I asked my mom what she wanted for Christmas and her request contained one item: that I write in my blog. Despite being privy to the going-ons of my life, she insists its necessity; gossip fodder for her and pals at work. She recently confessed to “stumbling” upon some of my old elementary and middle school journals. Decency would have insisted she leave them be, but nosey folk and mischievous rascals stay eager for news to pass on. Instead she took my observations to work to share with the gals in ICU. Sinvergüenza. I like that she really has zero shame about it and that I foresaw this happening and decided off the bat never to write anything too personal in it. Jokes on you mom!
For those of you who emailed after my well being and whereabouts: I’m here on planet Earth and I’m alive. Thank you for inquiring.
The last you heard from me, I was splashing about in Lake Orhid, having been one of 70 participants selected to attend the Preparing Global Leaders Institute 2014 session in Macedonia (FYROM). In between romps in the lake and boat rides over it, late nights in Struga, day walks in Bitola and Orhid, play time in Skopje and more ice-cream consumption than I care to admit, my fellow comrades and I underwent 14 days of intensive training in diplomacy and global leadership, primarily through lectures by (Dr.) Sam Potolicchio (whose intimidating bio can be read here), with sessions by foreign service officers/dignitaries, field specialists, educators and businesspersons scheduled throughout. The session concluded with a formal graduation ceremony held at the Macedonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The trip however didn’t end there.
With two days before our departure, Australia and I decided to squeeze in a side trip. Our choices were Sofia, Bulgaria and Thessaloniki, Greece. We decided on the latter. With the help of new friends I met at the main SDA church there in Skopje, I was able to secure our tickets for the first bus out the next day.
Greece
Thessaloniki from Skopje takes roughly 2 hrs and 45 mins by car. By bus, 4.5 hours. When we arrived we headed straight to our hotel, the Capsis Hotel Thessaloniki, located a convenient 4 blocks away. The plan was to drop our items and head out, but travel and social exhaustion struck us like a ton of bricks and nothing sounded better than sleeping. So sleep we did. Famished and desperate for a well-balanced meal* we meandered into town that evening. Day 14 concluded with a fine dinner at a charming restaurant somewhere in the center of the city. A congratulatory gift to ourselves.
Our goal was to chill at the beach on Day 15, but given that Thessaloniki’s a port city, a decent swimming beach would have been at least an hour away, two for a really good one I’d been told about. So we played tourists instead.
To maximize coverage of the ancient biblical city, my homegirl and I opted for the Hop On Hop Off Tour. According to the website, we were went by the White Tower, Archaelogical Museum, Agia Sofia, Agios Dimitrios, the byzantine Castles, Arch of Galerius, Aristotelous-square and the Port. While I remember seeing a majority of these, the strongest memory I can recall was me concentrating on not to passing out from the heat. Did I mention how hot Greece in August was? It was hot as s### hot; the devil farting out hell fire and brimstone hot, and it was sucking every ounce of life right out of me. (I’ve never been one for hot weather. My body doesn’t like it, I’m personally not fond of it and I don’t know how to dress for it–see images above. Give me rain, snow and gloom any day.)
At the end of the tour we managed to stagger our way to a some shops where purchases were made and then hoofed it back to our hotel. The rest of our afternoon was occupied with swimming and smoothies at the rooftop lounge (which I recognize sounds mega bougie :/), episodes of the Mindy Project, and re-packing for our bus ride and flight departure.
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*While I appreciated the vegetarian meal options provided during the session, by the end of it my system had hardened into lead. A good three months would pass before I was able to look at a piece of bread/starch. That’s also how long it took to lose the weight I put on.
Departures
The thing about traveling as a single female(s) is that sometimes you have to, as my pal Hallie from Down and Out in the EU so colorfully puts it, “chin-check a mother #%@&#^”. While sorting out our reserved tickets, I had the great displeasure of standing before a fellow who had zero regard for my personal space–conveniently as soon as there were no longer any other men around– to the point where he was all up in the transaction I was conducting with the service rep. The bus driver also wandered over at that precise time to nosey. Dudes caught the wrong ones that day and they found out real fast. Not one cast a glance our way the entire drive back.
Afterthoughts
I had only the faintest idea of what to expect going into the program. By the end of it I was left completely blown away. If I had to describe the experience in one word, from the organizers (Angela, Ivana, Dimitar, Arben and Emilija) to the curriculum and my peers from around the world, “remarkable” would be it. Little did I know what effects it would have…
Joyous Abroad 