United Societies of Balkans
is a Non Governmental Organization, founded in Thessaloniki in 2008, by a team of active young people. The organization was created as a response to the pressure of constant changes in the Balkan and Eastern EuropeaN REGION and under the need for the creation of a better social environment. Key areas of the organization’s activities concern the defense of human rights, the organization of youth exchanges and training courses, which will bring young people from Balkans and Europe together, the organization of local educational seminars and multimedia production (web radio, videos, documentaries).
Main goals of the organization
To promote the values of non formal learning, volunteering, active citizenship and democracy for the creation of a better future for European youth. To promote human rights, solidarity and respect for diversity. To build healthy cooperation bridges between countries of the Balkan area and that of Eastern Europe with the rest of Europe. To locate and multiply the special cultural attributes of our societies. To break down the prejudices and stereotypes between Balkan countries.
General Director
Aristodimos Paraschou
Human Resources Olympia Datsi
Press Officer Korina Branioti
Managers
Matteo Scarpa, Jelena Vujanovic
Editor in Chief
Diego Dominguez Garcia
aSubeditor
Kristin Kindermann
Authors of the Issue
Ignacio Prados Ansede Riccardo Rossi Maria M. Petkova Badri Pataraia Diego Domínguez García Karla Padilla Wendy Bana-Etong Kristin Kindermann Doruk Işıkçı Şahin Uzunşimşek Şeyda Aydın
Editorial & Graphic Designer Tod Güzel
The volunteers responsible for this publication are hosted in Greece in the framework of the European Youth in Action programme, Action 2 European Voluntary Service. This project has been funded with support from the European Commision. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commision can not be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Homeland Children / Ignacio Prados Ansede Roma Community of Thessaloniki. “A Tree in a River Seen From a Lighthouse” / Riccardo Rossi The Tragedy of the Commons in the Sea countries. SOSte to Nero in Thessaloniki / Riccardo Rossi Abandoned Thessaloniki / Maria M. Petkova
FOREIGN AFFAIRS May 17th. International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia / Badri Pataraia From Uruguay to Brazil / Badri Pataraia We Are One (Ola, Ole) / Diego Domínguez García European Elections / Riccardo Rossi
LEISURE Summer Festivals / Maria M Petkova Hip hop, something more than guns and golden jewellery / Ignacio Prados Ansede A story about music, politics and beards… / Diego Domínguez García
GOOD LIFE Hairstyles in football: that amazing world / Ignacio Prados Ansede
FACES Aalborg, A City of Students - Karla Padilla Retrospective / Wendy Bana Etong Maria Liga, Dealing with Health and Horse / Kristin Kindermann Despoina Partsia from Alma Zois, "Jump into life!" / Kristin Kindermann
TIPS FOR TRIPS Makrinitsa – Doruk Işıkçı Balkan Trip - Şahin Uzunşimşek 10 Days in Germany - Şeyda Aydın
“If I do not get 30â‚Ź I cannot come back home tonightâ€?, says Maria while she holds with her small hands the accordion that she uses to get the attention of the people that eat in the taverns of Ladadika, Thessaloniki. This Bulgarian girl who is only 12 years old, is one of the those children that walk on the streets of Thessaloniki begging for money, playing music, selling flowers, lighters or tissues or cleaning car windows just for a few coins. A situation that got worse with the outburst the last years of the Greek economical crisis, even though it is better than in 2003 thanks to tougher laws.
The perverted smile of a gang
B
ack in 2013, the Greek NGO “The Smile of Children” stated that Greece had a population of 6,000 children living in the street. Many of them are from foreign countries, namely Bulgaria and Albania in Thessaloniki; Pakistan, Romania and Afghanistan in Athens, but some of them also are Greek Roma children. Most of these children are exploited by their own families or by gangs who force them to beg, like in a modern version of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Few months ago, the “Blond angel” occupied the front page of many Greek and foreign newspapers. This 6-year-old blond and blue-eyed girl was found in a Roma camp and whose DNA test did not link her to her parents got the attention of the international community and the Greek social services got thousands of emails from foreign countries asking about the girl and connecting her to the disappearance of many others around the world. Finally, it was discovered that the supposed parents of this girl were getting about 2,500€ per month from different institutions stating that up to 14 children were theirs while the DNA tests only confirmed that they were the biological parents of just 10 of them! As a result, that fact raised an uncomfortable question to the Greek society about the viability of the current social services.
Just like this “blond angel”, it is hard to identify hundreds of these children, especially Bulgarian and Romanian. For instance, the authorities had many problems to put a name on the dead body of a girl who was hit by a bus in Thessaloniki last year and she was finally buried as an unknown person. This, and many other facts, gives a hint of the situation of these children, who are just used as simple instruments to get money. During daylight, these kids walk in the central streets of the city while at night they move to places packed with bars and taverns where people usually go to have fun. Moreover, it is common to see more of them in special dates, like Christmas and Easter, where people are more sensitive to their naive smiles. However, the solution to this problem seems unreachable. One of the factors is the crucial situation of Greece: richer than the neighbours where Roma communities are quite big and where human trafficking is still a huge issue and, at the same time, the gate of Europe for migrants who come mainly from Asia. On the other hand, the economic crisis has forced many families to live under hard conditions, with charity to be the only possible income in many occasions. Ignacio Prados Ansede
The Roma community of Thessaloniki “A tree in a river seen from a lighthouse�
According to historical sources, Roma people's first settlements in Greece date back to 1384 more or less. Nowadays, the Roma community represents one of the biggest minorities in Greece, though accurate data concerning the population are difficult to be found, i.e. the Greek State and NGOs estimated that the amount of Roma people varies from 300,000 up to 350,000 people. Social exclusion, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, limited access to education and to health services are hefty issues that Roma people have to face all around the Greek country. The Roma community of Thessaloniki is mainly concentrated in three city’s areas called Hagia Sofia (settlement), Kymina and Dentropotamos, where the latter is home of a consistent percentage of Roma people. Several NGOs work in this district, helping Roma people to receive public benefits to which they are entitled.
D
endropotamos is situated in a western suburb area 5,5 km far away from Thessaloniki's city centre (Municipality of Menemi) and only few meters from KTEL, which is one of the bus nerve hubs of the city. The neighbourhood is characterised by the lack of open green spaces, with a high level of pollution, both atmospheric and of the soil – as its position is close to the biggest chemical industries of Northern Greece – as well as a poorly functioning water supply and sewage system. Moreover, Dendropotamos' proximity to a stream, together with its low ground level, turns the area into a kind of swamp, where the dampness represents a serious problem for the inhabitants’ houses. Yet, according to the census quantitative data, which was conducted by the Municipality of Menemeni in 1988, the size of Dendropodamos’ houses is another signal of the low living standards: 8.4% of the Gypsy population (10.3% of the total inhabitants of the district) has 3.9 square metres of housing per individual. The living conditions in the district seem to be very far away from our standards, and the simple fact of living in there, is often associated to a social status. In other words, the idea is that poor conditions and being from Dentropotamos include each other. Noteworthy, it is also the district's geographical position which makes it nothing less than a ghetto, as there are only four “access points” composed by the regional buses in the East, the fruit market in the West, the airlift to Athens in the South, and the central railway station in the North. That is the peculiarity which makes the district different from the other neighbourhoods of the city, in which there are many streets through which it is possible to enter into. That feature goes beyond the mere location of the place as it represents above all, a form of institutionalized social isolation from the rest of the society that Roma of Thessaloniki are suffering from as well as in the other parts of Greece. Most of the
Roma think that Thessaloniki has chosen this area to hide what the city denies to see; they feel to be well hidden over there.
S
tate and public attention are always drawn to the Roma conditions whenever media cover events that reproduce stereotypes and prejudices against the community, as it happened few months ago with the case of Maria’s abduction when the Roma community, albeit accepting criticism levelled at its members, accused media and politicians to remember its existence respectively only in certain stereotyped cases or when the political elections are in the offing. Now, Dendropotamos' social isolation presents its own set of other problems. There are children and adults who have never left the area, as well as many students that do not have any idea of their surroundings and the cultural environment in Thessaloniki. Romany is the mother tongue within the neighbourhood, whereas the quality of the Greek, which is spoken as second language, varies significantly from person to person according to their level of education. Although this survey is not so up to date, it shows that 48.7 of the Gypsies who live in Dendropotamos are illiterate, while 15.1% of them have a basic knowledge of reading and writing. As regards young pupils' class attendance, the survey shows that a percentage of 67,8 % of school age children attend primary school, though only 50% is attending class regularly. Nevertheless, even if primary school is compulsory, many Roma pupils drop out of school because of a number of factors such as boys' and girls' premature employment and marriage, and in many cases, the “attitude” of teachers and other children toward Roma students. In many cases, young Roma end up in prison because they are practically left on the street, and attesting to naivety in their thinking they are liable to illegality. Even if the parents are at
home, they are often more trouble than help. Some of them are drug addicts, alcoholics or mentally ill. They have troubles, complicating the communication to their children – which would be so essential for their development and education actually. For the above-noted reasons, in Dendropotamos many forms of illegality are possible to be found, e.g. the amount of the daily drug trafficking here is inconceivable, and the percentage of Roma law breaking is consistent – especially as regards young offenders' cases. Among the illegal acts in which Roma are involved there are also cases of theft, traffic violations, and property damage. Concerning the Roma employment the survey has shown that working inhabitants (54%) are mainly vendors (32,5%), whereas the remaining percentage is composed by artisans and businessmen (9.7%). Moreover, the system of social protection does not seem to be working well, as few Roma people get an allowance (6.9%) or a pension (1.8%), only 2% are covered by social welfare and 17. 6% are without insurance. All the problems listed, make one get a picture about the Roma living conditions in Dendropotamos, and above all, the weakness of Greek institutions in providing decent life standards for the minority under discussion. Hereof the NGOs' actions have risen in the recent years in Thessaloniki, where NGOs are working on supporting Roma people in receiving public benefits to which they are entitled. Currently, there have been four NGOS working on helping Roma such as Drom Network, Solidarity Center of Roma Women, Antigone, and Faros tou Kosmos. I had the opportunity to visit the latter one, which is an organisation founded three years ago by Father Athenagoras (Theodore Loukatari), and gathers about 100 volunteers. Father Athenagoras told me that Dendropotamos was in a desperate situation when he first came there, with the children who were in a forsaken condition. He also added that we therefore needed to focus
our attention on taking the children off the neighbourhood streets. This vision became the core of Faro tou Kosmos’ activities, ranging from providing food and a place to live in, over accompanying them to school and providing foreign language courses which are given by volunteers, to taking care of their health conditions – i.e. by providing general medical supervision (vaccinations, ophthalmological and dental checks). Moreover, the entertainment for children is one of the core activities. A football team has been set up, and training is given weekly. It has participated in
regional and European football tournaments, winning several cups. A robotic-Lego workshop has also been set up by the Organisation, and a group of “eight Roma scientists” (as they are called by the children) helped the children to build a model robot. Thanks to that, the children took the chance to participate in the competition world-class First Lego League (FLL), which took place in St. Louis (US). I can surely say, that NGOs work in neighbourhood is crucial for all the inhabitants, though taking into account all the problems that are still present over there. Faro tou Kosmos is just an example which got me a picture of Roma conditions in Thessanoliniki, as well as the strong commitment of the civil society. My visit to the NGO made me feel and experience that Roma people and children are not completely deprived of their hope, which is – I could say – the most precious thing they have. There is a lighthouse which is enlightening a lonely floating tree in a river. Riccardo Rossi
The Tragedy of the
COMMONS in
the SEE countries SOSte to nero in Thessaloniki
W
hat is the meaning of the commons? The commons (res communes) are the cornerstone of our social model, representing significant junctions within a community. Their importance lies on sharing common places, resources, as well as networks of ideas and concepts. Modern societies have known a trend of individualising the property ownership, due to a progressive market exchange colonisation. Herein the State plays a key role, as it should prevent any form of depletion made by individuals who seek to maximize their own interests at the expense of common good. Economical crisis has been used by international interests as an excuse to easily predate commons in particular geographical areas, such as SEE (South Eastern European) countries. Greece has been gripped by the crisis and by the troika’s bailout plan, founding itself forced to close and sell out crucial commons. Many movements and protests arose in Greece in order to protect the concept of the commons. On May 18th, people of Thessaloniki were called to express their opinion against the privatisation of water in a non binding referendum. Referendum’s result allows us to draw some conclusions, as well as to get a better idea of the importance of the commons.
