Love the weekend.

Sprained ankle, Costco of fresh organic produce, stray dog, liquor store, gym, and a new route to walk.

After my first week here my ankle started to really bother me. My Achilles tendon or somewhere around there just felt tight. I would stretch it day and night, but nothing ever helped long term. Finally the P.E. teacher at school, Pance (Pancha), asked me why I was walking funny. I told him my ankle hurt, where and for how long. He told me to get a compression band, ice it, elevate, and not walk more than was necessary. I'm thinking that following 3 out of 4 of those directions isn't too bad. Right?

The kitchen supply had been dwindling over the week, and I was really looking forward to taking on the green market just a block down from my flat. So that is exactly what took up my Saturday morning. I had been in the Market before, I had purchased a few items there as well, like Kilo of potatoes, and an outlet adapter, but never had I decidedly ventured to this market to stock the kitchen. This would be the real deal.

I walked around, looking from one booth/stand to the other, eyes darting from here to there. Do I need apples? How about bananas? Oranges? Onions? Ooh Carrots, yeah I'll take some of those. I decided that with so many vendors, and many of them carrying similar items, that I should only buy a few items from each booth. Apples here, bananas there. There really was not method to my madness, just using it as an opportunity to see more, and interact with different people.

This one guy was a real salesman. I went to his stand/booth thing looking for mushrooms. He asked me (in english) what I was looking for, I told him mushrooms, and he replied regretfully that he had none, but that the stand next to him did. Before I managed to turn to walk away he asked if I had tried any Macedonian peppers. He did some Vanna White(ish) gesture over his display of Bell Peppers. Apparently I'm a sucker for wheel of fortune, I was hooked. 3 green peppers, a red pepper, and something else (?) later and I was off to get mushrooms. I remembered him telling me that two of the green peppers were sweet and one was spicy. Until tonight's dinner I couldn't remember... I found out very quickly. Each of the peppers are the same shade of pale green but different shapes. Now I know the skinny one = HOT.

I meandered around the market, having a good time bouncing around, and gathering fruits and vegetables for home. I stopped by one of the butcher shops to get something for dinner... I looked through the glass cases as one of the butchers was patiently waiting for me to say something. The place was packed, if I were him I would have been very impatient with me. Finally I pointed at two meat patties, I think beef? There looked good and don't resemble liver. He looked up and asked "more?" I was caught off guard, I don't know why, but I was. I stammered a bit, replying a stupid, "uhhhh mmmm, uhhh, no." He gut rolled. I don't know what was so funny, but he was cracking up. Of coarse the other butchers behind the counter joined in and me, feeling like an idiot joined in as well. Really it was funny, maybe you had to be there.
Once I brought my bounty home and stored it all away, I decided it would be a good idea to give the ankle a rest, and then head to a local pharmacy to find an ace bandage compression wrap for my ankle. I remembered seeing a pharmacy on my walk home from the Epiphany on Tuesday, I just forgot how far down it was. I knew it was further than I wanted to go, so I stopped in every pharmacy I saw along the street. After two pharmacies, and a quick stop at a sidewalk bakery, I got what I needed and turned around to go home. My ankle felt fine. The sun was shining. My iPod was playing the best Saturday walking music I could ask for. Then I found it. A liquor store. It's nothing fancy, but now I will be able to maintain my Wednesday tradition of Margaritas. : )

With my tequila and ace bandage wrap in a bag I decided that it might be a good idea to head home. With about 20 minutes of a walk left I decided I'd never walked South of Partisanksa, the main street that leads to the city center. Thinking that if I my ankle began to hurt too bad, I now had Tequila handy to help me if I needed it, and with the weather lingering around 2 degrees celsius (35 ish F) I knew it would be cold enough to handle after a while. -- I joke, the thought of taking a pull off the bottle crossed my mind, but I wasn't really up for it. --

As I walked around, I decidedly looked around at the new buildings, the small shops, and restaurants littering the sides of the streets. I am calling the post office tomorrow to inquire about my camera that Mom sent over two weeks ago, I want to share this stuff with you. As I get to a T in the road I notice an unusual statue; a giraffe from the neck up was looking down the street directly at me. I remembered a student telling me about the zoo, but had simply forgotten. I love the zoo. Now that I have found it, I will be going back. I would have went in right there, but a bag from the liquor store didn't seem an appropriate thing to carry around while making faces at the chimpanzees.

Making a mental note of where the zoo was in relation to home, I resumed my walk, now wishing that it wasn't such a lengthy one. Not paying as much attention to my surroundings now, I didn't even notice that I had a new friend along for the walk. I have mentioned before that there are a ton of strays here, some scare me others don't. Either way, I know better than to engage. This one was a little different. I didn't feed, nor pet dear Fido, I didn't want him to follow me all the way home (not that I had food anyways) and I have an irrational fear of fleas - borderline phobia, I just hate them - but I allowed him to join me on my Saturday stroll in a new neighborhood. The closer I got to home the more nervous I got that Fido would follow my foot steps right to my door. Luckily along the way he found some other strays and left my side without hesitation. Just as soon as my relief subsided, I saw it. No less than 5 minutes from my house, a gym. I walked inside. The lime green equipment might be as old as I am, but its close to home, the price is right, and the lime green cracks me up. The manager of the place wasn't there, but the two kids working out told me to come back on Monday and I would be able to set up a membership. Ladies and gentlemen, I have finally found me a gym. Life Is good.

Other than cooking and cleaning and more walking around Skopje that was pretty much the weekend. Today I decided to seek out my running path and at least walk it. Ankle or not, if the sun is shining, I want to be in it. I decided to look at the gym that my principal suggested to me. it is in the bottom of the nicest hotel in Skopje, the price is not right, and it's 10-15 minutes walk away. I still wanted to check it out. It looks cool enough, well-lit, new equipment, a tanning bed, and staff that is present, but there wasn't anything lime green...
Right next to the hotel the Vardar River, and right next to the river is exactly what I have been looking for. A paved running/biking path that goes along the banks of the river. Luckily there is probably 50 - 60 yards of grass that can be used to run on as well. The path leads directly to the city center and continues further out of town, it also goes for a ways passed my neighborhood as well. Tequila, gym, running path, zoo, and conquering the market. What a good weekend.

I'm finally getting comfortable in this city, going to the super market, the market, and the stores. I'm getting used to flying solo, I'm not kidding you, my walks the last couple of days have cause funny looks from people. I tend to randomly sing along with the ipod (even though no one else can hear), dance a step or two (in mid stride), or burst out in laughter as if someone right beside me just told me the funniest thing I've heard all month. I've decided that I miss a lot of people from home, but it's walks like the ones I had this weekend that I am able to really think about good times from home. : ) With all the fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and bread available, or rather due to the unavailability and/or higher price of pre-packaged frozen items I have really had a good time cooking my own meals from scratch. I'm no Chef Boyardee, but then again, I'm trying out my own thing and aside from the spicy vs. sweet pepper debacle tonight, I've been fairly successful at feeding myself.

After two and half weeks here, and only 14 more left. I'm feeling more and more at home, and less of a stranger. Hopefully I will be getting that camera soon and you will be able to see more of what I am talking about. Thanks for your emails and notes on facebook. I get a good kick out of hearing how things are stateside, and what you are up to as well.

Have a Great rest of your Sunday, I know that mine was Fantastic.

Ciao!

Evan