not a good week for me

After Friday and Saturday, I thought this week is getting better but not really.... I spent so much time wasted because this country is fucked up....
But from the beginning. On Monday, as many probably now already I was tear gassed. We went to the concert and someone throw a tear gas there... I never want to experience that again...I could have expect that, but I didn't thought people are that crazy here... after this week I am sure they are not normal... I am kind of glad I realized this just before I go home, if I would have realized that earlier, I would be freaked out to go anywhere.... well, not all the people are weird, but there are those groups of assholes, mainly soccer fans, who cause troubles, attacking people without a reason.... so on Monday I wasted about 3 hours after the concert, taking shower and washing my clothes and since we don't have a washing machine, it took pretty long...
Btw, it reminds me that this stupid week started even before Monday. We spent awesome weekend in Croatia island.... we went on Sat and return at night on Sun, we camp there one night, gosh it was so relaxing... the water was so incredible there...it didn't look like Croatia, and i am not saying that Croatia is not nice, but this was like in paradise :-) but as soon we enter Podgorica, you could see those crazy drivers again and we didn't even enter the dorm and those stupid people were laughing at us...
so that was Monday, Tuesday was better, but I wasn't able to concentrate, I was supposed to write my essay, but I was thinking about this stupid concert.... so I didn't do anything that day. Well, actually it wasn't that good either. We went to Costa cafe and the waiter wasn't able to bring me the correct drink even after third time... I ordered vanilla coffee and he brought me for the first I guess some kind of vanilla ice cream, so I drink it a little bit and then I decided to ask to show me in the menu what he brought me, for sure it wasn't coffee, but he wasn't able to show it to me... I told him I wanted a vanilla coffee, so he took it and that he will bring me the correct one... after while he brought something, I didn't even try that but it didn't look like what I had two time before - they always brought it in plastic cup, never in normal one, they bring a coffee or cappuccino in a cup, so I assumed that it has to be something different... and I said my friend:"Kasia, what the hell did you bring me again??" And he turn if everything is ok, so I showed him, that I wanted this, so he took it again... third time, he brought something what obviously wasn't the one I had before either, but it tasted like vanilla and coffee, so I didn't complain again... maybe it was the right one and the two time before they were bringing me something different... I think I don't even have to mention that what we paid for was something totally different that what we had... but it was less than it was supposed to be, so I didn't care... actually I never paid there the price I was supposed to pay ;-) Btw, I think after Tuesday they will hate me there....
On Wednesday we rather went to Sutomore to the see side... I took my notebook, that I will work on my essay in some cafe on the beach... I found one with outlet and internet... I ordered milk shake... they brought me a milk shake but it tasted like they burned that... I don't know how is that possible... my theory is that is smelled from cigarette for some reason... I tried that 3 times and it was really bad, but I decided not to complain since I needed the internet...so when I was leaving and paying, the waiter saw that I hardly drunk that and he asked me if I didn't like it. SO I told him it was disgusting, that it smelled like burnt. SO he said something in Montenegrin and he return me the money... so I think they hate me there also... I am actually going there today again, so lets see ;-)