In 1968, Garret Hardin wrote an interesting essay The tragedy of the Commons, in which he pointed out the importance of the State in regulating and preventing any form of predating action, guided by individual interests, against commons. He also raised an important question that goes like this: what if the State is unwilling or unable to protect the commons? The answer has been given by the movements which have arisen all around the world over the last three years. SEE countries have not been immune to this protest wave. From Gezi Park (Turkey) to Maribor (Slovenia) passing through Sofia (Bulgaria), Skopje (FYROM), Banja Luka (B&H), Tirana (Albania), and Bucharest (Romania), all the movements have tried to face problematic issues and concerns related to the privatization of public space, the privatization of welfare and public utilities, austerity, poverty, corruption, bureaucratic inefficiency, environmental concerns, and authoritarian drift. As a condition for the Troika’s financial assistance, Greece has been forced to implement austerity measures aimed at bringing finances back towards breakeven, through reducing salaries, quality and cost living of the country, the privatization of several State-owned companies. This is the case of the public water utilities of Athens (EYDAP) and Thessaloniki (EYATH), which are being sold by the Greek State, the same way they are being closely “watched” by a French company, Suez Environnement. The water companies have been changing their strategies ever since the Greek State in 2001 decided to turn them into a commercial listed companies, while being the majority shareholder. This also represented in many ways an opening up to a commercial logic and private sector management, which have relentlessly led to services getting steadily worse –despite the water rates are marked up-, and many lays off
- EYATH employees were cut from 700 to 235 people, remaining only eleven plumbers for a 2,300 kilometres network. Moreover, after the partial privatization Suez Environnement took the chance to get 5% EYATH’s shares. In January, 2014 the French group proposed the EYATH purchase respectively promising 250 million Euros investments over five years and the creation of between 2,000 and 4,000 jobs and reassuring both a better environment management, as regards reducing water losses –especially in the last pipe stretch before dumping into Thermaikos Bay–, and water rates still set by an ‘independent authority’. Of course, Suez Environnement proposal initially provoked several doubts and questions amongst Thessaloniki citizens; which were confirmed by a survey, taken afterwards the proposal, reported a 76% of respondents against the water privatization. Many movements against the water privatization in Thessaloniki have arisen during a few months, amongst them SOSte to NERO –a coalition created by unions, which has set the local campaigns aimed at warning people and organising a referendum against the privatisation of water. All this movements are gathered around the ideas as follows: • Water is a common and the local administrations are ultimately in charge to provide this service; • All the problems related with a private management logic, such as a hike in water and sewer rates, depletion of water resources, inadequate maintenance of water and sewage networks, with a more water losses increase and a quality degradation of water and the environment; • Suez Environnement has been at a loss for years –due to a steady loss of market shares and profitability of private water companies in France-, whilst EYATH has enjoyed financial health for some time.
Noteworthy, it is the fact that a group of citizens and unions made an alternative plan, called ‘Initiative 136’, instead of putting EYATH into the hands of international bidders. This proposal takes form in turning EYATH into a cooperative owned by Thessaloniki’s inhabitants, and each of them would have non-transferrable share in the company for €136 per household. Apart from this, the Greek newspaper Eleftherotpia-Enet has recently highlighted a noteworthy project of €100 million –cofinanced by EU Cohesion Fund (75%), and by the Greek state (25%)- which is going to renovate the water and sewage system of Thessaloniki. This means that if EYATH sale will come about, the French Group will literally receive a gift.
All these above mentioned concerns have brought to a non–binding Referendum, which was held on May 18th. On this date 218,000 people voted for the referendum -60% of those who voted for the elections- on voting banquets set outside the electoral centres by more than 1,500 volunteers (among them there were lawyers, and international NGOs observers) in the 192 electoral centres of the 11 municipalities of Thessaloniki’s metropolitan area. The referendum result was an overwhelming 98% against the privatization of Thessaloniki’s water and sewerage Company. From the perspective of participative democracy, this referendum allows us to draw some conclusions. First of all this referendum has been the hugest mobilization Thessaloniki has seen in years. City’s citizens are dismayed by the fact that the Minister of the Interior G. Michelakis, declared referendum “illegal”, and threatened the organizers with legal action for “obstructing the electoral process”. However, at the moment, the issue is still up in the in the air. Secondly, it has also shown that a wide alliance among individuals, collectives, institutions, is possible upon relevant issues such as the sake of common goods, without being handicapped by political partisanship. Thirdly, under a broaden point of view, the Thessaloniki case on one hand, explains that binding legal measure should be adopted at international level in order to avoid any kind of wild speculation made by multinational companies; on the other hand, that austerity cannot be an excuse to sell out fundamental commons that have to be run by the State. Riccardo Rossi
Abandoned Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece and one of the most lively in the Balkans. The city centre is always crowded and full of people who are drinking coffee, walking around or discussing about the crisis... Nevertheless, there are some hidden parts that are almost forgotten, destroyed, empty. This collection of pictures want to show this other part of the city that do not receive so many tourists. Actually, tourists may found these buildings ugly, dirty, senseless; but I found them beautiful, open, romantic. Maria M Petkova
May 17th:
International Day against
Homophobia Transphobia and
A big part of the population do not know that on May 17th is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) and since I am from Georgia, I want to give a general overview about how what is happening on this day in my country and in the world, also. First, I want introduce a brief story about this day. It was created in 2004 to draw the attention of policymakers, opinion leaders, social movements, general public and media to violence and discrimination experienced by LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex) community. From then on, the day has grown in both scope and depth, In 2013, actions around the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia took place in almost 120 countries. The date May 17th was specifically chosen to commemorate
the World Health Organization’s decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder. The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia has been officially recognised by several states and international institutions such as the European Parliament and by countless local authorities. Most United Nations agencies also mark the day with specific events. LGBTI organizations, governments and human rights organizations celebrate May 17th against homophobia. However, it is not like this all over the world. In Georgia, some human rights organizations started in 2009 to celebrate May 17th in Tbilisi, the capital of the country. Nevertheless, every year this peaceful rally finishes in war, because most Georgian people are homophobic or have some kind of stereotype against LGBTI society. This is true. Georgia is an Orthodox country
and Church has a big influence on people. People trust Church. May 17th 2013 was the hottest day in recent Georgian history. On one side, an antihomophobic rally was being held in the city centre of Tbilisi, where 50 LGBTI activists were celebrating this day especial. On the other side, some Orthodox Church members between them and a police cordon trying to protect LGBTI members. Nevertheless, orthodox members were more than 20,000, way more than the demonstrators, and they tore the police cordon violently and started pursuing them, beating and throwing stones at them. The police evacuated anti-homophobic demonstrators in buses, but some of them resulted injured. Results were so bad, of course, but now Georgian Parliament passed a law on antidiscrimination. That means that LGBTI community is more protected by law. However,
I think Georgian people need time to break stereotypes about homophobia. They need to get to know these people. The International Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) created an Europe rainbow map reflecting the legal acceptance of the LGBTI people in Europe. Georgia has only a 26% of acceptance, but it is not alone, since it shares the same situation with some Eastern European countries and Poland, Italy, Switzerland and Ireland. In the opposite side, the countries with a better rate of acceptance are first United Kingdom (83%), Belgium (78%) and completing the top 3, Spain (73%). The worst place for LGBTI community nowadays are Russia (6%), Azerbaijan (7%) and Armenia (9%). I hope the situation will change for the better. Badri Pataraia
From Uruguay to Brazil Summer is coming and this year it is special because of the Brazil World cup 2014 that will be held from June 12th – July 13th. One month, many smiles, many tears. It is the time for wonderful matches and new stars. 32 countries will fight to become the world champion. During this month, it does not matter if are you rich or poor, it does not matter which is your skin colour: it is all about football. This edition will be held in Brazil, where people live just for football, so it is a very special occasion to enjoy Brazil. For sure, everyone dreams of going to Brazil and see in first person this huge event, but first, let’s take a look at the World Cup history. The FIFA World Cup, often simplified as World Cup, is an international football competition among the member teams of FIFA. This Championship has been awarded every four years since the inauguration tournament, in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 because of the II World War. The currently champion is Spain who won the tournament in South Africa in 2010. The 19 world cup tournaments have been won by eight different nations. Brazil has won five times and they are the only team that played in every single tournament. The other big World Cup winner is Italy, with four titles. Following, we find West Germany with three titles, Argentina and Uruguay with two titles each and England, France and Spain with only one title each. The World Cup is among the world’s most widely viewed sportive events and an estimated audience of 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 World Cup held in Germany. On May 28th 1928, the FIFA congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a world championship itself. So, FIFA decided to name Uruguay as the host country of the inaugural World Cup tournament (1930) to celebrate their centenary of independence. Today, Brazil is struggling so badly to finish all the stadiums, and people are concerned about the huge amount of money the government spend for the World Cup and the visible corruption. However, if Brazil wins the World Cup, people will forget about the problems because they really love football. If Brazil loses... well, they do not want to repeat what happened in 1950 when they lost the final against Uruguay in Maracaná. Furthermore, next tournaments will be hosted in Russia (2018) and in Qatar (2022), but that is future. For those who do not have the opportunity to go Brazil, call your friends, sit down under big screens and support your team in this 2014 FIFA World Cup. Badri Pataraia
We Ol Samba, caipirinha and sun bathing. The 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil is coming again to the largest country in South America, to the land of O Rei PelĂŠ, the land of the Cristo Redentor or Ipanema and Copacabana beaches. And that is pretty much what visitors will find in Brazil, since the venues, installations and accommodations are not ready to host such a big event. On 2003, FIFA announced that the 2010 World Cup would be held in South America, so the different federations decided to
start the bidding process. Argentina, Brazil and Colombia applied to host it, but then Argentina and Colombia withdrew being Brazil the chosen one on 2007. Since that very moment, they started to build an idea, a dream, a project, but they forgot to build the installations. As part of the project, the host country must organize the Confederations Cup. This is a previous meeting (smaller than the World Cup) of all the winners from the different
e are one le, Ola!
