Meeting Friends at Enriko's

It's hard to believe I've been back in country for only 2 weeks... my time in the US seems so long ago already. One of the things I missed while in the US was meeting friends for coffee or breakfast/lunch at a little place called "Eriko's." It's tucked away in the Leptokarija shopping center, around the corner from "Gringos" (lol) and on the opposite end from Tutunska.

For you Californians, I'm sure this name makes you imagine all sorts of Mexican cuisine. Sorry, this restaurant, though it's decor and menus boast African/tribal themes, the food is all Italian... Macedonian-style. :)

The atmosphere is quaint and inviting with seating both indoors and outdoors and the servers always polite and helpful. The food... well, let's just say that they make the BEST pepperoni pizza on the PLANET! (No, I'm not exaggerating.) Not too much sauce or cheese, lots of real pepperoni and the most amazing crust ever.

Other favorites include what's called the "Enriko Breakfast" and is the perfect blend of flavors; the fruit salad that's always changing according to the season, but always flavorful; and rich coffee that always comes with a small piece of homemade chocolate. I've never tried their pastas, but as the pasta itself looks like it's made from scratch I imagine it's great too!

The best thing about Enriko's, though, is to enjoy this atmosphere and meals with friends. I've had the pleasure of going a couple times now with two different friends. One friend & colleague and I had a "girls days" that consisted of a trip to our favorite hair-stylist and then heading out to lunch. We enjoyed a great time catching up on each others lives and continuing to build on the friendship. The other friend is a relatively new one. I'd met her just before I went to the US and this was out first day hanging out since I got back. Enriko's was again a great place to go and hang out and chat, while enjoying some of the best food Skopje has to offer. =)

It's great to be back in Mac!

[My apologies for how much like a commercial this sounds! That was so not intentional!]

Macedonia

Some entertaining, insightful and interesting videos on Macedonian life and culture including:

• reading coffee grounds & superstition
• a deserted village
• life in Macedonian prisons
• betting in sports cafe's
• ghosts riding in taxis
• grave faces

Thanks to a Dutch friend of mine who recently forwarded me the link to this site! They're in Macedonian with English subtitles and I highly recommend checking them out.

An Autumn Day in Skopje

Saturday is usually my day to cook, clean and do laundry, but I got a bit distracted on the way to the market because it was simply a gorgeous day. It seems most of the city got sidetracked as well as the walking street and surrounding restaurants and cafes were literally teaming with people enjoying the warm "Gypsy Summer" day. I found myself enchanted by the activity:

• the light cool breese sending colored leaves descending towards the cobblestone
• fathers carrying their young children on thier shoulders
• friends walking arm-in-arm and laughing about some inside joke
• the young couple stealing a kiss underneath a majestic tree colored in greens, yellows and oranges
• a group of young adults carrying signs offering "Free Hugs" to passersby
• the strains of the theme song from "The Last of the Mohicans" giving melody to days activity by men in native dress
• the venders selling fresh roasted chestnuts, mini-krofni (aka "American" donuts) sprinkled with powdered sugar and chocolate surrip, or hand-crafted jewelry, belts, or tourist items
• a little girls surprise when her balloon pops and her mothers reassurance that she'd get her another one
• the news crew setting up to interview the "Free Hug" kids and to take video of the general activity of the day

What a beautiful day is was here in the city.

Ramadan: Cafe's at Iftar

On Tuesday I went up to Kosovo to give some training in Quickbooks as well as to help set up a Quicken account (eek) for another colleague. The training went really well and the time seemed to fly by.... yet we worked at the details for a good 6 hours! Afterwards I enjoyed a grilled chicken kabab dinner with colleages before heading out with the girls to a cafe around 7pm.

Iftar (the breaking of the days' fast) was after sundown about 6:40, so when we arrived at the cafe it was pretty much deserted. My friends said that normally it's impossible to find a place in the cafes--especially at this time of night. But since everyone was with their families enjoying Iftar, we had our pick of the place.

Now here's something funny. Because it's such a busy place some people will actually call ahead and reserve a table. Well, like I said the place was empty when we got there, however there were several "reserved" signs on the different tables. When one of my friends asked about it they guy responded, "Oh, it's reserved for you!" lol.

As the night got later people began to show and the place did fill up (as the music increased in volume as well, moving from a mello jazz mix to a typical techno beat). What was interesting to me, though, was the cigarrette vendors who'd made the rounds through the cafe a good dozen times while we were there. Smoking is one of the things that people fast from during the daylight hours, so I imagine those vendors had quite the hoppin' business once the sun went down.

It's funny, but I don't go to Kosovo that often, but I always do seem to be there at some point during Ramadan (or Ramazan). This trip was no different. In fact, I'll be going up again right at Bajram (the ending of the months' fast) at the end of the month to help with closing out the books. I'm a little excited to be there at that time as from what I hear it's like a big holiday celebration with lots of baklava. :)

GCF Walk: Blues Brothers & Little Gems

He looked at my camera, shrugged his shoulders, and said with a note of amazement: "This is the first time I am seeing these paintings." Zoran, my market guy, was really surprised to find out that they were only a small block away from his store in an alley off of a main street he drives every day to go to work.

