My first Haircut

23.02.09

I wanted to write about what happened to me when I got my haircut. It was the first time here in MK that I did get it done and it did not disappoint. So I go into the place that is right outside my apartment on the way to the store. When I walk in I realize that I am in trouble because none of them speak English. The girl that is cutting hair is about my age and a 30 something year old is sitting there doing some other ladies nails. Another lady who is obviously their friend is sitting on the couch with her little girl. So I try to explain that I want a haircut and they tell me to come back in a little bit. When I get back the 30 something year old starts speaking some English with me and I speak a few words of Macedonian to explain what I want. My skills are still pretty horrible so it wasn’t pretty. As the girl is washing my hair the lady asks if I like the women here in MK and I respond “Yes of course, they are all beautiful” I figure in this situation the best plan of attack would be flattery. On the trip from the wash to the seat I notice that the girl cutting my hair has undone the bottom button on her uniform, revealing her stomach and bellybutton. I found this kinda odd since I didn’t remember it being undone before. So she begins to cut my hair and I try to explain short on the sides and a bit longer on top. As shes cutting my sides he turns my head to face her chest and that’s when I realize she has undone another button as well. The second button from the top of her uniform is now undone showing off her lacy black undergarment underneath. I was going to chalk the bellybutton button to coincidence, but after this I realize she may be doing it on purpose. So the haircut goes on and she continually forces my face to one side or the other, the side that she happens to be standing on. I get what Bevis and Butthead called “Shoulder Boob” a few times and a even few times on the back of my head for good measure. After she was done I thanked her, paid my money and tried to explain that I didn’t need her to wash my hair again because I was going to take a shower, but she thought I was telling her my name. All in all it was an interesting experience.

Snow white and the 7 dwarfs

Today I went to Veles. It is a little town about a half an hour away from Skopje. There really isnt anything there that people go see except the main street and possibly the river that runs through the center of town. But this is not why I am writing today. As Sonja and I were waiting to come back to Skopje, we sat in the deserted, dirty, creepy, waiting room. Mostly we sat there or looked at the stupid things people have written on the walls over the years. After a bit, in walks this old, old lady with a cane as large as her, dressed all in black. She has on a hood over the top of her head and everything. Sonja turns to me and says "these are the kinds of people that scare me" I just gave the lady a cursory glance at first and after she said this I looked back. If they were ever going to make a live action movie for snow white, this lady would be the perfect evil witch. You know the one who makes the poison apple? Not only did she walk in with the walking stick and the hood, but she was muttering to herself the whole time. Just now I looked this up from the movie on Youtube and she even is muttering in it too! So there we are sitting in this dark, empty room with the evil witch from snow white. The best part has yet to come tho as I keep stealing glances in her direction, getting ready for her to turn me into a frog, when I notice something on her face. As most of you know, I usually have a beard. Sometimes this beard can get to be pretty long and gnarly. This lady had a perfect light grey goatee from one end of her chin to the other. It looked like she shaved the rest of her face and left this bad boy to shine. Truthfully I was a bit jealous. Bobby, if you are reading this I am sorry but you will never be able to grow facial hair like this old lady. I dont think I can even grow a beard as magnificent as this. We sat there a bit longer and then the train finally came and we got out of there quick. I kept trying to figure out how I could have gotten a picture of her but she probably wouldn't have showed up in the photo anyways. 

Work

So whats new in my life... I just got a job last month and have been working like crazy ever since. Now I have 12 classes a day. My first class is at 8 am. This means I wake up at 7 to shower, brush my teeth and then I start walking for work. Thankfully my first student is a HUGE bundle of energy. Hes this 40 something spanish guy who is very excited about learning english. It really helps. I have class with him until 9:40 then get a 20 min break and have my group at 10:00. My group consists of 5 friends who work for the same company. They are all about 30 something and know english about as well as any other Macedonian I know. Class with these students are basically me having conversation with them and trying to teach them a bit about business. Its hard when business culture here is so vastly different from back home. I like the forwardness and straight to business approach that Macedonians had and I loved the responses that I got from them when I had to explain the "niceties" of asking how the family is our about the sports teams before business. Another thing with the culture is the idea that people who are excited to tackle a job here are considered morons and ass kissers, while back home if you dont show excitement you wont get the job. Needless to say these conversations can lead to some pretty interesting things being said. They are all good friends so talking shit on the other people is not out of the question for them, especially when we had 6 chapters on negotiations. Sometimes it gets difficult to control but for the most part it is a blast. 

So I have this group until 1:40 and have another 20min break until 2 when I have my last student of the day. She is one of the coworkers of my previous group who is just a little lower level than they are. I feel bad for her because she has to be stuck with me until 5:40. I am pretty tired by this part of the day but I usually drink enough coffee to keep me wired. As some of you know when I have a lot of sugar I can get pretty annoying. Like I said, I feel sorry for her. 

Once I am done at 5:40 I take the 30 min walk home and then eat. Look at the stuff I have to teach for the next day. Check facebook and then sleep. 

I have gotten to be pretty boring here.