Saturday, December 20

Sleeping beauty

I got up before 5 am this morning. I have had problems falling asleep lately which has not happened for a long time with me... And this evening the cash girl in ICA for the first time in history did not ask me for legimitation when I was buying 2.25% pomegranate cider. Do I really look over 30 tonight?

I should go and get a good night's sleep.

Tuesday, December 9

De Roliga Hundarnas Dag

Today I saw 2 funny dog pictures. I don't know if that is particular to me, but sometimes I see snapshots. Moving snapshots.

Number 1: Art gallery, town center, outside dark, inside light, I look through the window. Two guys in in suits in front, one guy back of the room. One guy in front is leaning to show a picture for another guy (seller and buyer). Very colorful pictures, but not the one he is showing. In the middle of all this art business, basically between the seller and the buyer there is a dog lying on the floor, looking pretty much dead and not moving. Through the gallery window I can see his asshole pink staring back at me.

Number 2: Back through one of the many town center's shopping galleries. There is a cafe. 2 friends and their families and 2 dogs. One looks almost like German shepherd and right besides him this funny kind of pocket size dog sitting in the same pose wit the same conceit. Mini-me sort of snapshot.

Besides that I bought too expensive candles (39.90) because the 3 was of course covered by another label. How smart!
Besides that I had my first proper exam in Uppsala.
Besides that it seems I will start arabiska next semester. If they don't let me study albanska, arabiska sounds almost the same. Is there any difference?

Wednesday, December 3

International Volunteer's Day

Невладината организација „Волонтерски Центар Скопје” Ве поканува заедно да го прославиме МЕЃУНАРОДНИОТ ВОЛОНТЕРСКИ ДЕН на ден 05.12.2008 (петок), на плоштадот „Македонија“со почеток во 10.30 часот.

This message brought me back some nice memories from a very cold, windy day in Skopje, distributing balloons, which tried to run a way and made a mess with their ribbons; distributing brochures, Albert giving an interview to the radio, Carsten running around the Ploshtad Makedonija, I am dancing... ah, good old days... just a year ago but feels already long, long time ago. And then we had a drink at Segafredo coffee place... I am not sure, but I think I had a T'ga za jug... I miss those careless days, I miss Natasha and very rare, but great wine and coffee drinkings with her... miss all the crowd - Anja, Viki, Albert, Carsten, Karen... of course miss my Timi. But I know this time has passed and I cannot call it back or repeat. Nostalgi - det att längta till något som fanns förr.

Here is the video from the previous year HERE (fast forward to 1:24 min)
And the post from the last year HERE.

Friday, November 28

Spring comes before Winter

allting har sina fördelar och nackdelar
när du jobbar, har du ingen tid, men du har pengar
när du pluggar, har du inga pengar, men du har tid

snackars mig - jag blev våt om fötterna
It got warmer today, but also much more wet... Trying to bike to Migrationsverket, I got my feet totally wet and then I had to sit there for more than an hour waiting... I just hope I wont get förkyld again. I should go and drink one extra C vitamin. But now I am finally residing permanently in Sweden, yuhuhuu

Monday, November 24

Iesniegam






Det snöar och snöar och snöar och snöar...

******************************************************
******************************************************************
IDELIGEN, IIIIDELIIIGEN, IIIIIIIIIIDELIIIIIIIIIIIIGEN

Saturday, November 22

egentligen och äntligen VINTER





Yesterday I went to one of the massive Swedish jympa and then to Flogsta to help my coursemate with Statistics. 7th floor, highway, forest, night lights and snow... lots of black tea and pepperkakor.
Biking back carefully (försiktigt) because there is ice under the thin layer of snow and it is glashalt. This morning woke up in a beautiful sunny winter day with a decent layer of snow. Yaaayyyy! Jag älskar vinter! Edhe e dua shume shume shume BB Poqi, ka kenga shume te bukura :)

But todays Swedish words are egentligen & äntligen. I will try to remember the difference -
egentligen - really, actually
äntligen - finally

Friday, November 21

Qeshu!

Qeshu, qeshu, qeshu se do t'jetë vonë... :)

Pasmaidi, pasmaidi, pasmaidi, savādāk būs par vēlu
Smile, smile, smile, otherwise it will be too late

Today I got up at 6:30 to go earlier to the department and print out my assignment for 8:15 o'clock seminar. Moreover, the seminar was in a very strange place, old house with many cats. When I found it, I realized that the seminar is only on Monday. But I petted 2 beautiful, sweet, fantastic, lovable, purrrrrable katter, which was really worth getting up so early for. And again, I love mornings, especially such empty ones, not stressful ones.

Stockholm igen

Uppsala Association of International Affairs today organized a visit to the R. embassy in Stockholm which was attended by a dozen Swedes and 2 Latvians: me and S. Nobody really knew what to expect from that because there was no certain speaker, topic, reason or whatsoever for the visit. So today's word naturally came in Russian - попослиться. I am not sure that it can be found in dictionaries (quite sure about the opposite), it should not be pronounced in the presence of high officials and inside the institutions, but it more or less means visiting the institution, official or посл and being at their close proximity. The word owns its credit to a certain female Jewish friend of S.

The embassy in Stockholm is in a huge building near the waters (everything is near the waters in Stockholm) built in the typical socialist style of late 60ies or 70ies. The big banquet hall where we were seated has beautiful crystal lustres and a lot of light (the day was beautiful winterly sunny). We were surprised by the respect and importance attributed to us - simple students. Also about the informal atmosphere: tea, coffee and cookies were served and we were sitting with 7 officials around the table and asking questions.

After the visit I drank some tea and ate our home made sandwiches with S. and said good-bye to her and good luck to her when she boarded the bus to Arlanda. Then I met T., had some cappuchinos, a quick walk through a Vintage shop (second hand for X-mas) along the Drottniggatan and a nice talk in English+Macedonian+Swedish.

What could be my Swedish word for today... lat att tänka på... Jag är så lat. Lazy to think about it and lazy to study Swedish tonight.

Aah, now I remembered one new word from today - remsa or klipp? (equals strippenkaart in Dutch). That is the the strip ticket for many trips with many rows and the driver stamps 2 rows for 1 zone, 3 rows for 2 zones, 4 rows for 3 zones...

Klipp from where? Göra ett klipp = make a great deal. Maybe.

Wednesday, November 19

Blogging for language studies

Yesterday I found a really nice blog (click HERE to view it) called How to learn Swedish in 1000 difficult lessons

I hope the guy does not mind if I steal his idea (as I make a reference) and start my list of Swedish words. The word of past 3 days was snorar (puņķoties...have a running nose). Today I feel much better. And today's word is lämplig - suitable. särskilt lämplig - particularly (nu veeery) suitable. Īpaši piemērots vai īpaši atbilstošs. I should not forget my mother tongue either.

Wednesday, August 27

Sverige, jag är på väg!