football federations. It was held in 2013 during the second half of June and it is supposed to be like a general rehearsal of the World Cup and the general image they showed is the image of a country that is not ready for this kind of events, and so the people all around the country showed. That was a warning about what is going on in Brazil and what people really think of these huge events. Prior to the opening ceremony of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup on June 15th, demonstrations took place outside the National Stadium (Brasília), organised by people unhappy with the amount of public money spent to enable the hosting of the FIFA World Cup. Police used tear gas and pepper spray to quell the protests. The demonstrations were part of wider unrest and rioting in Brazilian cities initially sparked by increased ticket prices on public transport, but growing to express deeper public disenchantment with the financial management of the country by its Government. Blatter said that the protesters “should not use football to make their demands heard”, and that the public expenditure of staging the tournaments was on “items that are for the future, not just for the World Cup.” FIFA General Secretary Jérôme Valcke subsequently admitted that FIFA had held a “crisis meeting” involving the Brazilian government regarding the completion of the tournament, but sought to distance FIFA from the wider social unrest, stating that “the most important thing for us is to detach the World Cup or the Confederations Cup from these problems. All these problems crash against the idea that they are selling: a long-term project. As we mentioned before, not only they are organising the 2014
FIFA World Cup, but also the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. They won the bidding process even if their candidature was the weakest one (Tokyo 8.4 > Madrid 8.1 > Chicago 7 > Rio 6.4). They based their presentation on a map. An empty map that showed that South America had never hosted any Olympic Games in history. The problem appears when your long-term project is, 2 years before the beginning of the games, the worst Olympics ever, as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has already said. On May 9th 2014, the London Evening Standard reported IOC vice-president John Coates calling Brazil’s preparations “the worst I’ve experienced” and went on to claim that construction and infrastructure projects were severely behind schedule. “The IOC has formed a special task force to try to speed up preparations but the situation is critical on the ground.” This is not the first case of huge sportive events organised by countries with no experience at all and with social problems. It first happened in Summer Olympics 2008, in Beijing. Although the venues were simply amazing, the workers who built them, the social movements and the legacy were not very clear. Next, it came South Africa, with one of the best FIFA World Cup of the last years. There, even if they were worried for how it would work, it actually was a success in organization, people involvement and so on. Then, Poland and Ukraine hosted together the EuroCup 2012. Two very different countries with poor infrastructures, a mess in organisation. And now it is time for the biggest challenges: Brazil hosting the World Cup and the Olympic Games and Qatar the FIFA World Cup 2020. Recently, Blatter, President of the FIFA, declared that it was a mistake to let Qatar organizing the 2020 World Cup, since they are going to change all the sportive calendar and they will celebrate the World Cup in Winter, something never seen. The reason, the huge amount of petrodollars that the reach people of that country wanted to spend in a sport that has not done anything remarkable all through the history. Furthermore, it is not only about sports or politics, but there are also human lives involved. This is the case of the forgotten favelas all around Brazil. In that point, the Popular Committee for the World Cup and the Olympics claims no fewer than 170,000 people are being removed from their homes for the games. But activists have held out against the sort of mass clearance experienced by Beijing before its Olympics. Rio has failed to remove the Vila Autódromo favela, which still stands defiantly by the fence of the new Olympic park. The tournament started on June 12th and new protests against the 2014 World Cup erupted in Brazil when nearly 50 cities organized street marches just four weeks before the soccer tournament kicked off. The anti-tournament sentiment adds to general unrest in Brazil over government corruption and widespread demand for more public investment in healthcare, education and public transport. Brazilian authorities have also come under fire for what is being described as their poor organization of the event.
At the end of this edition, the 2014 FIFA World Cup had not started yet, neither the demonstration nor riots had finished. Even if we cannot understand this huge decisions that rule the world, we have to enjoy the tournament, but we have to be aware of what is going on in the backstage. So ladies and gentlemen, let´s enjoy the pure spectacle of the World Cup! Diego Domínguez García
European Parliament elections in Greece European Parliament elections in Greece let out different messages. Radical Left party ( SYRIZA) has become the first party in Greece, but the Prime Minister Antonis Samaras (and representative of the conservative New Democracy party) stated that this result does not allow the winners to break through. The results of the European elections in Greece represent a change in the political dinamic, as well as an alarmingly extremist political drift. The Syriza party, led by Alexis Tsipras, won the election by an important margin of votes, changing the political Greek scenario ruled by the coalition of the New Democracy conservatives and the Pasok social democrats. After a meeting with the Greek President Karolos Papoulias, held on Sunday, May 25th, , Alexis Tsipras (also European left candidate to the President chair of the European Commission ) commented the vote result. Syriza's victory shows a rift between the current parliament (elected in June 2012) and the people’s current will, as Tsipras stated. He also added that this result has been created by the decision to accept the austerity measures imposed by Trojka (EU - ECB – IMF) to Greece, and the best frame for such a leader reflection would be early elections. He said precisely that “the government has lost all legitimacy to impose further austerity policies on Greek citizens, therefore elections have to be held as soon as soon as possible”. Of course, vote reflections presented by the Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras were very far apart. First of all, early elections
demand suggested by Tsipras was immediately rejected by the Prime Minister, as according to him the so called “New Democracy defeat” in the European elections only represents a decline in percentage of votes (7%) compared to the result of last elections 2012, and this is not per se an objective reason for calling new consultations. Again in his voting interpretation, the percentage of votes obtained by the two government partners (New Democracy and PASOK) would still exceed SYRIZA's. However, beyond the political public debate arose after the elections, the prospect of early elections seems still to be away - at least from the next President of the Republic election (February 2015). At the moment, all the Greek political forces are just asked to make as hard as important decisions on the situation which the country currently faces. Other than that, the main parties are called to a challenge in expanding their electorate, such as in Syriza case ( i.e. positive results in the local administration vote, could be a strengthening of Syriza's maturity amongst voters), in
planning new recovery measures for the country at the moment – as much as it is possible. That is extremely important for Greece, as the European elections have given a very clear signal that the country has embarked on a dangerous journey towards extremism – emblematic are the results of Golden Dawn and LAOS (Popular Orthodox Grouping ). If there is a clear winner in the European elections, it is the neo-nazi movement Golden Dawn. It became the third political force with a 9.4% percentage of votes, increasing its percentage of almost 3 points from the result obtained in 2012. The arrest of good part of the party leadership - including the Secretary Nikolaos Michaloliakos – accused of violent crimes and criminal conspiracy, has not stopped increasing its support amongst the voters. Golden Dawn has increased its constituency, especially in large metropolitan areas - including Athens, and rather alarmingly it is the fact that a stronger support comes from sensitive categories, such as members of the police force. Golden Dawn is only a part of an broaden extremist political drift, which has interested many European countries – suffice to think of Front National, led by Marine Le Pen, in France. Important conclusions can be drawn after the European Parliament elections. First of all, in Greece the result has shown a disruption of the dominant Greek political parties crisis ex quo ante . Greek political scenario has also shown an upswing marked by "Olive Tree" (Elijah), which got a 8%, and PASOK avoided disappearance from the political landscape. Ultimately, much more important is the fact that the voters political discontent has all given up in extremist choices not only in Greece, but in many others European countries. The signal emerged from the European elections is strong and loud, and the Greek government is not in a position to turn a blind eye. Riccardo Rossi
Sum Festiv It is already spring and the organizers of the most expected musical events for summer 2014 began to announce many of their headliners. Annually, artists and travelers gather around the idea of a love for music, travel and parties. The biggest enthusiasts have already chosen the festivals they will visit but if you have not checked yet, here my selection of the most popular ones in Europe.
