The Week Between Travel! Part 3

Sadly this trip has no photographs to go with it. I didn't have my camera with me at any of these places!

_______________________________________

The first three days back were pretty routine- NGO work, TFA work (I’m preparing for my TFA journey starting this summer. Check out the blog at Jacksonville Journey.), finishing up my Fulbright responsibilities, etc. But then on Friday May 4, Jen, a few others and I went to the Marine’s Cino de Mayo party! It was the third one I had been to but the first anyone else was interested in going to. I was looking forward to seeing a few friends there, and meeting the new Marines that are stationed in Skopje now. We had a great time. I can’t think of any other holiday where you would see Mexican flags in a US Marines house. Just saying. (Although I do have to point out that stereotypes are stereotypes and not all Marines act the same way.) Then on Sunday I got invited back for an impromptu BBQ- which was a lot calmer and totally fun!

On Tuesday, I went with IWA to visit A Balkan Tale, which is a new museum exhibit about the Ottoman influence in the Balkans. It had a very well done video, and a bunch of photographs around an old part of the National Museum. The photographs were of famous sites around the Balkans that existed in the Ottoman empire times. It was really cool to see, and I found a new museum in Skopje to go back to. Skopje stinks on tourist information, like really bad. There is almost no literature on it, and there is no handy guide/map that hostels give out or have available. So I have almost no information on Skopje or things to do in Skopje. It stinks!!

After the museum visit, I went with the American Corner to go talk to a language school in Skopje as part of their out reach while the corner is closed for renovation and moving. It was fun! We played taboo and talked about school in America! It was fun trying to see them figure out new words to explain things in English.  (But the American Corner did: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150797499625848.387297.23234200847&type=3)

On Wednesday, the 9^th, IWA had their last meeting of the school year that I can attend. The meetings always go the same: 1 hour of social time (aka mostly gossip or talking about what you have been up to) then the meeting will start late with a raffle and then a bit of discussion of what is coming up. At the end of the year, that’s not much! Afterwards we went to Restaurant Lira, which was really yummy! They had great baked zucchini, and we had a delicious Macedonian spread of appetizers. They are a nice group of ladies (even though most of them have no clue what real life is like in Macedonia- not that I do either, but it is so much closer for me than them) and I have enjoyed getting to know them this past year! When I got home, I worked from home for the NGO I work with.

On Thursday, I went to SEEU to give a presentation/lecture on Feminism in America. I mostly wanted to get them talking about feminism and feminist ideas. But man. These kids are tough. They don’t seem to want to open their minds and consider other opinions. And by were they so racist and sexist! I mean, I know that they have never been exposed to anything like that, but it was still tough t stomach some of the things that they say.

Friday the 11^th involved getting home from SEEU with a really really bad combi driver. This guy lied, and took two hours to get to Skopje. It was not fun or good. But he was a good con man.  We even had him drop us off as close to Ramstore as possible because we were done with walking and only paid him 100 MKD. Then Jen, Lizzie, Daniel, Anjie, Aidan, Eliana and I had a good bye dinner. That would be the last time we could all get together. We went to Plaza de Torres and had yummy yummy dinner before we had to hop on a train and go to BELGRADE!

Last Day of Thessaloniki! (5)

We woke up (kind of) early the next day so we could go to the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle. I was really curious about this museum that was located in Greece. I wanted to see how much propaganda was in there vs. actual history. Surprisingly enough, it was almost all history. There was only one room that was anti-Macedonian/not true to history. The rest was about how the Greeks over threw the Ottoman empire and how they Greek had “special” diplomatic officers that were really military people. (So admitting to spying while the rest of the world doesn’t, way to go!) The last room had a video that I SO wish I could have gotten my hands on (but I couldn’t I asked). It was describing how the FYROM people succeed in 1991 after failing to get the Real Macedonia from Greece after WW2 when Yugoslavia took over. Then the book/movie states:

Claims were not limited to Hellenic territories but sought to challenge and usurp cherished symbols and the cultural heritage of the Greek Macedonians. Under these circumstances the reactions of the Greeks, especially in Macedonia, were reasonable and unavoidable. (emphasis mine) Publication of the Foundation of the Museum For the Macedonian Struggle

*Political viewpoints ahead, please feel free to skip* An economic boycott that threaten democracy, human rights and the stability of the only country to succeed from Yugoslavia without war is reasonable? How was a tiny country with NO military supposed to take over or even think about invading and EU and NATO member? Cultural heritage of the Greeks, you do realize that Alexsander of MACEDON (not Greece) didn’t speak Greek nor consider himself Greek and he ruled over modern day Macedonia? So how can that symbol belong ONLY to the modern Greek nation? How can history only belong to the victors that happen to survive into modern times (which, by the way, there is no relation in any way shape or form to the modern Greeks or Macedonians to the Ancient Macedonians)?*end rant*

But it was interesting to see, and to learn a bit more of the history there. Since I don’t really remember any of it from school (did we even cover this?).

