Week In Review Sabbatical Style: T-5 Weeks

I've got to think of a better way to title these...counting down the weeks like this is both startling and depressing...


I've been wifi-less for a few days but I thought I would throw out a quick review of the week! It's definitely been a good one.

• Countries visited this week: Serbia, Kosovo and (currently) Macedonia. Tomorrow I'll head to Albania. Or...maybe I'll stay here for a while longer...
• I feel like I have some kind of street cred for having been to Kosovo. But really, it's a front--it was perfectly safe there. 
• Southern Serbia is nothing like the north. The bus station at Novi Pazar was a little sketchy. I got out of there quick--took a taxi straight to the Sopocani monastery I was going to stay the night near. The monastery was beautiful and covered in frescos that were hundreds of years old. My hotel, though? I shudder thinking back on it. Thankfully I still had my sleeping sack from the Camino and employed a do-not-make-any-contact-with-any-part-of-this-place policy. 
• I lucked out the next morning and caught a ride back with a guy from Novi Sad who was down in the south visiting the monasteries (I was worried about finding a cab out there in the middle of nowhere). He let me share his cab back to Novi Pazar, went out of their way to get me to the bus station and then refused to let me pay. 
• Most awkward moment of the week? I was sitting under a tree at the monastery when an ant/spider-like creature fell on me. I brushed it off my neck and unfortunately it fell...into my bra. What do you do when you are at a monastery with monks all around, no bathroom or place to hide, and you have a biting ant down your shirt?! I swear. These things only happen to me. 
• I have not succeeded in escape the smoking. (In fact, at the moment, grandpa next to me at the cafe is blowing it straight into my FACE.)
• Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, was nice enough, but it was a furnace. It was in the upper 90s. (And, yes yes, I know it's been in the 100s for weeks now in Texas, but you're not walking around in it all day carrying a backpack with all of your belongings or trying to sleep without AC.)
• Of course the day I left it cooled off. I got to Lake Ohrid, which is higher up, and it was properly cold. It's been sunny during the day, but the nights are chilly. Last night were were sitting around at a cafe and I saw the temp on a sign near by--50 degrees! No wonder my teeth were chattering!
• I met a fun and eclectic group of people at my hostel in Skopje, then, ended up bumping in to all of them again here in Ohrid.  
• I skyped in to a conference back home this week. Granted it was 11pm when I was trying to listen in, but I think it might be official--my brain has turned to mush. 
• Before I left Belgrade I took a day trip to Topola. There's not a whole lot there besides an old church up in a bit of forest outside of town. It was stunning! The Church of St. George was covered in mosaics--40,000,000 pieces worth! In 15,000 colors! 
• Spending the day hiking it up to the monastery through the thick trees gave me a happy flashback to the Camino. (And also an allergy headache.)
• Skopje = one giant construction zone. They are building huge statues, monuments and buildings everywhere. 
• My guide book says that street names are a relatively new thing in Skopje...which might help explain why I got lost who knows how many times (it also didn't help that the 3 maps I had all showed things in completely different places...)
• My favorite thing in Skopje was the Mother Teresa memorial center/museum. She was born in Skopje and the museum was actually really moving and inspiring. The building is built on the site of the old Catholic church in town where she attended and felt called to be a missionary, which I thought was pretty special. 
• Ohrid is really, really beautiful. 
• I'm afraid that I am starting to look like a hippy...I think it's time for a haircut. 
• Cuban food, no matter how enticing it seems, is not a good idea when you are in far away Macedonia. 
• They seem to be a fan of American R&B and hip hop here in Macedonia. I was getting tired of the random 80's mix that seems to be popular elsewhere, so I suppose its a nice change. Although I wasn't too excited to be woken up to someone blaring old school Usher this morning. 
• Similar to that one time in Panama, I got lucky and happened on to a region-wide folk dance festival this week. It was fantastic! 