mmer vals
Roskilde Festival, Denmark The Danish Festival 'Roskilde' is one of the biggest rock events in Europe. It has existed since 1971 and is visited by nearly 100,000 fans each year. This year it will be held from June 29 to July 6, 2014 in Roskilde - the old Danish capital, where the cathedral with the tombs of all Danish kings and queens from the tenth century to the present can be found. The festival is organized by The Roskilde Festival Charity Society, a nonprofit organization that annually uses the proceeds from the event for humanitarian and cultural purposes. Among the groups that will be performing there this year, is the British Indie rock band Arctic Monkeys who topped the charts in 2013 with their album AM. On stage you will also see Major Lazer, the recently much discussed electronic dancehall project of the American DJ and producer Diplo. The indie rock band Deerhunter, the British extreme-metal band Carcass and the American hip hop group Dilated Peoples are also among the names announced by the organizers. http://roskilde-festival.dk/ INmusic festival, Croatia The largest Croatian outdoor festival INmusic, which attracts about 25,000 fans each year, will be held for the ninth time between 23 to June 25, 2014. This year the music event will take place on a small island on Lake Jarun, which is located in close proximity to Zagreb. The festival has several stages, divided by genre, and each of them will get popular indie rock and metal bands, as well as stars of electronic music. The program now includes the American rock duo The Black Keys, the alternative rock bands MGMT and the Pixies, and the Celtic punk band Flogging Molly. http://www.inmusicfestival.com/ Sziget Festival, Hungary Every year in August, Ă“buda Island, situated in the calm waters of the Danube in the north of Budapest, becomes the scene of the largest music festival in Central Europe Sziget (hungarian for 'island'). For one week, the island is filled with tents, scenes, great music and a variety of events and attractions that entertain more than 385,000 visitors. Among the first performers that have already been confirmed for this year, are the stoner rock band Queens of the Stone Age, Placebo, Bastille, Imagine Dragons, the British trip-hop trio London Grammar, the singers Tom Odell, Lily Allen and Jake Bugg, and recently announced, the notorious hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. http://szigetfestival.com/
Optimus Alive!, Portugal The Optimus Alive Festival takes place in Portugal from 10 to 12 July 2014 in Oeyash, only a few kilometers from the Portuguese capital Lisbon. For fans of alternative rock and indie cultural events, this year is unusual and varied. Among the announced headliners for the time being are Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys and MGMT. Other popular names that will get on the Portuguese scene, are the folk rock band The Lumineers, the American band Imagine Dragons, the British bands Elbow and Daugther, as well as the recently much discussed band Chet Faker with their electronic covers. http://www.optimusalive.com/ Rock am Ring and Rock im Park, Germany The festivals Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park are considered one big event, although they are taking place in different parts of Germany. This year's Rock Fest will be held from 5 to 9 June 2014. With more than 150,000 visitors both festivals are among the most popular ones in Europe. The festival Rock am Ring in N端rburg has three main stages and a camping area and Rock Im Park is held annually at the stadium 'Frankenshtadion' in Nuremberg, Bavaria. Among the names announced for this year are the legendary rock bands Iron Maiden, Metallica, Kings of Leon and Linkin Park. Bands from the whole range of rock sounds confirmed their participation: from Alternative rock bands like Coldplay and Interpol, returning to the stage to present their new album, the pop punk phenomenon Simple Plan and the Danes from Volbeat to metal bands Korn, Bring Me The Horizon and System of a Down. http://www.rock-am-ring.com/ http://www.rock-im-park.com/
Exit, Serbia The most popular Serbian festival EXIT will be held between 10 and 13 July this year, in the Petrovaradin fortress in the second largest Serbian city Novi Sad. Inside the fort, there are six main stages and an extreme sports arena, a technological area, a cinema and a camping area. This year's headliner is the singer and musician Damon Albarn, known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Blur, as well as the singer and author of some of the songs of the virtual band Gorillaz. Among the names that have been announced so far are the British quartet Rudimental, contractors involved in electronic music and Skrillex Dub FX. The most popular Serbian festival annually attracts the top names of the rock, reggae and dance scene. http://www.exitfest.org/en Maria Petkova
Hip hop
*
*something more than guns and golden jewellery
“I don’t like hip hop,” “Hip hop is not music,” “Hip hop only talks about stupid things.” Surely, if you enjoy hip hop you have heard these sentences when someone finds out that you like this reviled music genre. Hip hop has an image many times related to urban spaces, graffiti, baggy trousers, caps, objectification of women and even violence. Yes, Tupac Shakur was shot down in Las Vegas in a mysterious killing, and so many others rappers have been killed in the last decades, but the truth is that these killings are still anecdotes and hip hop is a huge phenomenon.
The first problem someone that defends hip hop has to face is the accusation that hip hop is not culture and the language they use is poor and repetitive. It may be an actual fact talking about some rappers, but the truth is that rappers usually have a great knowledge of the language they sing and speak. Many times not acquired in an academic way, but most of them use some words that are not known by ordinary people. A data investigator, Matt Daniels, published a study where he compared the vocabulary of many American rappers with that of some writers.
For this purpose he took the first 30,000 words of each one and counted how many of them were different. The results can be quite shocking, with Jay-Z having 4,506 unique words, Kanye West with 3,982 and the one on the top, Aesop Rock, with more than 7,000 words. On the other hand, Shakespeare would have about 5,000 and Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick, about 6,000. This study proves that hip hop lyrics are a good way to get children interested in languages and to learn more about them. Once we got over the vocabulary issue, let’s face the image rappers give to society. Their video clips may feature expensive cars, women almost naked, golden lockets and guns, but this trend is something quite outdated. Nobody except the rappers of the so-called gangsta rap keep on with this reductive vision. Nowadays, artists like Kanye West give a huge importance to his video clips and for instance he directed the video clip of his hit “Runaway”: a 30-minutes long short film that features ballet dancers and piano players. Another example is the British artist M.I.A., with a personal style that can be described as hip hop, who usually sends political messages with her videos, many times directed by Romain Gavras. Hip hop image culture has evolved very much since the 90’s and it is not reduced anymore to an African-American muscled guy who holds guns and raps surrounded by half-naked women. Fortunately, hip hop is more open now to society and there are rappers who do not fit anymore in the old stereotype. Obviously, we are talking about white rappers (Eminem, Professor Green) but also about women (Nicki Minaj, Lil Kim, Queen Latifah) and there is one that has both of the characteristics to be an outsider and she is rocking the hip hop scene. Her name is Amethyst Amelia Kelly, she is known as Iggy Azalea and a few months ago, she released her debut album, “The New Classic” who ranked top 10 in several countries of the world, especially in USA, where she has been living for the last years, and in her homeland, Australia. What is so special about her? First of all, she is white, then she is an Australian rocking the USA and last, but not least, she is a beautiful woman, she used to work as a model, in a world where bigotry is quite common. An evidence of this is that during a recent interview she confessed that she stopped crowd surfing because she was being fingered by many people. “I will get lurk tweets for like a week before my show, like 'I'm about to go to the Iggy Azalea show and I'm going to finger her,' and I'll see it and be like, please don't! That's a violation. I don't actually like that stuff,” she claimed, “Like, they think I'm real slutty, like 'Oh, she got a song called 'Pussy,' I know what she wants. She wants these two fingers.' Why would I want a stranger to ever finger me? Buying my album for $12 doesn't mean you get to finger me when I come to your city.” Another common statement that pops up when someone tries to underrate hip hop is claiming the existence of blatant homophobia in lyrics. It is true and not only in the lyrics, several rappers have expressed homophobic opinions openly to the media and nobody seemed
to get very alarmed. Nevertheless, hip hop world has mostly accepted the first rapper to come out as a bisexual, Frank Ocean. Artists like Jay-Z and Tyler the Creator supported the artist’s confession but many journalists and experts stated that he would be attacked for that, what eventually happened with some hardcore hip hop followers. Although, these attacks were more based on the fact that he is perceived as weak because he talks openly about his feelings, just what also happens with Drake, who comes to be straight. Even though the most famous worldwide rappers are all English-speaking, we should not ignore the hip hop in other languages. Namely, Spanish-speaking rappers are quite know because of their collaborations with Latin American pop stars and some of them are social activists, like Calle 13 who in their last video burnt a car of their own to make a political statement. Other examples are French rapper Booba, the Italian political rapper Fedez or the Greek hip hop group Zontanoi Nekroi (Ζωντανοί Νεκροί). Obviously, hip hop has still a long way to go and needs to grow up without forgetting its roots and what makes it that interesting not only for music lovers but also for those who are interested in our society. Hip hop is used many times as a way of expressing the feelings of a generation that does not feel comfortable anymore with the current world. Ignacio Prados Ansede
A story about music, politics and beards‌ And finally, the twelve points, les douze points, went to Austria! Conchita Wurst, the bearded woman, won the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on May 10th. Conchita won one of the most uncertain contests of the last decade, with no clear favourite in the previous days. So, what was the fact that led her to the victory? A nice song, a good voice and a great character. One thing is clear, the winner of Eurovision will not be the best song, but the best performance, the best show, and Conchita did it, but let´s start from the beginning. Conchita Wurst is the alter ego of Thomas Neuwirth, an Austrian singer that started to appear on the
Austrian TV in 2006. From then on, he was trying to find his way on the music industry, until he created Conchita Wurst, the character with whom he became famous. Her song, Rise Like a Phoenix, it is an attempt of anthem that could perfectly fit as part of the soundtrack of the next movie of James Bond. She tried to embrace all these minorities that suffer from any kind of exclusion with this anthem, telling them that even in the worst moments you have to rise like a phoenix, from the ashes. Because it does not matter who you are, you are unique and special, and no one can bring you down. This message was so strong, that succeeded to become the winner of the ESC 2014 and she even got the honorific title of Queen of Austria, or Queen of Eurovision. Nevertheless, the way to the victory was not easy. The weeks before the contest she had to
face a high amount of negative feedback just because she was not the prototype of singer we are used to see. Plus, Vitaly Milonov, the lawmaker from St. Petersburg who sponsored the ordinance that became the model for Russia’s “homosexual propaganda” law called for Russia to boycott the competition and withdraw its representatives from the competition, saying it had become a “panEuropean gay pride parade.” “The participation of the obvious transvestite and hermaphrodite Conchita Wurst, on the same stage as Russian singers, on live television –this is clearly propaganda of homosexuality and spiritual decay,” Milonov said. Those words did not affect the final result and actually, it helped Austria to win. With those bad words, the only thing he achieved was to give more reasons to those who were waiting for and anthem. Furthermore, these words created a negative atmosphere that had an effect on the Russian representatives, two 17-year-old twins that every time they were on stage were receiving boos from the audience, even though they were not the responsible of Milonov´s words, not even responsible for Putin´s policies. The atmosphere was so tense during the live shows
that even the host of the contest had to ask for respect for the Russian representatives saying that Eurovision was only about music, not politics. Once the contest was over, Conchita did nothing but receiving the applause of all the organisms that deal with human rights. But not only that, her final performance on Youtube received 2.5 million visits in only 21 hours and two weeks later it reached 10 million. Nevertheless, the most remarkable moment was totally unexpected. The cardinal of Viena, Christoph Schönborn, congratulated her saying “I am glad that Tom Neuwirth had such success with his artistic creation Conchita Wurst and I will pray for him.” “As we all know, there is multicoloured variety in God’s garden. Not everyone who is born male feels he is a man and the same applies to women. Such people deserve the same respect that we all have a right to as human beings”, Schönborn told Kathpress. The victory of Austria brings back the contest to Central Europe and it is funny to see that the rule of the geopolitics does not work at all. According to this rule, every country votes for their neighbours, regardless the song. Well, that is not true, since Austria has had
during the last years the same number of neighbours and did not win; even worst, they did not qualify for the final for the last two years. What does it mean? It means that you will win if you have the chance to send the best representative with the best song in the right time. It is difficult, but nobody said that the success was easy. Probably, she was thinking of all these situations she had to face in the past while she walking to the stage to receive the award. An award that not only recognises her as the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, but an award that recognises the value of her proposal, the value of the audience who voted for the quality of her show and the value of what it represents. And she made it clear when she delivered her speech in front of an excited audience that was waiting for a memorable speech. It was a wise and short speech that will be remember for ever: “This night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. We are unity and we are unstoppable.” Diego Domínguez García
hairstyles
in football that amazing
WORLD
Let’s be honest, if you do not like football I am sure that you have found yourself checking the hair of the footballers when you are forced to watch a match with your friends, family or couple. After all, the clothes are nothing special as there are only two uniforms in a normal match and the football boots are not that visible. By the way, have you ever noticed these referees that are wearing not a normal pink but a radioactive one? Who had that idea? Anyway, coming back to the main topic of the article, let’s look at the hairstyles of the players because maybe you will find your look for the new season. Or not. If you ask me about my favourite player I would choose Sergio Ramos. Yes, he is not the smartest person on Earth, but as a huge supporter of Real Madrid since I was a child, he is some kind of a hero for all the “merengues” because he has always been there when the team needed him. And, truth be told, now his hairstyle is much better than his previous one, that made him look like a chav with that bandana and the mane. I am actually feeling shivers thinking about it. Not moving from Real Madrid I also have to talk about Xabi Alonso, the antithesis of Ramos. He is a gentleman and that is quite clear in his classic hairstyle (search for him in Google Images and spend some time there, this a good advice, believe me). However, we cannot talk about footballers without mentioning Cristiano Ronaldo, probably the most admired and hated footballer at the same time. According to me, you can admire his playing skills but you can hate him for his looks, including his hairstyle. Feel free to do it. I actually encourage you to do it. On the other hand, his traditional enemy to get the Golden Boot, Lionel Messi, from Barça, has such a boring hairstyle that makes me yawn. Actually, in his squad my favourite one was the recently retired Carles Puyol. He was a lion. Great. And I doubt how Neymar is able to play with that hair. Actually, I have many doubts about Neymar’s head, but this is one of the most important ones. Getting out of Spain, I cannot avoid talking about Mario Balotelli. He is a character in all the senses and his hair is always a central point of his image, many times surprising press and tiffosi with his surreal hairstyles. Another one that always made his hair the centre of his style is David Beckham. Even when you saw him half-naked in the streets of many cities advertising underwear for H&M you were actually looking at his hair, I am sure about that. And what about Andrea Pirlo? With that hair and that beard... he always reminds me to some Roman centurion or to Jesus Christ. Finally, let’s go to the main point. What happens with Brazilian footballers? Their hairstyles are just great, or horrible, I cannot decide. Do you remember Ronaldinho? Not the one that was part of the cast of Star Wars, the football player from Barça. I am sure you do and you remember his hair. I am sorry for giving that image to your mind. In Real Madrid there are two Brazilians, Marcelo with a bush planted in his head and Pepe, that when he is not behaving like a psycho he is trying to imitate Marcelo and gets me crazy because I never know who is playing now so I do not know how I should insult. At least David Luiz, part of the Chelsea squad and also Brazilian, looks like a baby doll with those goldilocks. Just one last thing before I say you goodbye. Marouane Fellaini, I bloodily love your hair. Ignacio Prados Ansede
Aalborg, a city of students Located in the northern part of Denmark, Aalborg is the home of a large population of international students, who gives life to the third biggest city in Denmark.
