Kosovo/Macedonia border crossing, 2009.

This odd little photo is a reminder of my border crossing into Kosovo (Kosovë) on 7 April, 2009. It is a little askew because I took this photo surreptitiously with my iPhone in the buffer zone between the Macedonia border checkpoint and the Kosovo checkpoint. Usually photos are “not encouraged” at border crossings, but I wanted a memento.

I had not prearranged an excursion into Kosovo for this European trip, but had hoped to arrange something while I was in Skopje (Macedonia). I have an interest in this area and its history, and AMPP is beginning to assemble stories of Christian work in Muslim areas (as well as Hindu cultures). Cultures that are unfriendly toward Christianity, I believe, will greatly influence Christian mission work in this century and this cultural/religious interaction needs to be explored.

While in Skopje, I asked my contacts there if they knew people in Kosovo who would be willing to share the story of their work. They put me in contact with some missionaries who were working in Priština. However, I had to go it alone for this excursion. So, early Tuesday morning I was picked up by a taxi at my hotel in Skopje and dropped of 40 minutes later at the border crossing. My contact, whom I had never met, was to pick me up once I made it through the Kosovo border checkpoint and drive me to Priština.

I took the above photo because I knew the history of the thousands of ethnic Albanians who fled from Serbian forces ten years prior to my crossing. 10,000 never made it to safety in Albania or Macedonia. After entering into Kosovo I found that evidence of the war is not so easy to discover with the rebuilding of the homes and infrastructure over the last ten years. It is much easier to find it in the voices of the Albanians who returned to Kosovo after the war.

While standing at the midpoint of the barbed-wire entangled bridge that spans the Ibar River to join the two halves of of Mitrovicë, I asked my driver/guide when he thought that the U.N. peace-keepers would be able to leave. He turned to look me in the eye as he said, “Never. If the U.N. leaves there will be war.” At present there is a great opportunity for mission work in this Muslim country because of the great gratitude the Albanians feel toward the U.S.A. for bringing an end to the atrocities that defined the 1998-1999 war. Will this amity endure? Not likely.

 18 Νοε, 15:43

 

 Όποιος τότε είχε, έστω και μια μίνιμουμ αίσθηση του διεθνούς περιβάλλοντος, θα μπορούσε να είχε εύκολα προβλέψει τις συνέπειες των απόψεων του κ. Σαμαρά. Ένας λόγος για τον οποίο δεν περνούσαν οι ελληνικές θέσεις, οφειλόταν στη γενικότερη καχυποψία με την οποία αντιμετωπιζόταν η Αθήνα, λόγω των στενών σχέσεων με το καθεστώς Μιλόσεβιτς. Ένας άλλος λόγος ήταν ότι η προσπάθεια της Ελλάδας να κάνει μια χώρα να αλλάξει το όνομά της, έθετε σε άμεσο κίνδυνο την έννοια της «εθνικής κυριαρχίας», πάνω στην οποία θεμελιώνεται κάθε κράτος. Ένας τρίτος λόγος ήταν ότι, στη συνείδηση της διεθνούς κοινότητας, η «Δημοκρατία της Μακεδονίας» είχε κατοχυρωθεί ως μια υπαρκτή οντότητα από το τέλος του Β’ Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου, και κανείς δεν έβλεπε το λόγο για τον οποίο θα έπρεπε να αλλάξει αυτή η κατάσταση. Επίσης, κανείς δεν πίστευε ότι αυτό το μικροσκοπικό και οικονομικά εξαθλιωμένο κράτος, θα μπορούσε να αποτελέσει απειλή για την Ελλάδα, μια χώρα με τις, ίσως μεγαλύτερες στρατιωτικές δαπάνες στον κόσμο.

 Όμως, προσωπικά πιστεύω, ότι στα μάτια της διεθνούς κοινότητας, το πιο αδύναμο στοιχείο της ελληνικής επιχειρηματολογίας ήταν η προσπάθεια να θεμελιωθεί η αποκλειστική ελληνικότητα της Μακεδονίας σε ένα αφήγημα αδιάσπαστης συνέχειας «διαμέσου των αιώνων» της Κλασσικής Αρχαιότητας/Μακεδονίας με τη σύγχρονη ιστορική πραγματικότητα. Αυτό το επιχείρημα , με τις παραδηλώσεις της «εθνικής καθαρότητας» που συνεπάγετο, ξυπνούσε στους Ευρωπαίους τους χειρότερους εφιάλτες του παρελθόντος. Να σημειωθεί εδώ ότι η άποψη την οποία προέβαλαν τότε τα Σκοπια, δεν συγκρουόταν με την ελληνική επιχειρηματολογία, απλά την παρέκαμπτε. Εκείνη την εποχή, το εθνικό αφήγημα των γειτόνων αναζητούσε τη γένεσή τους -όχι τόσο στην Κλασσική Αρχαιότητα, όσο  στην περίοδο της κατάρρευσης της Οθωμανικής Αυτοκρατορίας. Για τον Γκλιγκόρωφ και τους ινστρούκτορες του κύκλου του η (σλαβική) Μακεδονία ήταν ένα «νέο» έθνος -και γι’ αυτό, άλλωστε, δεν είχε καμία αντίρρηση στην ονομασία «Νέα Μακεδονία».

 Τα χρόνια πέρασαν και στην πορεία συνέβησαν δυο πολύ σημαντικά γεγονότα που έμελλαν να αλλάξουν την κατάσταση άρδην υπέρ της Ελλάδας. Το πρώτο σημαντικό γεγονός είναι ότι το ελληνικό ΥΠΕΞ, ακολουθώντας και αυτό τους κανόνες της δαρβινικής εξέλιξης, έγινε ευφυέστερο. Έτσι, αφενός εγκατέλειψε τα περί «διαμέσου των αιώνων» επιχειρήματα, υποκαθιστώντας τα με επιχειρήματα γεωστρατηγικής φύσης. Αφετέρου, εγκατέλειψε τη θέση της αποκλειστικής ελληνικότητας της Μακεδονίας, αποδεχόμενο τώρα την ιδέα της «σύνθετης ονομασίας».

 Αλλά το πιο σημαντικό, ίσως, γεγονός που ωφέλησε περισσότερο από ο,τιδήποτε άλλο τις ελληνικές θέσεις, ήταν η άνοδος στην εξουσία του πνευματικού σωσία του κ. Σαμαρά, δηλαδή του Νικολάι Γκρούεφσκι. Ο οποίος, αμέσως μόλις ανέλαβε την εξουσία και προτού ο αλέκτωρ λαλήσει τρεις, έβαλε μπροστά να εφαρμόσει «πολιτική Σαμαρά», δηλαδή, να κατοχυρώσει τη «μακεδονικότητα» της επικράτειάς του, συνδέοντάς την με μια «διαμέσου των αιώνων» πολιτισμική, εθνική και γλωσσική συγγένεια με την Κλασσική Αρχαιότητα. Και άρχισαν οι μετονομασίες αεροδρομίων  και αυτοκινητοδρόμων, η ανέγερση ανδριάντων των Μακεδόνων Βασιλέων, η αδρή χρηματοδότηση των αρχαιολόγων και οι εκδόσεις «Επιστημονικών Εγχειριδίων» –μέτρων που είχαν ένα και μόνο σκοπό: την «τεκμηρίωση» της ιστορικής συνέχειας.