Truth-be-told, I've walked and driven by that alley hundreds of times, knew the "Blues Brothers" caricatures were there, but never really paid attention to them. How easily we miss the little gems right in front of us because we're so quick to get from point A to point B!

As I've mentioned before, this GCF Walking has been good for me in that I've been more observant of the things around me. One of the things I've noticed a lot of is graffiti and random pieces of artwork. So, in preparation for my next tally I thought the "Blues Brothers" caricatures would be good ones as they were cool-looking and fit with my graffiti theme for my tally updates...

Imagine my astonishment to enter the alley and to find these gems of art right next to them! How did I miss them all these years?? There was a sign for "Blues Brothers" next to a door and I wondered if this was in fact a blues cafe or something. That brings us back to showing the pictures to my market guy, Zoran. He wasn't even aware of these paintings' existence nor that of the club. Needless-to-say he's intrigued and says he's going to investigate and get back to me about what he finds. What fun if it turns out to be a blues/jazz music club.

Again, like myself, Zoran has passed by this alley for years and never noticed these little gems that have been there all along. As I think of my life lately, how busy I've been in the office, how many late nights and how many rushed transits to work, I wonder how many gems I may have passed by in regards to people, relationships, etc? Just a little food for thought.

On another note, though, I have to say that I'm really thankful for locals like Zoran and his wife who teach me so many things about the language and culture as we interact every day. Would you join me in praying for them? Thanks.

*******

These past two weeks I've only been able to walk minimally due to heat, work responsibility, etc. I was able to drive a good bit, but now that the city's filling back up and parking spaces are once again non-existent at my apartment, my driving days are once again on hiatus. :(

All that said, here's the tally:

8.5 miles walking, 12 driving, Week's savings: $14.98
Sub-total for August: $23.43 and counting

Thanks for walking this walk with me.

The Illinden Uprising

Most of the time the first clue I have that a big holiday or commemoration is coming up are the flags posted on the light poles all around town. For this weekend, though, I didn't need the flags to tell me that the anniversary of the 1903 Illinden Uprising was on Saturday, August 3rd. This is because it's one of the major political holidays here in Macedonia.

The uprising began in an area known as Illinden near Bitola and was solidified with rebels taking the town of Krushevo and the raising of a red flag. There in that town the people issued what's known as the "Krushevo Manifesto" declaring that "we have today raised our heads and decided to defend ourselves with rifles in our hands from our and your enemies, and obtain freedom." (quote from Macedonia FAQ.) They seized control from the Turks for 10 days, before being summarily crushed and the city burned. This event, while it ended in defeat at the time, is commemorated today as a significant step in ultimately breaking free from the 500-year hold of the Ottoman Empire.

Five years ago I was here during the 100 year anniversary of Illinden, but being "fresh off the boat" so-to-speak, I didn't really realize the significance of this particular event. Now that I've been here for just about six years it makes a lot of sense that one of the major streets through the city is named after this event... this event is a milestone for the people here with regards to freedom and autonomy.

As most people time their personal vacation time around the extra days off afforded by this holiday, the city was pretty quiet this weekend. Even the coffee-bars that tend to play loud pounding techno-music into the wee hours of the morning seemed insead to be playing the tune of the cricket's hind-legs. The loudest noise of the holiday weekend came from the fireworks on Saturday, Illinden, which I enjoyed from my cozy balcony. The biggest festivities on this weekend were actually at the lake-side venue of Ohrid for August's "Hot Summer Nights" with the likes of Lenny Kravitz performing... As for me I enjoyed the quiet weekend at home catching up on the sleep I'd missed out on this past week due to late nights at the office. :)

Cafe's & Coffee-Bars

This city is a very social city and especially on these summer nights you'll find people crowded around the outdoor tables in the numerous coffee-bars around town enjoying their drinks, conversations and the (sometimes) cooler late evening temps. In fact, there's a whole strip of restaurants and coffee-bars nestled under huge shady trees along the Vardar river where the Povardarska breeze (like the Deltra Breeze of the Sacramento valley) can temper the hot summer nights. There is also at least one coffee-bar that appeals to young families as it has a huge playroom for the kids... and serves a wonderful macchiato and relaxing ambiance for the parents.

My language teacher once commented to me that the coffee-bars tend to have English names and over the years I've noticed the trend. Names like "Hemingway," "Light," "Green House," and "Soho." Sometimes I do wonder at the names given, though, like "Bummerang" and "Pub Porta." Is it just me or does it just not seem right to go sit and have a coffee at the Porta Pub??

