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!

Fulbright (Thessaloniki) Day 3!

I was really looking forward to our last “official” day in Greece. We were to go see the historical site of Vergina. There is a lot of controversy at this site. They found a tomb there that they said is Phillip II and his grandson Aleksandar (not the great, but his son). The controversy surround it involves Macedonia. The 16 pointed sun was found at this site (as well as others) but because Phillip 2 is buried here, Greece claims that no one else can use this sun. And promptly yelled at MK for doing so on their flag. To this day, people still use the old flag when trying to make a political statement. So I was curious to see what all the fuss was about.

The city of Aigai, the ancient first capital of the Kingdom of Macedonia, was discovered in the 19th century near Vergina, in northern Greece. The most important remains are the monumental palace, lavishly decorated with mosaics and painted stuccoes, and the burial ground with more than 300 tumuli, some of which date from the 11th century B.C. One of the royal tombs in the Great Tumulus is identified as that of Philip II, who conquered all the Greek cities, paving the way for his son Alexander and the expansion of the Hellenistic world. Or for the long description: UNESCO Site

We hopped on the bus (a bit late, of course) and took off to the monastery that the guide had recommended. Beautiful countryside. It also let me mark where the turn off to Skopje is so I could find it the next day when we were going home. Well, we saw some beautiful beautiful countryside, even though we were going the wrong way! We turned the wrong way and went out about 30 minutes the wrong way. We pulled into this monestary (turned out to be a nunnery), and these nuns looked at the tour bus like we were crazy! We were so at the wrong place. The little drive up to this place was amazingly scary- so twisty turny and step and no guard rails! But the driver was amazing and soon we were on the right way to the right monastery where we were supposed to have a guide. We did arrive there and it was breathtaking. See:

We heard about how this was where this “saint” had gone and had a vision or something like that. It was a bit difficult to hear/understand, because it was being translated and that wasn’t very good either.  After a tour with the priest and our guide, in the rain we hopped back on the bus to go to Vergina. At this point we were about 1-2 hours off of our schedule. (and already behind on lunch!) We made it there, but only the tombs were open due to reconstruction. I was interested to see how the tour guide explained the history since it is so controversial. She failed. She basically spouted the party line that Macedonia is only Greek and no one else can claim anything related to the kingdom of Ancient Macedonia. (which is a little harsh due to this map, just saying.)

I would tune in to her talking for a bit and then tune out. She even at one point said “Since 75% of the gravestones are in Greek, that means that everyone was ethnically Greek.” I’ll just let that sink in a bit. If most of the population is one ethnicity, that means, according to her, that no other ethnicity matters or deserves recognition. Like WOAH! That’s when she lost me the first time. You know it’s bad when the girl who is studying the classics tells you she is incorrect in her history. But regardless, it was interesting to see the sights and the possible bones of Phillip 2.

After this we went on a 45 minute drive to lunch. Lunch was at what is supposed to be a high class ski resort that is well known for its trout (or something like that), but at this point we were all just willing to stop and get something along the way we were sooo hungry! Lunch was ok. There was way too much oil in the veggie plate, and a lot of the appetizers were just not to m liking (or had too much oil). But the people who got the meat plate seemed to really enjoy it.

Then it was back on the bus to Thessaloniki. We had a bit of down time before we were to have dinner again (about 2 hours or so total!). So a few of us just wandered around for a bit before eating dinner. We even went a picked up a few bottles of wine to split over our dinner tonight. After dinner, we went out to a pub to just hang out some more. I went home early because Daniel and I were going to go to the Museum for the Macedonian struggle the next morning, so I didn’t want to stay up too late.

See you around the globe!

P.S- GROUP SHOT!!

Fulbright Seminar (Thessaloniki) Day 2

We started off the next day (after breakfast and informal social time) with a bus ride to the Museum of Byzantium Culture. That is where we were doing one more presentation and another lecture.

The first session there, was another group of student presentations. Including Mine!