Όπως ήταν φυσικό και προβλεπόμενο, οι Δυτικοί αντέδρασαν στην πολιτική Γκρούεφσκι, με τον ίδιο ακριβώς τρόπο με τον οποίο είχαν αντιδράσει πριν από είκοσι έτη, στην ίδια και απαράλλαχτη πολιτική Σαμαρά: Έκλεισαν τα αυτιά τους και όσο πιο πολύ ο Γκρούεφσκι φωνάζει για συνέχεια «διαμέσου των αιώνων», τόσο πιο πολύ τα κλείνουν. Με αποτέλεσμα, σήμερα να μην είναι η Αθήνα στο επίκεντρο των διεθνών πιέσεων, αλλά τα Σκόπια. Όμως -θα παρατηρήσει ο καλόπιστος αναγνώστης- ακόμα και αν τα δεχθούμε όλα αυτά, αν δηλαδή δεχθούμε ότι η πολιτική Σαμαρά είχε τις ίδιες αρνητικές επιπτώσεις για την Ελλάδα, με αυτές που έχει η πανομοιότυπη πολιτική Γκρούεφσκι σήμερα για την ΠΓΔΜ, δεν είμαστε άδικοι να επικεντρώνουμε την κριτική μας μόνο στον πρώην υπουργό Εξωτερικών, και όχι και στην άλλη διεκδικήτρια του θρόνου;

 Δεν συμμετείχε, άραγε, και η κ. Μπακογιάννη στα μαζικά συλλαλητήρια που είχαν ως κεντρικό σύνθημα «Η Μακεδονία είναι μόνο ελληνική»; Είχε ποτέ της κάνει -έστω και μια δήλωση στήριξης των ελάχιστων διανοούμενων και δημοσιογράφων- που ρισκάροντας την επαγγελματική τους καριέρα, και ενίοτε τη φυσική τους ακεραιότητα, τόνιζαν από τότε τα αδιέξοδα της ελληνικής πολιτικής; Είχε ποτέ της σκεφθεί να εκφράσει δημόσια, μια έστω αμυδρή υποψία ότι ο Μιλόσεβιτς, ίσως να μην ήταν τελικά ο πιο πεφωτισμένος ηγέτης στην ιστορία της ανθρωπότητας; Όχι. Τίποτα από αυτά δεν έπραξε η κ. Μπακογιάννη.

 Όμως, υπάρχει πάντοτε μια ουσιαστική διάκριση μεταξύ αυτών που διαμορφώνουν μια πολιτική και αυτών που απλώς την αποδέχονται. Η κ. Μπακογιάννη έχει το ελαφρυντικό ότι ανήκει στη δεύτερη κατηγορία -κάτι που, ασφαλώς, δεν ισχύει για τον κ. Σαμαρά.

Sustainche during the past days enjoyed making substantial progress in identifying his new surrounding environment.

Sustainche – although he hoped to see Africa – is sure: Hmmm … he migrated from Macedonia not towards the south, but to the north ! Based on his Polar home experience Sustainche knows that during the Northern Hemisphere winter daylight time becomes shorter the more we proceed towards the north. No question, compared to Macedonia the daylight time here is indeed shorter. The land where Sustainche finds himself now is grey, wet and cold … sometimes even foggy; until now only occasionally he could enjoy some sunbeams. Ok, Sustainche’s blog readers might think: ‘Bravo, Sustainche, you returned to your roots.’ No, this land is far away from what he knows from his Polar Ocean home. Here, there live many more human mammals. Interesting enough and despite so many people everything appears to be clean – nothing to compare with Macedonia. People here seem to have a good life and everything has its order. However, Sustainche wonders whether people are also happy and can enjoy … .

During this week Sustainche followed on TV some rather ‘organized’ or ‘institutionalized’ joy. The event of joy was the ‘Fall of the Berlin Wall’ 20 years ago. Until now Sustainche hasn’t heard anything about a ‘Berlin Wall’ and that this thing collapsed; but he can’t know everything yet. Sustainche learnt with his online research that 20 years ago the movement of normal citizens inspired by their wish for freedom and in particular because of their wish to travel wherever they want made them overcome a rather strange political system which thought that it is necessary to transform an entire country into a prison. Finally the citizens start to escape from their prison – which was also a prison for the mind – and the walls and fences around the prison were peacefully torn down. The ‘Berlin Wall’ was the most prominent part of this prison wall. Sustainche is impressed what human mammals are able to do !

Doing something spontaneously with joy and happiness on the one hand and celebrating this event 20 years later on the other hand seems to be something completely different. Sustainche has the feeling that the historical joy organized and presented as a Saturday evening show event by national TV was embarrassing and only served the desired ‘panem et circensis’ mentality of those who by themselves would have never ever made any wall fall … and this was not only because of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s public catnap … probably dreaming on what kind of blond Italian TV show girl he can propose next to become a Minister of the Republic … .

This venue has recently been added on Expopedia, the tradefair service finder. Visit our website for more information.

Skopje Fair
Belasia 2
1130 Skopje (Macedonia)
More information about Skopje Fair …

Polar Bear Sustainche™ leaves Macedonia. Some of Sustainche’s Blog readers might have noticed already that he packed a small parcel in his post on The Grapes of Wrath. Yes, Sustainche now lines up with those young people who leave Macedonia for ever. We know that Sustainche doesn’t need any travel document to go anywhere he likes on Planet Earth. Starting from 1^st January 2010 also Macedonian youngsters won’t need a Schengen visa … . 

Sustainche™ did in Macedonia what he had to do: His mission was to create the climate for change towards a better quality of life; Sustainche’s mission is and always will be Sustainable Development ! 

Somehow Sustainche has the strange feeling that Macedonians only like those people whom they lost; also Tose was not appreciated by all who mourned after his short lifetime. Never mind, now it is time to leave the territory. Macedonia has had its chance. Sustainche kindly asks pardon for his great passion in promoting Sustainable Development in Macedonia. Sustainche would have been glad if HE, who can only speak with his BIG RED HEART, could pardon many others for the same passion in favour of Sustainable Development as well. 

Wishing ‘Golden Macedonia’ all the best,
Sustainche

Sustainche sometimes sees progress where EU auditors are blind. The EU Progress Report for the Republic of Macedonia as of 14 October 2009 for example in 4.15. Chapter 15: Energy, concludes: ‘The promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources needs to be prioritised.’ On the other hand and while only looking around in his neighbourhood in Ho Shi Min street, Sustainche indeed can identify 10 locations with solar panels on the roofs which are installed for heating warm water. This is 30% more than on the beginning of the year 2009 ! It seems that citizens are a more ahead compared to what politicians and so-called experts in Skopje are thinking, doing and can imagine …  

There can be no doubt: Electricity is a tremendous threat to the citizens’ family budget every month. Thus, it is logic that families invest in solar energy in order to become independent from the foreign investor electricity monopoly supplier. So, we see that market economy is working properly …

Who is not working properly are indeed the politicians who never had time to listen and to read anything, as well as the National Experts who were responsible for promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. Both simply didn’t do their job. Everything was written down already in the National Strategy for Sustainable Development as of 14 February 2008. “Hello National Experts … do you sleep good … or do you continue pretending to work hard during workshop weekends … and just put some moneyski in your own pocket … ?”

