Bird's Spot: Day 40 – 10/21/11 Friday

country side leaving Skopje

Bitola HERE I COME!

It’s Friday and it was off to Bitola. Buses here are a bit tricky here. You can be sure there will be some from town to town, the problem is there is no certain way to know when they are other than calling (takes language knowledge) and being there in person which doesn’t help in planning ahead. For the trip, I did go ahead and check the website just to get an idea of when buses should be passing in front of SEE-U that I could get on and ride to Skopje. Here you do not have to go to the station you can just wave one down! Well my morning went a bit longer than planned…

We had a speaker today at the University-"Building a Multi-ethnic State: a Post-Ohrid Challenge” that will be delivered by Ambassador Knut Vollebaek (OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities) it was very interesting to hear about where the country is on its relations between the ethnic groups. The overall feeling was that although relations seem to be better amongst the groups- no real dialogue is taking place, it is more like it is being brushed under the rug and ignored, making tensions greater. In some communites students still go to school in shifts by ethinc groups. The ambassador also spoke about the need to change from ethnicity defining who we are to having it be one part of who we are as well as our nationality or other groups we belong to. It was great information that I may not have heard in the community other wise.

... back to my trip to Bitola- The buses (according to the website) that would pass by SEE-U and head to Skopje were at 11:05, 11:30 and 12:30 (with more throught the afternoon) . I got to the front of the school at 11:30- too late, becasue the time is what time they are to be at the bus station in town, so you have to be there before that time to catch it. However there was a combi, so I put my bag in and began to wait for it to fill... by 11:47 there were only two of us, a male student and myself. BOO- this may take all day- however I knew that by 12:30 another bus should go by. I started to walk toward the road to watch and wave a bus down if it came by. Not 2 min later, my stuff was being moved to a smaller car, and the guys were arguing about something (language barrier AGAIN – ugh) but the kid and I were in a car and headed to Skopje. On our way out of town we picked up an older Albanian couple. It was very obvious they came from the farm, only because of the scent that came with them. I am not trying to be rude, just paint a picture. It was not so bad that I had to open a window, or needed a sprite to settle my stomach though!

It was off to Skopje, green machine in the trunk, and the cute one (my other carry-on bag) in my lap. At this point you should know that I did not know where in Skopje we were headed- and no one in the car spoke English- I just figured that as we got closer or stopped the first time, I would just say, “bus staion...?” As we drove I noticed that the driver seemed to be a very special and important guy! I say this because he did not see it necessary to pay the tolls as we passed through- just a little beep of the horn after... I did notice however that the toll booth workers didn’t seem to reconize him for his importance. They only looked at us very perplexed as we drove on through. Sure hope that doesn’t make me an accessory to a crime! Just kidding mom!

The older couple had a bag of Ruffles chips- Ketchup flavored- that they brought with them. After the man opened them with a pocket knife, he offered them to each of us in the car. Thanks to my Albanian classes I was able to say, “Falimenderit, jo” (Thank you, no).

The ride was silent but my head was spinning with how I was going to ask to go to the bus staion once in Skopje. Should I say, “autobus?” “autobus station?” Should it be with an accent or without? Should I use hand signals? This continued as we drove into Skopje, getting closer and closer to the center. I knew where I was but I also knew how far that meant we were from the bus station... unfortunately the driver pulled over. The kid started to pay and get his things together, the couple got out their money, it was my time to use what I had been practicing the whole trip, it was time to say something! “Bus station?” (no accent) quite stare back at me “Bus?” (no accent) silence again no response, “just here?” (no accent but gesture) Reponse!!! “here” Okay- this was the end of my trip- 120 denar and out I got.

As I walked away I saw before me what I had been warned about as far back as DC- the fast taxis. These taxis have no meters, no rules and crazy driving. NO I can’t be stuck like this- I mean it wasn’t prohibited but just not a reccommended choice of travel. I just kept walking and about 50 steps ahead there was a marked taxi- RADIO TAXI on the roof! I waved at him so he knew I was coming his way. I walked up and then the question again, accent or no? Bus or autobus? Station or no station?

“Bus station?” (only station had an accent with it) He shook his head yes and in I got! As we started to drive, he said to me “bus?” I said, “Yes, bus station” pause “then to Bitola” (in hopes he would know I was trying to get on a bus to leave the city and not just any bus but a certian one. He nodded and kept driving. We got to the station, I knew where I was, I had done this two weeks ago on our trip to Gostivar. I bought a ticket 470 denar – the lady that worked at the station spoke English! Out to platform 6 I went – I was going to make it! I got in a short line to put the green machine under the bus... but wait, they were exchanging money.. oh no, now what? Turn around and smile at the guy behind me and say “Do you speak English?” “Yes, I speak a little” Hallelujah! He explained it was 10 denar to check your bag under th bus. Whew- easy!

country side- there is bridge into the mountain

Between Bitola and Prilep

At 4:50 I arrived in Bitola and Lizzie and Justin were there waiting! My first impression before the sun goes down- beautiful city! Can’t wait to explore this weekend!

I do have to share dinner- mom had requested I try Sarma which is a traditonal Macedonian meal. I was happy to give it a try! We also had another great dessert- I had fried Macedonian Ice Cream. Pretty tasty! I also took a picture of the Tavche Gravche (a bean dish).