Cassidy Henry, Studying A Community that Doesn’t Exist: (Do you know how hard it is to summarize your own presentation? Really difficult!) There are definitely challenges to working as an NGO in MK. The climate is realtively harsh- with political party connects, money laundering accusations, and a real lack of money coming in to help fund projects. In MK, there are two official documents governing the government and NGO cooperation: Strategy for Cooperation with Civil Society and the Law of Associations and Foundations. The Strategy was very overarching and too ambitious, so most of it was not accomplished when attempted. However, the Law on Associations and Foundations, implemented many great changes (allowing NGOs to make money to cover costs, and complete fundraising activities to even allowing organizations some tax havens). There is some research out there saying that NGOs communicate great and work well together, but none of the NGOs I have ever talked to had good cooperation with another NGO. Most never even really communicate with a different NGO, much less the government. There is also infighting for the same small pool of resources. Although there is some hope for the future- many organizations would like better cooperation with each other and the government and they are open to working together.

Jennifer Zenovich, Defining Feminism Amongst Women in Montenegro in Academia: It is difficult to define feminism, because so much of the definition is relevant to the context. Jennifer prefers bell hook’s definition (this might not be the exact quote, but it is close enough for horseshoes or hand grenades) “Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” There is an element of taboo in mentioning feminism in Montenegro, with a subtext of being against the state. They rejected feminism (in the past) as being Western/bourgeoisie. Through the transition, there is a possibility for a re-working of this concept, but it is slow going. However, to ensure a democratic transition, women and feminism could really help. At the university, there are now two courses about feminism: ‘Feminist Literature’ and ‘Gender Psychology.’ One of these classes is taught by a younger professor and the other is taught by an older professor.  The younger professor is for a more western literacy movement and was raised after communism. The older professor claims to not be feminist, but for human rights. She said that she isn’t for the violent, radical events that feminists support. But a question that Jennifer is looking at: can it be called feminism if it is only viewed through a western ideology?

Adam Julian, Hip-hop and  minority language Revitalization: The Case of Gagauzian and Vitali Manjul: The Gagauzian language is considered a dying and endangered language. It is forecasted that within two generations, the language will be dead. Currently, only the over 50 crowd even speak it. The Gaguaz language is a Turkish language, although they currently live in Moldova (which speaks Romanian and Moldovan/Russian). They are separated from the Turkish religion words, although the Turkish influence is being absorbed into the language. Some of the grammatical structures are changing. Unlike other minority languages, Gagauz lacks a sphere of influence. Russian is everywhere- in schools, at the market, at home, in political life. Another problem they are facing is that there is not a unified script for Gagauz. There are some textbooks, but they are almost 20 years old and there is no changes for the Turkish words in them. Students are supposed to learn all three languages, but they can’t. Adam couldn’t even learn the language there! A new sphere that this one artist is doing is hip=hop using the Gagauz language. But he is mostly considered a laughing stock. Adam put together a video that I would like to link you about this rapper:

Karla Hoppman Buru, Exploring Cross-Cultural Social Work and Public Health Collaborations in the Jiu Valley: There are 7 smaller communities in the region. All organizations participating in the research had to have had international sponsors and volunteers. There were different reactions and support levels within the region. She is still in the research phrase, and talked mostly about how she is conducting her research. She is working closely with locals to complete the interviews. She interviews the international organizations and her local contact interviews the Romanians so that they aren’t inclined to make the picture more rosy than it is. She will be putting on a training in May to help them get on the same communication level.  (And I’ve been invited to observe it! I am really thinking about going, now if only I knew how to get there!)