One of my first posts in this blog was named "jag ska inte flytta till Stockholm", now one year has passed and I am still going to Sweden. Not exactly Stockholm, but neither far from there.
It is hard to tell what has changed during this year in my life, what new things I have learned during my EVS. Now I need to write a report, so I need to think about it. It is really hard to keep a track of ones progress, yes, I progressed in Macedonian and also Albanian, I learned more about the Youth in Action program and different other opportunities and organizations... but it is much harder to tell if I have progressed as a personality, am I really better dealing with different people, am I really more open-minded and tolerant or did I even acquire more prejudices and strengthened certain stereotypes? I am also aware that I have digressed in certain ways. I had too much freedom and too little feeling of responsibility. I am a bit afraid how I will deal with really serious assignments and, especially, managing my budget.

Monday, August 11

Support Georgia

Sign the petition and read news in your language on Support-Georgia Dot Com

As we know a stupid, unfair etc. war has broken out in Georgia. Well, no war is smart or fair. ACTUALLY NO WAR MAKES ANY SENSE AT ALL. There is no right, no wrong, no winner, only losers. Break the weapons, talk to your neighbors, fuck the state, FUCK THE SYSTEM!!! Why once in time, Russia could not forget its ambitions about being a superpower, being the most feared, the strongest, the biggest, the greatest and start thinking of bringing peace, not despair and new scars. But I guess that's wished a bit too much.
We here in Latvia know how it is to live next to Russia. That's why I admit I am subjective and I try to listen more to different views. Last weekend I was near the lake, with my mom's ex-coursemates, geographers. And of course we started to talk about Georgia. They have all been there during the study times and some also later. They know the ethnic cocktail, tensions and hot blood there. One lady's husband is Russian and he started to give a complete different perspective on what is going on in Georgia right now. About the poor Osets, who are being discriminated and mistreated by Georgian state all the time.
And that brings us to the third - how much we are being manipulated by what wind blows in the international politics at the moment and where we live, what we listen to... Of course, nowadays with the high-tech and the Internet it is harder and harder to hide the truth. But we never know the real story and facts are being picked out of the context and fed with an appropriate sauce. That's the story about my mom's colleague's husband who is probably watching the Russian news and is being fed a completely different menu. The media is very powerful. And we know very well how Russia uses their controlled media in their dirty politics. But one must be stupid or insane to believe a wolf dressed up as a lamb. Russia as a peace-keeper...still bombing Georgian territory after it announced the one-sided truce.
And that brings me to the fourth point. How the society of Latvia is now being split up on this issue. Mostly Latvians support Georgia and Russians back Russia. There is a nasty war going on on the news websites and the special website: Latvia for Georgia It is rather worrying... Russians, please open your eyes! It's not about backing whatever the government does in Russia, you may be Russian and denounce their actions.
Your brother may be thief and alcoholic, it sucks but you cannot close your eyes on it. You don't need to be like him!

Wednesday, August 6

Latvia

I am home again. It is a bit strange feeling... actually all kinds of feelings. And I am tired, so I should go to sleep soon and don't write too much of tiredness bullshit.
The travel went quite perfect. Yesterday morning I still woke up in the new apartment in Skopje, had my coffees with Aurelie and Rajah (uuh, miss you guys...). Took the 9 o'clock bus to Prishtina. Packed my bags, some nostalgic shivers on my lonely heart, could not find some bags but already had too much stuff...so who cares about the stuff. I went to pick up a taxi because I did not have any credits to call, but it was not a long walk. I left my luggage in the apartment and came back there with the taxi guy, loaded the trunk and the back seat and off I go... through Fushe Kosove, with Albanian music, a conversation in my clumsy Albanian, mountains in the distance...huh, Latvia is as flat as a pancake.
The flight went fine. In Istanbul I left my big suitcase in the Left Luggage and went to check out the Big Apple hostel in Sultanahmet. Unfortunately, it was full but I used their wireless Internet and saw that one girl had agreed to host me. We exchange some sms and was on my way... but I was late and tired of carrying 3 heavy bags so what's the hell, I took a taxi. I got in in a nasty mood, but the taxi driver was not giving up and in the middle of the ride managed to change my mood and make me laugh.
I had met the girl before, but when I met her I was not so sure I would have recognized her just on the street... Yes, hair changes girls. We took the train, which looked more Turkey than the modern Istanbul metro/tram. I had a delicious meal by her mom and some girls' talk in the new shiny apartment. And I slept like a baby.
In the morning had a long breakfast and her dad's work colleague took us to the airport. Somehow I did not pay for my overweight luggage though the lady first said I will have to pay. But I used the doggy eyes and 'I don't have money. I am a poor volunteer returning home after a year in Macedonia...Please' And she did not say anything more, just gave me the boarding pass. And this time surprisingly there were much less queue at the passport control, so I had a time to walk in the Duty Free and read my book.
It was a full plane but just a few Latvians on it, or people whose final destination is Riga. The small Riga airport is really pushing the number of transit passangers up. There was even one monk in orange.
And now I am at home. We had a nice meal of auksta zupa and torte with mom, brother and bro's girlfriend. And Made. And the granny somewhere around. And the mint tea from our garden...mmm. But there are some problems to be solved about the land around our house. And it sucks. I hope it is possible to solve them.
And here I am. Should go to bed. Feeling a bit like Rajah, desoriented after all this traveling, changing of places, waking up each day in a different country and visiting yet another country during the day... And my Northern nostalgia is back stronger than ever.

Sunday, July 27

talking about the problems

I am (sometimes) so good at complicated things. But I will listen to a friend who said that we live the life in stages and (hopefully) learn and evolute. I am not so sure about the learning part, I must have been learning too slowly.
still, I am faithful to my slogan: Whatever happens, happens to the best.

Saturday, July 12

What you should never do...

... in Eastern countries do not try to go to the Western places and don't try Western food
i have made this conclusion again and again and last time after the night-club in Diyarbakir. The bar was a bit better but that's not where the people go, and it in no way looks like in the West. But nargile and tavla places are nice...still it is not the culture to go out in the evenings. And not a culture to travel around stay at hostels/hotels. If they travel, they stay at their relatives.
I can advise the book by Tom Brosnahan 'Turkey: Bright Sun, Strong Tea'
It filled in my siesta times and waiting times perfectly and blended with my own experiences in a new, better insight.
And I do miss the strong tea. Not that much the bright sun, maybe. And I miss our gang. Problems bring people closer together. It is true.