After the museum, Daniel, Andy and I walked back to the hotel while stopping along the way at a few bookstore to look for books for Jen. Do you know how odd it is to walk into a bookstore and ask for Captain Underpants? But for you Jen, I did it multiple times to no avail! Then we checked out of the hotel and walked to look for a specific type of pizza for Anjie (didn’t find it). And picked up the car and drove to a CarreFour where we did a bit of shopping. I literally only bought stuff that wasn’t good for me: Oreos, chocolate, (cous cous), Cheetos, and hot chocolate.

Then we were on our way back to Macedonia. We made it safely and had a lovely new CD serenading us- check it out here!

See you around the globe!

Sorry for the picture less post, I can't find any of the pictures I took on the way back, and my hard drive has stopped working, so I don't know if I even have any left!

Thessaolniki Conference: Day 1

Our first “real day” of the Fulbright Enrichment Seminar, started with a yummy fulfilling breakfast! I was, of course, one of the first people down there from our group. But slowly the others started trickling down. (As a note, these early wake ups have seriously messed up my sleeping schedule! I am still waking up at about 7:30-8 am, but am staying up later than when I did at the conferences…) This was also part of our “informal social time” built into the conference schedule. (yes, they tagged breakfast as social time, like we weren’t already going to do that.) After social time, we headed across the street to the sister hotel of where we were staying and got ready for the conference to officially open.

The executive director of the Fulbright commission in Greece was there to open the conference up! She was followed by the Consulate General in Thessaloniki, Catherine Kay (I had already talked to her and looked forward to meeting her in person. Before we headed down there we received an email from some one at the Fulbright Commission [who shall remain nameless] asking use to use FYROM instead of Republic of Macedonia or even Macedonia while giving our presentations for the sensibilities of those who were in the audience of Greek origin. We were outraged to say the least. It is repeated over and over and over that our research is ours alone and doesn’t represent the official US government views and how we are independent researchers. But here we were being asked to change our views and our research. We were not cool with this (there were three of us asked to do this). I emailed our embassy here asking them how did they diplomatically deal with this issue so I could try to find a diplomatic response. And ended up involving our embassy, the consulate in Thessaloniki, the IIE office in DC, and the embassy in Albania. In the end, it was suggested by Catherine that we just use Macedonia and not mention the dispute in public. Or at least in our presentations.) She was quickly followed by George Frowick, the Cultural Attaché at the US Embassy in Athens. They then answered a few questions that we put to them, before having to run away to their next engagement.

They showed us a video of Fulbright Greece since 1948. It was highlighting the different accomplishments and programs that the Fulbright Commission in Greece has done since the beginning of the Fulbright program. They are the 2^nd longest program in the world and the longest in Europe. (According to Wikipedia, China was the first program ever.) I tried to find the video for you, but to no avail, it is not online anywhere! After a short break, we had our first student presentations. Like the presentations in Ohrid, I think these deserve a bit about each one, so you get that now! Even if you don’t like it!  :)

The first presentation was by Dr. Leon Nar, who is a professor of Greek Literature in Thessaloniki. It was supposed to be on “Thessaloniki, the Future of the Past 1912-2012,” but it was more on the random history of the city. He jumped all over the place from place to place in the city to different times. So forgive me if these notes are a bit convoluted. Apparently on August 5, 1917, there was a 30 hour fire that destroyed the city, especially in the Jewish community area.  Greece also participated in the “exchange of populations” with the Ottoman Empire.  The Muslim populations “left” Greece and moved to Turkey while the Greeks “left” Turkey and went to Greece. However, many of these people didn’t speak any other language than the one that they left. Then WW2 happened, and 50 thousand were taken and only 2,000 returned. This obviously decimated the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki. Also to add insult to injury, Jewish gravestones were used to pave the roads and build houses while Greece was occupied. Throughout the years, Thessaloniki was neither a province or a capital. It occupied a weird position of having existed longer than Athens, but not being the capital. (About this time I got lost in his monotone reading of 20 some odd pages without stopping and had trouble paying attention. ) He did mention something about former Yugoslav people moving towards Greece after 1991. I wanted to ask him about how Greece doesn’t recognize minorities, but our questions were shushed because he had to go to work and lecture.

Then we had lunch upstairs at the hotel. It was a salad, meat option or pea stew, and dessert. It was interesting to talk to people more and get a bit more of a feeling of what others are doing. We also got to talk with a lady who is a fellow completing research for her next book.

Then we had our first student presentations.  They were “kind of” grouped into related topics. But not really. The first group had four people presenting.

