Day 222- Friday - 4/20/2012

I had the pleasure to entertain guests in Tetovo today! The morning started normal for a Friday, then I went to my Macedonian class (where I have an amazing teacher).  It was about mid afternoon and Daniel, Anjeanette and their 2 kids came from Skopje for the afternoon.  Daniel is on a Fulbright research grant here in Macedonia. This is the same family that I had the pleasure to celebrate Thanksgiving with!  They wanted to come and see the sights of Tetovo before the end of our Fulbright journeys.

Tetovo is not known for its tourist attractions. There are many things worth seeing, but not like a tourist city. However, in my 8 months of being here I had still not gone to one of the locations in the tour book in Tetovo, Arabati Baba Teke- Dervish Monastery. It is within the city and I had walked by the outside stone walls before, but I had not yet gone in.  This was to be our first stop!  The Arabati Baba Teke was built during the second half of the 18th century. Redzep and Abdurahman Pasha, a father and son were responsible for the building of the Teke as well as being involved in the construction of the Painted Mosque and the Fortress. The other theory is that Sersem Ali Baba began the construction. Today the Teke is a beautiful garden and walking area with beautiful buildings and religious objects. All of this surrounds the grave of Sersem Ali Baba.

In Arabati Baba Teke

The ceiling above the fountain

The fountain

More of the Teke

The Teke

Another building on the grounds

Following the Teke, the next stop was the Painted Mosque (Colored Mosque to some). I have seen this before, every time I walk to the center actually! But today I got to see it even closer up than before. The detail on this mosque is amazing and so very beautiful. Seeing it so close up was a view I had not yet seen it from.

The painting on the mosque

The next site was the Kale Fortress that over looks the city. Again I had been here before, even walked up it before. But today there was still great beauty that I had not seen before. I took a picture of the Saar Mountains in the distance with snow still on them. It was a different sight than the last time I was there!

Finally we went to dinner at Tivoli Restaurant. Which was a refreshing ending to a wonderful afternoon.


Lesson: Look for new beauties in everyday things.