After Alarm festival in Ljubanista, Ohrid

Yesterday at 14.00 i was back again after the Alarm festival since going from Skopje in Friday morning at 08.00 (At least it was supposed to departure then).  When we arrived at mid-day it was very sunny and finally we had managed to get away from the rain which was very suiting given that we slept in tents for the whole weekend.

The area of the festival in Ljubanista at the Ohrid Lake was perfect and absolutely amazing and finally fresh air and water everywhere. Everyone was bathing, laying on the beach, tanning and just relaxing during the days between watching different bands from the Alternative stage. The atmosphere was so nice because of that and that they were playing reggae from 08.00 in the morning at the beach which of course helped the mood of the people a lot. Drinking beer, juice, having picnics and sleeping was also among the favorite activities. Maybe because the music in the night never ended which of course is both good and bad.

At the Alternative stage there were a lot of new bands or smaller bands from different parts on Balkan playing most hard core metal, punk/rock and similar. On the Dance stage they played most trance and techno and the area around was like rave with typical light shows and everything in white become shining and etc. It was a really nice place for it and many people seemed to like it but when you could feel the smell from people smoking weed and the ambulance coming and going from that stage all the time which isn’t really good.

The third stage was the Stage one – the main stage which started from 17.00 every day with known bands like Ljubojna, Superhiks, Foltin and other bands from the rest of Balkan and Europe which gathered most of the people every night. The mood was set every time and all the people was screaming, dancing and jumping until the music stopped at 4 in the morning.

The biggest flop from my point of view from that stage was a Croatian band with 3 grown up men wearing glittery pajamas with a gap open for there asses and singing songs like: Mjau, Mjau, Mjau..

The festival was supposed to be ecological but from my and the my friends point of view there was not much ecological existing at all which was a pity. It was trash all over the place all the time and also on the beach along with cigarettes so you had to lock and check before just sitting down with was a bog failure from my perspective. There was a challenge which you could participate in about collecting trash, leave it in and then get a reward for it but it was not really succeeded either because of the trashes that the people did collected just got put in a big pile in the grass which is not that ecological. And also that the rewards that was given was a t-shirt, a plastic whistle and another plastic toys and plastic is not a part of the ecological way of saving the world.

But all in all the festival was really nice, from my perspective as a young foreigner it was good organized with some lack of information, cleaning and stuff but thats also a part of going to a festival, nothing is perfect and luxuries are not to expect. The music was varied, interesting and good and all the participants had a good mood which led to a nice festival.

So hopefully they will learn from there flaws until next year and then provide an even better atmosphere!

Over and out / Caroline

Differences and similarities in the workshop

Yesterday, in Wednesday it was the third workshop in creACTive about “Macedonia – the land of the sun” where were three brave girls who defied the ugly weather and decided to come.

The topics this week was to find and talk about differences and similarities in culture, every day life and people between countries compared to Macedonia. At first the workshop started with a quiz about Macedonia, its culture, history and other interesting facts about the country which the participants found a bit hard but still they had a lot of correct answers despise the questions was on a very high level. For example:

How many mountain peaks does Macedonia have? 20, 26 or 34?

Which of the following can Macedonia boast? Europe’s oldest lake, Europe’s oldest footprint or Europe’s oldest tree?

Continuing, we started with the comparison between the different nationalities attending: Sweden, Slovakia and Macedonia. We talked about how a regular day looks like in the different countries with work, socializing, drinking, living and living conditions, economy and etc. Some examples is that in Sweden we move from home in an early stage or when we go to university compared to in Macedonia where people often stay after there university time and later also together with partner along with some of theres parents. In Slovakia it is also similar to Sweden that you move out early and then you move in a lot of people together in a apartment to be able to pay the rent.

Another example is that people from Macedonia are very social and can spend whole days just sitting and drinking coffee out in cafes compared to Swedish people who more often meet at each others homes to hang out, eat, drink or whatever instead of going out. Maybe it has a lot to do with the cold condition in Sweden but still in the summer we do the same. For Slovakian people it is a mixture in between and for youth it is more common to go out and party in the middle of the week instead of in the weekend.

Regarding working hours it is for all three countries said 8 hours of working and in Sweden it is often between 8-17, in Macedonia 7-15 and in Slovakia 9-17. Also about the amount of drinking is very different in the three countries: in Sweden you drink a lot of alcohol and you drink until you get drunk, both female and men, compared to Slovakia where you drink a lot as a student but after that you often don´t drink more then a few glasses. In Macedonia you often just drink a few glasses always, which is just for socializing and not to get drunk.

This was just a bit of what was discussed yesterday, if you want more details or anything, feel free to contact us on the email: evsmacedonia@kreaktiv.mk

Stay tuned and have a nice midsummer!

Welcome in the team!

Yesterday evening, Wednesday, at 18.00 in creACTive´s youth center the first meeting of the workshop about “Macedonia – the land of the sun” took place with a group of excited people from Macedonia and EVS volunteers.

So now it has started, the starting shot has been shot and from now on we have new co-workers, for example this blog and etc, which will help us, learn us and we will do the same for them (hopefully), welcome in the team!

