It is the height of summer and I live where others spend their vacation: in Marseille, capital of the French region PACA ((Provence- Côte d’Azur-Alpes). In the city where people don’t order, in a noble manner, “pain” (bread), but rather ask for “peng” in the bakery while nurturing a passionate dislike for poshy Paris, I …
Challenges abroad (why am I not happy in France?!)
Living abroad are never only awesome days and sparkling nights. There are challenges to it all the time, even if the overall experience is fantastic and even if I tend to forget those challenges afterwards. I like to save the space in my mind for beautiful memories.
Solo Female Traveller: From Macedonia to France
I had the idea even before I left for Macedonia: After my internship I would pack my stuff and would backpack three weeks all the way from Skopje to Marseille. I would make sure my boyfriend would take all my heavy winter clothes back to Germany with him when I would come visit. And then …
Update from Macedonia: Escalation of the Situation
Unlike the other political updates I gave from Macedonia this one is not well-researched, it does not aim to give background. It simply is a description of the situation in Macedonia at this moment.
If only I could stay … Farewell to the People of Macedonia.
The other day I was going back home in a taxi. I was feeling sentimental right there, being stuck in the chaotic after work rush hour in the crowded streets of Cair and I sighed heavily enough to catch the taxi driver’s attention.
Balkan City Trip: Tetovo in Macedonia
On the Balkans there are much more cities worth visiting than just the capitals (even though there are many intriguing capitals to see). A couple of weeks ago my Mum came to visit me in Macedonia. To show her not only the capital with its undoubtedly picturesque, yet fake and politically corrupted city center, I was …
Macedonia Update: Gridlocked April
Over the last weeks the amount of flags in the city centres of Skopje and other Macedonian cities has increased excessively. Red-yellow scraps of cloth flutter at street lights, stickers are glued to front doors, from kitchen windows falls the Macedonian sun, the flag waves proudly in the wind at every public building, the city …
Balkan City Trip: Sofia
When I was in Sofia, capital of Bulgaria, I spent half of my time in the city trying to figure out my directions. That does not speak for my orientation skills, because Sofia is known as a well-structured city where it is pretty impossible to get lost. But that’s just how I am: Somebody tell …
All in or all out: Lessons for a German on the Balkans
I am a young German woman who has freely decided to live in Macedonia. “But why?!” I get this question every time when I meet a new person. The young people who I meet want to leave. The life in Macedonia is tiring, it exhausts all their energy and it takes away their joy in …
Parks and Recreation – by car through Southern Macedonia (2)
The first part of our trip was focused on old architecture and the foundations of Macedonian culture in the town of Ohrid, but now we begin our adventurous trip through the stunning nature of Southern Macedonia to spots where public transportation barely goes (except for a taxi). It is time for nature, for (national) parks …