to come to the US. First on her list is Las Vegas - not for gambling which she does not do but for the tops in American entertainment and shows. Then, if possible, Boston and New York since Boston, she believes, is where the US began. She said the Macedonian language is the foundation for all the Slavic tongues.
Mostly in Skopje, at least, everyone speaks English. Do not even bother asking people if they speak English. It is equivalent to asking them whether they appear so stupid that maybe they don't know how to speak it. Assume they do. Macedonia is about as big as Holland but only 2 million people - a out 500,000 in Skopje.
Last night turned out to be Russian Orthodox New Years. Biljana agreed with me that probably what I heard last night were firecrackers and not gunshots. Macedonia does not have a death penalty or life without possibility of parole. A really, really long sentence might be about 20 years. People don't kill each other very much. Jelena and Biljana had a hard time trying to answer my question about the most common crimes people commit , what kind of illegal drugs people sell, etc.
My office has a list of holidays .Apparently we get off for Pentacostal day but no one could tell me what this day celebrates or whose holiday this is. Yom Kippor was listed but not Rosh Hashanah. Mayday gets us a 2 day holiday - one day of which is for picnicking. Biljana said there were no marches or protests for Mayday- she believed it was simply some holdover from the "communist days."
I now have a Macedonian Samsung smart phone. It will only tell me the temp in Celsius and the time as a 24 hour clock.
Next week we attend a party at the US embassy. It will be "business casual." Jelena was very surprised when I told her I don't wear skirts except in extreme circumstances. Jelena loves to wear skirts. Biljana, who is some undetermined years older than her 43 year old brother lives alone which she told me is very unusual- mostly people are forced to spend their entire lives with all their families due to lack of finances.
The realty people kept asking me if I was oriented to where the apartments I looked at were in relation to the center city. I kept trying to explain to them that I will likely never be oriented. They chose to politely pretend they did not understand. No driers in any apartment but several has dishwashers - very, very small ones.
Tomorrow - picking an apartment, opening a bank account and seeing how long it will take me to find my office from my hotel. Biljana understands she will likely get called to come rescue me after I veer wildly off course.
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