The city of Aalborg offers many surprises and sights of interest: from a Viking Graveyard, to the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, and JomfruAneGade –the longest stretch of continuous bars and pubs in all Denmark–, the town where Jørn Utzon (best known for the construction of the Sidney Opera House in Australia) grew up is a place worth visiting. However, its biggest surprise is the amount of international youngsters who, year after year, arrive to study in Aalborg Universitet and to experience the Danish way of living, which is very similar to this small city: From quiet, safe and clean to loud, messy and party-hard in just one blink of an eye. As you can imagine, it never gets boring in here. Aalborg University: ViisNovis Founded in 1974, Aalborg Universitet, offers academic possibilities for Danish and international students, with the added element of a very particular and new learning technique reflected on their motto, ViisNovis, which means “New ways.” Problem Based Learning is a method that allows students to get graded through a project –done individually or in groups. This project has the purpose of analyzing a current problem that affects a company or institution, providing a solution based on the research done by the student. Its main purpose is to promote team collaboration, as well as preparing people for the everyday challenges faced in the workplace. Aalborg Universitet takes enormously pride of this system, and so does it of a huge part of the life of the students, who are graded according to the 7 point scale. As I can recall during my stay in the country, most of the talks during the last part of the semester started with the question “So, how is your project going?” In Aalborg, the lectures only take up to two months of the whole semester, and attendance is a choice. The following months are devoted to the project, where students work with a
supervisor –a teacher from the university– to deliver in time the final results of their subject. I was surprised to hear that only 10% of the students are foreign; it truly feels like they are the biggest part of AAU, at least where I was studying, perhaps because the Faculty was related to Global and Cultural Affairs. The university is more than prepared to make the internationals feel like at home: all the lectures are in English, and at the beginning of the semester a series of welcome parties and gatherings are offered to bond over and meet other students. This is one of the key elements of making new friends: after going to a welcome meeting, I met four of the closest friends I had during my stay in Denmark. Their company made the transition much easier than I had expected. I talked to people from South Africa, Argentina, Australia, China and Ghana, as if it was completely normal for all of us to end up on the other side of the world, to study abroad. It would be the dream of every Social Anthropologist, I am sure: all those cultures in one big conference room, sharing so many different traditions and facing the Scandinavian life style that can be a bit rough and cold, like its weather. Nevertheless, there are not only international students: many of the professors come from other countries as well; I can recall having Italian, American and Danish professors in the four classes I took. I think it was all this intercultural business that made me fall in love with Aalborg. In just one city, you could hang out with your French friends, who prepared crepes for dinner, and after that, have a drink with the Italians at the Student House. It was like having the entire world in one place. I never had to travel to Greece to have a typical Balkan New Years Eve party, nor did I go to Florence to eat pandoro for Christmas. Not only you do get to experience the way Danes
live day after day, but you also get a glimpse of the rest of the world. The city is filled with people eager to share and learn about different places, and infuse a breath of fresh air in this otherwise small and quiet place. I saw the city during the Christmas break and even if the decoration makes it beautiful, it was so lonely without all the students –who were home for the holidays– walking around the streets of JomfruAneGade or having a cup of coffee around the harbour at noon. People say –in a low voice, not to offend the locals– that Aalborg grew so much thanks to the massive amount of international students that started arriving a few years ago. Fun in Aalborg Yes, we had to bring it all up: the parties, travelling and something else.
was an epic welcome party– and many, many nights at the Student House, drinking some beers and talking with friends. And on a more serious note, there are also guided visits to the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, concerts at NordkraftKultur Center, visits to the Aalborg Zoo and sport events. Here is a fun fact: Lego is a Danish invention and Legoland is just a few hours away from Aalborg, as well as the beautiful city of Aarhus, with its historical Latin Quarter and the mind blowing ARoS Museum of Modern Art (especially the Rainbow Panorama, located at the top of the building). For the fairytale fans, Odense, the home town of Hans Christian Andersen, author of The Little Mermaid, is the place where to go. And maybe the fact that I am starting to sound like a tourist guide is my cue to go.
After all, one of the most famous places in Aalborg is JomfruAneGade, best known as “The Street”, the place to go every weekend night. The most amazing part of this place is that you also have the world in just one street of bars. The Mexi Bar is at the end of it, some of the Geman-themed bars are hidden in the middle, while the Irish pub is just around the corner. You can hear mariachi, electronic beats and a handball match all mixed with the loud voices of youngsters looking for an awesome time. In addition, very close to The Street there’s the Student House, a bar run by students who volunteer to organize Speed Dating events, International Nights every Wednesday and awesome Karaoke parties. It sounds potentially lame, I can tell, but it is far from that when you mix Danish beer and horribly out of tune students. Some might call it the Liberal Danish Idol party.
My first international experience was in Aalborg, and when I came back home, to Mexico, I had a lifetime of memories and friendships, created in only five months of stay. The first time seeing snow, getting lost for three hours in the Danish countryside just to get to an animal shelter, losing my train to the city and spending the night on the beach with my friends, driving to Aarhus on a foggy morning... It felt like I lived more in those five months than in my twenty years. Yes, Aalborg may be a small and cold town (at least cold for a Mexican) but the treasures that it hides, and the wonderful people that live there –both locals and foreigners– are the true heart of a place in northern Denmark, where Vikings lived and famous architects grew up. You just have to be patient enough to discover all the wonders it has to offer.
Among my experiences, I can recall a party at Frederiksvahn’s beach (an hour away from Aalborg by train), dancing in a very large gym and sports centre called Gigantium –it
Karla Padilla
RETROSPECTIVE Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine Jean Cocteau, Jean Marais
For this special issue, I propose you to look into the love stories of four great French artists. On the one hand Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine, the cursed poets; and on the other hand Jean Cocteau ad Jean Marais, the terrible lovers.
separate them forever takes place in an hotel in Brussels, in 1873. Rimbaud expresses the wish to leave Verlaine, who is unquestionably in love and has left everything to follow the young man, who was by the way of a rare and juvenile beauty.
The first story I would like to share with you is not a sweet one. The story begins in 1871. Arthur had sent Paul some poems of his composition, and had come to Paris to meet him. He was at the time 16 years old.
So, Mr Verlaine gets drunk all the day, buys a gun for 23 francs, “to die for”, returns to the hotel where Rimbaud begins to pack up, and during the dispute, entreaties and bad words Verlaine, in his despair, fired two shots.
Verlaine, married to Mathilde, pregnant and under age, hosts Rimbaud in the Mathilde family's house but quickly, the bride doesn't bear the omnipresence of the young men, that gets Verlaine enraged, who drinks absinthe more than reason, and bits her.
One bullet got lost somewhere in the room, the other in the hand or the arm of Rimbaud. In order not to end the day like this, Paul is then arrested by the police and convicted of assault aggravated. The judge ordered a medical examination after some rumours about the poet's homosexuality.
What at the beginning was a simple friendship became a tumultuous love between the two poets, who decide to move to England, and then to Belgium. Their story is accompanied by poetry, opium, absinthe and danger, because it goes without saying, in this period the sexual liberty did not exist at all. The tragic event which will
Here is the report: “[...] The glans is mostly small and goes slimming, dreading to its free end from the crown. This is slightly prominent and without relief. [...] The anus lets rather strongly dilated itself by a moderate space of the buttocks, in a depth of about one inch. From this review, it results that Paul Verlaine carries on its person usual traces of active and passive pederasty.”
So, in addition to being accused of aggravated assault, he is also indicted for pederasty, which earned him 555 days in prison, which will separate him from Arthur forever. However, he plunged into the Catholic religion with all his heart, continued to write, taught French in different countries, fell in love with one of his student, Lucien, with whom he will live for a while until he dies (Verlaine will write 25 poems in his name). Despite his addictions that destroyed him, he wrote brilliantly and he was even designated in 1894 as the Prince of Poets. “The farthest back I can go and even at the age where the mind does not affect the senses, I find traces of my love of boys. I still liked the stronger sex that I find legitimate to call the beautiful sex.”
Jean Cocteau in The White Book (Le Livre Blanc) In a more joyful, but equally controversial registry, there is the love story, from fascination to adoration, of Jean Cocteau and Jean Marais.
occupied by German troops, and according to article 175 of the Strafgeseztbuch (German Criminal Code) male homosexuality is prohibited.