Sustainche has the pleasure to give some recommendations to the EU auditors:
“Dear EU auditors. Thank you very much for preparing the latest Progress Report for the Republic of Macedonia. I DO appreciate your efforts. However, from my humble experience in Macedonia I would like to recommend that for drafting the next EU progress report you should travel a bit around in Macedonia and speak to very normal citizens. Come to the rural regions of Macedonia. It is not enough to put the nose too deep in thousands of pages paper documents and ask public administration to work on alignment with the acquis. Normal life is more than any acquis … and very practical. Please also feel invited to read Sustainche’s Blog from time to time. Thank you very much for your attention. 

With kind regards,
Sustainche ”

by Emanuele Scansani

The relations between Greece and FYROM (“Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia”)[1] are in urgent need of improvement, after a stalemate over the name issue lasted almost fifteen years, while Macedonian bid to enter EU will be formally discussed  by the EU Council within weeks, with the intention to fix a date to start integration talks in 2010.

After few years of high tension followed the proclamation of independence by the former Yugoslavian state in 1991, under the name “Republic of Macedonia” and with a national flag representing the Greek-claimed Sun of Vergina, leading to a brief Greek blockade of its northern border, a compromise had been reached with the 1995 New York Interim Accord, which led Athens to recognize its neighbour at the condition that it dropped the symbol from its flag and cleaned up its constitution from irredentist parts prefiguring territorial claims. Since then, many attempts   to find a compromise over the name have been made, although with little success, while Greece has started to increasingly invest in its northern neighbor’s economy, which now looks at Greece as its first channel of economical survival and top trade-partner.

Now, the situation could finally change with the triumph of the social-democratic PASOK at the last elections. Interestingly, the new Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, has decided  to put foreign policy under his personal control, after the negotiations for the creation of the new cabinet. Papandreou has immediately given reassuring signals on Greece’s delicate relation with Turkey (especially over the Cyprus issue), but has not addressed directly yet the problems with Skopje.

At the same time, early this month a special recommendation has been released by the EU Commission over the future of Macedonian EU accession, openly inviting the government in Skopje to find a compromise with Athens as soon as possible, in order to obtain Greek approval at the next round-talk over the future of FYROM’s integration in December. In the same way, EU special commissioner for enlargement, O. Rehn, has urged both governments to find a stable compromise before the meeting.

Rumours circulated yesterday that Gruevski’s government would be willing to accept a settlement over the name in 2010, if Greece will support a common resolution within the EU Council in the decisive meeting held in a few weeks. A settlement could be in fact reached around the provisional term “Republic of Northern Macedonia” (with the geographic term constituting a condition sine qua non for Athens), originally proposed by Matthew Nimitz, UN mediator in the negotiation over the dispute.

However, to anticipate that Macedonian population will be accepting a radical change by its government on such a delicate and heavily politicized matter could be an unforgettable mistake. Although the ruling party VMRO-DPMNE is enjoying a solid majority, polls report that the 95% of Slav Macedonians are against a compromise changing the national name, while the 65% of Albanians (composing almost the 26% of the total population) are in open favor of a settlement, which is seen by them as a precondition for EU and NATO accessions, and therefore stability. This is certainly the reason why Rehn has criticized a proposal aired in Skopje of linking the fate of a settlement with Greece to a popular referendum.

The hope is that the centre-rightist VMRO-dominated government will succeed in imposing domestically a compromise to be urgently found with the new socialist government in Athens, less willing to engage in the same kind of inconclusive talks led by former Greek Foreign Minister, Bakoyannis, and firmly believing in the necessity to guarantee stability on Greece’s northern flank. What is at stake, it’s not merely the accession of Skopje to the EU, or to the NATO, but the internal stability of the Macedonian Republic itself, which could ultimately endanger the remarkable stability of the Okhrid Agreement, signed in 2001, reopening the hostility with the Albanians. Ultimately, it’s from the survival of the inter-ethnic institutional compromise in Macedonia that the regional stability in Southern Balkans depends.

Il giorno 26 Giugno 2009 sono atterrato all’aereoporto “Alexander the Great” (non fatevi ingannare dalla potenza storica del nome: l’aereoporto e’ composto soltanto da una stretta lingua di terra asfaltata, con un hangar sul lato Ovest) dopo un volo Londra-Budapest e Budapest-Skopje.

The main square in Skopje, with a detail of the national flag and of the cross on the top of the hill.

Un taxista simpaticissimo mi ha dato un passaggio verso un ostello di sua conoscenza, preparandomi a quello che sara’ uno standard della Macedonia: taxi ovunque. Nuovi e puliti, oppure sporchi e scassati, legali o illegali che siano, i taxi sembrano essere la fonte di sostentamento principale per larga parte della popolazione in una delle repubbliche piu’ povere dell’ex-Jugoslavia (la piu’ povera dopo la Bosnia, e con l’eccezione del caso del Kosovo).

Fin dai primi passi nel centro della citta’ si possono vedere subito i suoi limiti: devastata da un terremoto nel 1963 e ricostruita nel motono stile socialisteggiante che si predilegeva all’epoca, Skopje dimostra le sue qualita’ solo dopo aver superato un intricato intreccio di vialoni a doppia corsia separati al centro da aiuole o, molto piu’ spesso, marciapiedi, e incroci enormi con file di macchine allineate.

Numerose chiese ortodosse sono state costruite nel centro cittadino in edifici nuovi e spesso futuristici , con stili che lasciano interdetti coloro che si aspetterebbero di vedere rispettata la tradizione artistica secolare dell’Ortodossia slava.

One of the small streets of the Čaršija, the Muslim neighborhood.

Eppure alcuni viali sono davvero piacevoli, soprattutto quando si intravedono, una volta raggiunte le acque del Vardar e passata l’enorme piazza principale, le cupole dei bagni turchi che segnano l’inizio del quartiere musulmano (Čaršija), ovvero la parte piu’ interessante della citta’, se non altro per il suo calore, accoglienza e irrazionalita’ architettonica – che contrasta fortemente con le geometrie ampie e squadrate che definiscono la maggioranza dei toni di Skopje.

E’ nel quartiere musulmano – divorando succulenti qebapci e rinfrescandosi con una Skopsko gelata, a fianco di un tavolo con alcuni soldati cechi della missione NATO – che diventa evidente la natura multietnica del paese: abitata in prevalenza da una maggioranza “slavo”-ortodossa (le virgolette sono dovute allo status incerto di un’etnia propria “macedone”, contestata da molti), che compone il 65% della popolazione, la Macedonia ospita anche un 25% Albanese, che abita la parte Nord-Ovest del paese, al confine tra Albania e Kosovo.