Gerald “Bill” Gugerty, The Sexy Microfinance Industry: Dispelling Myths to Refocus on Poverty”: In the 1970’s the industry became “sexy,” and has even been called this in academic publications apparently. 2005 was actually called the Year of Microfinance. But there are a few negatives: the over promotion of sustainability , anti-private market moves, and the lack of concern for the environment. A major problem is that the movement could be self-sustaining, it collects enough interest to pay bills and fund new ideas. Some microfinance agencies have become self-sustainable, but they are still being funded by the major aid agencies. But in becoming sustainable, many have a mission drift with no longer focusing on alleviating poverty. These “sustainable” ones are funding bigger loans that are still not fundable by normal means, but they are too big to be real community changers, and many people are left out of the loan process.  If they are sustainable, then private investors can choose to invest in it rather than have aid funds.  Another problem is the environment. It is often overlooked or ignored in the progress of development. This is really troubling because poor people rely disproportionately on the land they work for their survival. If their loans help them destroy the land, then they are not able to continue providing for themselves. We need to refocus on the poor and poverty alleviation as the main goal.

Anja Vojvodic, Women in Politics: Progress and Impact in the Serbian Context: In Serbia, there are no legal form of discrimination against women.  They make up 22% of the national assembly. Further,  2 of 17 ministers are female. Out of 150 mayors, 10 are women. But out of the 23 city mayors, only 1 is female. The Ministry of Social and Labor Policy recently did a survey and found that 43 % of Serbians believe that abortion should only be legal for health reasons. When Serbia wrote the National Strategy for Gender Promotion/Equality law, they wrote it so that every 3^rd person on the party lists should be the under-represented gender. (Not specifically female or male, so in case it changes down the road.) Women usually run to help change the situation in Serbia

Richelle Bernazzoli, Keeping the State Viable: The security-Identity-Integration Triangle in ‘Euro-Atlantic’ Croatia: The security/identity nexus is where identity is fluid and context based, with geographies of inside/outside. Security is about guarding real and imagined boundaries. When we look at NGOs, state sovereignty might be strengthened by EU/NATO structures. A representative of the Meshihat Islamic Community, stated that they were no longer a minority party because they were now part of the larger international community. There is also the idea that Croatia has fought harder for western democracy than any other state and deserves to be a part of the EU with in Croatia. When looking at integration, people look towards identities that are beyond their national ones.

Cody Brown, Risky Endeavors: He is looking at those who participated in the Croatian Homeland War (1991-95). Participation was largely voluntary, and there wasn’t a draft. He is looking at why they decided to join. Literature states that it was greed (material gain) or grievance (oppression by the Serbs) that led people to join. However, his research doesn’t agree with these findings. If it was material interest, the soldiers didn’t see anything for the first 6-8 months. Of the 14 people included in this presentation, 10 of them had grievances: 2 had partisan family deaths, 4 had been arrested by the communists, 2 faced harassment, 10 were NDH supporters (the wrong side of the war in WW2). But given that killing was indiscriminate (not military targets), it represented a threat to all groups not just a specific group. Regardless of the attitudes to the other group (ie Serbs) it might be riskier to NOT participate than to participate. When asked why they joined at the time that they did, those he has interviewed replied: fighting was all around-7, Croats would be slaves if we didn’t fight-8, couldn’t watch it go on with out me-6, wanted revenge-1, independence-8.

After a short coffee break we went back for more student presentations. There were also four people in this panel!

Nicholas Sveholm, A Mighty, Crumbling Fortress: Diaspora, Romania’s German Speakers and the Volksgemeinschaft: After WW1, the Germans discovered that they had lost “brothers” in other areas, after they lost part of their territory. The ironic part, is that Romania was never part of an Unified Germany. Yet, diaspora organizations were created to aid those who were separated from Germany. The aid organizations used these areas as case studies to see what is really “German.” Mostly the aid organizations helped on a cultural level with schools and churches. These people rarely defined the diaspora, but the people who did define it were based in religion. There is some language difference between the two groups (mainland Germany and the Romanian enclave). The Germans in Romanian applied to help from the Germans in Germany when taking tests in Romanian, because they didn’t know that language very well.

Daniel Pout, Negotiating Identity: States, Migrants, and the Instability of Proper Names: (This one isn’t as long, because he was mostly telling stories about the people he interviewed and I didn’t wrote those down.) Identity is never just about the self, but it is also about the community. The state authorities (at borders) yield a lot of power in deciding who you are. But how do you convince others that you are who you say you are? Borders aren’t just at the state level anymore. When 6,000 ethnic Macedonians “left” Greece and went to Bulgraia, most of them then moved on to Macedonia because they felt like that was a better homeland. Even though the Greeks considered them Bulgarians and they were encouraged to take Bulgarian citizenship.

