Take It Easy, Part Two

Okay, where did we leave off? 

Old Yugo Bands, Stray Cats, and Baklava

The following weekend after Easter, I took the bus to Ohrid with a former student-turned-friend of mine, Sanja. She was born and raised in Ohrid, and has been talking about us going for a visit since the fall. We arrived Friday night, and Saturday morning set out to meet up with one of her cousins. Her apartment is maybe a 10 minute walk from the lake, so on our way there we stopped at Mini Pani for sustenance and again to watch little kids performing a recital of Macedonian folk dances. Sanja’s cousins lived in Colorado for much of their upbringing, so we talked about the US and about what I’m doing here while we walked around the Old Town and stopped for coffee. I saw a few Peace Corps volunteers during coffee (small country) and then we continued on to the iconic church of Saint John the Theologian (Свети Јован на Канео). The weather was perfectly sunny as we hiked around the lake and weaved through the Old Bazaar, stopping for pictures. We met up with Sanja’s other cousin for lunch, and the four of us made plans to go to Struga the next day. Honestly, just sitting by the lake and watching the sun set made me happy as a clam. 

Struga is another small city on the north shore of Lake Ohrid. It is mostly ethnic-Albanian, and the city reflects that in the many minarets dotting the city and the large bazaar in the city center. A few of my friends in Skopje are from Struga, so it was cool to see where they grew up. We walked around for an hour and had coffee, then headed back to Ohrid.

On our last day, Sanja and I were walking through the city when we ran into a member of her extended family, kind of like an aunt to her. She has a house in the Old Town part of Ohrid, and she invited us in for Coke and Turkish coffee. The view from her house was perfect, and we chatted with her for an hour and a half – she’s lived a really interesting life! –then said our goodbyes. 

Before we headed back to Skopje, Sanja’s dad took us to dinner. I climbed into the backseat of his Citroen with its purely decorative seatbelt, and we drove over to a local kafana for an early dinner. I finally got to try пастрамка, kind of like branzino (there’s a picture in the Photo section). The bus ride back was unremarkable, except for the instances of typical Balkan road rules…My blood pressure may never recover from witnessing us overtaking a truck on a two-lane, windy, mountain road (in the dark), in the face of oncoming traffic.

Once back home, the week was filled with a basketball game, teaching, and a visit to the American Councils office. My friend Igor works for the AC, so I picked him up from the office, we got lunch, then we returned to the office. I had time to kill before another appointment, so I went in for a coffee and met a few more of Igor’s lovely colleagues. Another friend of ours, Filip, works for the AC too, and when he showed up to the office that afternoon, I couldn’t quite describe the feeling, but I just felt like I belonged. It’s easy to talk with them about everything from ‘what to do on the weekend’ to ‘domestic politics’ to’ how to communicate with difficult people’. It made my week. 

Bajram, or Eid, happened on April 9th this year, so after the two traditional days of visiting with family, my friend Alin invited our group to his house to celebrate. His mom makes amazing baklava, and it was good to gather with everyone before I headed off to Italy. 

Pasta, Pizza, and a Road Race

For my parents’ wedding anniversary, they planned a trip to Rome and Florence, and asked me and my sister to join. I could only make it for the weekend, but still, I’ll never say no to Italy. I stayed in the same Airbnb I booked a few years ago for my first trip to Rome (which was kind of a paradigm shift trip for me) and spent Saturday getting coffee, walking in a park I love, having lunch with my family, and shopping with Julia. It was really surreal that the four of us were back together. 

On Sunday, Julia and I tried Italian McDonald’s (there’s absolutely no shame in my game, it was so good) and hopped on a train to Florence with our parents. We spent the sunny afternoon walking around the city, window shopping, and having an aperitivo. Of course, I had to end the day trip with gelato.

The US Embassy finally visited my faculty, chatted with the Chair of my department, and shared with a group of my first-years about exchange opportunities. Of course, my students were shy with them, and then asked me a million questions about educational exchange after they left. 🙃

In my quest to try authentic pastrmajlija (sort of Macedonian pizza) from the eastern part of the country, I agreed to go to Shtip and run a 5k with Jackson. I took a minibus there Saturday night, had dinner with Jackson, Maya and Hrithik (Peace Corps Volunteers), and stayed at Jack’s apartment. Then the next morning, we ran the race! Around 1,200 people ran, and of course there was a live band. The dean of Jackson’s faculty was there with her kids, too, to walk the 5k. Our group went out for pastrmajlija after and… WORTH the wait. The bread was really soft and there was just enough spice.

My only other news for now is that I found cookie butter here, and it has changed. the. game.

Finally, books I’ve read or listened to lately: Outofshapeworthlessloser; If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Your Mother; and Daring Greatly.

(Song Credit: The Eagles)