After our presentation, we had the Deputy Mayor for Finance & Development speak and introduce the 2^nd keynote speaker. Mr. Hasdai Capon, the Deputy Mayor basically just welcomed us to the city and said I hope you have a good time!  After her spoke, Mr. Dimitris Keridis, an Associate Professor of International Politics at a local university, spoke. Mr. Keridis also runs the Navarino Network, which promotes innovation and extroversion in public life while addressing the challenges of my generation. They also run these amazingly cool looking summer schools, (and although the deadline has passed, feel free to look at them). He then proceeded to talk about the economic crisis. We had been promised a talk about ethnicities that I was really looking forward to, but to no avail. Economics instead. If you know me at all, you know that econ is just not my thing. (it probably has to do with the math part of it and math and I don’t get along). The main take away that I got from his lecture, is probably not the one he wanted me to get. He kept stressing how Greece is not a European country but a more Eastern country. I had never heard that dialog before. Almost everything I had heard is how Europeanized Greece is. And how much it deserves to be in the EU because it is an European country. He did mention how the current crisis can’t just be blamed on economic means, but it also has to be blamed on politics. Institutional settings can also be blamed for part of the problems. Such as Greece not taking the Euro seriously and borrowing without limits. The global financial system didn’t account for difference between Germany and Greece. He did use a metaphor that was enlightening. The EU is like a bike, you either go forward or fall over.

After his talk, we stood around waiting for a group picture. It took forever for him to get srt up, because the lightening was so bad! However, we then had a tour of the museum. Now, while I like museums. When Every. Little. Thing. Is. Very. Very. Important. And. You. Must. See. This. One. Last. Thing. About 40 times, you get tired of hearing the same thing over and over and over. Now, don’t get me wrong this guide was super friendly and she was very passionate about her stuff, but she kept repeating herself over and over and over again. Like we were supposed to quickly walk through the museum and then eat lunch, but the museum tour took about an hour because she kept wanting to point out even more stuff for us to look at. But they rewarded us with delicious Greek food at the end. All fried or baked or unhealthy for you (except for the small mostly bread mozzarella and tomato sandwiches), but the food was so good! They had this potato baked in bread thing, yum!

We hopped on a bus for what was supposed to be a city bus tour, but involved more walking and talking than actual bus touring. We stopped off at some churches whose names I can’t remember, but they were super pretty. One had been converted into a mosque during ottoman times, and then is recreating into a church now. We went up to the top of the hill and overlooked the city. She seemed to be very sensitive to her history. (Turns out she had a high fever and still came out and shared with us!) She kept repeating how everything was closed after 3 pm. To the point that we really understood that things were closed after 3pm and we wouldn’t get to see as much.  Oh and did you know that there is just one more thing, that you should really see, because it is very important? No? Well…..

After a bit of coffee time back at the hotel, we started our final panel.  In this panel there were only three presenters, I think one girl wasn’t able to make it to the conference.

Athan Geolas, Three Legged Chairs and Capable Cities: Athan is in Athens studying architecture.  He wanted to see if there was any correlation between space and usage. He mostly showed us his drawings, but he did share a few assumptions that architects have: (1) Building change peoples lives, if they don’t then they are useless. (2) Faith in building the right building right now. Some spaces they have seen as centered around a water source or private space (where everything is enclosed). His work is best seen by looking at it, so I suggest you go look at his blog. Here is an example:

Lisa Owen, Familial Roles in Contemporary Croatian Cinema: The film industry is developing in Croatia, they produce about 7-10 films every year. Usually the war features prominently in the films that are about the war specifically with family drama. There are important parent and son relationships. The male protagonist is often the main character. The strongest bond is between the mother and son in any movies. She suggests that it is due to the privileged space of mom. The “Wall of Love” or the fierce mother, they were recalled from the Yugoslav army to serve in the homeland war. She provided two examples of movies where the mother is fierce (and kid of scary).

Stefana Simic, Banja: Thermal Spa Designs: There is rich potential in the banja for health tourism and sustainable development. A bit of history- Serbia lies on 7 different tectonic areas, which over time created thermal springs. Banjas are hybrid thermal springs and hospitals. Every banja has a clinic or special hospital. If you need rehab you will often go here. Recent political restructuring has led to a change in the definition of a spa. The reconstruction or construction of banjas is not included in the current plan, and many are in total disrepair. They are even viewed as financial burdens on the local people; thus they are shut down and abandoned. Health tourism is a $1 million industry, and it could be focused sustainably. She's an amazing artist by the way- her work was just wow. She showed some paintings and designs and it was just wow! Here is an example of it:

Then we got our certificate. They love certificates in this region for some reason. Apparently it is seen as a attendance sheet, so you get one even for just participating in a conference. I find it a bit odd, but…Apparently in some cultures they even keep binders of their certificates of completion.  We had to take our picture with the certificates and then we were able to go across the street (to the hotel we are staying at) for dinner! After dinner, we went out for a little walk as we were waiting for others to return so we could go out with them, but they never returned! So off to bed for the long next day!