Ellen Rhudy, Identities Formed in Opposition: Albanian National Identity in Albania, Macedonia and Kosova: (Ellen lived in Debar, MK as a Peace Corps for a few years, which is where many of her stories come from.) In Debar many people strongly identified with their Albanian roots even more strongly than in Albania. They often would recognize the Greater Albania idea. They even named some kids after towns in Albania. While they are Muslims, they practice a slightly different way than those in Albania proper. The Macedonian-Albanians are working within the legal system of MK, but those in Kosova succeed from their state. Albania was created in the 1930s, but it wasn’t Albania deciding where they borders were- the Great Powers were. While there is a strong regional identity, they unit over other factors (such as religion). The “oppressed Albania” idea also helps to unite the Albanians. Some of the differences that can be observed between Albanian proper and the Albanians in the other countries can be attributed to the Former Yugoslav times when they were separated.

Andy Halterman, Exploring the success of Vetёvendosje: The Vetёvendosje are a left wing Albanian nationalist organization founded in 2004 (after the UN administration). They successfully use Albanian imagery in their advertisements. They never use the Kosovo flag. They have had political meetings in virtually every village. They were a social movement until the most recent election when they joined the national legislature. Now they balance political power  and street activities. They appeal to the idea that independence is an ongoing process. He is seeing how they succeed and why. And how they are able to negotiate the political party vs. grassroots idea.

After the presentations we went to the Consulate for dinner. Dinner was basically the exact same thing as the day before. Did I mention how delicious those potatoes were? But we got to meet and talk with Catherine Kay (the Consulate General mentioned earlier).  It was nice to just talk to people again and relax. While I wasn’t allowed to get a picture that day of the consulate, I was the next day. (but got yelled at). Like seriously people. If I was a terrorist or something, do you really think that a random picture of an elevator is going to do anything for me? But I digress.

After dinner, we went and had drinks by the White Tower. More chit chatting and hanging out with Americans = more fun! Greece even sells alcohol after 7 pm! (shocker, right?!?!?) Then sleep for another early day!

See you around the world!

Last Day of Ohrid, First day of Thessaloniki

The last day of the Ohrid conference started with a change in schedule. The Foreign Minister was unable to attend so we had to switch the day up a bit and move the President’s speech up to 11am, which meant people stayed in bed a bit longer.

It is actually really cool to see the President of Macedonia speak. And shake his hand/talk to him for a bit! (Are you able to ask harsh questions to the President if it isn’t your country?) He had some very good quotes, and some interesting commentary on MK’s future. He used to be a lecturer at the University and I can tell why! He can speak and he has presence! He started off showing us some maps of the world (some of which had been shown to us the other day at this conference, but I thought it more appropriate to highlight it here. This is a traditional world map:

This is a world map where the equator is exactly half way on the paper, with as close as the right ratio as possible:

The thoughts of how we think about the world are shaped by our education, though history and geography. We are the “audiovisual generation” according to him. He did start to say things like all of our beliefs come from religion. But freedom is the source of knowledge and the dominant idea is “the idea of freedom.” What was ironic, is that he started talking about how we are supposed not be eurocentric but then starts showing videos that are really eurocentric about how republics are formed. Is money the new reason for conflict? He claims that freedom isn’t the idea that now moves people but rather wealth is. And the new form of slavery is debt. Another good line “People who only look to the future fly as I they had red bull!”

Did you know that 2 people are killed in conflict every minute?

He claims that most of the political spectrum is on the right now. Most politicians are on the right hand side of the political spectrum, even those of the left. He argues that we use the term “right” in almost all languages to symbolize the conservative side. Daniel thinks he was saying that to be on the “right” is the “right (correct)” move. But I just got that through history people were more conservative and thus the correct version was to be more conservative and that is how it got the name.

The first thing he said that was *ugh* feeling is that there is a problem assimilating due to maintain your own culture. And that this is a challenge that needs to be overcome. (WHY does this need to be overcome?) Also you need to learn to speak the language where you live because “those who communication integrate. And those who don’t communicate live in a ghetto.” (Once again….ummm…not all the time.) He claimed that the internet is a great leveling tool and has helped make territory loose it’s importance. He also claims that if the EU doesn’t start switching for the future and adopt for the new needs of the youth, it will be become a “museum for the Chinese/Indians/Brazilians to come and look at the past.”

I really wanted to ask him “How can you keep stressing freedom and democracy when your country, which you represent, is only listed as partially free according to Freedom House?” But I decided not too, when talking to him I wasn’t sure how much English he actually understood, or if he was just exhausted form speaking.

Daniel and I were going to meet with Andy, a Fulbright researcher who lives in Kosovo and was in Ohrid visiting a friend to drive down to Thessaloniki together! Since Daniel had decided to go to the Ohrid Conference at the last minute we had to change car rental companies and the price increased and we had to get a manual transmission. So Daniel was the only one who could actually drive the car. The lady was about 20 minutes late in showing up to give us the car (which ended up with us arriving RIGHT on time to our next conference). We were able to rent the car and get on our way!

