It's true that the ship has been in Cyprus for a few days now, but before I talk about that, I wanted to share and reflect about my time in Montenegro.
In my last week in Portonovi I was fortunate to make some friends with a young local couple. My time with them was most definitely something to remember and I'm so grateful to God that now I have some real friends in Montenegro!
Portonovi, the port which the ship was moored, is actually a resort owned by arabic owners. Indeed, Montenegro flags aren't even allowed to fly within the port. But the town adjacent is called Đenovići, and it really is the strangest thing.
Half the town is owned by foreigners that visit during the Summer, as in, the houses are empty half the year, leaving the locals to depend on the summer season and the tourism that this brings. The friends whom I made pointed to houses along the way as we walked and told me 'an American owns that house, a Russian owns that house, I've not seen the owners of that house for ten years'.
I made friends with this couple, gave them some tours of the ship and they gave us a nighttime tour of the old town (Herzeg Novi). The next day, myself and some friends squeezed into their car and we toured around some other areas of the bay. Really amazing!
They told me that many of the local people's only chance for a proper living is to work in the maritime industry. The woman said that she works as a nurse, but she hasn't been paid for a number of months, and she likely won't get paid until early next year.
Getting to meet this couple was really super, but it still highlights ways in which the world is changing, and not always for the better.
No comments:
Post a Comment