La faccenda non e’ da poco, nel 2001 una guerra in stile bosniaco tra le autorita’ governative e separatisti albanesi (ispirati dal nuovo clima che si respirava in Kosovo dopo il ritiro serbo) fu evitata di pochissimo, e al prezzo di alcune battaglie significative, soltanto con l’intervento provvidenziale della NATO e con la successiva promozione internazionale dell’Okhrid Agreement (un accordo istituzionale di power-sharing tra macedoni e albanesi che dura tuttora)…

Sustainche is a bit irritated ! After the latest EU Progress Report for the Republic of Macedonia as of 14 October 2009 was published, various Macedonian politicians as well as hand-selected citizens were immediately shown jubilating on the TV news. Well, Sustainche is not sure whether these people had enough time to carefully read the report. It might be that the enthusiasm is the result of only reading the first sentence of certain chapters. Something like …
“Good progress has been made in strengthening and implementing the anti-corruption framework, which is a key priority of the Accession Partnership.”
Sustainche knows that EU bureaucrats write their reports in a very special manner. Thus, it is always good to continue until the end, which reads for example …
“Nevertheless, corruption remains prevalent and continues to be a serious problem in many areas. Continued efforts are needed, in particular as regards implementation of the legal framework.”

Hmmm … Sustainche understands this to be good progress on low level …

Never mind, the EU assessment system phrasing is highly sophisticated. In all chapters there is a similar structure:
Good progress / Progress / Some progress / Uneven progress / Little progress / No progress has been achieved …
… capacity … has been strengthened …
… although in other areas administrative capacity remains weak …
Alignment with the acquis requires further sustained efforts, in particular on thorough implementation of the legislation adopted. 

It goes on and on like this, chapter by chapter … .

Sustainche doesn’t want to spoil Macedonians’ happiness, but he feels that at the end of the day it is always a matter of implementation and enforcement what is the REAL and prevailing problem in this territory ! However, as The Architect of the Matrix already recognized: ‘Denial is the most predictable of all human responses.’

Apropos ‘sustained’ efforts: Progress concerning the ‘National Strategy for Sustainable Development in the Republic of Macedonia’ is not reported AT ALL …

Enjoy your day !
Sustainche

January 24, 2010

Kosovo has initiated a military siege against neighbouring Macedonia on Sunday morning, in what seems to be an invading attack that will once again shake the puzzle of Balkan countries.

Troops of the recently formed quasi-army of the newest state in the world, the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) have been marching towards Macedonian capital Skopje, using light weapons in the attack which authorities in Pristina have described as “necessary” and “just”.

The two countries have failed to establish diplomatic relations ever since Macedonia recognised Kosovo’s independence in late 2008. The key reasons that led to the attack, according to analysts, are permanent borderline problems between two countries and recent fuss over an encyclopaedia published by Macedonian Academy of Sciences, which labels Albanians as “savages” and “war criminals”.

In addition, the book describes Albanians as “settlers” who had arrived in western Macedonia in the 16th century.
Macedonian authorities failed to agree on withdrawal of the publication, due to, as they say, their national pride.

Kosovo’s President Fatmir Sejdiu, who was the one to make the final call for the state of war, said he did warn his Macedonian counterpart of the risk of war, in case authorities wouldn’t withdraw the publication and formally and publicly apologize to the Albanian nation.

“I told President Ivanov that our history and our Illyrian background are Alpha and Omega for Kosovo’s future,” Sejdiu said in an interview.

“I guess he didn’t believe me… I mean, come on, the guy didn’t even invite me in his innaguaration ceremony,” he added.

Justifying this attack, Sejdiu said that Kosovo had to do something in order to liberate the people of Macedonia from the sadist government that has ruined their lives, and guarantee them peace and security.

Fehmi Mujota, KSF minister, said his troops were already prepared, and that the order given by the head of state, President Fatmir Sejdiu to attack the neighbouring country, was not a surprise.

“I can confirm that so far, we have successfully occupied Skopje, with the help of Macedonia’s Albanian guerrilla that was operating there,” said Mujota.

Ethnic Albanians that consist some 25% of Macedonia’s population have joined the fight, helping their Kosovar allies in this invasion.

One KSF officer from the first lines of the front, told Gonzodiac that the strategy of Kosovar troops is to skip the Western Macedonia, as authorities there were already overthrown by local Albanians whoa re assisted by neighbouring Albania.

“We’re in Skopje. It was easy so far. We have faced no resistance. There’s no living soul in this country and we have only fired two bullets to far to kill some stray dogs.’ this officer who preferred to remain anonymous said.

Most of the population of Macedonia have been leaving the country in the last three weeks, following the visa liberalisation act, which entered into force as from January 1, and makes them possible to travel without visas to the EU countries.

Gonzodiac sources claim that Macedonia’s President Ivanov is not in the country either. The President has been controlling the government, ever since the former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski resigned from this position to escape to the neighbouring Greece, where he is occupied with a 20 million euro investment project to build the highest statue ever of Alexander the Great.

On the other hand, the Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said that his country is not directly involved in this war, but admitted that it is supporting the Kosovo troops.

“We have done our part when we vetoed Macedonia out in the NATO summit,” Berisha said. “However, we cannot see our Kosovars brothers struggling with those old Albanian-made AK-47, so yes, we are providing them weapons and ammunition,” he added.

While KSF forces are marching towards southern Macedonia, it remains unclear, as how will this conflict end. Analysts warn that after invading Macedonia, Kosovo may become the next major destabilizing force in the Balkans.

Sustainche™ remembers Tose Proeski and his BIG HEART !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_zK6mfGReY

Thank you Tose for all the lovely moments you gave us !

You’ve made small Polar Bear Sustainche happy too !

Sustainche

The thing I’m wanting from Greece most … warmth. There’s no heating at all in the bathroom at the guesthouse I’ve been staying at and when in the shower this morning the water started to cool just after I’d applied shower gel to my body, it was then a frantic race to get as much of it off before I was pouring ice cold H2O all over my sen. Not fun.

So I’m just off to begin my trip to Athens via a bus to Skopje (that I’m still gutted I have to get), I’ll be picking up a big juicy burek on route to the station don’t you worry.

That was a bit scary. Only 5 minutes from the bus station in the centre of Ohrid the bus stopped and a moody looking policeman got on, I didn’t realise at first as I was busy making haunting synth music on Bebot, ahem. Anyway he was checking passports but mine was in my bag as I’m not going to be crossing a border on this leg of the journey.

To make me sweat a bit more he put some lad in handcuffs (behind his back too) before me, gulp. I showed him my driving license and asked if he wanted me to ask the driver to let me get to my bag, luckily he wasn’t really interested though.

Not so for the guy on the seats adjacent to me, who he handcuffed to felon number 1. In all he took 4 people off the bus, I presume they were immigrants of some kind, they did have a more eastern look to them than everyone else.

Currently we’re driving through the mountains and there’s snow and a thick mist everywhere, it just looks like a great white abyss to both sides of the road.

The album ‘Hold on now, Youngster‘ by Los Campesinos! has been listened to today. Its breezy indie-pop with elements of art-punk and there are some pretty good tunes, but ultimately it’s low on backbone and won’t hold your attention very long at all. This also applies to their mini-album ‘Sticking Fingers into Sockets’.

We’re in a bus depot in some town now and there’s a fat kid singing his heart out on a bench with very animated features. I’m still on the bus so I don’t know what he’s singing to (though if anything, I’d hazard a guess it’s one of the tunes I despise so much). He’s spotted me laughing at him and started laughing himself, highly amusing.