The views were beautiful driving through the countryside of Macedonia. I would have never seen this part without having to drive to Thessaloniki! We drove through Bitola on the way there, that was the closest Greek border to Ohrid. The border was super easy and we flew right through! Then it was into Greece with more countryside that is beautiful and nowhere to stop for food! Luckily I had though ahead and bought some snacks!

even the Greek cities needed a city with a cross on a hill

When we checked into the hotel, they said under their breaths (some Skopjian just parked in our parking spots) because we had moved the thing to park in front of the hotel to check in. Immediately after checking in we went up to our rooms and then right back down to go to the opening reception at a local artist studio. The guy was on a Fulbright to study art and is very active in the commission in Greece. His studio was kind of cool! And they had food. Lots of greasy baked food. But yummy orange flavored potatoes. No dessert sadly. But free Greek wine. We tried to go out to a pub, but after they decided which pub to go in to, I helped this girl find her way back to the hotel. When I went back to the pub they had left! So I went back to the hotel and just checked my email and stuff!

See you around the globe!

Ohrid Conference Day 3: Lectures and Free Time

Those of you who really know me, know that I can’t sleep without an eye mask (for those of you who don’t really know me, start at the beginning again).  This all started back in 9^th grade I think when someone gave me one for Christmas (Shawna!) and I tried it out. It seriously increases my ability to sleep well and wake more rested. I will even use it after a hurricane with no power around for 100 miles. J But anyway, the sun was killer in this hotel room and I woke up by about 8:30 am. Breakfast was a repeat of the day before, but people came down at a later time than yesterday. I guess a lot of people stayed out until 3 am!

We started at 11:30 (can you picture a US conference starting at 11:30? We are killers for time and early starts!) with a lecture by Dr. Mersel Biliali on “Challenges of Western Balkans with the European Countries.” His talk was pretty interesting, even if he did just read from a paper he had written (heck I would too if I had to give a speech in another language!). His main argument was that the current social problems in vital areas come from a history that is not forgotten. The EU helped with the solutions to the Balkan Wars, but they did so by funding solutions (such as supporting the states) that were dedicated to concrete solutions to improve infrastructure.  He then went on to list the main problems that countries of the Western Balkans have:

Serbia: The main problem is Kosovo. He claims that while “it is difficult to accept a new reality,” they really need to. They also have problems with BiH as a state. In addition to problems with Croatia.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH): The stagnation of the economy is the main problem. Aid is necessary to continue institutional efficiency. They need to review the Dayton Agreement.

Kosovo: Obviously the issue with Serbia, but after that there is North Mitrovica which is seeking succession from Kosovo. There is a cautious neighborhood policy with Kosovo from the EU because it is seeking candidate status. He suggests that KFOR stay there, because conflict is possible. Citizens of Kosovo have problems with their travel documents as well, especially into Serbia.

Macedonia: They withdrew from the integration based politics recently, and the current government is undermining their chances to get into the EU. The railroad, highways, and pipelines have been lost due to the dispute with Greece/EU.

He believes that NATO should be present in the area to ease the possibility of outbreak of conflict; yet their forces should decrease as the region gets closer to joining the EU. He believes that the name inssue with Greece and Macedonia is the government’s slight of hand. When they get you focused on this, you are not focused on the horrible economy that MK currently has. (It made me think of the Russo-Japanese War, which in case you didn’t know backfired against Russia which was trying to use it as a distraction.) One of the best quotes was “If Europe isn’t brought to the Balkans, the Balkans will be brought to Europe.” He did follow the “party line” (by party I mean most scholars) that any changing of the borders will destabilize the whole region. I disagree with this sentiment, but do agree with the idea that if everyone has their own nation, then ethnic conflict will be more prevalent.

After a walk and lunch, we were transported to Ohrid for some site seeing. Daniel, Vlado (new guy we met on the way down who is pretty dang cool, if I do say so myself), and I went up to see the churches and fortress that we always see when we go to Ohrid. After walking around and taking in the beauty, we stopped for “coffee” and a view.

cherry blossoms?

Then we went back to the conference for the last lecture of the day. This one was by Dr. Zoran Ilievski about “Turkey: EU Member Candidate or Competitor? “ He was by far the most interesting talk. He Discussed how political mythology is based on images, such as this one:

What does it imply? We did about three or four of these before he moved into his discussion. (Google Turkey and EU and go to images to see the others we used.) He described the Turkish Foreign policy:

1.      A balance of security and freedom [like all countries]

2.      Zero problems with their neighbors. (This is more of a goal than reality right now).

3.      Proactive engagement policies in surrounding regions, with high-level political dialogue with a vision oriented foreign policy.

