"11 October Orphanage" a Skopje Travel Page by jrgentle

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Pure Hearts

I am meeting more and more people everyday, but none are as special as the children of the "11 October Orphanage. I visit the orphanage about 2-3 times a week. There are about 150 kids from about 2 to 19 years of age. These kids are truly amazing. They are bright, funny, witty, and great basketball players. (guess who they beat) A lot of them speak very good English, which is good because I have just about run out of facial expressions. They are also very poor. Macedonia is a poor country and you just kind of get used to the fact after a while. But something really made me stop and think the other day when I went to visit with some of the US soldiers that are stationed here. The kids never ask for anything at all. A lot of them just like for you to hang out with them, and they all love HUGS. There is one little girl who doesn’t speak any English, so she grabs hold of me the whole time I am there. They were really excited because I brought my camera with me. They all wanted me to take pictures of themselves. Then it dawned on me why they were so excited. Imagine if YOU had no history of your own, no baby pictures to be embarrassed about, no birthday pictures, no pictures to prove how horrible our parents use to dress us, no pictures of your high school prom, and no pictures of any of your friends. All of these things we take for granted. So anyway I went through a lot of film. Above is a picture of all the kids in front of the Orphanage. They are holding thank you signs because this picture was sent to all the people around the world who sent gifts for them.

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A day at the lake

Well the following weekend I had planned on going to this thing called “Sheep Days”. Its where you go up into the mountains and play with sheep and make cheese. Now I was all set to do this when I got a call from Tanya, one of my “little sisters” from the orphanage. A few of them were at this camp on a lake in southern Macedonia. They wanted me to come visit. Well since the sheep thing didn’t start until Sat. I said that I would stop by on Friday. Well I am here to tell you that this place was Fantastic. The water was crystal clear and the mountains all reflected on the lake. So I decided to forgo the sheep and cheese and hang out with the kids. We played volleyball, and frolicked in the water, and I did a bit of hiking in the hills. They have all these little monasteries all over the place. I went driving in the morning before the kids got up and got pulled over by this little old man. He just hopped in the car and pointed down the road. So I guess I was giving him a ride. He spoke some english, but I have no clue as to what he said. It was like talking to a 2 year old. Just nod and smile in the appropriate places. This guy took me way into the mountains through these wonderfully beautiful towns. You could tell at some point that these buildings were truly magnificent. They looked like little Royal Palaces, but unfortunately were very neglected. The old man finally told to pull over at this little shop by a stream. He beckoned me in, and I realized that this was also the local bar. He tried to buy me a beer to thank me for the ride and I had to tell him no thanks because I was driving and I was not in the habit of drinking beer at 8 o’clock in the morning. So he had a Skopsko (the local beer) and I had a sprite. I paid. Go figure. Well later that day I drove some of the kids through these towns, and we took some pictures

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take me to the moutaintop (yeah, right)

.....I spent the next weekend Here in Sunny Skopje hanging out with friends. On the Saturday night the Embassy restaurant had Spanish Night. They have these theme nights every so often. Well I went with some of the guys from the embassy and let’s just say two words: Tequila and Sangria. Lots of both. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t invited some of the kids from the orphanage to go hiking up the mountain with me on the Sunday morning. So there I was with my new hiking boots, my new CamelBack Hydration System strapped to my back, all these granola like snacks for energy, and a hangover bigger than my ego. I get to the orphanage and the kids must have thought I looked like a mountain spaceman. They threw on some old sneakers, grabbed a coke and we were off. So there we, Oliver, who is 15, Tanya, 14, and Fatima, 10 (who by the way is an absolute angel), and myself going straight up this mountain. I was initially worried that it would be too difficult for Fatima, but as it turned out, she was fine. I on the other hand thought that I was going to die on that mountain.(don’t ya just hate when you want to throw up and you can’t) I had to stop and rest every 10 minutes for fear of my heart exploding. I told the kids that I was just stopping to admire the view, but I don’t think they believed me. They kept threatening to cut off my Hug supply if I didn’t move my butt. At the same time it’s about 100 degrees and I am sweating Sangria. The trail is full of people going to the top. This kid actually walked past me wearing flip-flops and playing a Sony Gameboy. Well I made it to the halfway point, where there was a little cantina like thing going on. I have vowed to make it to the very top before I leave this country. I am humbled. But even though I was in worse shape than anybody on the mountain, I was still the best dressed. So in your face Macedonia.

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My Angels

Here are just a few of the Angels (Sylvia and Fatima) that live in the Orphanage. I can't really describe how sweet and wonderful these kids were. It was just a magical thing to meet them all.

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More Angels

Here is one of the many funny moments spent hanging out with the kids.