Monday Monday, Can't Trust That Day

Oh my. My weekend was nothing like I expected. Friday evening, I met Bea after work. I have not seen her in almost 2 months. Everything is the same as it was two months ago. This is good news, although I must admit that when Bea asked me if anything was new, it was a bit embarrassing to say that not only is nothing new, I don't exactly do anything when I am not at work. Trust me, no one wants to hear about your recent knitting project unless they knit. They certainly don't need the play by play of the TV shows I watch, while knitting said project. Do you see my dilemma? Small talk is increasingly difficult for me since my life is so quiet. No funny recent stories, no crazy interactions with men wearing fanny packs, nothing like that. Well, for once, I actually have something to report from my weekend. Friday night, after meeting Bea, Dao and I met and decided to go to the Cuban restaurant on the river. We splurged and got not only a mojito (delicious), but split an arugula salad with a warm balsamic vinaigrette and a main course of fillet mignon. Oh my was the steak delicious. I haven't had actual steak since I moved here. They made it medium rare, seasoned it with sea salt...oh my. It was extravagant, yet totally worth it. There were a couple US Marines at the restaurant so they came and sat at our table after a while. This are the first non-Peace Corps related Americans I have met. After awhile, Dao and I went to Shankly's, a proper British Pub owned by a Brit who love Liverpool Football Club (hence the name) and the Marines went home. Dao knows the owner of Shankly's, David, and we met the new manager. As it turns out, David is moving to Belgrade and the new manager has decided that Dao and I are VIPs. We find out that Saturday night is salsa night so at this point, Dao and I decide that we will make dinner, then become salsa dancers the next evening.

Saturday finds me back at Dao's apartment after a lengthy chat with Manuel on skype. I started my new knitting project, Boban's scarf, which is black so you can't see the pattern. I like how it changes up so it doesn't matter that much to me that you cannot see my handiwork. Dao was dog sitting so we took the dog, Brza (speedy or fast in Macedonian) on a nice long walk by the Vardar river. I really want a dog. Brza and I snuggled on the couch, watched TV, read, talked to my parents on skype and then Dao and I made a fabulous dinner. Do you like how it sounds like I am actually the cook?! Ha! Dao is a fabulous cook and I am simply her sous chef. At around 22:00, we went to Shankly's looking beautiful and ready to baila (dance!)! At Shankly's, we were introduced to Americans who frequent the place. As it turns out, they are the contractors building the new Embassy. I met a Macedonian named Christian and he and I had a fun time salsa dancing it up. After Shankly's, it was decided that the contractors, Dao and I would go to the Hard Rock Club. This is the out door club I went to with Bea a couple months ago. You will not even guess who I ended up talking to at this club. Picture this: techno music, open sky, dressed to impress and Macedonian Bikers. Yes, you read correctly. The contractors knew this Macedonian biker and his friends at the club so I ended up chatting with one for a while. Thank God my home town is frequented by bikers. My roots came in handy. But I still cannot get over that we are in a dance club and there are bikers in their leather vests hanging out there. Aren't there rock bars? Dao and I ended up not staying long because we were tired so we went back to her place, walked the dog and went to sleep.

Sunday was a lazy day of dog walking, cooking, knitting, reading and TV. We made a delicious dinner of seafood pasta and eggplant. I ended up staying at Dao's again and this morning, I took a cab to work. En route to work, my cab was pulled over by the police. Awesome! The thing is, I am not sure why. This was one of the better cab drivers I have had. He wasn't accelerating through red lights or driving like a jerk, on the sidewalk, etc. So I am sitting in the cab, wondering how we will negotiate the price of my ride - I don't think I should have to pay for him being pulled over. Eventually, my cab driver re-enters the cab, starts the meter over (whew!) and tells me he has just been fined 300 Euros for being the second car through the intersection. I think I am missing some of the story here. But that is what I understood. Then, to make matters even more strange, we're driving down the street of my work when there is an accident in the dead middle of the intersection between a moped and a car. Thankfully, it did not appear anyone was seriously injured, but now I am wondering what other strange things await me this day. My cab getting pulled over and seeing an accident in a matter of 10 minutes is odd. Let's hope the oddity ends there.

Tonight is talking with my Gramma for the first time since mid-May (I am so excited!) and then home cooked baked fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. Can you believe the extravagance?!