When I got to Skopje it was time to find the train station. It’s the mankiest, most decrepit, inaccessible, unhelpful station I’ve ever been at. It’s a good thing I didn’t get the later bus as I considered as that only left me an hour before the train out, it took me more than an hour to sort the ticket.

The ‘information’ desk was named poorly really. There was one of those little speaker-holes in the window bur the bloke on the other side was sat slouching and reading his paper about a metre away from it (as were the other 2 ‘workers’ in the room) so when he did bother to speak you couldn’t hear a word, not that it mattered as he didn’t speak English. I showed him the train(s) I wanted to book on my phone and said billet (French for ticket but I think they use a very similar word here) he just repeatedly said “Skopje, Thessaloniki, okay” and I couldn’t get anything else out of him. Thanks for that D’Artagnan.

I found a ticket office after a bit of wandering and the woman spoke a bit of English, eventually we got there and I got my ticket for about €27 with my ISIC but for a long time it was looking like I could only get a ticket to Thessaloniki which would be a problem as I wouldn’t have had time to get the ticket to Athens. Phew.

Then I had an hour or so to find some grub. Irish Pub St. Patrick (genius stuff naming wise) looked a good bet and the bacon cheese-burger and chips I got were proper beaut, the burger was massive as well. At under a fiver including a pint, it was just what the Doc ordered.

I also got to catch the last few minutes of the Villa vs Chelsea game (our draw at Villa Park looks even better now) and the first half hour of the Rags vs Wanderers game, what a flukey goal for Owen.

In an effort to rid myself of all Macedonian readies I just bought 5 croissants with a touch of cocoa in them. The brand being 7 Days, I’ve become addicted to them lately. That’s my brekkies sorted for the short-term.

When I get to Thessadonachie at 22:34 (in theory) I’ve got 24 minutes before the train I need to be on departs to Athens. By the law of sod I’ve just noticed on the screen that it’s already 15 minutes late. I’m on it now and considering it’s already late it doesn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to get going. It finally departed at 17:45 which puts me 6 minutes over the buffer I had right from the off. I hope the driver has a turbo button.

It did indeed transpire that I missed my train as we didn’t get in until about 23:15, 40 minutes or so late. Luckily there was another train at 23:33 but I had to pay an extra €11 as it was all couchette. I don’t know why you have to pay more though as there are 6 couchettes in a room and it’s 6 people to one of those rooms without the couchettes in anyway. So basically you are paying 11 Euros for a pillow, blanket and sheets. Though I couldn’t actually apply my sheets as I was on one of the highest bunks and I had about 2ft clearance between me and the roof. It was all pretty uncomfortable but I was that tired I still slept for 4 hours+ of the 6 hour journey (though it was closer to 7 hours in the end, not too reliable these Greek trains).

The hostel seems pretty good. Though I went in my room and there are lots of half-cut (by the smell of them) snoring men in there. I can’t figure out which is my bed as they’ve all just put their clothes on all of them. It’s 08:00am though so I’ll just do the stuff I need to on the internet and then sort it in a bit.

Expect lots of dodgy Greek references (like the Anchorman inspired post title) over the next few days.

Pic is from Ohrid.

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)  The European Commission (EC) adopted its annual strategy on European Enlargement yesterday (October 14).  Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn urged Skopje to settle the name issue with Greece, after announcing that FYROM now “meets” the criteria for opening accession negotiations.   Rehn added that he viewed the launch of talks with FYROM as “a very strong encouragement” in this direction and expressed his hope that “the government in Skopje gets this message as well.”  Regarding Turkey’s accession, Rehn revealed EC’s dissatisfaction with its progress and called on Turkey’s obligation, as an aspiring EU member state, to open its air and ports to Cyprus.  Turkey must contribute to the resolution of the Cyprus issue with “concrete terms,” during negotiations, he added.

Commenting on the EU’s progress reports, Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas stressed that Greece is promoting the accession course for all Southeast Europe countries, by already having put forward a roadmap until 2014.  “The prerequisite for this course is that all the countries should […] fulfil the necessary criteria. With regard to FYROM, in particular, this means finding a solution on the name issue” said Droutsas.  Kathimerini Daily: EU nod for FYROM despite name   Greek News Agenda: SEECP Meeting- A roadmap for accession

Die "Mazedonische Enzyklopädie"

Die “Mazedonische Enzyklopädie”, ist eine zweibändige Ausgabe mit über 1600 Seiten, die laut Premierminister Gruevski die “kulturelle und politische Vergangenheit und Gegenwart” seines Volkes beschreibt und zum Ausdruck bringt.

Bei vielen Nachbarn sorgte diese Veröffentlichung für Verärgerung, die aufgeführten Beschreibungen seien so auffällig, dass die Botschaften der USA und Großbritannien sie offiziell als “lachhaft” und schlichtweg “falsch” abstempelten.

Die Albaner die rund ein Viertel der Bevölkerung der EJRM ausmachen beklagten sich nach der Erscheinung des Buches, weil dieses erklärt, dass die Albaner viel später in die Region kamen und eigentlich gar nicht hier hin gehören.

Ali Ahmeti, der Anführer der albanischen Partei DUI in der EJRM sieht diese Veröffentlichung als politisches und rassistisches Instrument – “man wolle den Albanern den Anspruch in dieser Region zu leben, entziehen”.

Viele sehen das Friedensabkommen von 2001 dadurch sogar als verletzt. Damals stand die ehemalige jugoslawische Republik am Rande eines Bürgerkrieges.

Sehr interessant auch, was über das Nachbarland Griechenland geschrieben wird.

Auf Seite 67 unter dem Begriff “Grieche” schreibt das Buch:

“Neueste Studien haben ergeben, dass die griechische Nation aus schwarz-afrikanischen Stämmen der Sahara entstammt.

Die Griechen, die aus dem afrikanischen Kontinent entstammen und keinen wesentlichen kulturellen Hintergrund hatten und das heutige Gebiet Griechenlands und Balkan-Raum besiedelten, eigneten sich die Entwicklungen der besser entwickelten Bevölkerung in dieser Region an und gaben diese als eigene aus”

Weiter beschreibt das Buch die gesamte griechische Nationen als ein Gebilde voller Falsifikationen und Lügen, welche sich der Leistung anderer Nationen bedient hat:

“Auch die Epen Homers und der Parthenon (auf der Akropolis) sind nicht das Ergebnis der griechischen Zivilisation, sondern eine Folge der Fälschung, der Aneignung und auch Usurpation der oben genannten einheimischen Kulturen wie die unserer, der Mazedonischen”

Eine Nation, die sich erst seit 1940 als “mazedonisch” ausweist [2], eine slawische Sprache spricht sowie slawische Personennamen besitzt ist der Auffassung das Homers Werke eine “widerrechtliche Aneignung” waren und die Akropolis kein Ergebnis griechischer Entwicklungen, sondern der eigenen slawisch-”mazedonischen” gewesen ist (!!!).

Desweiteren war die Stadt Thessaloniki im nord-griechischen Makedonien eigentlich nie griechisch, sondern mehrheitlich “mazedonisch” (slawisch) – Woher der Name Thessaloniki wohl kommt fragen sich die Autoren des Buches anscheinend nicht [3]. Denn die Halbschwester Alexanders des Großen hieß Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη) was im griech. soviel wie “Sieg in Thessalien” bedeutet [4].

