Strolling in Struga...

Yesterday I returned from a conference in Struga, Macedonia.
Struga is located near the Albanian border in the central part of the country. It's a nice town on the large Lake Ohrid.

The conference was for TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). I might do some English courses or discussion groups and had hoped to get some tips or strategies from the sessions. I did get some ideas but most of the sessions were geared toward advanced students. The session on Modal Verbs was fun. I have come to realize that I am a bit of dork. I like grammar.

I am getting better at doing something like traveling to another country without any plans or information. Things just work out (mostly because they have to but you gotta put a positive spin on it). For example, luckily I had looked at a map of the city and knew the hotel conference location. We took a taxi from the border to the hotel and then went to the center of town in search of a bank and possibly cheaper accomodations.



Near the end of the pedestrian shopping street, we came across a tourist map/sign. As we stood there searching for some guiding information, a woman came up to us and asked if we needed any help. Not wanting to miss such a wonderful offering of assistance, I told her that we were looking for a bank, a place to eat, and a cheap hotel. Realizing that it was a bit much to ask a stranger for all this, I also threw in the option of the local Tourist Info office (the lady said that she worked in hospitality in the city, I thought she might know all of this). Perhaps a little overwhelmed at my requests or just plain scared by the site of the three of us, she told us to wait there. She would return after purchasing some apples. After 10 minutes, which is enough time to doubt the return of someone just buying apples, she did in fact come to our aid. We mentioned that we were PC volunteers and we were here for a conference. At this point, she said that she too was a volunteer and that we could stay at her place. Sweet!

She was a great host. She took us to a local bar that played great music, helped us order at restaurant, and we even cooked a meal at her apartment.

Despite the constant rain, the miscommunication over the conference fee (we thought it was free, they informed us it was $65), and the complete lack of speaking Macedonian, we had a good weekend.

Plus Macedonia has all these little cars leftover from it's Yugoslavian days. They're awesome. I want one.