Friday, July 11

Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii - Part II

I will start with correcting myself a bit. The guy who was saying he speaks both Kurdish and Zazakish is not from a mixed family, but 100% Zazakish and does indeed speak Zazakish (witnessed today) and has taught me correct basic Kurdish (kids understand me on streets). His name is Aziz by the way. And he is a terrible driver (good by Turkish standards). He almost killed us on the way from the airport when we arrived. And today in the evening because the bus did not come at all (not more or less), he came with his minivan again to take us to the dorms... in his minivan of capacity = 5, we fit 11 people: me and Vahab on the front seat, 4 girls on the back seat and 4 guys in the trunk.
Driving at the red light is tolerated here. If the road is free (possibility to squeeze in, cross fast...).
Yes, another correction. We were not asked to take a headscarf for visiting the mosque because they give them there, but of course we needed to wear one. That is not so liberal as in Prishtina. I put mine on already when we were climbing the wall because my head was burning. And all the Turkish guys really liked it. They said it looks good on me and Vahab write on his mobile phone that I will make a good muslim wife.
Before the mosque we walked in the old King's Palace, which was a prison till last year when they finally recognized the touristic value of the palace and started the renovation works.
It is very hard to obtain any information here about the places we visit because the Turkish guys cannot explain well in English and moreover, they don't seem to know much about their city. Which is a pity because it is visible that it could tell a lot.
The interesting thing Serdar told us today was that the Kurdish kingdom in the beginning of the time was ruled by a woman. Amida or Ameda was the first ruler and that is also the name of Diyarbakir in Kurdish. The Mesopotamian nations at that time were all matriarchates, it seems.
Here is the 2nd dose of pictures from today.

Google is switching to Turkish time after time :)

Iyi geceler / şew baş

Thursday, July 10

Hello from Diyarbakir

We are having a siesta again, so I took shower, changed my nail polish, epilated my legs and now I am at my computer again. I have been a lazy girl again with my blog, I know...
But after reading Laura's blog from ISUM (I have added it on the right side) I finally got the hmmm... courage, power, will to make an effort...don't know what you need to write your blog. But I got it.
So.... how is an AEGEE Summer University in Diyarbakir?
We were sitting on the concrete edge with some guys, after the swimming pool today and talking that we should change the name of this summer university from the current "The Guard Of The Dreams Diyarbakir Walls And The Others" (which I still fully don't understand, to confess you) to "Summer University - More or Less". We were told that the bus which was supposed to take us back to the dorms had already arrived. But it had just arrived "more or less", as well as any other part of the daily program here is always "more or less".
Mostly we eat and have siesta.
We were supposed to have a photography course but there is some problem with the teacher. He is just not. Or "more or less" not.
Yesterday, we had to go to the conference hall at the university to watch a movie about Diyarbakir and the great city walls, but we managed to see only the first 10 min because the battery of the laptop was low and the guy had forgotten the cable at the dorms.
But I had a great program for myself yesterday while the others were having the afternoon siesta. The first night my bags stayed in Istanbul because I was not informed that I need to take them out in Istanbul and check them in again. The girl in Prishtina checked them in for the whole way, but because there is no custom control here in the Diyarbakir airport, I had to check them in again in Istanbul... well, next time I will know if there is any next time. Of course.
The flights were perfect. I had almost 5 hours in Istanbul, but because of long queues at the passport control due to the many tourists, they were considerably shortened. Still I managed to go to the center and spent a lovely hour with Cherie. We were sitting in one of those fish restaurants under the bridge in Eminonu and I had a beer and cay. On the way back to the tram, a Gambian guy started to talk to me and I was in my happy-love-everybody-be-nice-to-everybody-be-tolerant-etc mood and we had a short nice talk. He was on vacation in Istanbul and was inviting me to visit Gambia because it is also very nice. Why not? I would love to visit Latvian ex-colonies, though I know it is bullshit...it was short and long time ago and we were rather under Germans. I gave him my msn address and my Turkish mobile number. But yesterday someone was buzzing me almost 30 times till I blocked the number and it was buzzing from a different number... ok, I don't mind to pick up, but I am not going to spend money on him. We can be friends and that's it. I made it clear and he seemed fine with it. Still he is not yet such a precious friend for me that I would call back and spend my money on him. There can't be anyone else to buzz me here in Turkey from a Turkish number...
Ok, about yesterday. After we picked up my luggage, which luckily was not lost and arrived in a good shape, we went to the driver's place because he wanted to change clothes. While he was changing clothes, we were sitting in the office of his dad's company, which sells all kind of IT accessories. The offices were a bit too big and fancy for a small shop, which sells comp-mice and USB sticks. But, as I saw some catalogs on the table, maybe they also accept orders for bigger (and more expensive) equipment. I really liked Serol's dad. He was totally cool and spoke a little bit of English. He did indeed look a bit Scottish with reddish hair and light skin with sunny-dots (I will look up the proper name later here...:P). Sooner or later of course we started to talk about the Kurdish question. And I liked their stance. He said if he could choose what to be born this time or next time, he would never choose to be Kurdish. They don't want independence, but they want just a peaceful, prosperous life were you can be what you are and talk what you think. After the movie at the university we were supposed to give a short introduction speech why we are here IN TURKEY and how do we like TURKEY. Please don't use the name KURDISTAN. And it was strange because we were just with the guys of AEGEE-Diyarbakir. But maybe the technician guy could overhear or there are bugs in the conference hall?
And we try to learn Turkish and we want Turkish music and we talk about Turkey. Of course. Because the Turkish guys are Turkish and they speak Turkish between themselves. Most of them cannot speak Kurdish or Zazakish. They called themselves "assimilated" the first night so much that I was even hearing it in my dreams I think. Which is kind of sad and I hope that terrorists (yesterday we read that 3 German tourists have been kidnapped on the Ararat mountain by the Kurdish terrorist group - the Workers' Party) are punished with justice, Turkey moves from a military-coup-formed country to a true democracy, and the kids of these "assimilated" turks will have the possibility to learn the language(s) of their ancestors. The Kurdistan (or we decided to replace it with piiiiiiiiiiii sound - so hereafter I am gonna do that) in the Norther Iraq gives these people a hope. One guy told me that his female friend is now studying in Arbil to become a primary and Kurdish teacher.
Zazakish - is a language related to Kurdish but they cannot understand each other. At least 3 of our Turkish guys are from mixed Kurdish-Zazakish families. In one case the guy speaks both languages and, of course, Turkish. At least that is what I understood from his poor English. Maybe he is just boasting about his knowledge of many languages. Because I can say that his English and Russian do not really count. And if his Kurdish and Zazakish are in a 1000% better level, they would still not really count. A more common case, represented by 2 out of our hmmm...7? guys is that parents speak Turkish between themselves and with the children. So they don't know the languages of their mothers and fathers. Maybe they also want to protect them and give them a better chance for a better life as truly "assimilated Turks".
We need to go soon to the city again. So I should stop writing about politics. The yesterday we were in the city for the first time because we live quite far outside in the dorms. The city is really special and beautiful. I have put some pictures on my webpicasa.
We visited some really old churches and maybe today we are going to a mosque. So I should redress and put long pants on, and some shirt which covers my shoulders and take a scarf with me, just in case. Though, I think it was not obligatory.
And, yes, the last comment about yesterday - we had a great improvised party here in the dorm with some crazy dancing. I twisted my shoulder again - though just for a second. But it hurts a bit today and I was more careful swimming.
Yes, and it is hot. But after Skopje and Prishtina I don't really feel the difference if it is hotter or not. The same about food. After Sheptim's mom's stuffed paprikas the food is very common and fine for me. The other girls are saying they are gonna lose some weight here.
As I am such a lazy writer, I won't promise a new post any time soon, but just some time "more or less"

Wednesday, June 25

Pregnancy

There was one thing I wanted to blog about a while ago, but I forgot it. And could not remember till today because I was reminded of it by a friend. Pregnancy probability... it is kind of curious: at school we are taught that no day is safe. But then people get married, are trying and trying... and find out that there is only one short moment in a month, because the human ovum has a lifespan that is not more than 24 hours. Yes, but teachers have their point to scare us.
But when you want a baby, you feel a bit cheated. I guess...

