Her pay is 100 marks per month, and though much of it goes for the bus rides, it's better than staying in the apartment all day. The big prize is a visa to America, of course, but those, I'm told, are the most difficult to get. I'm often asked to edit plaintive letters to authorities in these countries. Many young people just drift. Their lives are often aimless and without hope.
Drugs are a problem.
I sometimes see syringes in the trash piles when I go out for my morning coffee and pastry. We were approaching the bus station when I told the taxi driver about a friend of mine, also 27 years old, who has a diploma to teach the Macedonian language but has never gotten work in that profession. Her hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to closing, which is at least midnight and often comes at 1 or 2 a.m. If she makes a mistake on an order and doesn't collect enough money from her customer, her pay is shorted. And there is no tradition of tipping in Macedonia.