Hitching to Struga

I decide to finally leave Skopje. I is late, i pack my bag, it is even later, i get on the bus it is to late to get started but who cares, i will make it. It is about 1pm when i am on the bus and see this very familiar face... I know i have had beers and stupid talk with this man but it takes me a little while until i remember it was back in Switzerland at sat. He is doing an internship here for two month now and is also having a great time, traveling around a little bit. Thinking back about it now i remember i was not agreeing on everything with him and well, i still don't do :) but it is a pleasure to meet him and talk for a couple minutes on this bus in Skopje!
I get of my bus right at the edge of the city, a real good spot to hitchhike. And soon a car stops, an apprentice cop speaking perfect German picks me up as it start to rain more and more. Guess where he learn German? on tv once again. Subtitled series (Derrick?? hehe) and action movies make a much better job than teachers in France. He s speaking about how shitty corruption is in this country, how bad his pay is and the usual stuff. I got it already but hearing it once more sort of has the opposite effect. Maybe these guy are really not so unlucky, they are just complaining a lot. Anyway, it is late now as i am writing this and i wont say to much about this. It is something i talked about a lot with Goze in the mountains (in the next days). don't get me wrong, i am not saying everyone in the Balkan is lazy, nor am i saying that their life is easy. About what he says about corruption, i have to laugh when he tells me his friends with lower position are all nice and honest but only the big guys are bad. I try to explain to him that there all sorts of levels of corruption at all sorts of hierarchical levels. I am lucky he presents me an Excellent example. As we get to the toll, he puts on his police jacket and puts the police sign on his arm to be seen by the man at the counter. He is not even a cop yet and even cops have to pay the toll. It is just that the cashier has understanding and lets him pass. Is that not a form of corruption?
He drops me a the next pay toll and there i only have to wait a couple pumpkin nuts before getting picked up. This sometimes is my time measure in the Balkans, how many nuts can i crack and at between two rides... Well the next ride is also a cop :) H drives me down south quite a while to a place where i will have the time to finish my nuts... I will even have the time to get soaking wet and upset in Kisevo. Even see the night fall. Fortunately as i resign and decide to take the bus, i meet an other dude waiting for a bus. We both get wet together and even though he does not talk much, it is good to have him next to me. There is no way to know if a bus will come, so we wait. And we get wet. A taxi driver proposes us a ride. it is 200 one the bus and 200 in the taxi if it is full so 400 if there are only two people. There are no third or forth person around so we wait a little longer. After a while the young computer scientist decides to give up and take tomorrows bus. I did not know if there would be a bus later and did relay not want to get stuck here in the rain so i offered to pay 500 leaving him with 300 to pay. He accepted. So there i am in Struga, completely wet and without saving a penny, the ride from Skopje being 500 dennars... Never mind, a hot grog will warm me up and Tonin is soon in the bar. i just left French speaking Aurlie but i am so happy to meet Tonin after just a couple hours on the road and start speaking French again! We go for his home, drop my bag, eat pasta, his the home specialty, pasta with butter. Damn it was nice living with Tonin and Eric, the mess and the food made me think about the good old student times.

We then go out for a couple beer at “the Place” a nice white small bar playing good rock and hard rock. We sip the beers make stupid pictures and i start to know Eric, the Swedish colleague with whom Tonin will be making his propaganda movies (for European Volunteer Service).