4.      Economic independence (but they are missing an economic diplomacy wing)

5.      Multicultural coexistence in Middle East, Balkans and the Caucus.

6.      Common understanding of security, balanced and systematic relations with global powers. (the idea that security for one is loss for another, this is in response to that idea)

Is a “Turkey Schengen” region out of the question? Could they create an economic union with the surrounding states for a market or people?  Despite that idea, the rhetoric is harming mediation powers because the west I afraid of recognizing Turkey. In 2010, a Gallup Poll found that MK is the only non-Muslim country in the Balkans to support Turkey with a majority of support.

After his lecture, we had dinner followed by clubbing! Instead of clubbing, I went to meet with Emilija for a drink at the Irish Pub. It was nice to meet and talk with her, since we only get together when I get down to Ohrid. We had a great time talking with each other over a drink. But then we were both exhausted, so we just went home. She was nice enough to drive me back to the hotel center so I didn’t have to take a cab. Then sleep, precious precious sleep.

See you around the globe!

Ohrid Conference Day 2: Lectures galore!

Day Two of the week of conferences started with breakfast, decent food, a European style breakfast (I like my American style with lots of food and options for vegetarians, not just meat, cheese, bread, tomatoes, and cucumbers) [ok, that is over simplifying it, but  (thanks google!) an European breakfast usually consists of bread, cheese, meat, and possibly fruit. An American breakfast usually has eggs, meat, cereal, toast, fruit. They claim the major difference is hot vs. cold.] Anyway, basically it was Daniel and I there for the first 30 minutes, because Macedonians aren’t big breakfast eaters.

I think that the conferences can speak for themselves, and I want to share what I learned and questioned while there. So instead of glossing over the few presentations, I will actually go into detail with them. Feel free to come back in a week or gloss over the next few posts as I go into detail.

The first talk was with Karolina Ristova-Asterud. She was talking about “Building a European Polity.” A polity is a very common phrase used when discussing the European Union (EU). According to D Held, a polity is an empirical and normative model o a political community as a starting reference and embedded in the western logos. But a Wiberian definition includes a political formation or state composed of (1) hierarchical power or organization or order that is included under the threat of monopolized force (2) over people inhabitants (3) on a defined geographical territory.

But the main question is how do we treat the EU? As a state? Post state? New type of organization? Intergovernmental organization? If we treat it as an INTERGOVERNMENTAL POLITY, the member states are the decisive players, no matter how much power is transferred, it will continue in this fashion, it strengthens the power and sovereignty of the state. Is this a new form of hegemony of big states over little states, or is it the little states more powerful in the EU? If we treat it as a SUI GENERIS POLITY (meaning a new kind), we can’t compare it to anything else be it states or intergovernmental organizations.  It has pluralism in policy creation, functional diversification between state and non state actors, lacks hierarchy but has interdependence, and informality in the decision making process. If we treat it as a COMPARATIVE POLITY, we recognize that it is not a state nor an international organization but the member state’s experience is (and should be) influential and used in building the EU policy.  Many characters of the state are included, but not all.  

Dr. Ristova-Asterud marks four perspectives of EU polity in the future:

(1)    Return to classical perspective of international organizations. This would mean not only applying the brakes, but turn back the clock. Everything should be a consensus.

(2)    As intergovernmental technopolis (she thinks this is most likely). What it is now, remains the same and stops integration at the Lisbon treaty.

(3)    Becomes a federal parliamentary state. A daring proposal suggests a higher commitment of power.

(4)    Becomes a supranational parliamentary. It will be a sui generis polity (post sovereignty) that is beyond statehood with mixed multi-levels of governance.

After her talk, we went to lunch! One thing I have to say, is they had vegetarian options every day for every meal. (This is surprising in Macedonia- most of the time, people ask me what vegetarianism is.) Oh, and they give us dessert. I love me some dessert. A group of us then went for a 20 minute walk along the lake front, I mean why not? It’s beautiful and there!

The next talk was by the UK Ambassador to Macedonia, Christopher Yvon. He actually was very interesting to listen too, because he took questions and was frank and not totally diplomatic with us. (He was obviously representing the UK and had to say all the official positions, but he was able to do so in most ways that sounded like he wasn’t just spouting party lines. One of the interesting things he said that was true for most foreign services is that they are accountable to parliament which is worried about national purposes and issues, thus the foreign service has to justify their actions abroad to the national parliament. He challenged the idea that NATO is only for security and the EU is only for prosperity. Also, with the EU and enlargement, as he faced questions with this occurring. A question that has often been raised about enlargement is if it will still have conflicts within the boundary of the EU. Will the conflict still exist if the warring countries are within the EU or will that not change anything at all? He did advise MK to better prepare and provide clarity so that the accession process will go more smoothly.

