While the girls explored the Asian side by boat with some other hostellers, I stayed close to my temporary home. I chilled out at a local cafe talking to an Asian guy from Australia that used to live in England for couple of years. Good convo, but the purpose was to hook him up with a very close gay friend of mine back in England. He did not seem that interested in my friend. His loss. The rest of my time was spent finishing up Harry Potter. Great book! One of the girls is pissed that I read the last book without reading the two previous books. Oh well. My intention to buy the last three books in hardcover form, since I have the first four back home in the States.
Once the girls came back we packed up our rucksacks (aka backpacks) and headed out the door. We had to take two local trains to get to the bus station. We paid for our bus tickets to Skopje which is located in Macedonia. The bus (think Greyhound) was more comfortable than I expected, however it had a deficiency in its design.... no bathroom. As I had hoped there were stops along the way. Unfortunately toooooo many stops. How the hell is someone supposed to sleep on a 12 hour overnight bus trip if there is an almost 2 hour stop at the Turkey/Bulgaria border! I was so damn tired of getting off and on the bus as well has having to give up my passport and wake back up again to get it back. Ugh! Oh let me tell you about the bathrooms. So at the Turkey/Bulgaria border you have to pay to use the bathroom. The bathrooms were nasty and would you be surprised about the lack of toilet paper. Not I. I was prepared...baby wipes are blessings from on high. I did take a pictures of the bathroom sign, the bathroom, the toilet and the guys out front who collected your money. We had to get off the bus again at the Bulgaria/Macedonia border. This time we had to take our stuff from the storage area on the bus and put them on tables. I was a bit upset that no one checked our stuff, but more happy that I did not have to unstrap my rucksack. I got a chance before heading back on the bus to do a quick swish in the mouth with some toothpaste. Loved that minty flavor.
Once we made it into Skopje we took another bus ride, this time only 30 minutes, to Tetovo where a friend of mine is in the Peace Corps. He was not in town yet when we arrived, so we hung out at some local cafes. Lemme just say that Tetovo is not on any tourist map. It is a small town with mosque and a couple universities. Nothing really going on out there. I think that we actually shook the town up. Folks were probably calling there friends to tell them about the wierdos wearing backpacks walking through town. Also...just in case you were wondering...no one looked like me at all. So I know that the majority of folks were checking me out in all my luscious goodness enclosed in sweaty clothes.
We met my friend at a bus stop near his home. This is only after one of the girls had a beggar child attached to one of her legs. I mean attached like his arms and legs were wrapped around her leg. I had to extract him after she called out my name in fear. I was not very social worky extracting him considering the language barrier and locals in their cars just staring at us. I will just say that he and the other beggar children left us alone. This incident happened after the girls gave food to two other beggar children who then told a friend.
Anyway, my friend, who will hence be called Gandhi, had another friend in town visiting him as well. Another Peace Corps volunteer on vacation from Dubrovnik (located near Croatia). One of Gandhi's local friends came by to say hello. So me, the girls, Gandhi and his two friends enjoyed a lovely evening at his home. We (or should I say I) did a bit of drinking while eating some delicious nachos. The best part of the night for me, had to have been finally being able to take a decent shower. That is after I cleaned the bathroom. Gandhi's definitely is living a bachelor's life.
The night ended with me falling asleep on the couch in a drunken stupor. Lovely way to end an exhausting day.
Ok, so here's the story line. Roughly 1 year ago, an amazing woman from South Central Los Angeles decided after receiving her Master's degree to expand her horizons and venture off to London. So over the course of the next couple of years she will hope to bring two continents together through the eloquence of her words...ok that is complete and utter bullshit! Your not doing shit so just stay a minute for the hell of it!
Location: In a London borough not far away from 3 tube lines, England
About me: 1. Lover of all things Chocolate 2. Terrified of Texas flying Tree Roaches 3. New lover of roundabouts 4. The world is my oyster...w/out the fishy smell 5. God, does not like ugly...so rearrange yourself and your face
