Today, marks our six-month anniversary of living in Skopje, Macedonia.
I braved the daytime temperatures and went with Dan to the Ministry of Interior (hotter inside than outside) to find out what hurdles I'll need to jump to get my resident card. The woman at the Ministry was very nice, spoke understandable English, and was helpful. She looked at the three pieces of paper translated into Macedonian which Dan's lawyer erroneously told him to present at the Macedonian Embassy in Washington DC and said, "you need many more documents than this."
I showed her the other things I had accumulated: a copy of my passport showing the entry date that is consistent with my police registration card and a copy of our marriage certificate. She associated the passport copy and the marriage certificate copy with two of the translated pages. The third page is a translation of my US health insurance card. She sent us away with a list of stuff we still must get:
1. original marriage certificate or a notarized copy,
2. my US health insurance card,
3. criminal history and translation of same
4. copy of Dan's resident card (lichna carta) which he will have on July 24,
5. 2 photos of me,
6. our apartment rental agreement with an addendum that states that I also live in the apartment and it must be notarized,
7. proof of payment of 3 fees (2,150 MKD, 190 MKD, and 50 MKD). We're not sure why there are three or what they are for.
It's quite unfortunate that Dan's incompetent lawyer did not think ahead. As a result, we will need to re-do many of the documents that we had to obtain for him.
On the walk back to Dan's office, we were chatting about Ellen who is Dan's ABA Washington DC colleague who was visiting this week. We were saying that Ellen, who left last night, must be enjoying Montenegro this morning and the first day of her vacation.
But Ellen wasn't able to leave Skopje last night by bus. According to the bus schedule posted on the the bus company's website, there is an 8:00 pm bus to Montenegro on Wednesday. She went to the bus station about 7:00 pm to buy her ticket for the 8:00 pm bus. The woman at the ticket counter said there is no bus on Wednesday. Ellen told her that the bus schedule on the website shows a bus on Wednesday. The woman just chuckled.
The ticket counter woman confirmed that there is an 8:00 pm bus on Thursday. Ellen tried to buy her ticket, but she was told that tickets can only be sold on the day of travel.
Tonight, Ellen and Dan returned to the bus station. This time Ellen was asked if she had a reservation for the bus. She didn't because last night the ticket woman did not tell her that was possible. Tonight, she was told that the bus was fully reserved but she could wait to see if someone failed to show. At 7:40, Ellen was finally allowed to board the bus because there was an unfilled seat.
Dan and I have learned a valuable lesson about bus travel from Skopje.
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