home sweet home

Hi there!

I made it! After what seemed like forever of sitting and waiting, up at 4:30 a.m. getting to Skopje at 3:30 a.m. (your time) was a long day. The flight from Seattle to DC was very uneventful, napped, read, watched some 30 Rock, and some other movie that was provided... DC was an easy airport to navigate, however it was a big airport too. The flight from DC from Vienna wasn't too bad either. It was a 9 hour flight that at times seemed to last forever. While crossing the Atlantic is was night time, but once we got over Spain it was possible to see glowing lights from below. Somewhere around France the sun began to rise, it was a really cool sight to see. As I meandered through the airport in Vienna I realized that the taste of Europe so far was that many people smelled of cigarettes or were highly perfumed. The flight from Vienna to Austria was delayed an hour because of snow.

The flight over the Balkans and into Macedonia was cloud covered until we began our descent to the airport. Probably only over the last 5 minutes was I able to see the green hillsides and winding river. There were many square small fragile looking farm houses scattered all along the countryside however. Som e of them had cars all parked out in front of them. from the looks of it they were either junk cars or a used sales lot. I pick the former of the two.

Arriving at the airport was a different thing. The building seems very rundown and not well maintained; just a concrete block that planes land next to, and people come and go. One of the school administrators Ivan and his friend (forgot her name!!!) were there to pick me up. We loaded up my bags in his sweet European Civic - they are not the same as in the US WAY cooler - and took off towards Skopje. As we came closer to my apartment Ivan decided to stop by NOVA - the school I will be interning at. It is very large, and like the airport mostly concrete, the playground behind the builiding looks promising. I love recess! : )

We then took off for my apartment. The landlords were ready and waiting. They took me up stairs to the third floor of their building to a SWEET 1 bedroom 50 square meter flat. I had seen pictures of the inside previously, but really this place is awesome. The landlords son lives below me with his wife and their 4 month old. Nice couple. Not only to I have a killer apartment I have sweet neighbors. Between Ivan and my neighbors I have been stocked with food in the fridge and the cupboards for the next couple of days.

Today is the Orthodox Christmas Eve, and tomorrow most of the city will be shut down to observe the Othodox Christmas day.

I'm all unpacked had a bit of cheese and salami with a small glass of wine. I might head downtown to the city center, but likely I will stay in, relax, rest and just be at home. : )