For Christmas, my parents bought me a travel guide of Macedonia. It's this great resource for all the local settings of Macedonia but more specifically Skopje--where we will be staying. However, I didn't realize the greatness of this book until last night when I decided to open it for the first time.
Though I did feel more informed by 1:30am when I finished reading it. . .the initial feeling I felt was panic. In my head, up until this point, Macedonia has always been this imaginary place in my head. It's this wonderful place where I'm going to teach English, become a native, and live the adventurous life. NO ONE TOLD ME IT WAS A REAL PLACE! My imagination has mislead me. It left me completely vulnerable to the ice cold water that was dumped on my head thanks to Macedonia: The Bradt Travel Guide.
To make matters worse, the cushion of days remaining before I leave is quickly dwindling. Ten days. Ten days stand between me and this now very real place. Oh my goodness, what am I going to do? I know what I should do--get down on my knees and pray for a very long time. Pray that I can make it the entire 8 weeks. I know being stretched is a good thing but it's also I painful process. And so as D-day quickly approaches, my list making begins. I have things to pack, books to look through for lesson plans, items to buy, rooms to clean, gifts to wrap, and people I need to say goodbye to.
So if you are reading this right now and are feeling compelled to, please say a little prayer for me as I prepare for this journey to the Never Neverland of Macedonia.
