The Twilight Zone

  How much time travel did we do? It seems that Denmark and Poland are in the same so called Time Zone. What about Hungary and Macedonia? I don’t even know. It doesn’t even matter until we have to be on a plane. I miss my watch that I left behind in Cedar City, Utah in the United States of America. But I have to admit, I haven’t needed it much. I had to turn off my cell phone and turn it back on. It’s supposed to reset it to local time, right? So it appears to be 7:17pm. Actually 19:27. I’m getting used to this 24 hour clock. Back home I called it military time and it drove me nuts. It makes more sense. You don’t have to do extra calculating to figure out if someone is saying AM or PM. Do they mean 10 Ante Meridian, or 10 Post Meridian? (I finally looked it up, and we are still in the same time zone as Denmark, even though my computer still tells me Cedar/Samara time. It's both 12:25pm and 18:25pm, but don't get me started on time travel/dimensions).

  This morning we were up early. We had to clear out the apartment we were renting. You know how it is when you are moving? That last night when you have to empty the fridge and pack up the last things, and clean up every little thing. We have gone through that every time we stay at a hotel, and every time we leave a family home or rented apartment. I was going to try and count how many times we’ve done that since September 2^nd of last year, but it’s too tedious of a process. On Friday it will be 9 months since we left our apartment. We settled in Costa Rica for 7 months, and the rest has been on the go.

  So it’s my first sunset in Macedonia. Very pretty here in Skopje. We are in a valley of rolling green hills, surrounded by the Balkan mountains. Are they all Balkan? I will have to look it up. Travel is more intensely interesting when you do some research. I’m thankful for the internet and its ability to answer my millions of questions so efficiently. Things like learning about the 1963 earthquake in Skopje (where we are now) that took out 80% of this city. The whole place was rebuilt with a lot of international aide. This area was part of Yugoslavia until 1991. I’m in a country that is as old as my first son Seth. Strange to think of it that way. Now the language is called Macedonian. What was it called before? Maybe a Yugoslavian dialect? A lot has to happen when you start a country. I can’t imagine the process.

  We are wrapping up today by watching the Discovery channel and feeling a bit of chill in the air. We’re quite happy, Skopje has many English channels with subtitles. We never had so many options since September 1^st. We watched two channels during our month stay in Poland, and they were travel channels. We watched zero TV in Budapest, we explored so much we were never sitting around. I wish I had a month there! We just went crazy with wanting to take it all in. Everywhere I go I don’t want to just see things I’ve never seen before, I want to try and absorb the whole essence of the city and country.

  It’s also a constant first day of moving. Where you get off the plane or train and take your first look around. Get your first glimpse of your new reality. Today we drove up to the new apartment complex, and I tried to take it all in. Then I walked into the apartment to see what I’ve got myself into. This one is one of those nervous times, because we signed up for the next month. This place is big and cute. It has 2 bedrooms and a great kitchen/dining room/living room space. It’s a corner unit and has 2 good views.

  The airport and plane ride were uneventful. The main event was getting from the airport to the new apartment. It’s always awkward when we get into a new country and need internet, and the ability to make a phone call. Travel makes me learn. Sometimes I need to re-learn things like the difference between the world wide web and the internet. It’s a different world order when you have access to the internet. It can translate a sign for me, it can tell Ron what bus to take and how many stops before we need to get off. It can’t tell you how much to trust the guy who insists on giving you a ride to your new place, and hovers over you for 15 minutes while you try and make some decisions. I was nervous about this big guy, but he turned out to be legitimate. Whew. It was an ordeal for me, though. We went and checked out a close by store (another taxing event) and then after a snack I passed out on the bed. There was no way I was staying awake. This city is odd because I don’t stand a chance with the language. They have letters I recognize, and some that I don’t. I’m pretty sure there isn’t a lot of English spoken here. I’m ready to be wrong though. The cab driver and the person we’re renting from – both speak good English. I can only imagine what tomorrow will bring.