А Warm PC Welcome

Good news everyone! So it would appear that I have made it safely to my home country and what an excellent adventure it has been so far. Since I am not an experienced blogging person, I am just going to sum up each leg of this journey so far for all of your viewing pleasure.

So Friday morning I departed from the lovely Cleveland Hopkins Airport, flying solo, to Washington D.C. for our Peace Corps staging... overall it was a really nice flight, but I was shocked when I asked for a can of pop (or soda, depending on wherever the hell you're from) and they said no because it was not included in my flight... So I am thinking, "uh... excuse me, what?? You mean to tell me that my two hour flight has no snacks, and no beverages? Why was my ticket $340 dollars then?" I'm legitimately shocked about the quality of service from American based airline companies. It really saddens me to see them so worried about their cost to cut these kinds of services.

I know I know, FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS!

So upon arrive at DC, we begin setting about going through all the checking in, paperwork, and all that jazz. However, I was pleasantly to be handed a pre-paid Visa card for $120 dollars to cover all 'traveling and incidental expenses incurred while in DC and traveling to our host country.' Score. Luck would also have it that I met some very cool people at staging, including my awesome roommate from Missoula, MT, who all have the same life philosophy about good beer, good bars,  good company, and no judgement.

So our flights from the states were relatively painless. Normally flying gives me extremely terrible anxiety... One of the few ways I cope with it is being able to look out the window, however sometimes that can make it even worse during patches of turbulence. I know the wings are designed to take crazy amounts of stress and are flexible, but I would rather not test the limits of that flexibility.. So we flew from Dulles International airport to Vienna, Austria... and lucky for me I was able to grab a cozy window seat for the 9 hour flight. Of course, unlike normal folks, I could not sleep at all on the plane so I just started out at the nothingness, that is the Atlantic Ocean at night for the duration of the flight.

Anyways, I digress. So we made it to Skopje's Alexander the Great Int'l Airport. So there's that, which is always great when you make it to your destination with no mishaps. I was relatively surprised at how absolutely beautiful their airport was. It is very small, only 14 gates at the maximum, but its been completely remodeled, and is very clean. We felt very special upon arrival as there was a small contingent of Peace Corps volunteers waiting for us at the airport with signs. It was all very nice!

So from the airport, we traveled to where our orientation week will be taking place, which is a lovely town called Kumanovo (Куманово), where we are hosted in a great hotel. Some grace of the Gods has granted my roommate and I to have the largest hotel room in the entire place, so I suppose I should feel spoiled by all these added luxuries.... but I must tell myself to prepare for future hardships to come. There is no doubt that they are out there, plotting to come down on me at exactly the worst possible time. There was a dinner provided and some beverages, tea, and of course our first taste of Macedonian beer. Скопско! Overall, it resembles a Heineken, but tastes significantly less like an ass. In fact I may love this beer because of its hilarious website that states all the positive health effects of drinking a glass of beer including but not limited to reducing blood clots, protecting against thrombosis, and lowering cholesterol. My favorite line however must be:

"A glass of good beer is an excellent solution for all those who wish to relax!"

Well played Skopsko, well played.

Tomorrow begins a fun week of training, and I hope I can update this fancy internet word document during that time and upload some photos. I also  hope to be able to go out and explore the town! Today was pretty wasted because I felt on the verge of collapse due to severe jet lag and minor alcohol withdrawal. However, I like to leave you all with this lovely picture courtesy of one of the current Macedonian volunteers of our arrival to Kumanovo!

Workin' that crowd! Such a friendly welcome after the long, stressful, and exhausting journey that has been the past few days. I hope this upcoming day I will be more alive and able to socially interact with more of the volunteers to learn about all the great things they have experienced and gain some great wisdom!