Hiking up to the church in Topola

Church of St. George

All made of mosaic tiles (made from Murano glass)

From the top of the hill you could see vineyards 

Sopocani Monastery

In Prishtina, Kosovo

My "Cuban" sandwich (cheese, slice of ham, tomatoes and cucumbers...) and rice and beans which I'm pretty sure came premixed from a can

Old bridge in Skopje 

Sunset along the river/construction zone

Mother Teresa statue

I had read that her feet where messed up because she always took the worst pair of shoes so that no one else would have to have them 

Her sari

Lake Ohrid from the window in my room

 

Another look at the lake

OK, that's it for now--more on Ohrid later!

Week in Review Sabbatical Style: T-6 Weeks

Well the return to the WIR last week apparently went over well, so here's another go at it!

• T-6 weeks until I come home. Can you believe it?! Not me. 
• You know how last week I told you I was kind of excited to take that overnight train? Yeah. It was interesting. 
• OK, it wasn't that bad. There were no sleeper cars so I just got a seat. No problem--the trains are hardly ever full, you can stretch out in the 6 person cars and sleep. Yeah, except the train was full. Also I will admit that I do not know much about riding trains. The conductor made me move seats twice. Everything was in Montenegrin/Serbian, and when I finally found the seat where I was supposed to be sitting...there was someone there. As I wandered back and forth around the compartments a group of 5 men saw me looking confused/pathetic and asked what I was looking for. There was one more seat in their compartment and they tried to get me to join them. I thought better of it and kept looking.  
• Then I came back and sat with them. 
• They were incredibly nice--helped me put my bag up on the rack, insisted on sharing their cookies and snacks with me (someone of course brought homemade rakija...), told me when to get my passport out, etc. 
• My only beef? They all chain smoked. All night. 
• Oh, and the train was also a piece of work. The local guys were all complaining about it, which is how I knew it was extraordinarily bad. Those beautiful views? Couldn't see them through the dirty windows (and...it was dark). OK, enough about the train. 
• I love Serbia!
• I also love the peppermint herbal tea they have here at my hostel. 
• I spent 2 nights in Belgrade before going north up to Novi Sad for two nights. I was going to take a day trip on my way back to Belgrade yesterday...but didn't. I'll be here in Belgrade for another 2 nights, then plan on making my way down to Novi Pazar on my way to Kosovo. 
• You know what I ate this week? Yep, Mcdonalds. (Don't judge!) Best hamburger I have had in a long, long time. 
• Why no day trip to Subotica in the north yesterday? Well I bought my train ticket, waited on the train, confirmed with a local that it was the right train and then boarded a train that was headed south to Belgrade. 
• The conductor's face was priceless when he checked my ticket and saw that it was for Subotica. He felt much worse about it than I did. I could have gotten off after 30 minutes, waited an hour or so for the train and then backtracked and made my way to Subotica. But since I was just going for the day and sleeping in Belgrade anyway...I just forgot about it and settled in for the ride to Belgrade. 
• Trains are complicated. 
• Belgrade is fantastic. There's not a ton of attractions here, but there's a huge fortress you can wander through for hours (for free!), lots of parks, cafes lining every street, artists and musicians everywhere and just a nice vibe running through the city. 

• Unfortunately there is also smoke everywhere. I've been downgraded to glasses because my contacts just can't take it. 
• I've had some great hostels here. The average costs? 11 euro. 
• Last night, for the first time since Nicaragua, I went to the movies! And how much did it cost? 2.50! It was a nice change from the norm. 
• I think I'll hit up the ballet in the next couple days to up my culture level. 
• I've also used some downtime this week to prepare for my eminent return to the states. On one hand, it feels kind of nice to be productive. On the other hand...do I really have to go back?
• This week was my mom's  birthday--Happy birthday mom!
• And tomorrow is father's day--Happy Father's Day, dad!
• My allergies are being ridiculous. Every town I go to has something in it which drives them crazy. 
• One of the girls in my hostel last night just finished walking the Camino de Santiago! Sometimes the backpacker world is a small one. We had a good time talking about blisters, albergues (oh, the snoring!), the views and good ol' Santiago. 

OK, a few random pics from the week!

WELL COME TO SRBIYA

Rivers in Belgrade

Fortress in Belgrade

Fortress in Novi Sad

Fortress/river in Novi Sad

Train pulling in to Belgrade (...instead of Subotica)