Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Don't tell the Serbians
Q: How is Serbia like a Nokia cell phone?
A: Every year it gets smaller and lighter
Latest news on Kosovo: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/world/europe/27kosovo.html?ex=1170651600&en=615d50cff65a1e12&ei=5070&emc=eta1
A: Every year it gets smaller and lighter
Latest news on Kosovo: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/world/europe/27kosovo.html?ex=1170651600&en=615d50cff65a1e12&ei=5070&emc=eta1
EU/Balkan Tour
I have just visited 3 countries in 48 hours. First on our way to Osijek, Croatia, we took a brief diversion to the town of Bosanski Brod in Bosnia Herzegovina. We only stopped for a quick cup of coffee, but even though it is just across the river from Serbia, it is a world apart with many bombed out buildings, roads in poor condition and very clearly an area in economic stress. I took one photo (see below), which is not a happy photo, but my Croatian colleagues insist it is an accurate portrayal of Bosnia – I will have to rely on their opinion until I see more.
That said, the town of Osijek, the second most important city in Croatia before the war, was also much more affected by the conflict than Zagreb. The first thing I noticed as we drove in was a new form of graffiti of the buildings – pockmarks from bullets and even partially destroyed. At one point in the conflict Osijek was surrounded and attacked on three sides. The good news is that there is now a lot of reconstruction underway, which I take as a good sign that the local people have faith in the long term outlook of the city.
I thought I was in Osijek to visit farmers to see the project impact on the ground, but due to some confusion I visited just one farmer on my “field” trip, so I have a sample size of one. We went out to a small village and drove down a street where every third or fourth house was abandoned to visit a young unemployed family. The husband was laid off from his job so they are now trying to live off the land. They grow their own vegetables, keep chickens, ducks and even a pig and last year started growing strawberries commercially. I was there because of the strawberries (one of our success stories) but was impressed by the range of activities. It brought back memories of working on permaculture farms in Australia – a system that would greatly benefit this family. I was told that this family is not unusual – there is very high unemployment in many of the distressed areas (as the war-affected areas are now called) and traditionally many rural households or those in small villages are part-time farmers with the land behind their houses. Many keep cows or pigs as well as growing vegetables.
This traditional system is slowly changing as agriculture becomes more commercial in order to meet quantity and quality demands of the market. For example, in the dairy sector new problems are surfacing as the sector has gone through a major transition in the last three years from 90,000 milk producers with one or two cows behind their houses in 2003 to 40,000 consolidated larger herds averaging 10-15 cows, some of which are still kept behind the house but now in modern dairy barns that meet EU standards and have manure management systems. Of course they may meet the right standards, but the neighbors are not overjoyed at the amplified odor of an additional 13 cows in one small plot next door.
I mentioned to a couple of the local staff that in my high school yearbook I listed my goal as traveling to every country in the world. They decided to help me achieve that goal. Hence the visit to Bosnia, and on the way back to Zagreb today we drove a few hours out of our way to have a very late lunch in Hungary! So I was hungry in Hungary. I’ve always wanted to say that. Of course there was really very little difference from the farmland in Croatia just across the border, except for the traffic roundabouts every 10 km in the middle of cow land. I did discover that the Hungarians are perhaps even more vegetarian unfriendly as the Croats. The only non-meat items on the menu were 6 different potato dishes and a type of garlic bread.
That said, the town of Osijek, the second most important city in Croatia before the war, was also much more affected by the conflict than Zagreb. The first thing I noticed as we drove in was a new form of graffiti of the buildings – pockmarks from bullets and even partially destroyed. At one point in the conflict Osijek was surrounded and attacked on three sides. The good news is that there is now a lot of reconstruction underway, which I take as a good sign that the local people have faith in the long term outlook of the city.
I thought I was in Osijek to visit farmers to see the project impact on the ground, but due to some confusion I visited just one farmer on my “field” trip, so I have a sample size of one. We went out to a small village and drove down a street where every third or fourth house was abandoned to visit a young unemployed family. The husband was laid off from his job so they are now trying to live off the land. They grow their own vegetables, keep chickens, ducks and even a pig and last year started growing strawberries commercially. I was there because of the strawberries (one of our success stories) but was impressed by the range of activities. It brought back memories of working on permaculture farms in Australia – a system that would greatly benefit this family. I was told that this family is not unusual – there is very high unemployment in many of the distressed areas (as the war-affected areas are now called) and traditionally many rural households or those in small villages are part-time farmers with the land behind their houses. Many keep cows or pigs as well as growing vegetables.