Auch die Tatsache, dass Thessaloniki und die gesamte Region Makedonien unter osmanischer Herrschaft ein multiethnischer Haufen von Türken, Griechen, Slawen und Juden war wird nicht erwähnt – nur eines: Solun (slawischer Name für Thessaloniki) gehört in Wirklichkeit nur den (heutigen) “Mazedoniern”, “die stärkeren Mächte (Griechenland, Bulgarien, Jugoslawien) haben unser Vaterland gierig unter sich aufgeteilt”.

Damit schüttet die EJRM in der momentan kritischen Periode der Namensfrage Öl ins Feuer indem offizielle staatliche Institutionen wie die “Mazedonische Akademie für Kunst und Wissenschaft” politisch motivierte Thesen über die Herkunft anderer Nationen aufstellt.

Auf die Frage eines Journalisten was Griechenland von diesen Aussagen im Buch halte, antwortete das auswärtige Amt Griechenlands:

Dieser neue Versuch aus der EJRM die Geschichte zu fälschen ist keine Überraschung. Die Arbeit dieser Institution in Skopje ist uns schließlich bekannt. Die Regierung von Herrn Gruevski verbreitet systematisch Bigotterie und Nationalismus.

Herr Gruevski versucht sich auf der innerpolitischen Bühne seines Landes zu stärken indem er Feinde erfindet und so die Beziehungen zu seinen Nachbarn selbst erschwert.

Dem Premierminister scheinen die grundlegenden Kriterien einer euro-atlantischen Integration, wie gute nachbarschaftliche Beziehungen, gleichgültig zu sein. In dieser Weise bewegt er die Menschen in seinem Land in die Gegenrichtung einer euro-atlantischen Zukunft.

(Original hier)

Nachdem aus albanischer Seite enorme Proteste aufkamen und der Premierminister Gruevski der ehemaligen jugoslawischen Republik unter immer größeren Druck stand, gab er bekannt, dass das Buch zurückgezogen wird um die umstrittenen Passagen umzuschreiben – dies betrifft nur die Passagen in der sich die albanischen Bürger der ehemaligen jugoslawischen Republik genötigt sehen.

Stammtisch-Niveau erreichte der Premierminister der EJRM als er sich anschließend davon distanzierte und wortwörtlich “dunkle Mächte” für diese Passagen verantwortlich machte, die seinem Land schaden wollen [5].

Quellen:

http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/macedonia-embroiled-encyclopaedia-row/article-186333

[2]
Originaldokument Jugoslawiens, welches zum ersten Mal eine separate ”mazedonische” Nation deklariert. Siehe Datum: http://www.cnj.it/immagini/Odluka2AVNOJ.gif

[3]
http://www.makfax.com.mk/_tools/search#_tools/article/92156/view

[4]
The pocket guide to Saint Paul By Peter E. Lewis, Ron Bolden – Seite 118 ISBN 1862545626

Mehr zum “Sieg in Thessalien”:

• Encyclopaedia Brittanica: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/143725/Battle-of-the-Crocus-Field
• A History of Macedonia: 550-336 B.C‎ – Seite 270-280 von Nicholas Hammond ISBN 0198148143
• The ancient Greeks By John Van Antwerp Fine – Seite 626-630 ISBN 0674033140

[5]
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/22484/
http://www.newstin.co.uk/rel/uk/en-010-018676853

By June Lucas

SKOPJE, Macedonia – Roma children commonly watch from the public school yard as their classmates purchase snacks during the lunch hour. Many of the Roma children will wait several more hours for their single meal of the day – which most likely will consist mainly of bread.

The Roma are among the poorest people in Europe. In Macedonia, the unemployment rate among the nearly 200,000 Roma is around 80 percent. Children from these families commonly suffer malnutrition, evident in anemia, hair loss, loss of skin color, and increasing occurrence of tuberculosis. Bread, which is both inexpensive and filling, makes up the bulk of their diet, but it does not provide the protein and many of the vitamins the children need.

A lunch program, supported by Southern Baptists through their World Hunger Fund, helps fill the rumbling stomachs of nearly 400 Roma schoolchildren each day.

The meal program, modeled on the Headstart program in the United States, was identified as a way to counter the effects of hunger on Roma schoolchildren. Children who are hungry throughout the school day also suffer from lack of concentration and attention span and decreased retention of material. Through the initiative, conducted in partnership with Baptist Global Response, 400 Roma children were provided three meals a week, consisting of milk, an egg, bread and chocolate-covered raisins or peanuts.

The lunches are served in two education centers that help prepare Roma children for school and assist them with homework once they begin school. One center serves about 300 children daily in Topana, the oldest Roma community in Macedonia’s capital, Skopje. The other center, located in Shutka, the largest of Skopje’s Roma communities, hosts 75 to 100 children a day.

Field partners working with the project are going to be able to literally measure the impact of the program.

“One of the things we are doing in conjunction with this project is compiling statistics of various physical measurements – height, weight, arm measurements, general physical health – as well as looking at scholastic results,” project director Betty Easter said. She explained the measurements were taken at the start of the project in March, again in June and in September, and also will be taken at the end of the meal program. A report detailing the impact of the project will be written from those measurements.

Emily Harrison, who also helps with the project, said some Roma children initially resisted the meal.

“It took a little while for the children to warm up to us,” Harrison said. “There were many days in the beginning where the more prideful ones refused to eat. But after some time, they began to show a little more gratitude and desire to be there.”

Harrison said Igber, an older woman from the community, helped facilitate a friendlier relationship between the Roma children and the field partners involved in the project. Igber played music for the children and encouraged them to dance before the meal, and her storytelling kept the children quiet as they ate.

The meals have opened up relationships that extend into the larger Roma community.

“I love serving these kids,” Harrison said. “My favorite job is handing them their dessert on the way out. Usually it’s a piece of fruit, but getting to look each one in the face and say ‘Bye’ or ‘Have a great day’ or ‘See you later’ is so fun.

“After about a month of it last semester, I started to notice the kids would look me in the face right back …. Now it has grown to be where they will yell my name and chase me down in the street to say ‘Hi.’ Oftentimes when I am stopped, talking to a child or two, their parent will cross our path and invite me into their home.”

The initiative is an excellent example of the way Southern Baptist gifts to their World Hunger Fund open the door for disadvantaged children to discover lives of meaning and purpose, said Jim Brown, U.S. director for Baptist Global response.

“Every dollar given to the World Hunger Fund is used solely for ministry purposes, because Southern Baptists cover administrative costs through other giving channels,” Brown said. “Through ministries like this meal program, children in need experience the love of God for themselves – because people who care are willing to give.”

—–
June Lucas is a collegiate correspondent for Baptist Global Response. For information on giving to the World Hunger Fund, please visit the BGR Giving page.

Glocal: Inside Social Media

Technology has reached a point where almost everyone has a voice. The voice articulated through social media, has already proven to be extremely powerful and able to change the behaviour of individuals, governments, companies and communities.  This are part of the welcome words on LinkedIn Events that Glocal share with all researchers and industry practitioners interested in creating and analyzing social media for a continuous discussion.