So, the Nazis arrested homosexuals, and made them Jean Cocteau, born now 120 recognizable by an upside years ago, was a novelist, down pink triangle, much playwright, essayist, dramatist, larger than any other signs. cinema man, draftsman and painter but, above all, Cocteau Marais and Cocteau decide to was a poet. stay in Paris, without hiding themselves. Their reputation Jean Marais, him, 24 years and good relations offered younger, is an actor, at least he them a certain protection does everything to be. against deportation. In 1937, Jean Marais obtains an audition for rewriting Oedipus (Oedipus King ) by Jean Cocteau. The latter falls under the spell of Marais as soon as he sees him. This man was the one he drew, the Greek profile he adored, and his casual beauty immediately fascinated him. Marais sees a chance to launch his career in Cocteau´s approaches, career that he feared it would fail, and the story tells that ten days later he fell madly in love with Cocteau. Here is another time, other customs. It is not “comfortable” yet for a homosexual couple to live their love normally, know that we are in France during World War II, and Paris is
But Jean Marais says about Cocteau: “He was walking down the Champs-Elysees, and the German army was going down the ChampsElysees. And with the German army were the LVF, the French volunteers. And in the ranks of the German army, these French collaborators were carrying the French flag. And Jean Cocteau, on seeing this, was staggered. He did not believe what he was seeing: the French flag amidst the German soldiers. And he did not have time to do anything that six men laid into him hard, saying “hey Cocteau, don´t you salute the French flag?” And they beat him up. Poor Jean fell into the ground, covered in blood, the arch of his eyebrow split. As these six men were following the army, they went
on their way while those present picked Cocteau up and carried him to the nearest chemist. They knew Cocteau, as he had always been living near La Madeleine. And when the chemist saw the state of Jean's eye, he said: “My God, Mr Cocteau, what happened to you ?” and he replied “I bumped into a Doriot!” Laughs. Doriot was the head of the militia and all those collaborators.” Their passionate affair lasted 12 years, as their friendship was eternal, then, Marais walked away, wanting to continue his acting career in other horizon, but Cocteau saw a muse on him, he has made him a true and talented actor, by giving him custom roles. Cocteau found solace in the arms of a great lady, Francine Weisweiller. When the two were separated, he returned to live in Milly-la-Foret, where he passed away at the age of 74, the day after the death of his friend Edith Piaf. Jean Marais had a great career ahead him, with a hundred films and plays, and a dozen staged until 1998 when he died at the age of 84 years. Wendy Bana Etong
Maria Liga Healing with Heart and Horse
S
ome staff members and volunteers of USB and TANDEM/Athens had a collaborative project weekend in April in the north of Greece, namely in Serres, where we got to know an organisation called KETHIS. They have been involved in hippotherapy since 2007. All that would not exist if there wasn't Maria Liga, physiotherapist and hippotherapist, a woman with loads of energy, heart and passion. Let's get to know her and her work. Kris: Maria, thank you so much that you dedicate your time to Balkan Beats and that you are willing to share your experiences with us today. Maria: It is really a big pleasure for me to share my experiences about therapeutic riding with so interesting young people from all over Europe. Kris: Maria, from 3rd to 7th April USB and TANDEM volunteers had the pleasure to spend some time in Serres and the village where you are working, namely NEOS SKOPOS. We got to know your work field a bit and could understand and see that you do your profession with a lot of love and passion. Maria: I like the word “passion” very much but I do not like the word “routine” at all. And this was the reason for the creation of the therapeutic riding centre of Serres KETHIS in the village of Neos Skopos. Kris: Maria, can you briefly introduce us to what you are doing in your work? What is your profession called? Maria: I am a physiotherapist specialised in cerebral palsy according to the Bobath method. It is a neuro-developmental treatment which helps children to improve their situation. I have been working in this field
since 1984. Kris: Maria. can you tell us how you came to this work? Have you been wanting to do this since your childhood or since you were a teenager? Maria: As a teenager I wanted to be a chemist or a doctor. Finally, I started studying physiotherapy without even knowing what it was about. The idea was given to me from a child with cerebral palsy. I used to take care of the child in week ends and also got to know his physiotherapist, finally working with him. That was all. I liked the way of working between the two of them. And things went on… Kris: Which vocational school did you attend or which education/training did you have to follow in order to be able to do what you are doing now? Maria: I studied at the TEI of Thessaloniki and later on I graduated with a master in kinesiology. Kris: How long did you attend that professional school or how long did your training last? What was the content of your vocational training? What were you learning there? What were the subjects? Maria: I attended my professional school for four years. Physiotherapy is a health-care profession that assesses diagnoses, treats and works to prevent diseases and disabilities through physical means. Physiotherapists are experts in the movement and function of the body, who work in a partnership with their patients, assisting them to overcome movement disorders which may have been present since their birth, acquired through accidents or injuries or which are the result of ageing. Kris: When and how did you enter the labour
market? In which field were you working first? Maria: In the beginning I was working with highly disabled children in Sidirokastro, northern Greece, for the previous past ten and a half years, when I felt it was time for a change. So what better way to go than switching over to public education. I went to Crete then with my youngest son in tow, where I had my first teaching job. What propelled this sudden change was my inability to stick to a routine. I simply had to keep moving within the scope of my speciality. Later I transferred back to Serres, my birthplace, and the special school of the town where I am still working. Kris: The volunteers could also see that your are in love with the nature, with animals and with people. Of course, for your work you have
to love people. How come, however, that you love animals so much? Have you been riding for a long time? Do you do horse riding? What is your relationship to horses? Maria: Haha! This is the strange thing! I had never felt a special affinity for animals before I turned 42, a little bit for cats and dogs though. However, at some point the horse appeared in my life, the most beautiful animal, gorgeous and proud. So I started riding when I was 42! I had to gain some personal experience, find out what it was like to balance on top of a horse and what kind of physical stimuli your body receives while riding. And then there was all this theoretical information that I had to combine it with, as I was reading up on some of the foreign literature. There was nothing in Greek on this particular subject back then.
Kris: When or how was the idea born to work with horses and disabled people? Who had the idea? Maria: A brief visit to a horse racetrack during my training kept coming back to me as if in a dream. In 1985, after I had finished college and was working towards specializing in cerebral palsy, 16 other students and I were admitted to an exclusive four-month workshop that brought us to Athens. During my stay in the capital, I was taken to the Varybobi track, where I witnessed an unknown woman instructing highly disabled children in horseback riding. It was just a distant memory looming in the back of my head. I got married and had kids, but it kept on nudging me. Until one day I couldn’t take it anymore. I tracked down that female instructor only to find out she had retired from that field. Hippotherapy was then administered at the Therapeutic Riding Association of Greece. I took some time off and went to Athens to check it out. In the minute I entered the arena and saw the therapeutic sessions I instantly knew I could do it. Kris: What is the role of the horse in therapy? Maria: Due to the fact that equine moving patterns are very similar to human ones, the horse becomes an extension of the disabled patient, transmitting movement to the rest of his body. Horses have three-dimensional limb motion, which means they move towards three different directions all at once, whereas in standard physiotherapy we could only simulate two at best. An animal used in therapeutic horse riding needs to have a well-proportioned head, torso and hindquarters. You can’t have a horse with a big torso and a narrow neck, for example, because that would affect the way it’s walking, our most valuable tool. It’s the horse’s
rhythmic, repetitive walk that transmits neuromuscular movement patterns to the patient, similar to those of humans. The animal should be maximum 1.53m tall so the physiotherapist can easily reach the patient, while riders who can’t stand independently are propped up against their trainer who rides with them until they slowly gain muscle tone and can go it alone. Kris: What about the patients? How do they react? Maria: From the perspective of the patient, hippotherapy sessions aren’t conceived as therapy at all. To them it’s a very pleasant pastime that improves almost every aspect of their everyday life. Kris: What other kinds of disabilities take part in the therapeutic sessions? Maria: Nice question Kris. Thank you. We have to say that except people who have mobility issues the center is also visited from autists and mentally retarded children where we follow a completely different approach. The most important part of such a session is communication as they might be lacking certain skills of it. Starting with a nonverbal communication between patient and horse, the Kethis specialists slowly involve more people, from the horse trainer to the assistants. We try to broaden their social horizon as much as possible, helping them slowly enter a larger circle of communication that extends to the family, the school and society at large. Priorities in this case are completely different. There are other elements that come first, and a ride can be used as a reward for a job well done. Learning to take care of the horse, grooming, saddling and feeding it are equally important, as the patient gains self-confidence and a new set of skills to go with it. Riding a horse they’ve helped take care of is just a
reward. Contrary to mobility cases, hippotherapy can be a lifetime pursuit for mentally challenged individuals. It’s not just therapy in the strict sense of the word, it’s an evolving reciprocal relationship and the most creative way to spend their free time.
clients with special needs. 3 physiotherapists, 4 teachers of gymnastics, 1 special pedagogist, 1 social worker, 2 riding instructors and 3 side walkers.
Kris: For how long has the therapeutic riding centre been existing?
Maria: I think that the success of this story is based upon the good team. The highly educated level of therapists and the harmonic relationship between them. We are like a family there.
Maria: Since September of 2007. Kris: How many people are working there? How are they involved and what are their professions? Maria: We are all volunteers except the stable man. About twelve professionals serve the
Kris: How come that you work together? How did you get to know each other?
Kris: Am I right in assuming that the horse farm is an organisation at the same time? Maria: Yes, it is a non profit organisation and its name is KETHIS.
Kris: Are there any projects? How long do they last? What are they about? Maria: Many European projects have already been run in our centre, for instance via Comenius, but also in the field of Youth Work etc. Kris: How would you describe your mission? Maria: The whole team in the centre works and offers services to our fellows who are in need. Kris: How can you combine your workplaces? Do they effect each other? Do they influence each other in a good way? Maria: I think that there is a very good combination between my school and the riding centre. I have of course a double role. I am the school physiotherapist and the president of KETHIS Every week 15 students of my school visit the centre during their daily school programme. It is a unique experience for them, closer to the real life, Away from the four walls of a classroom. They are in contact with the nature, donkeys, chicken, dogs, cats, geese and especially horses which combine the satisfaction of the children's needs concerning body, soul and mind. Kris: Thank you Maria for your precious time! It was a pleasure. See you soon in Serres again. For more information please consult: www. kethis.gr Kristin Kindermann
Despoina Partsia from “Alma Zois”
Jump Into Life!