Wednesday, June 11

in this country of shit...

First, I don't want you to get pissed off with me for your love for Macedonia (FYROM...god I feel like swearing in this bad word) or think that I am totally pissed off myself because I am not actually. It is just a song by Eels called World of Shit which is being played and replayed in my head during this day in a bit modified version.
So, I have not written for a long time and many things have happened. I won't keep an account of them here. But my new flatmate has arrived. She is from France, but she is totally cool :) (joke)
She arrived with her golema machka (big cat) from Paris, with all the vaccination's and an EU pet passport. The cat was mewing during the night because it wanted to go out, it liked to play with my naked legs sticking out of the blanket so much that I was scared to move and for some moments even barricaded my door. Still... I love cats too much. I love even nasty ones and Rajah is actually very sweet and I have grown very affectionate towards him.
But he went out a few times (last time he jumped out of the window and even managed to find the right door of our apartment - so we were very proud of him!), maybe got into a small fight (because the legitimate owner cat of this flat - old Bono - has become very aggressive and insulted and is brutally pushing his way inside HIS APARTMENT...) but since more than a week he does not feel well: he has a fever, he got a wound on his ear and his lower lip, yesterday a new little spot or wound appeared on his nose and he started to limp on his front right leg, his fur is not looking healthy, he is losing a lot of hair and there was something like blood plus pus spots on my sheets this morning where he was sleeping...
Aurelie has been taking him to the veterinary hospital for 7 days each day and they have been measuring his temperature and giving him shots of antibiotics and vitamin C and maybe something else. He still eats and drinks a bit, and goes to the toilet.
Today after he started to limp badly we demanded for blood tests because Aurelie has agreed with her mother and the vet in Paris that she will send the results by mail. They took the blood but they told us to go to a laboratory on the other side of Skopje. We took a cab there but we were told that they are not doing tests anymore for pets because they had an inspection and it is forbidden and they are very strict about it.
We took a cab back to the veterinary hospital and told them that. They called to the lab and they were told the same. They called other laboratories (all human laboratories... strange there is no laboratory in the veterinary hospital or in the faculty and institute next to it) till one finally agreed. We had a bit of problems finding it, running with the blood around and asking people. But finally we succeeded. A few tests could not be done because the blood was carried around in the heat and sun for almost four hours, but let's hope that the other results are exact.

In this country of shit animals are totally worth a shit... and we are criminals if we want to help our poor Rajah...

Monday, May 26

Summer Universities in the Balkans

The DEADLINE for INTERNATIONAL & SEE REGIONAL STUDENTS has been extended until 30 MAY 2008

Offered courses:

PRISHTINA:
1. Public International Law
2. Comparative Constitutional Law
3. Theories of International Relations
4. International Criminal Law and its Enforcement
5. The Politics of European Integration
6. Introduction to Journalism
7. Public Finance
8. International Marketing
9. European Company Law: Understanding the European right of establishment of Companies
10. Epigraphy Speaks
11. Issues in Cultural Heritage Management
12. European Models of Information-Society & Public Electronic Governance
13. Building and the cooling system
14. Introduction into the field of Plant Breeding and Crop Production
15. Beach Volleyball

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA
Course Nr.1: Relations between EU and Balkans,
Professor: Ekaterina Volkova
Course Nr.2: Nation and Nationalism in the Contemporary World: Theory and Cases,
Professor: Kenneth Kemp
Course Nr.3: European institutions, Identity and Cultural Heritage,
Professor: Sabine Stadler
Course Nr.4 The Role of Dialogue in Local Peace Building,
Professor: Monica Jakobsen
Course 5: Strategic Management,
Professor: Eric Dirksen
Course 6: Theory and practice of Negotiation in the general framework of Conflict prevention and resolution,
Professor: Emanuela C. Del Re

OHRID:
COURSE 1: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
COURSE 2: INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
COURSE 3: INTERMEDIATE MICROECONOMIC THEORY
COURSE 4: PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW
COURSE 5: GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS
COURSE 6: INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW
COURSE 7: INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC POLICY ANALYSIS
COURSE 8: PUBLIC POLICY MAKING AND EU PERSPECTIVES FOR MULTIETHNIC SOCEITIES
COURSE 9: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
COURSE 10: EARLY CHILDHOOD IN LANGUAGE ARTS
COURSE 11: USING CREATIVE WRITING AND CHILDREN’S LITERATURE TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN EFL
COURSE 12: TEACHING AND LEARNING WITH THE INTERNET

If you have any questions, write me!

Application and more information here

Tuesday, May 6

Easter-1stMay holiday in Albania and Montenegro













April 27 leaving from Skopje, hitchhiking to Struga and sleeping there. Good-bye/Welcome party in the Red Cross Hotel

April 28 hitchhiking Struga-Durres, sleeping on the beach:) Train Durres-Tirana and sleeping in Tirana Backpackers Hostel. Dinner for students in a posh restaurant

April 29 minibuses and hitchhiking Tirana-Kruja-Shkodra, sleeping in a communist hotel Rozafa, dinner in a traditional fish restaurant

April 30 hitchhiking to Podgorica, Montenegro. Sleeping at a friend's place.

May 1 bus Podgorica-Perast. CS 3rd Balkan Mafia meeting. A beautiful house for 3 with a terrace with a beautiful view, a ride to Kotor by Italian bikers...and the surprise present:)

May 2 day on the boat, island near Perast, a fortress, Herceg Novi

May 3 hiking in Orahovec, ice-cream in Kotor

May 4 by car to Albania, visiting Shkodra again, sleeping in Tirana

May 5 by car Tirana - Skopje, stopping in Durres and Elbasan

Monday, April 14

Fishing and off-road driving weekend with a Fiat (summary in English)