Glocalisation (or glocalisation) is a portmanteau of globalization and localization. By definition, the term “glocal” refers to the individual, group, division, unit, organisation, and community which is willing and is able to “think globally and act locally.” The term has been used to show the human capacity to bridge scales (from local to global) and to help overcome meso-scale, bounded, “little-box” thinking. This is the meaning that is explained in  Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Today,  October 15, 2009 @ New York University, Skopje Macedonia start the III International Communication Conference called Glocal:  Inside Social Media. There will be three days program and the main topic of this year conference is “How the social networks impact on the different levels of social leaving”.

The program of this year is fulfilled with around thirty  (30) presentation and speakers such as Kevin Robins, Nada Švob-Đokić, Niels Hendrix, Oliver T. Hellriegel, Ivaylo Ditchev, and Paul Bradshaw.

After the official oppening Prof. Dr. Kevin Robins, Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK will speak for the topic “Things I Stumbled Upon”. There will be sessions like Relationships between Social Media and Mainstream Media, Learning Practices and Ethnographic Studies of Social Media, Transforming Cultural Industries, Network Cultures, Changing Trends in Journalism: Social Media Impact, Social Media in Working Environment and Growing Business on Top of Social Media and Shapeshifting identities.

Except this in the program there are presentations on subjects that are important for the social networking that everyone of us try to build. Presentations for changes in the Media Landscape and the Resulting Influences on Society and Consumer Behavior, NGO and Social Media in Reaching Hidden Population, Sharing Intellectual Property: Books on the Internet as opposed to Books in Hardcopy, How Modern Technology Shapeshifts our Identities are only part of that what will be shared like information and knowledge with the people who will took part of this conference. There are 30 presenters who will present their way of understanding social mediums and the influence that we get from the networks that we are part of.  The program of this year conference will cover subjects from the new mediums, business, communication, marketing, culture etc.

The official language is English and all who want to participate there is no entrance fee. The program will start at 08:00 this morning (Thursday) and will finish in Saturday, 17 October. More for the main speakers you can find here, or if you want to download the program – here.

There will be live streaming also [link]

Useful links:

Glocal: Inside Social Media

Glogal conference: 2007 & 2008

about Glocal 2.0 @ cybersoc[dot]com

@ KULporter

facebook event

For those that don’t know, I was picked my junior year in high school to participate in Tempe Sister Cities, an exchange program that sends 26 different students in Tempe to one of our sister cities, and then everyone returns home to Arizona with their exchange partner. It was an incredible experience meeting people from six different cities around the world, and many of us have stayed in contact over the years (mostly thanks to Facebook!).

While I was traveling through Belgrade, I received a message from Ana, a delegate in my exchange from Skopje, Macedonia. Although I was planning on leaving Belgrade that night to take an overnight bus to Sofia, Bulgaria, Ana invited me to go spend the weekend with her in Macedonia.

Of course, I agreed. It’s always great to see old friends, and I didn’t realize that Skopje was only a 5 hour bus ride from Belgrade. Although I only spent a day there (I arrived around 11:30 pm on Friday and had a bus to Istanbul the following day at 7pm), it was the perfect trip. Not only did I get to see my 4th Tempe Sister City, but I also got to meet up with three of the four delegates from my exchange and catch up on what everyone is doing now that we’re almost “grown up”.

I  stayed with Ana’s family for the night, and they are the most hospitable and generous people I have met. First, they took me in on one night’s notice, and they fed me SO much food. We had a huge feast for lunch, complete with a special Macedonian trout, then sampled about every dessert available in the city. I also tried boza, a drink special to the Balkans and Turkey, slightly fermented and made of flour, water, yeast, sugar, etc. Very interesting.

The day passed by far too quickly and before I knew it, I needed to leave for the bus station. I wish I could have stayed a few more days in Skopje, but I had plans to meet my couchsurfing host in Istanbul the next day. As I headed out the door, Ana’s mother gave me a bag of food with about 5 sandwiches, apples, grapes, and water bottles for my bus ride. It was so nice to be welcomed like family after traveling for a month and a half – staying in hostels and eating burek or pizza.

Tempe Sister Cities really got me hooked on traveling and interacting with people from other cultures. I knew it was a great experience when I was a delegate, but it has continued to provide me with amazing opportunities and friendships that really do last.

Ana, Me, and Goran - a great, but short, reunion! (Kiril, another delegate was there earlier, but had to leave unexpectedly)

Somedays I end up eating very little and some quite the opposite. Today was the latter.

I started with 2 full boiled eggs while waiting for my 4 slices of bread to toast, 2 of which I put butter on and the other 2 chocolate spread. Yum. More grub to follow later.

Before brekkie I was speaking to an interesting Norwegian bloke who’d very much been travelling off the beaten track. He’d followed up a a year in Shanghai by making his way home in a rather indirect fashion, I’m talking about all the Stans for starters. You know, Kazak, Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmen etc. Impressive.

I didn’t get very long at all to see Skopje today as I didn’t leave the hostel until well into the afternoon with trying to sort stuff out for the next leg. I’ve got a hostel (of sorts, which is unlikely to have WiFi so it may be a while before I can actually post this) for tonight in Pristina but beyond that my plans are a bit sketchy.

I’ve been unable to figure out online, what buses run from Pristina to Podgorica in Montenegro and also to find a hostel there. Hopefully there will be some info at the station tonight. There is actually one hostel but it looks bloody awful and it’s relatively expensive for it too. I eventually had to give up on the planning as there was a power cut, that kind of took the matter out of my hands. I’ll have to try and get net access in Pristina somewhere and sort out a cheap hotel if I can.

Whenever I’m on the net I tend to multi-task a lot to stop boredom setting in. So while trying to figure out my travel logistics I also signed up to Spotify’s premium service. Warning, you may want to skip the next 4 paragraphs if this sort of stuff doesn’t appeal to you in the least.

When this first came out a month or so back (or actually that’s when the iPhone app came out but that’s the bit that makes the premium service useful to me in my current circumstances) I initially thought why on earth would I want to pay a tenner a month for music that I won’t actually own. But when you look at it closer, what you get for the price of a pint a week is pretty damn fan dabby.

You can listen online to pretty much anything you want without any advertising interruptions or any other obstructions. But the really cool bit is that you can also download the music to play it offline as much as you want (as long as you maintain your subscription obviously) too and you can do all this directly on the iPhone (or a PC).

For example, earlier I downloaded some albums I had on my ‘to be purchased on the cheap via eBay’ list and I’ll listen to them later on the bus without any internet access. The very first 5 albums I searched for were all available and as the artists were Adem, Beirut, Black Lips, Cass McCombs, Crystal Stilts and Cymbals Eat Guitars they aren’t exactly mainstream.

It’s pretty impressive stuff and means I’ll get to listen to a huge amount more of music I wouldn’t have had access to before. I know you can listen to the tunes online via the free version of Spotify anyway (and I did used to back in my working days) but the offline feature together with the iPhone is just so liberating and perfect for travelling too. 10 quid well spent.

Anyway, Skopje. When i got out in the end I made my way across the River Vardar (over a bridge like, I didn’t swim it) to the old town and I liked it a lot. There’s lots of very narrow old rustic streets and it’s not touristy at all. It does get a bit skanky towards the back where there is a massive Market though.

