domestic disturbances

anyone have a cheap room for rent in skopje?! anyone?!

a wise man once wrote 'happy familes are all alike, every unhappy
family is unhappy in their own way.' certainly, this slippery slope is
true of my Macedonian home. borka and I got along swimmingly in
February. it was the month of international, trans-generational,
bilingual love. now of course, we had experienced a few
misunderstandings, primarily due to the langauge barrier, in our time
together. but mainly it was a positive experience, as per the previous
post 'borka's cronies.'

about a week ago, however, things began to shower. it began with an
honest request to shower (which, if you know me, is a pretty rare
occurance). this simple request quickly snowballed into a conversation/
argument about what a lavish, wasteful and expensive girl I was. now
before you all nod your head in aggrance, let's put this is proper
perspective: I shower twice weekly (which I discovered, the more I
shared my story, is pretty gross even by Balkan standards), have done
laundry twice in a month and a half, and sit quietly in my room and
read at night. i'm essentially puritanical, which takes a bit of
effort let me assure you. so I felt a bit offended when she accused me
of such extravagent behavior and stood my ground, as well as I could
considering my limited macedonian vocabulary when upset. after a
neighbor helped me understand that borka wanted me to buy essentially
everything I touched, from dish soap to toilet paper (a fine request
by all measures, certainly, but not part of our living situation in
february), I hoped things would improve. they did not- little fights
continued for the next few days, borka's tone of voice growing
increasingly hateful. when she refused my gift of flowers on
international womens day with a threat to throw them in the street, I
realized things were, perhaps, completely beyond repair.

tonight, my fear was confirmed. ljatifa, the head of ambrela, came
over to act out what I assumed to be a bit of mediation between us. in
reality, the conversation was essentially between borka and ljatifa,
leaving me to sit and try my hand at patience. the end of their
conversation resulted in my leaving borka's house no later than two
days from now. of course, the aftermath of the discussion has been
just as fun, including borka ripping my iPod earphones into two
(rendering me unable to call home) physically stealing my heater and
threatening to call the police as I tried to protect it, and her
claiming that she would search my bags to make sure i wasnt stealing
anything. after her most recent bombardment into my room, flimsy
nightgown and all, into my room, it appears as if she'll try and make
me leave tomorrow, but I'd just like to see her try.

so that's my little update for the week. it's unclear where I'll move
next, or if a lack of affordable housing will cause me to return home,
or really what my next step will be. fresh from perhaps my most
hateful relationship with another person, I'm feeling a bit roughed
up. tomorrow will hopefully bring answers, though it seems I'll be
unable to let any of you know via phone :/