On Saturday, soon after I arrived in Prishtina, we set off with Shpetim and his friend Norik to buy a fishing stick for 10 euros and go fishing in a nearby lake. We got worms for free, quite a lot of them but did not catch any fish so worms were thrown in the lake for a big fish party.
But as we always say it: the process is more important than the result. First of all, we had a lot of fun with off-road driving in a Fiat because Norik said he knows a road to the other side of the lake which is closer to the city and more scenic/better for fishing. The road was one of the biggest challenges you could imagine, even for a 4x4 vehicle: big gorges in between, huge bumps, steep ups, downs and turns, sometimes sand, sometimes mud. While Norik was driving, we were mostly walking and running and Shpetim was giving advices how to pass this or the other spot. One time close to the lake the car went with the nose down and one rear wheel up but Shpetim hung himself in the rear doors and they managed to put the car down to all four.
I managed to sunbath a little and we played 2 games of cards before a big wind started to blow all the cards around. Then we had a similar exciting ride/run/walk back.
On Sunday the boys (Shpetim, Norik and another friend of theirs Besi) wanted to go to fish again, but to another place - Sheptim's childhood fishing place. The place and the river would be very nice if it was not used for garbage discharge. The first place we stopped was behind the slaughterhouse, there were many stray dogs around it because they get their deal of food. I was sitting there on a piece of cardboard box and contemplating that this is how I imagine neighborhoods in Africa...
We did not catch any fish, but some sweet-looking puppies yes. One was very active and walking up to all the people who were there. I even started considering my life with a dog and how I could make him EU documents and where to keep him...
We moved to another place and had to cross a real dump ground under the bridge. Then we had to walk along a little stinky river of wastewater. Two Prishtina boys were laughing about Shpetim and his "clean tasty village air compared to the smog in Prishtina". But further way it got more pleasant and we found a very nice fishing spot. To get there we had to pass a metal construction which is used as a bridge and Prishtina boys almost peed their pants and gave all the stuff for us with Shpetim to carry.
With the first or 2nd throw Shpetim caught the first fish! We put her (him) in the Fanta bottle and it traveled with us to Prishtina as a proof that we really caught something. When it was proved, we got a dilemma what to do with the fish because we had started to grow affectionate about it and there is no use to fry one small fish anyways.
It spent the night in a red plastic bowl in the bathroom and today was carried over the Kosovar-Macedonian border in a Coca-Cola bottle and released in the Vardar river. A very lively fish and I wish her/him a long life!

Fishing stories from Kosova in Latvian

Si nedelas nogale izvertas piedzivojumiem bagata makskeresanas un bezcelu brauksanas (ar mazu Fiat) nedelas nogale.
Sestdien,
ap vieniem devamies par 10 eiro nopirkt makskerkatu, maisu pilnu ar tarpiem dabujam par brivu. braucam uz kaut kadu ezeru netalu no Pristinas. 30 min brauciens. Shpetima draugs Noriks saka, ka vins zina citu celu, ka piebraukt ezeram no otras puses, kur esot daudz labak. Ok, turpinot pa sasaurinosos asfalta celu garam n-tajam Latinamerikas serialus atgadinosajam privatajam amerikanu un 3.mileeniuma vidusskolam, atduramies strupcela un tur stavosie viriesi mums liek braukt atpakal un tad pa zemes celu nogriezties pa kreisi. Pirmais zemes cels ir tik stavs, ka nobistamies. Otrais, tresais, ceturtais izskatas, ka ved uz jaunuzceltajam privatmajam. Izvelamies piekto. Pec 50 metriem ir pirmais pagrieziens ar slipumu un augstu gropi pa vidu. Mes izkapjam lauka un ar komandas darbu pirmo miklu atminam bez paliksanas ar vienu riteni gaisa vai sasistu karteri. Bet tas ir tikai sakums... kadiem 5 kilometriem celam ar milzigam gropem un pusmetru vagu pa vidu, dubliem, smiltim. Mes ar Shpetimu parsvara skrienam pirms un pec masinas un labi ja 30 metrus pabraucam lidz nakamajiem lielajiem dubljiem vai cinjiem.
Netalu no ezera esam nedaudz atpalikusi un soferitis paliek ar purnu nobrauciena uz leju un pakalejo kreiso riteni gaisa. Shpetims iekrajas kreisajas pakalejas durvis un nobraucam leja pie ezera. Tur ir diezgan daudz makskernieku jau prieksha. Vel vairak ir plastmasas maisinu un citadu drazu. Ok, kaut ka mums si vieta neapmierina un nolemjam padoties vel nedaudz talak. Noriks vairak neriske masinu dzit augsa pa mazo stavo celu, tapec pie darba keras Shpetims. Es saku, kad jums puisi saks palikt garlaicigi, dodiet masinas atslegas man:)
Pec daziem metriem tur augsa izlemjam tomer masinu tur atstat un doties ar kajam talak, jo sakas megadublji, kuriem pat ar kajam sudigi tikt cauri. Atrodam diezgan skaistu vietinu. Masinu no turienes sen jau vairs neredzam, bet tapat no sejienes nekur ar vinu neaizskriesi. Ar kajam noteikti zaglus panaksim.
Tiek ieprovets jaunais spinings, bet musu pieredzejusakajam makskerniekam nav nekadas pieredzes ar tadam makskerkatiem ar tadam spolem un nav ari nekadas pieredzes ar makskeresanas ipatnibam ezeros. Zinam, ka jasviez maize, lai piesaistitu zivju uzmanibu. Tarpi ari negrib no sakuma list uz akjiem. Lidz pusei vinju uzdur, a shis, maita, shmok nost. Nekadu zivi mes todien nenokeram, bet es apdedzinaju plecus un izspelejam 2 karsu partijas, pirms sacelas liels vejs un saka visu nest pa gaisu.
Atpakalcela soferitis divreiz paskrapeja celu ar karteri, bet citadi bez ipasiem starpgadijumiem.
Svetdien,
Dodamies uz musu pieredzejusaka makskernieka Shpetima dzimtajiem makskeresanas laukiem - upiti pie bernibas ciema. Upite nav nekada mazaa, bet piedrazota nenormali...kadus 30 gadus visi atkritumi tiek sviesti tur pie tilta. Ari en-taas nenormali smirdoshas notekas no kanalizacijas tiek novaditas tur. Sakam makskeret aiz pilsetas slavenas lopkautuves, no kurienes nak Kosovas labaka gala visiem Pristinas restoraniem. Hmmm... ja jau es lidz shim esmu dziva, tad nevajadzetu but tik traki. Pie lopkautuves stav barins aitu. Gaida savu rindu. Skumjs skats. Ap lopkautuvi klist daudz ielas sunju, kuriem no tas atlec savs labumins. Pie uzberuma cela malas gul 3 smuki kuceni. Viens ir loti aktivs un nak ar visiem izrunaties un visiem izlugties, vai varbut vinu var adoptet. Tik smuks kucens, ka tiesam saku domat, varbut kaut ka varu vinu iekombinet sava dzive...izkartot Eiropas Savienibas papirus...eh, skumja, druma ta dzive te.
Ari te neesam vienigi makskernieki. Laikam jau kaut kadas zivis saja notekaa dziivo. Radioaktivas un trisgalvainas. Gribot negribot saja vieta sezot pie sis upes ar plastmasas maisinkokiem abos krastos, iidoso suni, svilstosas miesas, adas, matu smardu no lopkautuves negribot nakas domat par sis vietas tuvumu Afrikai attistibas zina.
Viens makskernieks ir loti izpalidzigs, nomaina mums aki uz mazaku (esot par lielu), iedod mums tarpus (vakardienas salaidam ezera - for the fish party:)), sniedz padomus... Sunjukam vins ari patik, shis paliek gulot pie vinja velosipeda - sak', izvelejos sev saimnieku. Driz noguris tur pavisam atluzt, ka tikai berni to mak.
Atkal nekas nekeras, un Shpetims nolemj pavirzities vel tuvak savai bernibas makskeresanas vietai. Atkal vins dzen masinu augsa uz uzberuma, jo Noriks atsakas. Un talak pa to celju (lasit, taku). Zem tilta sakas atkritumu kalni un izbraukt nav iespejams. Atstajam masinu tur, bet driz brauc traktors ar jauniem atkritumiem un masina ir janovirza mala. To darot, atkal paliekam ar vienu riteni gaisa, bet viens no traktoristiem soreiz uzkaras un atkal dabujam uz cetriem riteniem.
Solojam talak kajam, gar noteku ar smirdosu kanalizacijas udeni. Un Sheptima draugi (soreiz esam 4: Shpetims, es, Noriks, un Besi) vinu velk uz zoba par "labo vinja lauku gaisu, ko nevarot salidzinat ar Pristinas smogu". Otrpus kanalizacija un uzberumiem sak klut patikamam. Nejut vairs to smaku, neredz upi ar atkritumiem, tikai zaljus un brunus uzartus laukus, zilus kalnus un sarkanus dakstinu jumtus, un vienu baltu minaretu. Mums ir japarapjas pari saubigam tiltam, ja to ta var nosaukt. Viss ekipejums tiek atdots Shpetimam un man, jo "pilsetas puikas" Noriks un Besi rapjas tricosam kajam un rokam. Tilts ir diezga augstu un sastav no dazam sarusejusam, nestabilam margam, metala karkasa un briziem esosam briziem neesosam metala plaksnem uz ta. Otra puse tiesam ir ljoti jauka makskeresanas vieta ar ljoti minimaliem plastmasas drazas apjomiem. Otra puse ir aitas, dazas pavisam apaljas vel stavokli, citas ar jau palieliem jeriem. Uz pirmo vai otro metienu IR PIRMAA ZIVS! Maza, bet tomer zivs. Sakuma es vinu ielaizu atrasta plastmasas pudele, bet Noriks ar Besi piebeidz 2L Fantas pudeli, izskalo un es viniem par prieku zivi parcelu uz jaunajam majam. Tas ari todien bija viss musu loms, kaut gan redzejam dazas palielas zivis tur lekajam.
Atpakaljcelja ir isaks cela gabalins lidz lielajam celjam, izlemjam braukt pa to. Ir dublains, bet ir normalas cietas gropes abiem riteniem, ta ka vajadzetu but ok. Tomer Noriks nav tas labakais bezcelju rallists un vins nobrauc no gropem dubljos, iespole un apmeta visu masinu ar trekniem dubljiem. Labi, ka blakus ir benzintanks, kur pasi varam par 1 eiro izmantot sluteni, lai masinu atmazgatu, pirms ar to radities atpakal "pilsetaa".
Ta viena nabaga zivs netika ielaista atpakal dzimtaja upe, jo bija vajadzigs pieradijums, ka tiesam kaut ko nokeram. Tagad ta dzivs dzivo sarkana plastamas bljoda un Shetims apsver iespeju samaksat Norikam par benzinu, lai aizved uz nedaudz tuvaku upi un palaiz briviba. Jo vienu zivi nav verts cept. Un bezjedzigi nogalinat vins nespej. Bet radioaktiva, trisgalvaina zivs ir diezgan shprauna. Ik pa laikam tiek atvesinata ar jauna, vesa udens salti...bet ir pieteikusi badastreiku - negrib ne tarpus, ne salo cepumu drupacas.

