Energy Production in Stip

As I arrived at my apartment, the car stopped in front of a pile of wood being split by several muscular young men.  The next day, I asked my landlord about it and he said that many of buildings in the neighborhood and indeed throughout the city of Stip burned wood for het in the winter.  In fact the apartment I am in is heated in this manner.  This interesting fact is related to the geopolitical situation of the area and ultimately impacts the climate.

A couple of years ago Russia's monopoly on natural gas supply was brought to the attention of the world when the supply was shut off.  Macedonia will never have to deal with this possibility because the country is not on the pipeline.  Macedonia gets all of it's electrical power from the dams on rivers that run through the country.  Some people heat their homes with this electricity.  My lights, hat water and stove are powered this way.  But when it gets cold, the water in the radiators will be heated by the wood that I had seen when I arrived.

I have already experienced some of the results of this system.  Sitting in my living room with the window open, my eyes started to become irritated.  As I looked out the window, I saw that family across the street cooking over an open fire, with the smoke wafting toward my apartment.  Another result of burning so much wood is more extreme climate swings than in the past.  The claim is made that as the forests disappear from the mountains of Macedonia, the winters get colder and the summers hotter.  My landlord claims that burning wood is better and it does seem rather quaint, but the consequences are far ranging.

Arrival in Macedonia

I have not taken any photos yet, so this post will be all type. Sorry about that.

Flew Turkish Airlines.  Was a little concerned, but upon entering the plane, I met by a flight attendant and a chef.  This boded well.  Once I sat down, my delight continued.  The flight attendants immediately handed out earphones and a menu cards for the two FULL meals they would be serving on the ten hour flight in addition to a small zipper bag containing flight amenities like tooth brush, night shade and ear plugs.  And all this in economy class.  The meals were delicious.  

Flew into Istanbul over the Aegean, very beautiful.  When we landed, the passengers participated in a European custom by clapping for the crew, I presume for getting down the plane in one piece though the flight gave no indication of any lack of expertise.  As we taxied down the runway, I could see some of the city a mile away or so.  The buildings did not look too much different, though even at that distance I could see they were more colorful.  Then my eye moved over the landscape and I saw a couple of construction cranes and 6-8 missle-like strucures which I realized were minerets.  I am not in Northern Europe any more..

The plane stopped some distance from the terminal, but they opened the rear exit as well as the forward, so the plane emptied more quickly.  After a short bus ride to the terminal, I entered the throng, with instructions and announcements being given in multiple languages it was all rather overwhelming.  A passing young woman in a uniform pointed me in the right direction, but when I saw where she was pointing, my heart dropped.  The throng was 8-10 people deep just to get to the beginning of the serpentine line to get to what I came to realize was a security check point.  But the line moved rapidly.  I think one reason was that their metal detectors were set so low that they did not pick up my artificial knee.  That way no one had to be patted down.  But it makes you wonder. 

I stopped at an information desk and of course my gate, 225, was at the faaaar end of the corridor.  I stopped for some Turkish ice cream . Expensive, but good.  I walked all the way down to my gate only to be told that it was being used at that time for a flight to budpest and I would have to wait else where.  I decided to walk back to airport civilization and get  a bottle of water.  I picked up two for only $2 each.  Very realsonable.  Almost makes up for the ice cream.  Right now I am sitting in a small café, slightly off the beaten path, so the crowds are not too overwhelming, watching the activity of a busy international airport out the window.  

Turkish Air came through again. After a disconcerting gate change that meant trekking back to where I a had originally come from,  we were on our way to Skopje.  It was  an hour and a half flight, but we still got a really nice sandwich and salad lunch, with chocolate mousse, just what I needed for the end of a long day.  Could have even had wine again, but decided not to.

Arrived in Skopje to find a baggage area with mayby three luggage carts for a flight of at least 100.  I certainly needed one for my four 50 pound bags.  I caught the eye of the sole baggage handler in the area.  He kindly corralled a cart for me and as we went through customs, I was the recipient of the local  “it’s who you know” syndrome.  All luggage was being x-rayed.  He put one of my bags on the conveyor belt and then we went around to the other end of the machine with the other three bags not being scanned.  He told me the custom s officer was a friend of his.  

Some one from the university was there to meet me.  He was not the talkative type, so I absorbed what I could as we sped through the dark.  There are mountains right outside Skopje, high enough that the highway had two or three tunnels on that stretch of road.  There are no shoulders on the mountain road, so  periodic pull offs are provided.  As we passed one, I caught a glimsp of a small café with a couple of tables under a lanai.  Passing through a small town, I also saw other esablishments where men were sitting out enjoying a warm late summer evening.

Arrived in Stip.  more about that later