First Impressions... "Monte"

the bay of Kotor out my window!  it is amazing!!  

And, just like that, I'm in Montenegro!  It has been culturally a crazy transition, it is absolutely nothing like Italy here.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, I am most definitely in an entirely different country (I'd become so comfortable with my beloved Italy)!  A Balkan one, with a slavic language, serbo-croatian to be exact.  It sounds so foreign to my ears, the only words I've been able to remember so far are yes, no & thank you.  I was hanging out at the beach today & although it was quite crowded & noisy I could read peacefully under my new umbrella because I couldn't understand a single thing anyone was saying!  Definitely no other Americans or english speaking around.  (I am reading a really great book, The Marraige Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides)

Here are some maps to help orient you to where I am.  Honestly, when I started thinking about coming over to Monte in May I had no idea where it was but, it turned out that it was directly across from Italy!  So, planning to take the ferry across was not such a big trip.  What I didn't give much thought to was the history & culture on the Balkan peninsula & in the countries of former Yugoslavia.  Obviously a lot has been going on with warfare and politics in these zones not too long ago.  I've been feeling the ignorant American not knowing more about the situation over here while talking to my new Bosnian & Croatian roomies so, a cultural history brush up is definitely in order.  Also, so American of me, I really imagined that getting by on English would do the trick here.  I have misjudged this and feel badly for my assumption.  In Herceg Novi most tourists are Russian, I have not yet heard any English spoken.  Obviously, I like language learning & had been hoping to pick up some local speak but, now I think it is actually imperative if I want to make any friends or communicate for teaching yoga.  I will work on it.  

Here you can see all those Balkans.  I took a ferry across from Bari in Puglia.  

To help you with orientation if you, like me, didn't know where Montenegro is:

I'm in Herceg Novi on the northern coast of the bay.  Montenegro is a mountainous country. 

The overnight ferry trip across was actually fairly heinous.  I ended up rushing it (typical!) and was worrying & being impatient in a check in line because I thought I might miss the boat.  However, the darn thing pulled out of port about 3 hours late. !  I was really tired & coming down with some eye irritation/stye that was really hurting.  Of course I kept rubbing my eye & bothering it which only made it worse.  Having opted for the cheapskate armchair lounge passage I didn't sleep much.  The next morning I felt like hell & had this massive stye system covering my left eyelid.  Don't rub or press on those things, it will spread!!  So, that was (and still is!) really unsightly & gross & most of all painful.  I have been applying hot tea bag compresses (chamomile & black) & some cortisone cream at night as well as some eyedrops & the nasty stye system is still lingering on giving me vision problems and the appearance of Rocky Balboa.  Anyway....  

another view from the balcony!  that's the mouth of the bay where it enters the Adriatic.    I have been watching out for dolphins in the bay, supposedly early mornings...

The gulf of Kotor is super awesome!!  It is so calm & large, to me it seems like a lake.  Perhaps Lake Tahoe or Lake Wenatchee??  It is actually very fjord-like as you go deeper into the huge bay, surrounded by steep mountains.  More than beachy feeling, my new zone feels to me more like a lake cabin in the mountains but, very HOT!  Very, very hot.

main square in the historical center of Herceg Novi

famous clock tower

narrow streets

evening light, after the heat blast subsides...

the town is pretty cute!

old church, children playing

secret garden

young Montenegrans shooting hoops

We are trying to formulate a good plan for my yoga teaching here.  Seems like I'll be teaching down by the water in the morning (EARLY, like 6am, can you imagine??  I will have to morph into "morning person" mode).  We'll do it early because even @ 7:30 am the sun is hot here.  I mean it, HOT!  I'll beat the heat by starting the day bright and early.  Then I can go for a swim!  We are thinking to try to arrange some more yoga teaching at a different spot in the evening, then I can go for another swim!  So, I'll have the whole of the day to read a book, take a nap & go for some more swims.  I need to invest in some goggles or a snorkel, possibly fins to maximize my swimming.  The water is super clear but, I hear there's nothing much to see down there, maybe one or two drab fishes.  My favorite time to swim so far is at dusk or night, pretty!!!  Anyone who likes to swim in a nice, refreshing, lake-like sea should really come to visit & check this bay out!

My new flatmates are great & I am looking forward to our summer together!!  I'm going to tag along with them to Dubrovik, Croatia on Wednesday which I've heard is a beautiful city!  Overall, things are awesome so far over on the Balkan side.  I'm happy that I'm able to visit and learn about some beautiful places that I previously didn't know anything about.  Expanding my world view is one of my life goals.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!  :)
xx