After a short break, we had another lecture. This one was by Dr. Vanco Uzunov entitled “Protection of the EU Single Market Through Competition Policy.”  He started off his lecture with a very controversial proposition: we only go to school to study to make ourselves more competitive. After a small bit of conversation in which some people agreed, and other said they went solely for the purpose of learning, he continued (kind of) into his main topic. He spent the majority of his time explain commonly known economic topics rather than jumping into the main part of his supposed topic. I felt at first that he was talking down to us by explaining concepts that we all should have known already, but he did get into the “meat” of his topic eventually. One interesting concept is that the EU completion is something not found elsewhere in the world. It not only aims to protect the market completion but also to promote and protect market integration between EU members. In addition, apart from addressing private distortions of competition, it also curbs the distortions of the market by its own member states (ex: subsidies for national companies at the expense of other EU countries products). The EU market is also implemented at a multi-level political system, that the EU and member states are both responsible for implementing. At one point, he tried to say that marriage is something that states don’t regulate, and how would we feel if the state tried to tell us who to marry. He said this about three times before I had to speak up and tell him that the state DOES regulate marriage, not only do we have to go and register/get a marriage license, we are only allowed to marry someone of the opposite sex.

Before dinner, we went for another walk. Dinner was interesting, they offered me an omelet. That night, built into the schedule of the conference was “clubbing in Ohrid.” No joke. They offered us transportation to and from Ohrid to go to a club/pup (with two return options 1am and 3am). I was fine and enjoying myself at the pup before they turned on the strobe lights. Ever since I fell down the stairs in Russia strobe lights make me sick if they are on for more than 30 seconds or so. So the last 45 minutes not so fun! But the rest of the time, it was so lovely to sit (and actually DANCE!) with people. We had a blast! The bus that was supposed to take us back at 1am didn’t show up until 1:30, and boy was it cold.

See you around the globe!

Ohrid Conference Day 1: Opening Ceremonies and Travel

This past week has been very very busy! I had two conferences back to back in Ohrid and then in Thessaloniki. They were very interesting conferences filled with many wonderful people and new connections. Each day deserves a separate post so I can highlight the special comments and presentations. These are mostly going to be wordy posts- not a whole lot of pictures taken.

The week started off with a fun filled trip to the post office, but as that particular saga is still on going, I will save that story for later.

We started off in Skopje on a bus down to Ohrid with the other participants of the Macedonian Political Science Forum (which is part of the Sv. Ciril I Methodi university in Skopje) for their 2^nd Annual Academic conference: Europe with (out) borders. It is roughly a three hour bus ride down to Ohrid, where we were spending the next 3 days. We stayed at the University’s conference center (literally called Congress Center) which is on the shores of the lake. Sadly, I didn’t have a lakeside view or roommates. I did, however, eat мекици и сирење (mekitsi and cheese). It was sooo yummy! Basically fried dough with cow’s cheese. But yum! When we arrived, I walked down to the beach and took some pictures/relaxed before the official opening.

The conference kicked off with an opening ceremony where they introduced some of the themes of the conference and welcomed us all to Ohrid. There were participants from Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia! It was a great chance to mingle. Although horrible for someone who is not at all good with names (me!).

Afterwards we had dinner (for the program’s 15^th year anniversary). The food was interesting for both conferences. I don’t think I ate more oil and fried/drowned in oil foods in one week than I had in this week. Since food is rather important, and they gave us so much of it, I thought I would share exactly what it is we were eating: cheese burek, tomato/cheese/garlic appetizer, minestrone stew with potatoes (or fish), fried cheese, and Ohrid cake. It was layers of caramel, nut vanilla cake and some sort of thick desserty style thing.

Then we had some time to just relax and hang out! It was nice to talk with people and just relax a bit.

Водици / Vodici

January 19, on the Orthodox Calendar, is known as Водици/voditi. It is, apparently, the celebration of the baptism of Jesus. It is very good luck to catch the cross, especially the cross in Ohrid. We were warned that trying to get to Ohrid would be really really difficult! So we decided to stay in Skopje.

We wandered through Old Town/Charshia a bit before going to watch The Event (which was an AMAZING show that some stupid execs cancelled). There were a ton of people there. Oh and did I mention that this religious event seemed to be sponsored by a winery? Yeah, I was a bit shocked too. The City Red Cross was also there to help out in case anyone gets hurt.  (Although, legend has it that no one will get sick trying to catch the cross in the almost freezing water in the freezing temperature. God will protect them.)

See...sponsored by wineary. Also, "sup? no worries, just walking home after a day's work"

We stood around for about 10 minutes before the singing started. Then then there was a speech by the head priest guy (yea, my orthodox religious topics need some work). I didn’t understand much, but there was a lot of talk about water (Daniel later said that he thinks they were retelling every story that had water in it. They started with Moses or Noah and went from there. About 10-15 minutes later they tossed the cross into the water. One very happy man caught it. Then everyone tried to kiss it and hug that man. Eventually the priest guys congratulated him and his family and wished him luck.