I got a touch lost on the way back as it’s a right labyrinth. Luckily I found some high ground to spot some landmarks (like this) to get my bearings again.

After that I had a look round the fortress which isn’t particularly impressive but it’s worth a gander if you’re about anyway and it gives decent views of the city.

Ohh oh, here comes another Spotify paragraph, I’m not participating in an affiliate program honest. While wandering around I listened to all of ‘Takes’ by Adem and I don’t know how it made my list in the first place, it’s wishy washy nonsense and incredibly dull. Amazingly the songs are all covers. A real shame as I loved ‘Homesongs‘. So Spotify has probably saved me a fiver or so already as that’s what I’d have eventually paid for the album on eBay. Splendid. The only downside so far is that you have to run it interactively so you can’t do anything else on the phone (like compose stupidly long blog posts) whilst listening, but this is a restriction Apple apply to all 3rd party applications anyway.

Food was needed by this time and a little bistro called Trend looked decent and reasonably priced. I had the Pesto Genovese and it was okay, a little bit bland though. On the plus side the portion was rather large and I liked how they put Parmesan around the edge of the deep bowl rather than all over the pasta. Not bad really for 3 and a half €.

Then it was back to the hostel for a quick recharge of batteries (both the IPhone’s and my own) before making my way to the bus station.

My last meal was the unhealthiest of the lot. After a bit of messing about I ascertained that I didn’t need to pay to put my bag in the bus luggage hold so this left me with 130 local currency to get rid of with 7 minutes before the bus departed. I went back into the depot and spotted a fast food place doing burger, chips and a can for exactly 130, well that’s a sign isn’t it. The chips were rank but the burger was surprisingly tender.

This journey takes between 2 and 3 hours I think and the bus has plenty of leg room so it will likely go quickly.

Skopje is near the Macedonia/Kosovo border so it wasn’t long before the customs malarkey, it feels like I do this every day at the moment. The bad news is I didn’t get a stamp again and I don’t know why, man.

I’m in Pristina now and I think I’ll have to get a taxi as I’m in the middle of nowhere, it’s getting late and there’s no walking directions anyway.

The hostel said it should cost €3 and he wanted €8, I got him down to €5 by just walking away when he wasn’t having it, though I’m not sure where I was walking to as there were no other taxis about!

As expected, this gaff is much more a guesthouse (I suppose the clue is in the name) than a hostel. It’s okay though, for 15 Euros I’ve got my own room with cable TV (with loads of channels in English) and a fridge.

I’m enjoying just veging in front of the box, after so long travelling I could lie here for days. I watched a little bit of the World Cheer-leading Championships on Eurosport 2 and it’s the cheesiest thing I’ve ever seen, there’s even some blokes doing it, the gymnastics levels are pretty impressive though. Now I’m watching some rubbish Bruce Willis flick where he’s an army geezer in Africa. It’s cheesier than the cheer-leading stuff.

I may well have to stay another night here as it was all closed up at the bus depot when I got there tonight and by the time I get there again tomorrow (having also sorted a hotel) my bus may have left or at the least I won’t have time to see this city.

بطاقة الطالب is the most unusual search of the day. WTF?

Okay, I suppose I’d better reign this one in then. Time for tubby bye bye.

Last night I had an epic pool session with a chap from Suffolk. We’d had one the night before until 3 in the morning (powered by 9 pints on my side) and I’d been pipped 6-5. This time round I found myself 4-0 down so took a little break to give myself a one on one pep talk and then mounted a valiant comeback to tie the score at 4 a piece. It went right down to the wire on the decider with palpable tension aplenty, you could have heard a pin drop (if you’d have turned off the TV, microwave, stereo and everyone in the room had of stopped their conversations). A black ball game it was and cruelly I was beaten by a hit and hope winner, a soul destroying blow to lose the entire contest on a fluke. Ah well.

I was awoken at not long after 6 this morning by an Aussie fella turning the light on in a bit of a panic. He wanted to know if anyone had a first-aid kit as apparently a mirror and fell on someone and split their arm open, white stuff and muscle visible and everything. Lovely. I do and provided him with it. I was very much awake by this point.

I reckon the Aussie who made the request might be a vampire. Every night I’ve been at the hostel (which happens to be the first one I’ve ever given a 100% rating, I must be getting soft) he stays up all of it and will then go to bed and not get up to 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Vampire.

Customer service in Bulgaria (and other countries in the region) is quite odd and takes some getting used to. This morning when putting my bag in the luggage hold on the bus I noticed that the other bags had labels on them. So I went to enquire about it at the office which the bus was parked in front of. The woman looked busy doing paperwork stuff and talking to another bloke behind the counter so like a proper Englishman I setup a queue and waited for her to make eye contact or express in some other manner that it was business time. A few minutes passed and then someone else walked in and flanked my newly formed orderly line and proceeded to get dealt with in seconds. Did the counter lady think I was just stood there mulling over her poor complextion? This country.

Anyway, all sorted now. In 7 hours or so I should be in Macedonia.

It occured to me earlier that I’ve not seen a Vespa (or Lambretta) in weeks and weeks. I’m really looking forward to getting to Italy, surely there is somewhere there I can hire a geared scooter (and if a vintage one all the better)?

I’m gonna try and get some bus kip now. This is a nice song to fall asleep to.

We’ve just gone through customs and I didn’t get a stamp on my passport, man . As far as I know Macedonia isn’t in the EU so I’m not sure why not.

The bus took an hour less than I was expecting (including the hour gained from switching back to GMT +1) so that was good.

Unless I arrive really late, the weather is bad or it’s stupidly far away, I like to walk to the hostel. The Art Hostel where I’m staying isn’t very far away but the directions that are always included in the Hostel World booking confirmation email consisted of “Head in the direction of Vodno Mountain for 20 minutes”, completely useless. It was only the equivalent of than €2 in a cab though.

I’m staying here just one night, while at the bus station earlier I booked a seat on a bus to Pristina for 18:00 tomorrow, it takes 2 hours. So that give me all day to scope out Skopje. I’ll have a little look tonight while trying to find some decent grub, but I’m abut knackered so am just taking it easy for now.

The hostel (actually it looks more like a budget guesthouse) I’ve booked for Kosovo doesn’t seem very good, though as it’s the only one I didn’t have much choice!

There was an Aussie bloke in the room at the hostel who was ambling for having a look about the city as a group and suggested seeing if anyone else was interested. I semi-politely got myself out of it by kind of not really saying yes or no and leaving by myself 20 minutes later. One I wanted to sit down and eat and didn’t fancy doing so with a load of people I don’t know watching having likely already ate themselves. Two, I often prefer wandering around a new city on my own.

So when I finally dragged myself onto the Skopje streets it was around the 21:00 mark, nosebag was needed greatly. I found Amigos pretty soon and even sooner afterwards I’d placed my order for chilli con carne and a bottle of Skopsko I think I might have over done the super hot habanero sauce judging by the severe burning sensation in my mouth and lips. It was very nice though. It came to just under €8 (I’m not even going to get involved in explaining the currency as it’s one of those daft ones with too many zeros in the denominations).

I’ve not seen nearly enough yet to judge Macedonia’s capital. That will have to wait until tomorrow.