Friday, June 26, 2009
the old double hitch-a-roo hitchy hitch hitch
as a female who has always hitched alone or with another female, i wondered how travelling with a male partner - a really tall, shaven-headed, kind of scary looking male partner - might impact the amount of time it would take to get a ride.
apparently not at all. it took us less than 2 minutes to be picked up by a guy in a mercedes.
so there's that.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
the poetry of a language barrier
Monday, June 22, 2009
budva montenegro: internet access has never been so good
my favorite table at "the prince" internet pub in budva's stari grad
why i get bird poop on my keyboard when i use the internet
to the right of the internet pub
the "street" in front of the pub
the end of the street in front of the pub
the end end of the street in front of the pub...
Friday, June 19, 2009
caffe greco, budva montenegro stari grad
my balcony overlooks the place...
the music starts pumping somewhere between 9 and 10 and then i've got myself my very own private vip balcony lounge overlooking the teeming throng.
nothing like a nightly dance party to keep you fresh!
it goes without saying that the groove is in the heart...
Dee Lite Grove Is In The Heart
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
and i ask again, how did i get so lucky?
the first dinner on our balcony
life doesn't suck.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
i live in a fairy tale
how did i get so lucky?

budva, montenegro is 2,500 years old. they don't have a date for "stari grad", the old walled stone city, but they can accurately date one church there back 700 years. this is where i'm lucky enough to get to live in. look closely, my place is circled...
this is the vine covered balcony patio where i get to lounge, read, eat, drink and dance - as is the upstairs flat in the stone building behind it.
this is the street i get to walk down every day, and the doors to the stairs that lead to the incredible balcony patio.
these are the stairs i get to use every and to the left, the vine that climbs up and covers the patio.
the mailbox i get the privilege to call mine for awhile.
my balcony patio.
the vines above.
the nearest cross street to my place

uh, oh yeah. and this is the beach almost right outside my door...
Saturday, June 13, 2009
breakfast of champions


during.

after...

and for an encore:
Barnes and Barnes Fish Heads
Friday, June 12, 2009
things i'm not very good at yet
- dealing with a shared kitchen in an open-air hallway
- mosquito bites
- the uncertainty of waiting to see if we'll get a vendor license and trying to find an apartment while wondering if - given the economy - the tourist season will be good enough to even pay for our start-up expenses
- being comfortable with the whole busking lifestyle thing
- how long it takes to get anything done in montenegro
Thursday, June 11, 2009
made it to budva, montenegro

budva old town - called "stari grad"
grabbed a room here while we're looking for a more long-term place to stay. here's the view from the window.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
skopje, macedonia
Friday, June 5, 2009
safe in belgrade serbia, but internet access still tough...
a little damage courtesy of uncle sam.
belgrade has a rather large gypsy population, many living in cities of shacks in, on, and bounded by hills of rubbish that are packed in for what seems like miles under large modern freeway overpasses. for those of you have been to tijuana 30 years ago and seen the squalor there, it’s similar. so strange so see in the shadow of rush-hour crowded multi-lane freeways and semi-modern high rise buildings.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
bosnia: the bottom-line
ok, i could talk about what it was like when i first arrived and zeljko met me at the bus station, or what it was like to see my city again, or zeljko’s mom marija and brother zoran. i could talk about tea teodora and vuki and goran and majda… i could talk about the feeling of complete at-home-ness during zeljko and my daily walks through banja luka.
but the bottom-line is that it’s really good and real and that lots of time has been spent in bed, awake, asleep, and somewhere in between. reveling in the feeling of sinking so completely into someone, someone whose skin and scent is so familiar at a soul level, someone whose voice is so deep and rich that just hearing it soothes every jagged edge in me, someone whose mere presence makes me feel safe in a way i’ve never felt safe, and someone who knows me so intimately that there is nothing to hide, nothing that i can hide, nothing that i want to hide.
how is it that i found this soul - that i am so at home so many miles away from what i once thought was my home?