On Thursday I really had to finish this essay, so I stayed at home... more over we were supposed to have an exam at 6 in the evening, we arranged that on Monday.... we went went there, we waited there for half an hour and the teacher didn't showed up... then we tried to find out in reception, if they saw him in school that day or if they can call him or something.. but no... then we decided to go to the dinner and try later again... so we went there after 7, we knocked and you know we were expecting no one there, but he said "da" and we were freaked out, we were mentally prepared to talked to him.... but we went in and he told us:" I am sorry, I am just writing you an email, I had this conference and i can't today, can you tomorrow at 7 pm?" and I was like, on Friday?? But I kind of felt like I don't have any other choice and I really wanted to be done with that... so we said yes....we were supposed to have another exam on Friday.. we planned that one like 2 weeks ago, but the teacher said she still doesn't know the time... and on Thursday it still looked we are having that exam, because she told us, she will let us the time when she knows.... we waited whole day but we didn't have it... at least I picked up my letter of confirmation from school, so I didn't waste my time totally, otherwise I would be so pissed off that I could stay on beach instead of this stupid podgorica...
On Friday, in the evening I finally passes my one exam, but we wasted two hours in total by chasing this guy :-(.... After that the days started to be better till today. we went to fair in podgorica with our friends.... nothing really special, a normal village fair, but still it was nice... and then we sit outside for a coffee... we choose good place, it was in the center, the night was pretty warm.... I had a tiramisu... and we saw a fireworks... It was Independence day yesterday, so the fireworks was because of that... then we went home... really good day...I even had a hot shower, even miracles can happen in Montenegro....
On Saturday we went to Ulcinj, to see the city and lay on the beach... so it was nice... only it was little windy, so we had sand everywhere... I guess I prefer Sutomore... there are little stones... And in Ulcinj I went to restaurant to have a salad, the waiters were great, really nice, they even told me that if I want some special salad, they can make it for me :-)... I was sure I want a salad, because we miss any fresh vegetable here, they don't have any in the canteen and it is pretty expensive to buy a fruit or vegetable here... I ordered at the end half of the Greek and half of the Šopsky and they told me no problem, we can do it... and they also brought me a fresh bread for free, so I had a great dinner, it was so yummy! It was a good day, I even started to regret in the bus that I am going back home in a week, but i reminded myself that I am going back to the stupid Podgorica!
And today, on Sunday, I decided to go to Sutomore again and work in the cafe there, I got up at 8, even thought it was kind of painful. I went half an hour to the train and they told me that there is no train, that it had some accident or what... and the next one is in one... so i was ok, I went to the station half an hour, I will go another half an hour back and then I will go another half an hour?? Great, at the end I decided to stop in Mall of Montenegro to get some fruit and then sit in some cafe and work there... I wrote my blog and then I went to canteen for lunch and then back to the station... so I wasted three hours again, which I could work on the essay if the train went... but now I am sitting in the train, so I hope that we will get there, we are like 10 minutes from Sutomore... late again, like every time when I take this train, I think it never arrived on time...
Some that was my great week... I have to finish this last essay which I didn't even started yet and meet this women, we have the class with and then I will be done.... Yey... so I can study for my final exam at home...