We started with getting to know each other with different kind of games, presentations and Human Bingo proceeding with a Power Point presentation about creACTive, the aim and the tasks. After that we had a moment of thinking about the expectations and motivation for this workshop which was really positive and from the points of view me and Aga was looking for. Continuing with a brainstorming about ideas and suggestions from the participants gave us also a chance to see more possibilities and more practical ways that we haven’t thought about so far

So all in all, a good start and will it continue like this there will no problem, ever!

Thank you guys and to all of you – have a nice weekend and stay tuned!

Workshop in creACTive

Macedonia – The land of the Sun

From next Wednesday a workshop in creACTive will start about this project, the land of the sun, for young people from Macedonia hold by me, Caroline and Aga. The application time is extended until tomorrow the 26 of May so if you feel like this (below) is something for you just email: evsmacedonia@kreaktiv.mk

The aim is to make the participants think about themselves as a part of Macedonia, what that means and what they know/don’t know about the country that are “theirs”. To discover the differences between countries compared to Macedonia is also a part, to make them think about their motherland and to be proud of it and what to be proud of.

Part of the aim is also to share all the knowledge, experiences and thoughts about “The land of the sun” for young foreigners who have interest in and want knowledge and information about Macedonia.

The participants will not only be participants they will also be co-workers along with us, Caroline and Aga, and will help us with a lot of tasks that will be included in the workshops.

As a summary it’s about thinking, discovering and reflecting for raising the awareness about for many the forgotten paradise in Balkan, Europe – Macedonia.

Welcome to the land where the sun never ends

The sun has returned

After some weeks of chilly weather the sun has finally returned and what else did we thought while being in The land of the Sun.

Two must see places in Macedonia has been discovered this weekend: The monastery St Joakim Osogovski in Kriva Palanka which was absolutely breathtaking with all its beauty from the amazing monastery and the surrounding green everywhere makes it a place and atmosphere full of peaceful silence, religion, history, beauty, clean air, gorgeous view and colorful life.

The other place is the monastery of Treskavec in Prilep which include a lot of walking uphills on small paths with the view of the green landscapes, the rocks on the mountains, the horses, goats, cows, donkeys and other animals grazing calmly and peacefully just makes you take a step back and realizes you are in the paradise on earth. St Joakim Osogovski, Kriva Palanka

Macedonia from my perspective

Before coming to Macedonia i had no idea that Macedonia even was a country, my first question to my sending organisation was – “Where is Macedonia and is it a country or a city and where is it, in Europe?” So my expectations was that it probably was small, poor and in the middle of nowhere.. That was not really the reality, or not at all actually and now my perspective has changed totally and just for the good side which feels very good.

Now i see Skopje as a capital full of possibilities, you can do almost whatever you want and that is what you do. You can take a cab for almost no money at all, or bus or just take a walk ( just watch out for crazy drivers) because you see so much interesting things where ever you go – al least i never get bored in this city. Cafeterias and bars are almost open every hour of the day so its always time for food, coffee of a cold beer in the sunshine which is so perfect compared to Sweden where you have limited open hours and the streets/bars are never as full of people as here in Macedonia. This i found fascinating and I always get surprised of the amount of people that always are out whatever hour or day you are out from the home/office.

And the people here are always friendly and welcome you, especially when you try to speak the language people get even more friendly and you will never feel not welcome, just the opposite.

This is a country who needs to be discovered, who wants to be discovered and i am so happy for taking the step to come here to this beautiful country.

Macedonia – the land of the sun

This is as we have mentioned before a project about “Promoting Macedonia for young foreigners and for young people from Macedonia” and the name of the project is “Macedonia – the land of the sun”.

The aim for this project is to raise the knowledge about Macedonia and get Macedonia into your heart, your mind, on your lips and on the map. Also to raise the self awareness among the young people from Macedonia to make them think about what they are and who they are.

One of the biggest part of the project will be a website that will be divided into three parts: one for the young foreigners, one for the common things and one for the young people from Macedonia.

The part for the young foreigners will have the purpose to describe the country of Macedonia with information regarding the history, geography, nature, culture, food, language etc. and subcategories with tips about what to see vs. not to see, things to be aware of and different ways of travelling around the country.

For the common part there will be yearly cultural events, to make a “teamwork commercial” between the young foreigners and the young people from Macedonia to promote Macedonia. Of course the project also will be promoting EVS for everyone and showing people what a wonderful opportunity for life it really is.

And the part for the young people from Macedonia will be about discovering differences between countries compared to Macedonia – to make them think about their motherland and to be proud of/what to be proud of as young people from Macedonia. Values, virtues and culture will be the main topics with questions and quizzes who also will be a part of the upcoming workshops about this area in creACTive.

På återseende/Au revoir/ Povelete pak/Do zobaczenia!/O reencontro/Welcome back

Welcome – Zdravo!

Open your heart for Macedonia – the land of the sun

Today its Monday, the first day of the week and the first day for this blog and our project “Macedonia – the land of the sun”, created by two EVS volunteers from the Youth Association creACTive – Caroline and Aga.

The project is about promoting Macedonia in two ways – both for young foreigners and young Macedonians in the way of raising awareness about a small country with a big heart. From now on this blog will be filled with information about what we are working on…

Ciao!