See you around the globe!

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 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.

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

When a new year starts, it seems to be a time of reflection for everyone, and I am no different.

Last year, I had no idea that I would be writing this post in Skopje, Macedonia while getting ready to fly to Slovenia later today. (P.S- I wrote this post on Jan 3, 2012, by the way. I know you won’t be reading it until Jan 5th, but....) I mean I had hoped that I would get the Fulbright, but at this point last year, I didn’t know that I would. I already knew I had gotten into Teach For America and would possibly be teaching somewhere in the Rio Grande Valley. I was super excited.

The last year involved many “life events” that Facebook would want me to include on my new timeline. Things such as getting engaged, graduating college with my BA, or learning a new language. Then there are the little things, like laughing with Ashley over someone’s shirt at chili cookoff, or talking with Andy about a movie on TV and how it would make the perfect subject for a paper, or walking into the DH while I was at college and finding out that the thing I had been craving was on the menu that day! There were times when I was sad, when i didn’t want to be where I was or doing what I was doing, but there were also times when I was so excited but nervous because I didn’t know what the future held (specifically thinking of that bus ride into Macedonia).

When I applied to both TFA and Fulbright, I figured I wouldn’t get either. I had been told by a professor or two that since I had never had a prestigious grant before that I would never receive one. Also they mentioned that since I only had a 3.7 GPA, and was only involved in about 2 clubs, that I didn’t really stand a chance. (if you know me at all you know how much I wanted to go shout in said professors faces, “hey, guess what? I didn’t apply to that grant you told me not to, but guess what? I GOT THE FULBRIGHT!!!! BOO YAH!..and if you know me still, you know I never actually did).

I don’t know why I got either of these wonderful opportunities, but I am thankful that I did. I have learned so much about the world and myself since having these opportunities. There are some things that I can point out, and there are probably more that I could never name. I know that I will be a stronger teacher next year in Jacksonville when I begin to teach high school there because of my travels abroad. This time is different than before when I did a semester in Russia. I guess because I know that it was a longer time, and the fact that I am older, at a different stage in my life.

I look forward to many different dates in this coming year, but a few stand out:

June 6th (155 days) when I return to the US.
July 25 (204 days) when I marry the love of my life.
August 6 (215 days) when I start training/teaching in Jacksonville.

I’m sure there will be many more first’s for me in this coming year, ones that I currently know nothing about, but that could change my life.

I hope that this new year brings you joy. I hope that you are able to have learning experiences, and try new things, go new places, meet new people. Maybe one of them will change your life, maybe you will change theirs.

No matter what this new years holds (or if you believe the fake version of the Mayan calendar debate that it will end) for you, I hope you are able to be yourself and have fun!

Two Months In, Seven To Go

2 months.

Well technically it hit while we were in Croatia, but this is the first time I have had time to write about the mile marker.

This month flew by. I still haven’t seen as much of MK as I would like. I really need to just start exploring by myself. Make a pact to do like I did in Russia- every (enter day here) I will go some where. It doesn’t matter if it is a museum (there are a few left here in Skopje) or a village or a town.  Just something- this has been my biggest disappointment- not traveling. I mean It is November and I have been here for 2 months and I can count the places I have been besides Skopje ON ONE HAND! That is just terribly wrong. Part of it has been me trying to plan things with other people, and because I like exploring with others, I wait. But I make this promise to myself that I will wait no more. I will go out and explore. And if I have to do it by myself- so be it!

