Macedonia reminds me of...

Glenn and I managed to get "clear" skies for our flight to Macedonia, but it was obvious that the ash from the volcano had left its dirt in the clouds.

As we were rising to cruising altitude, we could see a layer of brown dust particles caught below the clouds. It looked like dirty clouds below the white fluffy ones.

The plane we were on had a total of 6 passengers, counting Glenn and me! Two were in first class, and one young man right in front of us, and one behind us, plus Glenn and me in row 5. The flights going north out of Budapest were still all cancelled; only those going south were able to fly.

We started out in the capital city of Skopje (pronounced scope-ya) for the first couple of days to visit with our families there.

We visited with Emily, the youngest of all the folks there in Skopje. We ate the most fantastic meal at an Italian restaurant called Henrico's!

We also visited with Gef, the most mature of our folks. She probably wouldn't mind me telling you how old she is because she is very "young for her age", but my daddy taught me you don't tell other peoples' ages. Let's just say she is very spry! She is Macedonian by birth and is an amazing lady! Even though she was raised in the U.S., her parents spoke Macedonian in the home so she is fluent in the language, and Gef came to visit relatives as she was growing up so she is quite familiar with the Macedonian culture.

Skopje is not like any other European capital city that we've visited before. It does not have the trappings of big cities with huge high-rises, modern facilities, and a well-developed public transportation system. It does not have the beautiful architecture of cities like Budapest, Vienna and Prague.

We saw a LOT of bikes!

There is one street that the folks call Plastic Alley. It is a street lined with shops selling all kinds of goods out on the front sidewalks, most of which are made of plastic. Sure reminds me of Daloa, Ivory Coast!

As in Ivory Coast, shops on the ground floor with apartments above.

U.S. Aid came to Skopje and put in a lot of money and effort into fixing up the river bank with miles of grassy areas and walking/jogging paths. It was beautiful! I wish Budapest had an area like this along the river that is a 20 - 30 minute walk from our house.

Along the streets were these huge trash bins where everyone is supposed to throw their personal trash for the city to haul away. Some trash makes it in. A lot doesn't.

After a couple of days in Skopje, we headed up to Prilep to pick up one of the families that would show us the way to the retreat, about 45 minutes outside of Prilep. Prilep is a quaint little town nestled at the base of a hill, and is the home of two of our families.

On the drive out to the retreat, we saw these rock walls near the top of one of the hills. I wonder when the fortress was built?

Macedonia is mainly rock.

This was the view out of our hotel room. Gorgeous, isn't it?

We stayed in Hotel Molinka. We were there with about 75 kids, probably about 10-12 years old, on a school field trip for the weekend. It is their "nature break".

This retreat really was a RETREAT! Most of the time when groups have a retreat, it is really meetings with each day starting with worship. We, however, didn't have any meetings! There were lots of times of worship, and Glenn led two sessions on Teaming and Communication, and then one with just the men on several issues that pertain to them particularly. I was supposed to lead the women in a session but I got the stomach virus that the Prilep team passed around the week before.

There were 4 couples and a single man that make up this team. Four ladies came from the U.S. as volunteers to keep the kids, and Glenn and me. A small but great group! Quality, not quantity.