Think back...

Once again a day off doubts, where should i go? when? why? what do i want? Maybe I am a little tired. Up to now, i am just moving from place to place, making friend just as fast as i loose them.

So i think... i sort of know what i want and what i left for. To be surprised! To discover cultures, people, history and myself. To get away from a job and an European life... but all this is reallya one and only thing... Traveling.

And i believe I am succeeding, i traveled, i met loads of people from all horizons, from farmers to models, journalists to engineers, rich and poor, beautiful and strange, extremists and religious... From drivers from all over the Balkans, i heard stories about the past, the present and the future. Stories of War, of survival, of personal life destinies, both the most beautiful and saddest. I learned a great deal about the Balkan culture: history, dresses, customs, traditions, music, food, vines, beers... and also a little about myself. Fortunately there is much more to learn.

There were also the breath taking landscapes and moments such as the hike in Durmitor with Alain, the Croatian coast, the rainbow experience... And sunrises over dusty plains, mountains or lacs. Magnificent sunsets on the Baltic sea. Again, fortunately, there is much more to see.

Still this day i have doubts, i feel i need a rest so i try to make plans about were. All these things that passed in front of me or that i passed in front of... it all went so fast – and i am really satisfied that i took the time to write them down to help me remember. Maybe that is why I decide it is time to settle down a while, rent a flat, make my own food, make longer term friends, get a rhythm, maybe get a small job. I also decide to start writing more elaborate articles and try to get them published in some paper. Just to give my trip one more goal. For all this i pick Istanbul, it will get me one foot into Orient and let me time to discover this huge city.

You may laugh looking at the map... yes this happened a month ago and i am writing this in Skopje still 800 kms away... Well once again, great things happened and i am not quite there yet...

So that was more or less what was on my mind that day. I then sat down in the the majors secretary's office to make some skype calls. Quite a funny feeling sitting at this desk after closing time, something impossible in France. After about an hour of conversations, a man looks trough the door, he is slightly drunk, looks at me with his glowing eyes and walk towards me with unsure steps... He sits down next to me, looks at me, at my screen and just smiles. Even though he is not interfering or disturbing in a direct way, i feel uneased and say goodbye to my brother. I then talk with the drunk and as we leave, he insists on closing the office behind us.

No pictures for today... a coupl emore from yesterday:

Gramsh factories 2