my birthday - what a day

I had for sure and interesting birthday yesterday. We went to the sea side on Saturday and we swam and it was awesome so I decided to go on Sunday as well. The weather forecast wasn't that nice, it was supposed to be partly cloudy and start raining, but at the end it was sunny and hot till the time I left, it was even better then the day before. It was my first birthday on the beach, it seems surprising considering the fact how much I love beach and that I spend my birthday in different places, but never a beach... :-)
But the day started pretty crazy, I don't know why specially on my birthday! Even though I had time, I decided to buy ticket on the train since it always was the same price or even cheaper. But this guy charged me one euro more for buying the ticket on the train, never happened to me before. And them right before Sutomore where I was getting out the policeman came to me. So I thought he wants to see my ticket, what else he could want to see... so I gave him the ticket and he returned it to me and say passport, which I had at home, why should I carry that to only get it stolen? So I told him I don't have it and he was repeating passport passport, so I tried to explain him I don't have it with me that I have it at home and he showed me the "police" written on his uniform and I was like yeah, I see, I am not blind, but how the hell I am supposed to give it to you when I don't have it with me. At the end I gave him my student card and fortunately he was satisfied with that. He just asked "from Podgorica", I said say and he went... The worst thing is he checked only me, I don't know why. I thing this train inspector sent this guy, he knew I don't speak Montenegrin and I think he decided to lets make her little frighten. But I don't think I did anything or say anything to make him mad at that time, so I don't know why some people like to behave like jerks... I was kind of still shaking when I get out of the train...
Then the beach was awesome, the water was cold and after you got in it wasn't cold anymore and it was really good. So I swam twice and the rest of the time I tried to study for my final exam at home... And then some guy started to talk to me, how the water is and if it is possible to swim and then asking me what's my name and telling me how beautiful I am, you know that story... I am sick of those stupid Montenegrin who speak English as much I speak Montenegrin (maybe little better, but still not really enjoyable to communicate) and telling me how beautiful I am... and he was telling me that he lives in Serbia and that he has a house in Sutomore, and then he said he works like a policeman and I kind of froze when he said that... I thought I am seeing way too much cops today... but I was trying to convince myself that it's just coincidence and that he works in Serbia, so he won't want to see my passport or something... and I could have told him leave me alone but I was trying to explain him that I don't have time to talk to him that I need to study, but he didn't listen and was asking me for my number and telling me that he want to invite me for a drink and when I told him no, he told me I have a cold heart :-( I always try to be nice and only thing I get is that I am the bad one! Then he finally left and I could continue and after an hour another guy came and start the same story all again: how it the water today... so I told him you are already second today, so he said maybe few more things and left.
The way back is another interesting story. In train to Sutomore I decided that I will buy ticket just to the airport,not the main station in Podgorica because it's 30 cents cheaper and we were told once by a train inspector that it's for free from Podgorica to the airport... But after what happened in the morning, I didn't want to risk any trouble today and decided to buy normal ticket in the station. And the lady tried to cheat me. But the worst thing is that you know they are cheating but you can't do anything about that! I told her student ticket to Podgorica and she told me 2 euro. And I told her how come it is 2 euro when it was 1.40 yesterday? And she told me you have to have some special card...They are great in finding excuses. Yesterday we tried to buy tickets at the counter and lady told 1.40 and I asked, how it is 1.40 when we payed 1.10 to get there and she said we have to have a Montenegrin card, so we showed her that the card she is holding is Montenegrin that it has this Montenegrin state symbol, so she said at the end that it is not to Podgorica, but just to the airport... What ever... but today she refused to give me any discount so I said fuck you, I will buy the ticket in train... I will take this risk and either I will pay 40 cents more then on the station or 90 cents less, it is worth it... and how much I payed is another funny part... it seems they obviously don't know by themselves... they guy came so I told him I want one student ticket to Podgorica ( I said Podgorica, not to the airport!) and he told me 1.50. And I asked how it is 1.50 when I paid 1.40 yesterday? (I am really trying to understand this system, but it seems the best way is to stop wondering and survive it in some way before I come back to a normal country... ) So he was talking to those other guys and then he told me it's 1.20 :-D Can you understand that? He tells 1.50, I tell 1.40 and he says 1.20 ?? And guess where he wrote the ticket.... to the airport!
And when we arrive in Podgorica it was raining, well it was raining all afternoon long there, so I was even more happier that I went to the beach... People were waiting for taxis but I decided I won't melt and I will walk home... I was wet, but the worst came when I was few blocks from my dorm... During the last 5 minutes, I got totally soaked and I was actually thinking to take my sweatshirt off and wrung it before entering dorm, so I wouldn't leave a wet trace behind me... At the beginning I kind of regretted that I didn't take that stupid taxi, but then I was happy because finally the water in shower seemed warm for me once...
And I read birthday wishes and I thought my birthday is over and then someone knocked. I had known it's Kasia since she was supposed to return, but for sure I didn't expect a birthday cake! And I opened the door and those two Poles were standing there and singing happy birthday for me... how sweet! I love surprises.

'Normal' Easter Friday in Podgorica

Gypsies made our day... we almost die from laughing so much when we watched that after I took those videos...
The first two are about begging Gypsy. The first one I took without being seen... it wasn't that hard anyway - the money were more important ;-) Pay attention to the shoes, there are some good shots ;-) And we still aren't sure if this kid is a girl or boy? :-)


In the second one he saw me video taping...


