Monday, October 23, 2006
Small World
I had another busy day of meetings today and I was pretty tired this evening (and still recovering from the sheep cheese yesterday), but I went out with some colleagues from DAI that are working on projects here in Macedonia. At dinner I was talking with one of our project staff here and asked where he is from. He responded, “upstate New York”. When I asked where, I nearly fell of my chair at his response – Geneseo. He lived in the town of 5,000 people where I went to college. He even was friends with the son of my landlord. This means that we almost definitely would have sat at tables next to each other at Mama Mia’s pizza place, passed each other as we walked past the bronze bear fountain, or competed for the attention of the bartender at the Idol Hour bar. We spent the rest of the evening reminiscing about swimming in the old quarry and the, shall we say, ‘festive’ days of Geneseo.
Coke is freedom
I just spent my entire weekend working and had the best time. I went out to the East of the country to talk with people and learn more about the issues in the agricultural sector. Macedonia is a very small country (of only 2 million people) so it was only a two hour drive from the capital Skopje, to Strumica (pronounced Strumizza).
On the way out there was plenty of opportunity for good conversation with my translator, who is a piano accompanist by training who worked for the Opera of Macedonia, but has switched careers because of the lack of opportunity for growth in the world of music here. She is a multi-talented lady and is by far the best translator I have ever worked with. To my surprise, she told me that life under Tito was not so bad. Sure, you could not speak out against the government, but crime was low, there was a healthy middle class and only some people were a little worse off. Now there is much greater economic disparity, the number of very poor people is growing, and crime is increasing. Under Tito they had a good living, they could afford to go on holiday once or twice a year, and they were allowed to listen to Western music and drink Coke. Live was good.
On the drive I was also able to learn about some of the environmental damage from industrial development. The worst example that I saw was the town of Vesen which was a former industrial center producing metals. The town now has a very high rate of birth defects and the government is debating what to do. With the high costs of clean-up, I cannot see any action being taken any time soon. I also drove past mine heaps as big as the surrounding mountains, areas of massive erosion, and I’m sure I am only scratching the surface of the environmental problems in the country. And yet, people have talked about the potential for organic vegetable production here – do they not know that entails testing the soil to ensure it is not contaminated?
On Saturday I had meetings with the owners of a vegetable bottling company, a dairy, the president of the Association of Cow Breeders, and a vegetable farmer. All of the meetings were extremely interesting, but by far the best was last. This vegetable farmer was a true businessman who understood the market place and had traveled to Kosovo and arranged a contract with a supermarket to export his crop when the local traders were refusing to pay a reasonable price. But in talking to him, I began to understand some of the obstacles facing farmers here. Like in many places, when one person is successful, others try to bring them back in line. The corruption, intense political influence, lack of access to finance, and suspicion amongst farmers and between farmers and traders/processors all provided obstacles that proved insurmountable and he was unable to fulfill the contract.
I spent Saturday night in Strumica and then headed to Negotino on Sunday morning bright and early. I spent most of the day with the grape producers. There were riots in Macedonia last year because the wineries would not pay the farmers for their grapes. In fact, one of the two large wineries (both of which were previously government owned) still has not paid farmers for last year’s harvest which was 13 month ago. The wineries argue that then do not have the funds as they have not yet sold the wine and they need to service their debt first. So essentially the farmers are shouldering the debt of the wineries. When the protests started to grow, donors got concerned and stepped in and loaned the largest winery funds to pay the farmers. On the other hand, the small wineries have exellent relationships with their farmers.
The final stop in Negotino was a visit to the homes of two sheep producers. The sheep are kept for their milk (which is also made into cheese) and for lamb meat. I sat and interviewed both farmers in their one communal room, with the extended family sitting on the sofa and the Macedonian version of MTV playing in the background. I of course, was asked to sample their cheese, and I accepted. I have now learned first-hand of the need to improve the quality of locally produced cheese! It tasted good, but I didn’t feel so good the following day.
On the way back to the Skopje, we stopped off at what I was told was some ruins. It turned out to be ruines of the Roman city of Scupi from the 3-5th century AD. Given that Rome converted to Christianity around the 4th century, the ruins provided an interesting example of a church being built on top of an old synagogue. Unfortunately, the site is only partially excavated and there is no good explanation of what you are looking at. Supposedly the government looks into excavating and developing the site everyone once in a while, but the government of Greece intervenes in a variety of creative ways to prevent its development as Greece does not want the competition for historical tourism.