Wednesday, April 9

ajde da uživam! (let's enjoy!)

I did not go to the dance concert at the end... who knows if it was today and at what time.
I decided to go for a jog and I feel damn good now. I took a bath, still had some bath flakes from Fragonard, Eau du Bonheur. Verrrriiiii naiiiis :)
Now I will go to check if there are any pancakes left for me :)

I just remembered the owner of Le Petit Cafe today when we were sitting outside there with our coffees, actually Albert with his coke and me with my blueberry juice, with our long bored faces, looking kind of sad, silent, out of words, just waiting and waiting... He looked at Anja and she said she is leaving today and he replied in Macedonian: it seems nobody wants to leave Macedonia...pause...except Macedonians :)

The air outside is full of lilac aroma, I am totally enjoying it! And soon there will be time for chestnuts! And the evening outside feels like a normal summer evening in Latvia, you just need a little thin sweater nothing else...+18... and it smells like June in Latvia! It is so hard to believe that it is still snowing in Umeå, Sweden... am I crazy even considering going to study there???

Čekaj i uživaj!

Anja had to leave by car to Ljubljana together with 4 Macedonian guys this morning at 10 o'clock. I told her that probably they would leave by midday because it is Macedonia, but she said that 3 of the guys are Struga guys and they are usually better with time than Skopje guys (just talking about the people from youth NGOs). Yes, the 3 guys were on time but because of the 1 Skopje guy, they left only in the afternoon. Some document was missing, some work was still unfinished... but if you know that, you can tell others so that they can sleep longer.

We got up at 8, I went to Anja's apartment at 9 for breakfast and coffee. Another coffee at 10, more burek, at 11 I went to buy some beer, at 13:00 we went for another coffee at the nearby cafe. Then we went to pizzeria and ordered one golema (=big) pizza (which was one of the smallest pizzas I have ever seen in Macedonia)...at 14:30 I just said bye and I hope you will leave today!

So kind of a screwed day...I feel screwed. Maybe I will go to a dance concert this evening, but it is impossible to find information online about Skopje Dance Fest 2008

And I found this funny add, it made me laugh a lot so I wanted to share it with whoever visits my blog. It is a property advertisement from Kosova and can be found here