In the third one, just enjoy the Gypsy kid, smoking, driving a horse in a capital :-D... Btw, shouldn't you have a driving license for a horse while driving on the road?? ;-)

Welcome to real Montenegro!

I had another great experience today when walking to the canteen. I was almost run over by a car... again... well I kind of get to used to being almost run over... but this one was freaking... I had almost heart attack... I actually draw you picture of the crossroad for you because it's hard to explain.
The green lines are those lines on the road which separate the opposite direction. The green arrows show which direction the cars go, normally as we do - on the right side, but just to make it clear... The crosswalk is recognizable, i think. The red dot is me and my friend, the blue arrow is this car... I don't know, where did the car came from, I didn't look, who would hell look to the right when the cars are coming from the left on that part of the road... Can you imagine that you get run over on the crosswalk! by the car which doesn't even go in the line which it is supposed to go... seriously they AREN'T normal here!!
It took me like 5 minutes to breath normally again... And then there was those fucking begging Gypsies kids, not only asking for money, but almost stealing my friend's drink she had in her hand and also wanting to hit us that we didn't want to give it to him/her. So I raise my hand to get prepared to slap him or something and he suddenly started backing off. But he obviously didn't want to give up, so he was pretending he wants to spit at us and when he was far enough he actually did. I think last day of my stay here I will go to beat those kids down... I was ready to do it now, but Kasia said she would be afraid that they will complain to their parents and they will find us... and I am kind of afraid about that also...
So after this, we had a peaceful lunch, kind of... trying to explain lady in the canteen that Kasia wants more meat, but she still wasn't getting that... it took me like two minutes when she finally understood...
Unfortunately our nice experience still doesn't end. On the way back, I guy was almost yelling at us, that I even dared to stop on the crosswalk! we don't know exactly what he was saying, we didn't pay attention and we wouldn't have understood him anyway, but it wasn't anything nice for sure.. But come on, I don't walk to be killed by car... he was going slowly, but still not looking like he is going to stop in front of the crosswalk, moreover he was talking on the phone... so I stopped in the middle of the crosswalk and waited he actually had to stop, he was so pissed off, maybe even more than Kasia. And she was carrying cake in her hand and she told me she felt like throwing that at his face.. so imagine him... I'm sad she didn't do that... that would be so hilarious... maybe those idiots would finally learn something.
So welcome to real Montenegro!

after 3 weeks

So the weather here got kind of bad since the last time I wrote. It was freezing, well more like around 0°C, but still... I actually started wearing my winter jacket again. And on Monday it was even snowing, just few snowflakes, but come on, it is supposed to snow like 2 days a year in Podgorica.
Today was nice again, after long time, so I was walking little bit around...I am doing better now, I am getting used to Montenegro, but still I don't know, what to think. There are things which I absolutely love and there are things which I hate, nothing in between... Morača, the river, is so beautiful, the most beautiful river I have seen, every time I see it I am fascinated, charmed. But on the other hand, I saw a sink and some kind of dead animal in the river today. I don't know what was that, but it was white and big, almost a size of cow. First I though maybe it's some trash again, but it had to be an animal, because I checked the picture on computer and there was some legs with hoofs... creepy
I finally have chosen my classes, maybe... The plan at the end is to take 3 subject: Marketing in Culture, in Education and International marketing, 21 ECTS together, so I hope it won't be that bad... I decided to stick with marketing classes since my minor was Commercial Communications. I won't be going to school, I am supposed to write some essays which is always bad for me, but I hope I can manage 3 essays. And the lady who is my mentor for two of those classes is nice and she said that I can do something from the Promotion part of marketing, so I hope that maybe I could even enjoy that. We'll see. But first my master thesis.

Podgorica II.

