A whirlwind trip through Macedonia

The week between (our) Christmas and (everyone's) New Year I spent a few days in Macedonia with some j-girls. I had never met any of them and really only had facebook conversations with a few of them. Meeting two of them (Celeste and Abbey) in the train station early that morning all we could manage was..."It's nice to meet the 3D version of you". So it was a quick trip with a ton packed in, let me see if I can help you understand the journey with the help of some pictures.

I left Belgrade on the night train at almost 10 o'clock after dinner at the Stevens. Jen was nice enough to drop me at the station and then tell me she had the utmost confidence in my ability to navigate the train system for the first time...this was her attempt at channeling Kyle. It worked, I got my train and ended up in Skopje at a little after 7. Celeste and Abbey met me at the station and the three of us headed back to Abbey's flat in order to sleep a little more before having lunch in Skopje. We had lunch at a really nice place called "Aladdin" and then headed out to see the center because I had never seen it before. 

Alexander presides over the center year round...the Santa is only temporary.

My new friend Ginna and I took a photo with this Santa impersonator. He looks so legit. He's almost the same height as the two of us!

After lunch and a slight tour, we caught a bus from there to Prilep. It was a fairly uneventful ride and we started to see snow as soon as we were out of Skopje. It was also a million degrees on the bus, we were all sweating watching the snow go past the window.

Celeste and Dina looking incredibly happy on the way to Prilep (pre heat stroke). Which is home for both of them.

Prilep after dark.

And Prilep in the day.

We spent the night at Celeste and Carissa's flat, watched a little Elf and then got up the next morning to shower in their freezing bathroom. Then we caught a bus to Bitola. 

So excited waiting for the bus to Bitola!

 At this point I've been in Macedonia about 24 hours and I'm on my way to my third city and I've met close to 10 new people.

In Bitola there was so much snow. It really did look like a winter wonderland.

This happened right after we were almost kidnapped in a sketchy night club that we thought was a restaurant. More on that tomorrow. This is the shark knife, who loves water and Celeste without a "numb" face.

We also went ice skating. It was treacherous, except for the Macedonian kids. Although, if I could skate for two hours for the equivalent of a dollar I'd be a beast too.

 After Bitola, we took another bus to Ohrid. The home of Ginna and Hannah. I apparently have no photos because we arrived in the dark, ate chili, then left way early the next morning to ski in Mavrovo.

In the ski lodge at the top of the hill. I'm an awkward skier, who would've guessed that?

Coming back down the mountain on the ski lift.

The lodge at the bottom of the hill. Best bathrooms and pizza EVER.

 From Mavrovo, we drove to Kucevo in order to catch a bus back to either Prilep or Skopje. The Ohrid girls went back with their supervisor. The Prilep girls, lucky ducks, managed to leave Kucevo within twenty minutes of being dropped off. Abbey and I had to spend two hours there in the cold. It was great though because we got to hang out and I bought a crazy Santa decoration and Abbey got free fruit. We also had a bonding experience in the bus station that neither of us will ever forget.  That night I had American food with Abbey and stayed at her place. The next morning we got to do a little more sight seeing on our own for awhile before doing a few things for her job. Then I caught the night train...that was the previous post you read.

Chillin in Skopje again.

The Macedonian Santa Claus from the New Year's night train.

The photo he took of me at one of the stops.

I left Belgrade on Tuesday night and was calling Kyle for a ride home at 5:30 the following Sunday morning. I had visited Skopje twice, Prilep, Bitola, Ohrid, some village I can't remember that we ate pastry at, Mavrovo, and Kucevo. I had made several new friends and seen more snow than I ever had before. I'd also been skiing and ice skating. It was a super great way to spend that lull in between holidays.

You'll have to excuse any misspellings. The names are Macedonian and I'm coming off three nights of dinner parties (everything is a party in Beograd) with my team. Trey turned a perfect 42 and Wilson turned an impressive 1. I have no pictures of these events. I do have a bruised toe from Kyle's feet of steel and a new box of assorted crazy Christmas ornaments because I won the game at Wilson's party. Thats all I have to show for my activities the last few days. Merry Second Christmas and beyond to us!

Want to see more Macedonian fun-ness? Look here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2518879613315.2110382.1293000428&type=1&l=f36ccb3c4d