FLAT IS IN THE STREET VELANIA IN PRISHTINA.FLAT HAVE 1 LIVING ROOM

3 BAD ROOMS 1 KITCHEN 1 BATHROOM 2 BALCONIES CABLE TV WITHINTERNET CENTRAL HEATING FOR CONTACT MOBILE NUMBER 044 249 379

Wednesday, April 2

April, April

It was not an April joke and my flatmate Viki really left today. It feels kind of empty in the house, but I think I still have not understood that she's really gone home.
There is a girl sleeping in her bed, but she is not my new flatmate. My new flatmate had to arrive today but (according to Albert) her brother woke up from 2 weeks in coma. At least that is better than the previous information from Albert that he went to coma... Anyways I really hope everything is and will be fine for both of them and of course her cat. The girl who is sleeping now in Viki's bed is Katja from Poland, an ex-EVS volunteer who came to a Youth Exchange now. I know her from my first visit to Macedonia, more than a year ago. She still remembered me, which was wow for me. I guess I know more about her than she does about me because of Laura's stories, but I was impressed that she did remember the most important facts from my life 1 year ago (not much has changed actually...).
Welll...after the bye-bye in the airport, some mixed feelings, some tears I came home and cleaned up a bit after the improvised good-bye party with Macedonian souvenirs and Serbian champagne and dirty feet on our kitchen floor. Then I went to the language lesson. After that I went to a Macedonian music concert in the Skopje City Museum together with Urška. It was a crap-crap and we ran away during the break (Pauza). We went to Ramstore for ice-cream (mmm... consumer generation) and to Mala Stanica for a beer, but at the end we took tea and salep. There was crappy French music and good (but very short) puppet show. Other volunteers came (it is a real EVS gathering place, especially French EVS)... so we also got beer finally. Some girls were singing French songs, which was not bad at all except that they did not know how to sing with a microphone and the organizers did not know how to contact the microphone properly...
After Mala Stanica we had a very nice suvlaki on the way to Ploshtad were was a concert and the 1st of April Carnival. They really go crazy about carnivals here. I was thinking today that if I stayed in Macedonia, there would be a point to invest in a really nice costume because I would have many many chances to wear it. Maybe they are really too conservative and traditional, and not liberal in the everyday life that they need these carnivals to go wild. I noticed again that guys here really love to dress in female clothes, walk like females and rub against other guys. And another good thing about these carnivals - you have a chance to wear your wedding dress again! I saw quite many girls in wedding dresses today, some together with their grooms, some not.
***
Lilacs are already in full bloom!!!! I can't believe it is just April 1.

Friday, March 28

Da Name Issue

It was bad all the time, but now it has reach the culmination because R.Makedonija is eager to join the NATO and other international organizations. Greece is going to veto them. Greece wants it to find another name... Macedonian politicians are working with sweaty foreheads and coming up with some options, which could satisfy both Greece and local inhabitants and would not lead to changing the constitution. There are some options on the right-hand side for your consideration and voting :)

[Republic of Skopje, Republic of Vardar, The Central Balkan Republic, Dardania (well, offered by Greeks, but I don't think it is considered at all because it is Albanian tribe and covers more the territory of Kosovo), Slav Macedonia, Vardar Macedonia, Upper Macedonia, New Macedonia, North Macedonia, Republic of High Macedonia (Gorna Makedonija), Republic of Macedonia (Skopje), Republic of Macedonia–Skopje, Democratic Republic of Macedonia, Independent Republic of Macedonia...]

My mom wrote me yesterday that she was flying from Skopje to Prague with some "činas" (VIP) because other passengers could enter the plane only through the second entrance, but on the first ramp there was the red carpet. Soldiers had to glue it to the asphalt for the wind not to lift up any corner. The guard of honor was in such interesting costumes that my mom thought they are going to dance folk dances. More guys in civil clothes were running around and talking on walkie-talkies. Inside the plane the Business class curtains were closed all the way and disembarkation of "normal" passengers was also delayed.
My mom was asking maybe I saw something in the news who were those VIPs, but actually I have no idea what is going on and who exactly is visiting Skopje these days. I just know that special unit ALFA or WOLVES guys in gray camouflage costumes with automatic weapons are standing each 500 meters on most roads. When I was coming back from the Skopje airport after saying byes to my mom, they were each 100 metres on both sides of the road and all the way till the city. When we were returning from Ohrid earlier, simple soulders in khaki uniforms were sweeping the asphalt near the Parliament building. There is police everywhere these days, with sirens and some VIP cars after them. Police is making a big mess in the traffic as well. They should not be allowed to regulate the traffic. They seem to be even worse that the unreliable Skopje traffic lights, which can just go off one moment, or green can appear simultaneously for everybody (cars and pedestrians for all directions), or it can skip green for one traffic lane at one time...
Yesterday, I finally finished my tooth. I have a metal-ceramic crown now. My first crown...it was a big psychological move. After it was done, to compensate for all my suffering, my sweet Macedonian dentist asked his son (who is also dentist, by the way) to make me some tea with rakija, whiskey or ouzo from "our Greek friends." Unfortunately I got just a simple chamomile tea without anything, though I cannot say that I was protesting much. It was all a joke and they did not have any ouzo or whiskey, just rakija. But it facilitated our talk about these last developments. I also started to read the daily newspaper which bore a review on the name issue on the front page (the same as all newspapers since more than a week ago...). So we had quite a nice talk in my broken Macedonian over politics with my dentist and his dentist son. I also had to introduce Latvian history and politics a little bit.
This is not going to be any official opinion, just my subjective one (with factual addition from both dentists). I have a feeling that what Greece is doing now with fighting for the copyright, patent or call it as you wish of the name "Makedonia", it is putting territorial claims on a much larger territory. Macedonia is a historic region, which covers parts of the current territory of Greece, FYROM, Bulgaria, little piece of Serbia and little piece of Albania. If you want to see the borders of Macedonia as they were in the reign of Macedonian Alexander, you can go even further... Although people here have tendency to megamania and love and sorrow for lost empires, lets stick to the more moderate borders of Macedonia.
As my dentist said, Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of) borders with Macedonia on all sides. The biggest part of the region is indeed in Greece and is called Aegean Macedonia. The part now in Bulgaria is called Pirin Macedonia. And the part I am living in now is called Vardar Macedonia. When the pie was divided Aegean piece went to Greeks (though not without pain from the Bulgarian side, which were largely inhabiting the region and ruling it before and in between and always hoping to get back the exit to the Aegean sea...but always picking the wrong ally in the World Wars: Germany), the Vardar piece - to the Serbs, and the Pirin piece was left for Bulgarians.
There was a big difference between Athens and southern part of Greece and Salonika in Macedonia - the northern part of Greece. When Greeks kicked out all the Turks and Bulgarians from the northern part of Greece, i.e. Macedonia, they named it all Greece or Hellas (Hell Ass...). So maybe they want rename themselves to Macedonia now? No. Then why don't they want to let another country use this name? Why Bulgarians are not putting a claim too, because there is a big region of Macedonia in Bulgaria as well? Why it is so impossible to have the same name for a country and a bigger region? Macedonians living here in this name-less state do not have another identity. They don't feel neither as Greeks, nor Bulgarians, nor Serbs (ok, a big part do feel like Albanians :)).
I was surprised that Macedonian Greeks in their capital Tessaloniki do not really care about this issue that much as Macedonians here in FYROM. The volunteers living there had not heard much about the debate, and the newspapers bore different news on the front page and maybe just a small piece about their northern neighbors. There were no protests of people on the streets like here in Skopje. So what are Greek politicians so worried about and why do they need all this? Not that there is such a big passions from their nation. Or maybe there are, just they are too lazy... :)
It do look like stupid old-fashioned Byzantium ambitions. And in my opinion, the West should not support Greece so much. There is not much to love them for except the things the current Greek generations are not responsible for, such as Pantheon or Mount Olympe, or Olympic games...or the natural tourism attractions. And the European Union knows what kind of liars they are and have been acting too much as a kind mother to a beautiful, but spoilt child.