I recovered from the first shock and I was shocked today again, twice.... First, I am really careful, when I am crossing road, but still I was almost run over by car in the morning, seriously, the worst part is that I was walking on green light... And then I was shocked again while having lunch, when my friend told me, how much Montenegrins pay for dorms and food in school cafeteria. Try to guess, you won't guess it right, but you can try... I will leave you answer at the end of this post..
I was in school yesterday, to choose subjects, but I didn't choose them yet, everything takes such a long time...
I am in dorm right now and it is pretty busy now, because everyone is going home for weekend...
Yesterday was some party here, I was invited, but you know I am not really a party person... it was pretty laud, but when I fall asleep, I don't hear anything, so I didn't care that much. But my friend, she lives closer to them, she was complaining, she said that they took up the motorbike again (I will probably really have to take a picture because otherwise nobody will believe me).
The weather here is awesome, I was walking today in T-shirt with long sleeves and when I was sitting on the sun, I was frying myself... I am wondering I did I take 3 pairs of thick socks?? I was sitting a while at the bank of river... I am fascinated by that river, the water so crystal blue.... I am trying to go for a walk every day since it's so nice, but it is nice to walk in Podgorica only during the day, because there is a lot of smog in the evening, probably because of the mountain around... Said thing is that Montenegro has so beautiful nature and they are totally destroying it... they just don't care... If anything breaks, it stays broken, if anything falls on ground, it stays there, so you can see papers and plastic bags etc. on the ground, especially around that river... :-(
There are two more CEEPUS students in my faculty, as far as we know, a Polish girl - Katerzyna, the one I was supposed to stay in room with and a Polish guy - Křížek (it's not written like that, but I don't know the Polish spelling). and I have met some Montenegrins already.
People were asking me about my free time... there isn't much to do in Podgorica,I mean like sport, Montenegrin people doesn't sport that much... so there isn't many places where to sport, they have some ping-pong tables, tennis club, squash center, aerobic and fitness, bowling and that's pretty much it I think.. they like to sit in cafés.. but I have so much school things to do that I think I don't have much time either... and later I would like to save some money and make some trips to other towns... And we found out there is some ball of masks in March, so we maybe go. and I found in a guide, that there is some pub called Prague, so for sure I am going to visit that :-)...
So now the answer...maybe first sit down and then read it :-)...they pay 12 euro, in words twelve euro, for accomodation for one month and 8 euro for food (meaning breakfast+lunch+dinner for 15 days).... I get like hardly 5 lunches in my school cafeteria in Prague!!! Can you believe that??

First day in Podgorica

The flight was nice, it was just three hours, it was awesome when we were flying over the Montenegrin mountains, I don't know if it possible to see them from Podgorica also, but you could see them from the airport.
I arrived safely and on time, but my suitcase kind of didn't, it probably stayed in Vienna, so I don't have pretty much nothing here now... It should arrive tomorrow hopefully.
I am in the dorms now, but there isn't internet in my room, it is only in the reception :-( My roommate is cool. I am not staying with that Polish girl at the end, but it's even maybe better. Her name is Diana. She is Montenegrin girl, but she speak really good English. And important thing to mention, she doesn't smoke! I am happy for that because I heard that everybody smokes here. So there is at least someone to help me. It's kind of depressing that I don't speak a word Montenegrin And I already met a CEEPUS exchange student from Albany, so we went to have dinner in school cafeteria together.
The cool thing is that they have a TV in the reception and they have american series on with Montenegrin subtitles, sad thing is I don't have time to watch it....
The dorm is not nice, as I expected, the bathroom is terrible, but at least we have it just for us two.
The dorm is really really noisy, there is no chance to write anything here. I have to go to school, I hope I can work there, otherwise I don't know... There is always some music on... and now they took a motorbike to the room. Motorbike! Can you understand that?!
So I am still kind of in a shock.... I have never stayed in dorms, so that's maybe why...
I have meeting on Thursday with a vice-dean in school to choose subjects.
I don't know what else to write now and someone is smoking here and I can hardly breath now, so I think I will go to my room again.