I feel like I have not done the weekend justice with these brief notes. I could write pages on each of the visits, but time is not my friend at the moment. I still have to type up all the many pages of notes from these many interesting meetings.
On the way out there was plenty of opportunity for good conversation with my translator, who is a piano accompanist by training who worked for the Opera of Macedonia, but has switched careers because of the lack of opportunity for growth in the world of music here. She is a multi-talented lady and is by far the best translator I have ever worked with. To my surprise, she told me that life under Tito was not so bad. Sure, you could not speak out against the government, but crime was low, there was a healthy middle class and only some people were a little worse off. Now there is much greater economic disparity, the number of very poor people is growing, and crime is increasing. Under Tito they had a good living, they could afford to go on holiday once or twice a year, and they were allowed to listen to Western music and drink Coke. Live was good.
On the drive I was also able to learn about some of the environmental damage from industrial development. The worst example that I saw was the town of Vesen which was a former industrial center producing metals. The town now has a very high rate of birth defects and the government is debating what to do. With the high costs of clean-up, I cannot see any action being taken any time soon. I also drove past mine heaps as big as the surrounding mountains, areas of massive erosion, and I’m sure I am only scratching the surface of the environmental problems in the country. And yet, people have talked about the potential for organic vegetable production here – do they not know that entails testing the soil to ensure it is not contaminated?
On Saturday I had meetings with the owners of a vegetable bottling company, a dairy, the president of the Association of Cow Breeders, and a vegetable farmer. All of the meetings were extremely interesting, but by far the best was last. This vegetable farmer was a true businessman who understood the market place and had traveled to Kosovo and arranged a contract with a supermarket to export his crop when the local traders were refusing to pay a reasonable price. But in talking to him, I began to understand some of the obstacles facing farmers here. Like in many places, when one person is successful, others try to bring them back in line. The corruption, intense political influence, lack of access to finance, and suspicion amongst farmers and between farmers and traders/processors all provided obstacles that proved insurmountable and he was unable to fulfill the contract.
I spent Saturday night in Strumica and then headed to Negotino on Sunday morning bright and early. I spent most of the day with the grape producers. There were riots in Macedonia last year because the wineries would not pay the farmers for their grapes. In fact, one of the two large wineries (both of which were previously government owned) still has not paid farmers for last year’s harvest which was 13 month ago. The wineries argue that then do not have the funds as they have not yet sold the wine and they need to service their debt first. So essentially the farmers are shouldering the debt of the wineries. When the protests started to grow, donors got concerned and stepped in and loaned the largest winery funds to pay the farmers. On the other hand, the small wineries have exellent relationships with their farmers.
The final stop in Negotino was a visit to the homes of two sheep producers. The sheep are kept for their milk (which is also made into cheese) and for lamb meat. I sat and interviewed both farmers in their one communal room, with the extended family sitting on the sofa and the Macedonian version of MTV playing in the background. I of course, was asked to sample their cheese, and I accepted. I have now learned first-hand of the need to improve the quality of locally produced cheese! It tasted good, but I didn’t feel so good the following day.
On the way back to the Skopje, we stopped off at what I was told was some ruins. It turned out to be ruines of the Roman city of Scupi from the 3-5th century AD. Given that Rome converted to Christianity around the 4th century, the ruins provided an interesting example of a church being built on top of an old synagogue. Unfortunately, the site is only partially excavated and there is no good explanation of what you are looking at. Supposedly the government looks into excavating and developing the site everyone once in a while, but the government of Greece intervenes in a variety of creative ways to prevent its development as Greece does not want the competition for historical tourism.
I feel like I have not done the weekend justice with these brief notes. I could write pages on each of the visits, but time is not my friend at the moment. I still have to type up all the many pages of notes from these many interesting meetings.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Field bound
This is going to be a super-quick post as I am rushing to pack up my suitcase and deliver it to my colleague's room before she goes to sleep. I am checking out of the hotel tomorrow and heading into the field for a couple of days to visit some farms, dairy processors, vegetable canneries, cheese makers, grape farmers, and of course wineries. I am so lucky to have this job. I told my colleagues today that I was looking forward to this weekend of getting my hands dirty and they looked at my like I am nuts (they are both finance and business development people). But then they admitted that there are those who fall into the field of development - most people in business/finance and development - and then there are those in this field with a passion for what they do. I just love it.
Back late on Sunday night, but I'm sure I'll have lots to write about.
