"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
- Mark Twain

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Spring Break Day 1: Ulcinj

I just went skinny dipping in the fucking Adriatic sea….in March!!! Well, mostly it was diving in and then getting the fuck out of there as fast as I could. We went in the freezing cold, and at 10:00pm at night. What?!?! Okay, so we decided a long time ago that my life was insane.
Love You!


Today started spring break 2013! I had a rough day to say the least. It began with a slight cold and progressed into a kids running around during last hour of day. We had a random assembly, which threw off the schedule, a math test, and a bake sale. They were hopped up on sugar, generally crazy kids, who needed a break as much as I did. Then I got an email from Jakarta that made me very unsure of the job, and the schedule surrounding it. I left about 20 minutes after school, completely in the need of a break to remind myself of why I chose this career and lifestyle.

After arriving at home I spent a little while emailing my mom for support and encouragement followed by taking a few sips of whiskey, and shortly afterward I got a call saying it was time leave! Woohoo!!! Spring break 2013!

I drank a beer about 5 minutes after I got into the car. Like I said it was a rough day. 6 of us in an 8 passenger van seemed perfect. We had plenty of space to stretch our legs and still were close enough that we could all talk. Ahead of the trip we were told by our principal to drive safely and by a fellow co-worker who lived in Shokoder to drive safely (her city was on our way.) We had zero issues. The road was gorgeous, even in the pouring rain. We stopped in Shokder to get a quick coffee, and then got back on the road, hoping to making to Ulcinj in time for dinner. We also grabbed a beer for the road because, well, it was spring break.

Eventually we got to the boarder, and managed to purchase international insurance for a total of 30 Euro. After a rough and beautiful road through the southern part of Montenegro (seriously wish I could see it by day) we made it to Ulcinj. The roughest part was finding our hostel. We ended up stopping in a market to ask directions. The man we asked was so nice that he insisted on hopping in the van to take us to the hostel even though it was about 10 meters away. We checked in, and headed to a well deserved dinner at a local bar.

We didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into when we asked for the mix of whatever, plus 5 Montenegrin beers. The beers were delicious (not to a Minnesotan standard) and the food was amazing. We had chicken, beef sticks(like American breakfast sausage) and a soup that tasted like beef stroganoff. I was very satisfied and ready to go when Robert and Scott suggested making a trip to see the beach.

This turned out to be a bit harder of a task than planned, due to either the high tide, or the heavy rain fall of the day, but eventually Ari found a way to get us across the small river using sticks and balancing poles. Once there, we finished off the beer we had purchased from the market, and shortly after me and Robert decided skinny dipping was a viable option.

We took off our shoes to test it, and though it was freezing we decided that we couldn’t pass up a chance to skinny dip in the Adriatic sea with the moonlight, so we went for it. And now I’m back at our hostel drinking gin and waters, getting ready for bed.
Great group for the trip.  
Have I mentioned that I love my life? 

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