Aaaaand I'm back...

Yup, I'm back in case you haven't noticed and I had a pretty good time. No stress there like I have here, lots and lots of love from loving relatives which was definitely warm and comfy, lots of cheap stuff (10 denars, roughly 20 US cents, for an ice cream cone), beautiful plant life even in one's backyard, much friendlier people (even total strangers were nicer than my own next-door neighbor back here), misty mountains, horses and other livestock, cafés, kiosks, minarets, Cyrillic signs and billboards, the cleanest river I've ever seen, a white stray labrador-mix that would always hang around just in front of my gate...and of course...my brother's wedding.

I got to play video games and Uno with relatives, I got to go horseback riding with my cousin's horse, Zokmon, in the mountains, I saw many varieties of plants and herbs in the mountains (there were even fields full of St. John's Wort plants), I would often play with the stray dog outside our house even though my mom kept telling me not to because of possible lice, all my relatives my age would walk me through town to eat at restaurants and shop at some stores with lots of extremely low-priced yet decent goodies, and every time I slept I would keep my window open to let the cool breeze of the river flow into my room...much better than a loud air conditioner.

This time I had my own home to live in, unlike previous visits where I had to stay in a guest room of someone else's house. One thing I like about this house is that it's right along the Vardar river which cools pretty much everything in its vicinity. Another thing I like is that it's just across the river from where one of my aunts live. Although the exterior has yet to be plastered with stucco, the inside is beautiful. Lots of fruit-bearing trees too. The houses of eastern Europe or perhaps most of Europe in general are made of bricks and concrete instead of 2x4's and sheetrock making them cool in the summer and warm in the winter-yet another thing I like about living there.

Goodness, I haven't even gotten to the part of my brother's wedding yet! Throughout the few days prior to the ceremony, many of our relatives would come over our place and we would dance around in our backyard. This isn't the kinda dance you'd see in a dance club or a banquet, it's basically everyone joining hands in a circle and moving counter-clockwise while moving your feet in a funny pattern. The night of the wedding itself was kinda hectic but fun. Couldn't complain about the food either. I stayed out a lot to cool off because it would get hot and smokey inside since Albanians smoke a lot. Then of course came my favorite part: the bride cutting the cake. Could've tasted a little better though. The whole wedding lasted until 4-frickin'-AM and the music was deafingly LOUD...seriously, everyone's ears were ringing by the time it was all over, but all in all, I had a good time dancing, eating, and seeing everyone there. For those of you interested, you can see one of my brother's wedding pics here.

I got to learn a chunk of Albanian while talking with my relatives although I could've learned more. The language barrier between us still makes conversations a hassle but it is getting thinner so I hope to become more fluent in my home language the next time I visit.

Most of the cafés were pretty cool and alcoholic beverages were virtually nonexistant on the menus. I was relieved to see that since I can't stand beer-guzzlers... The food they served were good, though they put cabbage instead of lettuce on the burgers, they put mayonnaise on the fries, and they even put ketchup and mayonnaise on one type of pizza! They had many different types of pizza there and the kind we're familiar with (sauce and mozzarella) is actually known as Margarita pizza in most other parts of the world.

As for that stray dog (one of my neighbors called her 'Liki'), she was so cute and obedient that she seemed like she would be an ideal pet. The reason nobody owned her was probably because she had scoliosis. She had a curved spine and she would sometimes have trouble walking though that didn't stop her from being active at times. She was pregnant during the first couple of weeks then disappeared. 3 days later she was back in front of my gate, this time without a puffed belly. I wondered what happened to her pups...most dogs usually stay with their pups from birth until they're mature enough to find their own food. I figured that she must've had a miscarriage probably due to complications from her scoliosis and/or malnutrition. *sigh* We grew so attached to each other that it was almost as if she were really my pet... I would've brung her here if I had the chance...

The plane rides to and fro were fun getting to look at everything from above the clouds although the takeoffs and landings made me feel a tad queasy. I got to watch movies like Titan A.E., Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events, Brother Bear, and some Discovery Channel documentaries.

So...here I am back home again. Still got some unpacking to do as well as some cleanup around the house due to both lack of maintenance and my cat being an ass (my neighbor kept him well-fed so he didn't starve though now I wish he had...) Too bad I don't have any other pictures to show you yet. I should get those in about a week or so. If anyone has any questions about my trip, feel free to ask. ^_^

Now if you'll excuse me...time to hit the sack...jet lag...kicking in...... ZZZZZZzzzzzz.........

-- Sam the Methid Man