Back late on Sunday night, but I'm sure I'll have lots to write about.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Sunny or Grey?
I'm in Macedonia for 10 days to gather info for an upcoming private sector development project that will include agriculture. Macedonia is very different from the places where I usually work. It's practically in Europe - well at least it is hoping to become part of the EU in 2012. But it was also a part of the Soviet Union (as part of Yugoslavia) so it still has not fully shaken the old command economy mentality.
One of my colleagues asked me if Macedonia is more like sunny Italy, which is just across the Adriatic, or more like the grey Soviet Union. After just one day in country, I would answer that it is probably somewhere in between. The expansive central square and the central post office building, which is a dull grey monstrosity of cement that dominates its surrounds, are very CIS. On the other hand all along the river are lively outdoor cafés filled with fashionable young people that are (vaguely) reminiscent of Paris.
It looks like I will be spending the weekend out in the field visiting farms, processing companies, orchards and sheep herders. Oh, and as wine is one of the high-potential sectors here, I will be visiting grape growers and yes, wineries. I am always amazed by (and thankful for) the opportunities that I have to see different aspects of the countries I visit.
My suitcase arrived today and I was so happy to get out of the clothes that I had been wearing for more than 48 hours. I finished off the day with dinner with my colleagues at an Irish pub with a very bad meal and a glass of surprisingly good Macedonian red wine.
One of my colleagues asked me if Macedonia is more like sunny Italy, which is just across the Adriatic, or more like the grey Soviet Union. After just one day in country, I would answer that it is probably somewhere in between. The expansive central square and the central post office building, which is a dull grey monstrosity of cement that dominates its surrounds, are very CIS. On the other hand all along the river are lively outdoor cafés filled with fashionable young people that are (vaguely) reminiscent of Paris.
It looks like I will be spending the weekend out in the field visiting farms, processing companies, orchards and sheep herders. Oh, and as wine is one of the high-potential sectors here, I will be visiting grape growers and yes, wineries. I am always amazed by (and thankful for) the opportunities that I have to see different aspects of the countries I visit.
My suitcase arrived today and I was so happy to get out of the clothes that I had been wearing for more than 48 hours. I finished off the day with dinner with my colleagues at an Irish pub with a very bad meal and a glass of surprisingly good Macedonian red wine.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Macademia?
The next chapter in my adventure had me leaving my little house in DC in the middle of a downpour yesterday morning to head to Macedonia. The bad weather was my only immediate incentive to get on the plane for what will hopefully be sunnier climes given my current state. I am completely sleep deprived thanks to the city of DC that I actually fell asleep in the taxi on the way to the airport – as in mouth open, good dreams, asleep. Two weeks ago the city dug a huge hole in the street in front of my house and covered it with 6 steel plates which literally bounce every time a car drives over send out a small earthquake of earth-shattering noise and vibrations when a truck or bus drives over them. So it’s been a sleepless couple of weeks.
So I thought the trip could only get better from there. Hah! The check-in line at the airport was a mile long. When I got to the front, they informed me that the flight was delayed by an hour. Well, we ended up boarding 1.5 hours late, at which point I knew I would miss my connection in Switzerland. The very helpful airline people managed to get me on another flight, but I had to sprint a lap of the terminal to pick up the new ticket before they finished boarding the plane. I was the last passenger on the plane, and we then sat on the runway for another hour due to a maintenance problem. Needless to say, by the time I finally arrived in Macedonia 3.5 hours late, my luggage was not there to meet me. So I am stuck wearing the same coffee stained pants tomorrow – a flight attendant spilled hot coffee in my lap.
I’m now off to try and get some sleep and I am absolutely convinced that things can only get better from here!
So I thought the trip could only get better from there. Hah! The check-in line at the airport was a mile long. When I got to the front, they informed me that the flight was delayed by an hour. Well, we ended up boarding 1.5 hours late, at which point I knew I would miss my connection in Switzerland. The very helpful airline people managed to get me on another flight, but I had to sprint a lap of the terminal to pick up the new ticket before they finished boarding the plane. I was the last passenger on the plane, and we then sat on the runway for another hour due to a maintenance problem. Needless to say, by the time I finally arrived in Macedonia 3.5 hours late, my luggage was not there to meet me. So I am stuck wearing the same coffee stained pants tomorrow – a flight attendant spilled hot coffee in my lap.
I’m now off to try and get some sleep and I am absolutely convinced that things can only get better from here!
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