…my surge protector was literally melted so though I am able to charge my laptop, am crossing my fingers that it charges quickly…

Things are going well, have gotten myself a nice flat 2 minutes walk from work. Living room (complete with tv, though can’t imagine I’ll be watching much as most stations are in Serbian, Albanian, etc. though can watch the world cup, which doesn’t require translation!) It’s clean, stocked kitchen, bedroom, living room nice bathroom and wee balcony that I am going to try and cover with plants so people don’t stare at me while I’m out there, as I overlook a crossroads of sorts in a central part of town…

Good food to be found, well-stocked supermarket (due to the fact that there used to be lots more internationals here) and things are not at all expensive (though those are to be found as well, I just won’t be looking for them!) Money is euro here, dinar in Serbia and denar in Macedonia (or perhaps the other way round). The countryside is beautiful, rolling green hills and red/orange roofed villages, getting much more mountainous nearer to Montenegro and Macedonia.

All the staff speak English, fortunately for me and are quite nice. The big open air market is very reminiscent of Africa, you can get everything from spark plugs and rhinestone bras to traditional baby cradles and odd-looking smoked meat substances. There is a nice fruit and veg market on the way to Silovo (shilovo - Serb enclave outside Gjilan where Chrissie and Vlada live) where I will probably get most of my food, including huge tubs of feta and lovely yogurt!