Scoping Skopje: Cats and cats and cats

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.