Also, wow- 2 months! The second month was so filled with meetings (some in Skopje, some not) and that trip to Croatia! I was finally able to fill up my research book here with interviews (and am still in the process of getting them all up online). November looked a little bleak for meetings, because I was a bit late in asking to volunteer, and was still wrapping up everything. And then in a few weeks we have Thanksgiving. We are planning a get together of all of the Fulbrights at Daniel & Anje’s house on Thanksgiving. Lizzie and Justin will come up from Bitola, Jen from Tetovo and we will possibly have it at dinner time on Thursday. (I, for one, and personally setting a goal to avoid my last overseas Thanksgiving experience. Don’t remember it? Click here.) The planning personality in me is worried that we HAVE NO PLANS. Nothing, no food ideas, no time, no official date, nothing. And Thanksgiving is, oh, next week! But, calm breath, it will be ok. Everything will work out. We’ve just all really adapted to the Balkan mentality- it’s part of the culture.

I have nothing new to add to my list of complaints- and I still love it here! I do wish it was easier to meet people and make friends. It is really difficult when you have no real institutional support or built in group of people to hang out with. I have no real co-workers. I have no real location that I can meet people near to my age. I’ve never actually been to a place like that. In high school or college, I had classes and orientation.

I have some plans coming up on exercise (I’ve tried to start walking more). Hopefully a presentation at the American Corner- we will see, still need to talk with others about this. I might have found a MK language class, we will see if she gets more students. But it is a great deal and really good price! And she was super nice!

And now there is only 7 months left until I go home. I can’t say I am anxiously awaiting either leaving MK or returning to home. I will be glad to get back to the US, but will be sad to leave MK behind. I also feel like I have so much to do to make my time worth while here. To put the tax payer dollars to work.

It is interesting to note that I feel I have barely gotten started here in MK, that I have so much left to do and my stay is 22% over. These dates are a big shocker.

8 months left

Wow. Just to say that (type) that out loud.

Wow. I've been here for a month! I can't believe it! Time has flown by! I can't believe it!

While (almost) nothing is begun with my research and I am trying to figure out where to take it (more later) I don't regret a thing.

I would make all the decisions the same all over again (well, I would add those boots to my bags, but other than that).

Wow.

Now I can only say I will be here for 8 month.

See you around the globe!

"[Anticipation] might be the best part."

In the style of Woody Allen (a refernce which I do not understand, but am includeing for you in case you do get it), the first speaker said that the preperation to leave could be the best part, because reality rarely lives up to expectation.

Along with that advice, we should "use this experience as a launching pad."

We had a general overivew of the Balkans (well part of them, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, and Macedonia at least). This was to give us a worst case senario of what could happen and to give us some of the history of the area.

The history part was interesting for the rest of the Balkans, but he didn't really mention anything that I didn't arealdy know about Macedonia. BUT, he did for some of the people who had never thought of going to Macedonia until the Fulbright offer.

The worst case scenario in Macedonia/this area of the Balkans is if the Albanians rise up together to form a "Greater Albania."

Which is not plausable , by the way.

After a delicious lunch, we went to our country sessions.

These were run by a full time staff member of either IIE (student) or CIES (scholar) but mostly the returning students/scholar talked.

We answered all of our questions in the first two sessions and didn't really need a third session, but had one any way.

We learned some important cultural things:

-If you are invited out for "drinks" in Macedonia, do not order food. This is seen as rude to eat when someone else is not eating. On the flip side, if you are invited for "food" order something becasue if you are not eating when someone else is, it is also rude.

-You can buy good summer clothes there, so pack mostly for winter. And pack dark clothing.

-most people have 2 phones, because they do not want to have to call people on their non Tmobile/ VIP pohone becasue that costs more. So we might need to get two phones. (I am not sure about this one yet, but we will see)

-You can call a taxi company and order a taxi with food, and they will charge you for the delivery, and the food, but no real upcharge. (good thing if you happen to get sick apparently)

-Arrive 10-15 minutes late. If you are on time, they will not be expecting you. And will not be ready for whatever you are early for.

Also, we found out that we will get some money for language training, through reimbusrment, to start or continue language training in our host countries.

That is most of the info. Stay tuned for an interesting inclusion in our packet as well as an introduction to my fellow Fulbrighters (will be later when I recieve the picture from Jen.

See you around the globe!