P.S... maybe I do have a subjective point of view because of my information space, but forgive me that

Monday, March 24

a letter from near the ocean











Hi! My mom landed successfully from her Amazing Race through European airports and testing different airlines (she preferred Croatia Airlines). First day we spent at the Children Village. She could not resist helping us with teaching methodology and joined the English language Beginners' course for the Village's moms and aunts.
Later that day we took the bus to Prishtina and went for a dinner together with my ljochka Shpetimi. On Saturday we made an excursion to Prizren where we very unexpectedly met Antoine and Carsten from Skopje, Antoine's brother and Amelie, a volunteer from Krusevac. Later the same day we went out in Prishtina, in Pejton where I met with Lena, a German girl from Prishtina Summer University 2007. The day of meetings. We had some beer and rakia, and then went to 212 Club. DJ Bambooka sucked (he is an OK drummer, though), there was too much smoke and I was falling asleep standing.
On Sunday we came back to Skopje, quickly changed clothes and continued to Ohrid where I sit now. Kosta who owns Villa Kosta is a very nice guy, he explained me perfectly how to get to Sv. Naum today and was just extra sweet. I will spread a good word about his apartments. So today everything went smooth except the weather. It was a real storm today. First was just windy, but sunny. Then big dark clouds started to come from the mountains. And later was also raining. And big wind again. But luckily we managed to escape the rainy moments and find a sanctuary in the many cafes and restaurants. I do love the restaurant Belvedere. Since my first time in Ohrid, I go to eat dinner only there. The waiters there are gold and I just want to leave a tip even if it is not the rule in Macedonia.
Lake Ohrid looks like a real ocean today with green blue water, big waves with white hats, and invisible opposite coast. Colors are amazing. I think I will have very beautiful photos from today, with a better camera they would be like from National Geographic. While walking today, we went into one ph9to gallery. A short trip around Macedonia in pictures. It was perfect and the photos were great for decorating a stylish apartment. Nobody could guess where the photos are from. Certainly not Europe.
My photos will come later...keep posted.
Dace

Thursday, March 20

this one is just for fun


...that is how they are solving road problems in Latvia. In one Latvian town, Alūksne, the streets are with big holes. They did not fix the streets but just put a road sign when entering the city that the bumpy road is in the whole territory of the town.

Murphy again

My mom had such a bad luck with her trip to visit me here. First, the weather just got cold, cloudy, rainy and yesterday, at least, there was a lot of wet snow. When I looked at the weather forecast yesterday, it was said that the whole next week is gonna be like this.
And this morning I get an sms from here that they took off, flew a round and returned to Riga Airport because of some technical problems. So, I think she is losing the spirit... Now all the passengers are still waiting outside the office of Czech Airlines and trying to change and return tickets, and get more information.
Poor mom, I send all my good thoughts, wishes and energies for here in my mind and in the World Wide Web.

Wednesday, March 19

Ba-ba-baaaaaaaaaah

Albert came yesterday out of the blue. Missing me probably, I have not been in their flat lately when he is at home. And he got straight down to the business - went to buy a new light bulb for our bathroom, got a chair, we discussed which way the light is off and made a logical decision...and BA-BA-BAAAAAAAAAAH FIREWORKS AND SMASHED GLASS ALL OVER THE BATHTUB. IT EXPLODED! Albert is really lucky that no small piece of glass flew in his eye. But he was under shock long time after. And went home. He promised to return this morning and disconnect the electricity in the whole flat. The metal part of the light bulb stayed inside of course, it has grown inside with all the rust... He still has not turned up. Maybe changed his mind after all :)
I sticked a big note ATTENTION! EXPLOSION! on the bathroom door last night so that my flatmate who was out did not think of taking the bath when she comes back during the night. And this morning I was trying to pick out all the small pieces from the bath (mostly) and floor. I tried to rinse away the rest, but the shower is still not working properly. Strangely yesterday when I tried to show it to Albert, it worked quite fine...Damn Murphy
***
I was talking about this guy already earlier yesterday because I could not get chamomile tea anywhere yesterday. The tea which is the most common over here and is always in stock, yesterday was almost impossible to get. And I need to drink a lot of it for my tooth and gums to heal faster. Well, it is just an extra reason, because I do like it. And when I like something and I am told it is good for me, I want it double as much.

Monday, March 17

Milda sessions in Tessaloniki





Last weekend I went to Tessaloniki finally to meet a Latvian EVS from my pre-departure seminar. She is leaving tomorrow early early morning at 5 something... Was her last weekend in Tessaloniki and my last chance to meet her there because there is not a big chance she will ever come back there, so happy to leave she was! And she is not the only having this mood, which made me think why EVSes want to shorten their projects and are happy to leave from Greece but in here in Macedonia the general mood is completely different: most of current EVSes want to extent their projects and stay in Macedonia. Because in general lines the EVS problems are the same here and there... Maybe too much capitalism in Greece kills the only beautiful sentiment and innocence and hospitality and country-sidedness of people here in the Balkans and leaves only the ugly side of the same things. But maybe it is just the subjective reasons of the individuals involved in this enigma. Because we met a real Latvian-Greek, who stayed in Tessaloniki after his EVS and loves it.
I did like Tessaloniki and I cannot say that all Greek people are rude. The officers are. But ice-cream sellers are not.
We went to some documentary photography excibitions in the Museum of Photography. The one from Afganistan had too much Canadian Piii-aaaaR. But the other one was great with pictures from all current hot spots in the world. Great shots and great summaries.
After that had my chicken suvlaki and Greek coffee (hahaha...Greek, Turkish, Albanian, Bosnian, Serbian...coffee) at the blue-eyed table of the Milda nation talking the Milda language and staring at aging Greek cleavages.

Sunday evening I was back home and got to know shocking news that the owner of our flat died. He was a very nice, cheerful, energetic guy...he seemed. But had a weak heart and got a lethal heart-attack on Thursday. I felt out of place and my knees felt week when I was going to register in the police again. Death is still impossible for a human mind to comprehend.

Today we played games with children and started to teach English to their mothers and aunts. ABC. I met Maria - the new German volunteer with 2 kids, all of them "gypsy-style". From the little communication I had, she really seems a nice girl and kids are simply heart-killers.

After that I had to run to my Macedonian dentist because I finally made up my mind to make my first crown. It was a lot of zzzzzzzzzrrrrrrrrrzzzzzzzz drilling because most of the tooth is the plomb. Now I have a temporary crown and in a week or so will get real procelain.

In the evening dancing again. And after that eating eating eating...starving. But cannot chew much so mostly bananas and yoghurt, some cheese toasts and a little chocolate. I watched Dr. House with one eye but mostly chatted with my ljochka and now there is a stupid discussion about Macedonian name and identity on TV. AGAIN. I MUST GO TO TURN IT OFF!!!