Someone was carried out in a stretcher (see above?).

Mama and I then went to The Cuban (it has a different name, but no one calls it anything but the Cuban) for lunch with the Pouts. Mama and I order pumpkin soup and carrot chips. Everyone liked the carrot chips! Especially Eliana and Aidan.

Afterwards, we went back to Old Town and wandered around some more. Then we went through it to Kale (the fortress) to over look another view of Skopje and see the closed off fortress. If we had just stayed around a bit longer, we could have sweet talked our way into the fortress with these other tourists, but no avail. We stopped off in a cafe to have Salep and just talk. Salep is a flour made from orchids and sweetened into a hot drink, sprinkled with cinnamon. It was very delicious!

Then we went to Anja’s again, but this time we got shopska, pizza, and palichinki. The guys remembered us, and brought us free rakija after dessert.

The waiters are really super nice, by the way. We just talked for an hour or so, and then we  went home to go to bed for a early start the next morning.

First Week of December

To show you how far behind I am in posting, I give you dates!

December 3^rd: When I went to leave in the morning, my lovely $80 purse broke. You remember, the one that is supposed to be pickpocket proof? Yea seriously disappointed. But this meant I had to go buy another purse before we went to Ohrid, because I only brought over one purse! Erin had recommended this little shop in the Old Town, so after the IWA Christmas Bazaar, I headed over there. I walked into the store and basically only saw black and white purses. I’m a color girl- I really don’t do just black and white. I’m just not good with looking that depressed. So, I pulled one down that was more white than black, and as I was doing so noticed one with bright (really really small) dots of color and started looking at that one, figuring I would get that over just black and white.  When the guy held up his finger (as in one minute please) went to the window display and pulled out a beautiful blue and white stripped purse! I smiled really big and said “Good, yes!” I don’t remember exactly how much it was, but it was under $10. You might have seen it appear in my Ohrid pictures.

December 5^th: I was supposed to meet with my official affiliation partner today, but they did not show up and it was the final straw. I now claim I am “freelance.” I will just focus on my research and blog and not work with any official institution of education. I will continue to work with Florozon one day a week, because they are AWESOME!!!

 December 6^th: I attended a presentation at the American Corner on “The US Military, Media, and Public Inforamtion: On the Job.” This is how the American Corner summarized it:

American Corner Skopje had the honor to host Lieutenant Jennifer Franco and members of the U.S. European Command's Public Affairs staff on December 6.

LTC Franco talked about her experience working with the media and implementing public information practices in Afghanistan and other operations. She shared with the audience information about media trainings conducted as well her experiences in working both with the American and local journalists.

LTC Franco pointed that during the current election cycle, the biggest question of the U.S. public is “What are we still doing in Afghanistan” which is why it is important to account to the U.S. taxpayer about every single dollar spent there. A good practice for this has been inviting the US media to learn about Afghanistan, in order to provide broader concept and see the changes for themselves. On the other hand, working with the local journalist there are different challenges to be faced. However, the established “Media Center” does provide the journalist with internet access and needed resources.

Present in the audience were also Rebecca M. Wriggle, Deputy Director of Strategic Communication for the United States European Command, John V. Tomassi, Deputy Director for U.S. European Command Public Affairs and Benjamin A. Benson, Strategic Communication Advisor at U.S. European Command’s Strategic Communication Directorate (ECSC). They answered the audiences questions about advice for the Macedonian mission in Afghanistan which does not have a Public Affairs team, EUCOM’s Social Media strategy as well as general questions about the European Command’s operations.

December 7^th: Surprise (well two day notice) presentation to children (turns out to be 8^th grade) at the American Corner on Big Cities in the US. They were super cool and wanted to just learn about the US. I was glad I was able to shuffle my schedule and meet with them.

December 8^th: Stay tuned for a separate post! J

December 9^th: I returned from Tetovo in the morning, and attended the National Assembly with Florozon to see a presentation on Waste Batteries in Macedonia. It was really interesting and I was glad I was able to attend!

 The guy with the purple tie is the Chairman of the Committee on Transport, Communications and Environment

Kiril (NGO Florozon) supporting the campaign.

Then I rushed off to attend a workshop on the “Impact of Volunteering on Community Development” hosted by an NGO I was to interview the following week. It was really interesting and informative. More info will later be found on my research blog (much later unfortunately…I stink at updating stuff.)

Later that night, Lizzie, Justin, Jen, and Mary (Kosovo Fulbright English Teacher) arrived and we attended Daniel’s club at the American Corner; stay tuned for a separate post.

December 10^th: Once again, stay tuned. Don’t ya love how I don’t even give you any hints?

ok fine-- ONE hint!