private property
It’s been a super busy week at work. A few threats, cables, and a bunch of meetings later, I’m ready to lift heavy again.
Anyway, here are some night pictures of our neighborhood.
Indoor smoking
It’s becoming apparent that indoor dining means dining with those who smoke…indoors. We need to start looking for dining options that ban indoor smoking.
But cigarettes didn’t stop us from enjoying our meal.
Home Gym!
Home gym is here! Sort of my dream come true. Needs to find ways to decorate, but I’m super stoked. Spent hours in the gym working out and just hanging out in general.
The before picture
The torture machine
And two time-lapses of setting up the gym. You can see that Romi has been an excellent helper.
A night out
Fancy dinner with the Deputy Chief of Mission and his family. Great company, excellent food, and amazing view.
The Host
We’ve been hosting dinner every weekend since our arrival. Definitely tricky to cook without all the kitchen utensils and/or spices, but I’ve experienced worse in Bangui, so I can’t complain too much.
This time, I recruited help from our wonderful nanny, Dani, who cooks amazing North Macedonian food. She helped prepare local salad, pasta salad and Macedonian rice. I can’t forget about homemade fig and strawberry jam!
I added some flair with meze, sauteed onions with prosciutto, and roasted ribeyes. Of course, fantastic Macedonian wines were had.
Also, head over to the training blog - a new video of working out with Romi is posted!
Another stroll
The city’s infrastructure cannot accommodate all the influx of cars. So it’s common to see cars parked on sidewalks, or witness cars driving on sidewalks to avoid traffic.
Main street
They pronounce fajitas, fa-ji-tah.
Not much of a landscape. And what you see in the distance is air pollution.
Abandoned winery
Tactical pause
The last two weeks have been hectic:
Six drills, three including on Sat
dozens of meetings
draft cable
PT with the marines
unpacking UAB, and HHE from Bangui
hiring a domestic help
one brunch party
11 hrs at work nonstop
Needless to say, taking a break was much needed. Off to the coffee shop we went.
She made a new friend.
City Square Part II
Dinner at the Marriott.
Biggest beef tartar on top of the largest bone marrow served at a restaurant. Total - $3.00.
Rakia!
City Square Part I of II
Finally! A time to spare to explore the city. We headed to the city square.
I don’t know where she learned to pose.
Alexander the Great
Lots of people “fishing”.
The legend has it, there is no fish in the river.
So many monuments…
And then there were kids making a rukus with mopeds on pedestrian-only streets.
Should I…?
Damn right. Hitting the jackpot. Every. Day.
I had to take a photo of this.
And this…”Mony”
A book store.
That’s enough pictures for one day. Part II of dinner at the Marriott coming up.
Trick or Treat!
Romi wanted to be someone super cool and special for Halloween. It sure was a treat!
And after a long week, decided to order Chinese food in N. Macedonia. Yes, Chinese.
Needless to say, I don’t ever, ever recommend it. The “noodles” were in fact ramen noodles and they tasted very chemical. Sauces were barely edible. Rice was average and yet I ate most of it considering that I haven’t had a chance to eat for almost 24 hours.
Regardless. Lessons learned. Don’t eat Chinese food in N. Macedonia. It sure was a trick.
First Sun
Day started with an hour long session with my new tennis coach. Afterwards, walked about 30 minutes to check out the new fitness center located in a fancy hotel. My review of the gym is in the training blog.
On my walk there, I walked through a big city park, which was interesting to say the least. Lots of playground, a few clay courts and lots of graffitis.
Then a quick walk to a grocery store and stopped by a small playground.