The Association of Women with Breast Cancer “Alma Zois” of Thessaloniki, is one of the non-profit nongovernmental organizations in Thessaloniki including volunteers in their work. The field in that they are working concerns women and their health. More specifically, “Alma Zois” dedicate their work to breast cancer, the women suffering from it, their friends and their families. Every year, “Alma Zois” organizes many events in order to make people aware of the topic “Breast Cancer”. Since last year they have organized the regatta “Sail for Pink” including the symbol colour of the breast-cancer diseased. This year, on 11th May the boats once again passed the Thessalonian promenade and harbour in order to raise awareness. Kris: Hello Despoina, it is an honour for us that you dedicate some of your time to our magazine and that you share your knowledge and experience with us. Despoina: Hello Kristin, it is a pleasure for me but also for “Alma Zois” to meet you and USB. Kris: First of all, we should talk about the name of your organisation. “Alma Zois”, what does that mean and why
did you choose it for your organisation? Despoina: If we had to translate it literally, it would be like “Jump of Life”. These words are connected to optimism and they shall give strength. Kris: What are the main aims of your organisation? Despoina: One aim is to support women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, but also their families and friends. And another aim is to increase people's awareness about breast cancer. Kris: Since when has your organisation existed? Despoina: We have been existing since 2008. But the first initiative in Athens has been existing for 25 years now. It has been set up by women who had breast cancer. They wanted to support each other and other women who had the same diagnosis.
organisations have three different advisory boards. This means, we are all independent even if we are cooperating. Kris: How is your organisation structured? Despoina: The organisation is administered by seven directors, consisting of the general secretary, the president and the vice president for instance. By the way, our president comes all the way from Alexandria to Thessaloniki every day. All of those directors are included in the decision-making. Those seven women are breast cancer survivors. First, they were volunteeres and then one day, after internal elections, they became the core of our organisation. And of course, there are members apart from that.
Kris: How did it all start in Thessaloniki?
Kris: What about those members and the professionals? I read that you have psychologists, social workers and psychotherapists in your team, and that there is someone responsible for public relations.
Despoina: The organisation in Athens realised that there could be a need in Thessaloniki, too. So they decided to help setting up an organisation here. There is a third organisation in Patra by the way. However, the three
Despoina: There are professionals, as you said, in the field of social service and psychology. I am a social worker, but I also fulfill the tasks concerning communication and public relations as we don't have
Despoina Partsia with the psychologist Evi Kalouta and the president Eleni Deliopoulo
enough money. We have a psychologist as well, coducting the therapeutical sessions and the group therapies.
Kris: Do you receive funding? How do you finance the organisation and the work of your staff members, the rent, electricity and so on?
Kris: Do you also work with volunteers?
Despoina: Of course, all of our programmes, the staff and the advisory board need money. Our advisory board and also the professionals work very hard in order to be financially ok, that is they are organising events in order to establish ties. We are looking for sponsors. I write e-mails, introducing the organisation, and then we find a way to collaborate. Part of that can be the trainings and programmes that we offer. Apart from that we receive donations.
Despoina: Yes, Some of them also had breast cancer. In our lectures those trained volunteers talk about their experiences. They give information about the examinations that you have to take for instance, and give hope to the people, too. Those volunteers also have their special day that they come here to the office in order to help.
Kris: During your trainings and lectures, you also inform the public about several aspects of breast cancer. Despoina: That is right. The mastologist informs about the physiological aspects while I talk about psychological effects. Kris: How is breast cancer mostly discovered in Greece? Despoina: In Greece, most of the women find out about their illness by accident, for instance while touching or palpating their breasts. In Germany however, many women learn about it after a mammography, as women
are regularly invited to that examination. Furthermore, they don't have to pay whereas in Greece you have to pay for a mammography even if you have an insurance. Kris: Which role do the physicians play, the gynaecologist for instance? Despoina: In Germany, the gynaecologist has a crucial role because he is also specialised in mastology. In Greece, it is different. Not necessarily gynaecologists have to be specialised in that field. Surgeons can have a specialisation in mastology and be the ones to check your breasts or to teach you how to palpate them. I say the above stated things with caution as I am not a doctor. These are information we get through the seminars. In the first place we have experts for that. Kris: When should a woman start to palpate her breast herself and starting from which age is a mammography recommended. Despoina: There are different kind of recommendations according to which country these come from. It is really important to know or get to know your body. Nothing speaks against palpating your breasts even if you are under 18 if it doesn't stress you, if you consider it just
as a preventive measure. In Greece, medical scientists advise to have the first mammography when you are 40. Kris: What about genetics? Is it advisable to have a look in the family tree or talk to my mother or my grand-mother? Despoina: As the Ideas International bibliographies say, only 8% of the diagnosed breast cancers are genetically conditioned. For the other 92% it is just coincidence, let's say. But of course it is useful to not only know your body, but also your family history and take it into consideration.
come here after they got their diagnosis. Other women come after an operation or radiation. Doctors or other medical staff come to collaborate with us. We have strong connections with the thessalonian hospital Theagenio specialised in oncology. We also help women who have metastatic breast cancer, and their families, and support them in whichever field they need us. Kris: When a woman that found out that she has breast cancer comes to you, what does your collaboration look like then?
Despoina: Generally, we have appointments. Kris: Can you serve with some Women diagnosed with statistics? breast cancer come for psychological support. They Despoina: In Greece, we don't need information, exchange have an organisation that is with other women. We have responsible for such statistics. group therapies, I think a very Again, I have read that there suitable method if you share are approximately about 4.500 an experience. We also visit new cases of breast cancer hospitals and patients with every year in Greece. And the support of our volunteers. considering the world, one out Moreover, we consult and of eight women are diagnosed supply women with wigs. The with breast cancer in their life. loss of hair is psychologically really hard for the women. Kris: When women discover The information about breast that they are ill, how and reconstruction in case of a when do they come to you? mastectomy is important too, Do people know about you? or the supply with silicon for Or do physicians tell patients prostheses. about you? Kris: Despoina, you said, Despoina: Mostly women you also want to increase
June 1st, this year the National Cancer Survivors Day, coined by the National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation, a day that shall give hope. Sail For Pink, also a positive event giving hope, has existed since last year, right? How was Sail for Pink born? Despoina: Of course, we wanted to lure more people and attract attention, which is connected to one of our main goals. Then it was selfevident to include the breastcancer symbol colour pink. And why not connect it to the sea, which is so essential and symbolical for the Thessalonians. So we started to sail for pink. Kris: How do the Thessalonians receive those events?
the people's awareness about breast cancer. Do you have special projects or campaigns? What are they called and what are they about? Despoina: There are campaigns like Sail For Pink, trainings, lectures in schools and universities and elsewhere. People that are interested are free to
call us and we will organise presentations. Our next project will take place in jail. We will inform women who are in prison. And of course we will take a specialised doctor with us who will examine the women there. Kris: On May 11th you had the Sail for Pink event here in Thessaloniki, right before
Despoina: They are really happy to come. It is always a lot of hard work. People appreciate that and take part. They know us. We could even say, almost everyone knows us in Thessaloniki. So, during our projects and campaigns, we don't have to introduce ourselves as much as before anymore. Let's say, the goal is reached in that field. Kris: What was the Sail For Pink like this year? Despoina: It was a big event, much bigger then last year,
including many actions like concerts. And of course the regatta was the main action with all those sailing boats. Some participants are owners of ships, others have sailing organisations. Kris: Do you have special projects planned for the future? Despoina: We have many projects. We will start preparing the 3rd year of Sail For Pink. There is a bicycle campaign planned. In October, the Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we offer free examinations for women, not only in Thessaloniki, also in the villages. Actually, October will be full of events, for instance the BRA-Day (Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day). Kris: How did you find your way to the organisation, Despoina? Despoina: Actually I have been working here since the very beginning, when we were in a very small house back then. “Alma Zois” was looking for a professional in the field of social work. Kris: What are your tasks as a social worker in the organistation? Despoina: During the trainings I inform about
the psychological effects of breast cancer and during the therapy appointments here I try to support the women and their families. Apart from that, I train future members in work-shops how to help and support diseased women. And of course I design and coordinate the programs of the Association in collaboration with the psychologist of the Association and the Board of Directors! Kris: And finally, can you give us a personal insight in your work? How are you emotionally connected to your work? Despoina: There are two things. First, I am always emotionally involved. I am here since the beginning of the Association and I have seen “Alma Zois” grows. I have been seeing many women here. So, “Alma Zois” is like my child, let's say. And second, when a woman comes to our office totally anxious and sad and after having spent some times here and leaves with a smile and full of hope, it makes me so happy. Kris: Despoina, you are such a sunny person. It is so important that there are people like you. I thank you so much for all this information and for your time! All the best for you and
your organisation. It was a pleasure for me. For more information: www. almazoisthes.gr Kristin Kindermann
Makrinitsa
T
he city of Volos, in Central Greece, has a matchless geography. Lying down under the shadow of Pelion Mountain, it is the homeland of the centaurs and cheap tsupouradikos and hosts a nice seaside with many yachts and nightlife. That makes Volos a good destination. Nevertheless, the most famous place in Volos is Makrinitsa, a small town located on Pelion Mountain. Few population, old style stoned houses and an amazing view of Volos are the secrets of Makrinitsa Furthermore, it is very easy to get there, since from Volos bus station you can find busses every hour from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. and it only costs 1.5€. Besides, you can use hitchhiking, as I did. Pelion is 1,600m high and it hosts many villages like Makrinitsa. If you want, you can find many hidden wonderful places in these villages. Moreover, if you do not want to use bus transportation between these villages, you can use trekking ways in the forest. Although Makrinitsa has population of less than 1000, there are seven churches and they are very famous points for weddings, baptisms and other religious ceremonies. That is why on the streets of Makrinitsa you can see many monks and priests. As soon as you enter the village, a big square covered by three archaic trees welcomes you, where you can drink your coffee and enjoy the view of Volos. Next to the square, you can find marmalades, which are made with different kinds of fruits and vegetables, even eggplant. It is also affordable because you can buy small size jar for 5€. Because of the historical value, houses in Makrinitsa are protected by the Greek State, that is why if you want to build a new house or repair old one, you should follow the traditional architectural style and rules. Many of these houses were transformed into hotels. For this reason you will see many tourists, especially couples. You can find rooms from 20 until 100€ per person. Unfortunately, I could not see it, but the night view of Volos from Makrinitsa is very famous. If you want to eat something in Makrinitsa, it is quiet expensive. My advice is going to the next village, Portaria. In the centre of the village, you can find many taverns. My favourite one is “To Steki” because of its Greek feature. One main dish, two mezedes and tsipouro cost 9€. If you decide to go to Volos, do not forget to pass by this small amazing village, Makrinitsa. Doruk ışıkçı
BALKAN TRIP Easter break is one of the best moments for youngsters to discover Europe. Convince your friends to go with you, take your backpack, plan you travel (hostels, buses, destination, city walking tours, etc.) Now you are ready to travel. That is what we did all around the Balkans. Do you know our reactions? BELGRADE Our trip started in Thessaloniki. The travel agency GEA Tours provided us with a private van that picked us up in from of our
home and took us just in front of our hostel in Belgrade. It was faster than the bus and it was more or less the same price and more important, the driver was very nice and made the trip more comfortable. He even stopped in the way so that we could eat traditional food. Since I am from Turkey, it was not different for me because we share some roots, but I liked the dessert, made with hazelnut and honey. It was sweet and strong. In Belgrade, we stayed at “In Old Shoes� hostel. It was my first time in a hostel and I was not expecting it to be that great. I had a great time and both the owners and the hostel are amazing. The best
thing of Belgrade is that there are several free walking tours every day. You can see every touristic place by attending theses free tours while learning the history of the city told by natives. Since there are so many tours, we split up, some of us took the historical city tour, but I attended the underground tour. I saw many caves and tunnels that were built during the years. After this tour, we had the chance to have a drink inside the caves. It was good experience. Then we went to Zemun hill, which was conquered by Kanuni Sultan Suleiman and we had a nice view of the city. In the evening, it was the time for eating some mezes next to the Sava River. Some of them
were made with tzatziki and cheese plate. Next morning, after these mezes, it was the time for Bosnian börek and yogurt. It was very intense so we had to add water, making it ayran. Moving on, we went to see the amazing Tesla’s museum. In the afternoon, before going to our next country, we decided to go to Novi Sad. It is located 100km North from Belgrade, so it is a good destination for a day trip. The city centre is very cosy and the view of the Danube is just stunning!