:::::Language lesson alert:::::

There is also a bookstore cafe called, "Magor Books." Now for those English speakers, that would be pronounced "major" but here it's spelled with a "g" because in Macedonian that's what makes the "dzuh" sound. The "j" here is pronounced like our "y" or "yuh." Confused yet? Well, lets put that principle to work on the cities name, Skopje. How do you think it's pronounced? Is it Skop-gee (with a short "o") or Skopyeah (with a long "o"). It's the later. No worries, though, until I came here I was pronouncing it the first way as well. ;)

:::::end language lesson:::::

There is one cafe, though, that is most like our Starbucks, imported beans and all, called "Broz." It's a popular place and is named after Marshall Tito. Inside the cafe the urban decor would rival even that of "Central Perk" and comes complete with old-style picture-sketches of ancient heroes on the wall (sadly they wouldn't let me take a picture so you'll just have to imagine it).

As this is one of the few places in town where you can get a cup-o-joe-to-go I made a point of stopping by this morning on my walk to work. Ahh... that chilled mocha in a styrofoam cup was so refreshing. I also purchased some of the imported beans and as I type this I'm sitting at my desk, getting ready to dive into another full day of bookkeeping and enjoying a cup of freshly ground columbian roast.

Ahhh. Now I'm ready to jump into the books. :)

Speaking of coffee, ordering a coffee here is not as complicated as in the US. Here there is one size, only a handful of choices and shared space (meaning no lines). A friend in Paraguay blogged quite eloquently about her recent re-entry experience in the US and the "simple" task of ordering a coffee. Judging by the number of comments there's a lot of us who can relate! :) [She's a great blogger to, so I thought I'd share.] :)

Thank you again for walking with me as we live this call together.

Day 16: $46.51 and counting.

Hotaps & The Pentagon Cafe

On one of my first days of walking I came across a cafe named, "Pentagon." Macedonian's like the US right now because of the support for their constitutional name, but really? Naming a cafe after, well, the Pentagon? Perhaps they're catering to the influx of embassy workers (the new embassy is huge). But then I saw that even the tables were in the shape of pentagon's and the chairbacks reminded me of the building in DC as well. Heck even the brickwork, though 6-sided, seemed to fit with the theme! When I saw that I laughed out loud.... and pulled out my camera. My colleague suggested that if the cafe's not named after the Pentagon that perhaps it got its name from the cool-looking tables the owner found in a furniture store. You know, that's probably more likely. I'm intrigued and half tempted to stop there for a coffee and strike up a conversation with the barrista just to find out which it is. ;)

Since I already had my camera out, I also took this picture showing a "Нотар" sign. Now as you just read that did the pronunciation go something like: hoe-tap? And did you think perhaps it was a hotel? Actually, it's written in Cyrillic, so the sign really says, "Notar." Surprise! Another sign you'll see a lot of around town is "Ресторан." "What's a Pek-toe-paaa?" you ask? Well, it's a place you eat at. Again, with the Cyrillic letters it's actually pronounced, "restoran." Things like this make reading signs loads of fun and I must confess that I quite enjoy referring to them as hoe-taps and pek-toe-paa's. ::::mischievous snicker:::: ;)

By now you're probably realizing that even though I tease about things with tongue in cheek, that I do so in love as I really do enjoy it here. As I walk the city streets and take in the sites and sounds, the culture moves just that much more deeply into my heart. I love that there are Pektopa's and Pentagon cafes... it adds to the charming character of this lovely city. And of the people? Well, I cannot say enough or speak more highly. I will say this, though, that as I walk the streets my heart and prayers turn more often towards them. :)

Thank you for sending me here to the Balkans and for walking and praying with me.

Day 12: $37.71 and counting.

The Tongue King: a little tongue-in-cheek

In honor of Euro 2008 and with tongue firmly planted in cheek, I'd like to share with you about Lällekönig (aka The Tongue King of Basel, Switzerland)... Basel being one of the venues for the football (aka soccer) finals.

"And there is the tongue king," Val stated proudly while gesturing towards the figure prominently perched upon the "Greater Basel" building with its' gaze and... er... tongue projected across the Rhine towards "Lesser Basel."

Seriously?? I thought she was kidding at first, but, no, there he was looking like a cat with a hairball or rather a dog with peanut butter! Apparently there's quite a rivalrous history between two sides of Basel... obviously... I mean, one side went so far as to mount a mechanical head in 1640(!) that uses a clock mechanism to constantly roll its' eyes and stick it's tongue out at the other side. I wonder if the designers snickered mischeviously? I wonder if they had any clue that it would still be there almost 400 years later?!?! (See video at end of blog... ok, it's a replica, but the original is in a museum.)

Oh please... :::gasping for breath::: give me a moment while I have a laughter break and can't type.

OK, in honor of Euro 2008, let's take it out of the historical city rivalry realm and put it onto the soccer... er... football field... Each night I hear the passionate "YEEAAAAHHH!!!" cheers or disappointed "ohhhh!!"s from the dozen or so coffee/sports-bars around my apartment building... and I can always tell who the locals are rooting for and who they are... uh... sticking their tongue out at.

Last night they were disappointed that Russia lost to Spain... and before that when Turkey lost to Germany (yet they cheered for Croatia against Turkey... hmm..). Makes me wonder who they'll cheer or jeer for this Sunday at the finals.

Anyways, thanks for joining me in the stretch of an attempt to tie the "Tongue King" to the Euro Finals. Now enjoy the video of the Lällekönig and laugh with me. :)