SARAJEVO We took a night bus to save money and we slept in the bus. We arrived in the very morning in Sarejevo and, around 11.am, we took Neno´s free tour In Sarajevo you can notice the different cultures that ruled the city: Ottoman Empire, AustroHungarian Empire, but also the wartime. You can still see many destroyed buildings and bullet holes on the walls.
Bosnia and Yugoslavia. Since we were there, we had to taste the Bosnian börek. Nevertheless, it was not as good as the one we had in Belgrade. Curious, isn´t it? We visited the grave of Alija Izetbegović, the first the first president of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Without any kind of doubt, it is one of the most important people for Bosnia.
Two nice tips for Sarajevo, If you go there, you have to you have to eat ‘Ćevapi” or attend walking tour absolutely. ćevapčići. It is a grilled dish The guide explained of minced meat served with everything about history, yogurt, and it was delicious architecture, people and and then you should hick the religion. The tour lasted for hills surrounding Sarajevo, three hours and we learned you will have an amazing view many things about Sarajevo, of the entire city.
Many Turkish tourists prefer to go to Bosnia because there are many mosques, bedestens, Turkish baths and caravansaries. Everyone should visit Gazi Hüsrev-beg Mosque and also the caravansary. It was the first time I saw a real caravansary and I was very interesting, since it is the origin of the current hostels. Nevertheless, the thing that affected us the most was to see all the bullet holes all around the city. There is a bazaar called Markale that suffer two bombing attacks during the war and now there is a memorial monument to remember all the victims. DUBROVNIK The most important thing in this city is to find a cheap accommodation. We were very lucky and we could find a cheap hostel just 20 minutes away from city centre. Dubrovnik is a very expensive city and it is made for wealthy tourists. Nevertheless, it is worth going, since you can see the deep blue sea around the city. The old city is always crowded, but it is just amazing. The perfect symmetry of the streets was crazy, and even looked like a labyrinth, up to a point. And even if all the streets look similar, you just want to discover every single street to see the beautiful combination of colours of walls and roofs. You should definitely visit a very nice museum. It is the Old Pharmacy Museum at Franciscan Monastery. It is unique and the second oldest pharmacy in Europe. Another attraction is walking the walls. The normal fee is 15€, but for students it is only 6€, Nevertheless, it is a priceless activity. During the sunset, take an ice cream and enjoy the view from the seaside. Finally, if you do not want to spend much money, try to avoid the restaurants inside the walls, they are really expensive, as we have said before. KOTOR A nice and undiscovered spot in the Balkans is the World Heritage Site of Kotor, in Montenegro. It looks like Dubrovnik in small scale. It is a small city located in an exceptional place. You can visit the whole city in 50 minutes, but this is part of its charming beauty. Since you have lot of time to see another villages, it is mandatory to see Perast. There you will find an island that only hosts one church. If you can go to the island and visit the church, you just have to take a small boat. However, if you go there you must climb the fortifications that surround the city. The entrance fee is 3€ and when you reach the top you will have an amazing view of the the bay of Kotor, and you will understand its strategic location and importance. Take into account that you will need several bottles of water, since the way up it is very hard for beginners. You will have to take some rests, so take advantage and take some pictures of the bay everytime you are stopping in different levels. These are just some cities in the Balkans, but there are more cities and places to be discovered. Plan your trip with your friends and do not hesitate to get lost in this magnificent area. Şahin Uzunşimşek
10 DAYS IN GERMANY Whenever people make lists about the romantic countries in the world, they do not often count Germany. To be honest, I was thinking the same before visiting it. I have a lovely friend from USA and he was insistently recommending me to go to Germany. I do not know why, but it was not charming me a lot to travel. On my mind, Germany was “a boring, cold and colourless’’ country. What a mistake! I learned that before travelling somewhere in the world, we need to get rid of our prejudices. All these stereotypes control us superfluously. My route was Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Heidelberg, Munich, Berlin, and Dusseldorf. I think I have seen many places in 10 days. I do not mean as if I went to the cities and stayed 1-2 hours and headed to another one. I definitely had the taste of the cities very well. Lucky me! FRANKFURT (The smallest metropolis in the world) Firstly, I feel like I need to definitely warn you about the airports and cheap flights. If you are taking a flight to Frankfurt Hahn airport, be aware of the distance to the city centre, because it takes one hour and forty-five minutes to go downtown. You should pay 14€ extra for this service, therefore do not forget to add this price on your list.
After taking the bus, my friend came to pick me up at the train station and he showed me the important places to see. My first impressions about Germany and the Germans were: people love riding bicycles, beer and Apfelwein are incredibly great, they recycle everything, they have many solar panels on their roofs and the quality of meat is amazing. This lovely city was affected by the war, so aerial attacks destroyed almost completely the old and central parts of the city. The famous German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe´s house was one of the most important constructions that resulted damaged. Nevertheless, the house has been faithfully restored in the original shape. Go to the Main Tower and take a look at the city under your feet. It is free! However, if you go to the mall, you will have a similar view from the last floor. If you want to have fun at night, try the delicious beers or apple wine (Apfelwein), I would suggest you to go to Sachsenhausen. Cider taverns are great in this area. I am sure that you will meet here random friendly people who will become your friends. The first thing that got my attention in Frankfurt was the Gothic St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral. Even from far away it is easily recognizable. I was so lucky to see the Luminale, the annual Festival of Lights. Sculptures, buildings and streets were lighted up and even the cathedral had a light show. I was able to watch it, it only lasted for around 30 minutes, but it was definitely worth it! We need more colours in our life and I wish every city had this kind of festival. Walk around Romerberg and the riverside. It is funny to discover the city on foot and do not forget that you are in a city which is famous thanks to the banks. The Central Bank and all the important bank offices are located on this area. WIESBADEN It was quite interesting to see people wearing so fancy dresses and walking through the park in the capital city of Hessen. Girls wearing big hat, holding big hand fans and wearing dresses a lit
bit French style. This place is famous for its thermal springs and for its casinos. During World War II, Wiesbaden was the common place for Americans to enjoy and gather, that is why it was not destroyed during the war.
and I can live forever!
HEIDELBERG I do not know how to describe this city. Believe me, I need to write many poems to make people feel the same way I do. Leave me here
This place is green and fresh. Go to the bridge and take a selfie honouring Ellen D., just like everyone does, with the fantastic view with the castle. You will feel like you are living in the middle ages. In addition, I have the feeling that it was a painter who drew this city meticulously and wanted keep it by himself only. It is like a bride who is trying to be the most elegant one at the wedding. The best thing you could do in this city is just walking around the Old town and getting lost! Furthermore, if you have a lover, take him or her and go to Heidelberg. After all, both of you will fall in love with this city (one hour away from Frankfurt). MUNICH A nice way to get there is using the car sharing web site “Mitfahrgelegenheit”. Many people are using it and it is quite safe. I used it many times between the cities. After five hours, I arrived in Munich. This city is the perfect place for the people who love music, beer, history and art. Located in the heart of Bavaria, and with a great quality of life and low crime rate, it is one of the best “liveable cities.” Monocle Magazine agrees with me and has chosen it as the most liveable city. Moreover, it hosts the Oktoberfest! Once you are there, you have to see the world famous Glockenspiel Clock. It is a tourist attraction in Marienplatz. Every day, at 11 am (as well as at 12 pm and 5 pm in summer) it chimes and you can watch the story of the marriage of the local Duke Wilhelm V.
Second, visit Sendlinger Tor and pass by Viktualienmarkt. This is Munich´s daily outdoor farmers market. I loved a lot this colourful place. It was a great chance to taste the beer of Munich. If you love beer and never heard about Hofbrauhaus, you will feel happy to read this. Hofbrauhaus is a famous beer hall in Germany and you will never regret to visit it. The Munich Residenz, the former royal palace of the Bavarian monarchs, is worth seeing, but if you only have one or two days in this city, I would suggest you to visit it next time. It is very big and you need lot of time to see all the places. If what you want is relax, your place is The English Garden. It is larger than NYC Central Park and nude sunbathing is allowed since the 60´s. I was really lucky to have a great host who helped me a lot and was very open minded. He showed me the greatest ice creams in town. Thank you, Esteban! BERLIN Whenever people are visiting Germany, they tell me that Berlin is their favourite city, and I was really wondering why. I will disappoint you, but to be fair, it is not my favourite city, but it is the most attractive one. First of all, and most importantly, you should make your museum list before arriving. And in that list you should write down the Museum Island in capital letters. Walk down from the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), and check the place where the books were burned during the Nazi period, Do not forget to eat the seasoned-with-curry-ketchup sausage Currywurst (enjoy the food in Berlin in general!), spend some time in Aleksanderplatz and most important: Enjoy the extreme nightlife! DUSSELDORF Dusseldorf was my last stop. This international business and financial centre is famous thanks to the Japanese food. The old town of the city is worth seeing. Take a walk to the river and drink a beer over there and do not forget to visit the famous Stadterhebungsmonument (celebrating Dusseldorf 's elevation to city status) on the Burgplatz. There are some scary figures on it. Dusseldorf has not had any debt for many years and you will see at the centre of old town how they are counting the years without debt. Spring is great timing for visiting Germany. If you want to go to many cities there, do not be afraid of changing the cities because it has an amazing transportation system. As I did, in 10 days you would see many places, enjoy the food and learn some history. On the other hand, I believe that you might want to add Germany to your romantic countries list after visiting it. Şeyda Aydın