This traditional system is slowly changing as agriculture becomes more commercial in order to meet quantity and quality demands of the market. For example, in the dairy sector new problems are surfacing as the sector has gone through a major transition in the last three years from 90,000 milk producers with one or two cows behind their houses in 2003 to 40,000 consolidated larger herds averaging 10-15 cows, some of which are still kept behind the house but now in modern dairy barns that meet EU standards and have manure management systems. Of course they may meet the right standards, but the neighbors are not overjoyed at the amplified odor of an additional 13 cows in one small plot next door.
I mentioned to a couple of the local staff that in my high school yearbook I listed my goal as traveling to every country in the world. They decided to help me achieve that goal. Hence the visit to Bosnia, and on the way back to Zagreb today we drove a few hours out of our way to have a very late lunch in Hungary! So I was hungry in Hungary. I’ve always wanted to say that. Of course there was really very little difference from the farmland in Croatia just across the border, except for the traffic roundabouts every 10 km in the middle of cow land. I did discover that the Hungarians are perhaps even more vegetarian unfriendly as the Croats. The only non-meat items on the menu were 6 different potato dishes and a type of garlic bread.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Walking in Zagreb
Zagreb really is a spectacular city. I started out my lazy Sunday with a visit to the Croatian Naïve Art Gallery looking at the work of local artists and then spent most of the day exploring the city and trying to capture the essence on film (or rather pixels).
Blood Diamond
After a rather late evening on Friday we decided to take it easy on Saturday and just go and see a movie. Unfortunately, Blood Diamond is a rather disturbing flick so it was not conducive to a good night of sleep afterwards. That said, it is an excellent film and I highly recommend it. I found it particularly interesting given that I have been to Freetown, have heard many tales from my uncle who has lived there for 17 years, and I lived in Guinea while it was (and still is) coping with the Sierra Leonean refugees. I was pleasantly surprised to see the strong suggestion that De Beers (although not named De Beers in the movie) is complicit in the trade of blood diamonds
Reach out Touch Face
I decided to make the most of being in Zagreb with fun colleagues and hit the town on Friday night. After a good dinner, we headed out to the Oliver Twist for a few drinks in an English Pub that could have been anywhere in the UK. After midnight, one colleague, who is making the most of her time without her husband and 18 month old child far away in DC, really wanted to go out dancing. We asked the bartender, got directions and headed off into the frigid night.
We found the place relatively easily but were amazed to discover that we were not welcomed with open arms, but had to wait outside in the icy air in the line to get in! We eventually made it to the front of the line and were ushered in by a well dressed bouncer. After paying a cover of $4 and checking our coats, we went downstairs and noticed that we were a little out of place. Half of the people in the club were well dressed in rather revealing but ordinary outfits. The other half were pretty much fully covered, but wearing pleather. As we walked in the door we were greeted by a woman in a full pleather black bodysuit with a high neck and a short zip strategically placed for easy access. Her only accessory was a tasseled whip. We thought this was odd, but got a drink and headed for the dance floor at the back of the club where we discovered an ongoing performance by two pleather clad professional female dancers. What was most interesting was that everyone (male and female) just stood around watching. There were several people with cameras in the room flashing photographs as much of the dancers as of those watching them. After the performance, the club went back to dancing. Any time a couple got a little hot and heavy, the crowd would form a circle and stare and even flash photographs. Not clubbing behavior that I am used to!
The creepiest point in the evening came when we were talking to a couple of Croatian guys who all of a sudden got upset about something and started to move away. We asked them what was wrong, and they pointed out to us that there were gays next to us, referring to two men dancing together, and they couldn’t’ be near the gays. A sad commentary and I fear not a unique opion in these parts.
We arrived home at 3am after a 45 minute walk through the snow covered and abandoned streets.
We found the place relatively easily but were amazed to discover that we were not welcomed with open arms, but had to wait outside in the icy air in the line to get in! We eventually made it to the front of the line and were ushered in by a well dressed bouncer. After paying a cover of $4 and checking our coats, we went downstairs and noticed that we were a little out of place. Half of the people in the club were well dressed in rather revealing but ordinary outfits. The other half were pretty much fully covered, but wearing pleather. As we walked in the door we were greeted by a woman in a full pleather black bodysuit with a high neck and a short zip strategically placed for easy access. Her only accessory was a tasseled whip. We thought this was odd, but got a drink and headed for the dance floor at the back of the club where we discovered an ongoing performance by two pleather clad professional female dancers. What was most interesting was that everyone (male and female) just stood around watching. There were several people with cameras in the room flashing photographs as much of the dancers as of those watching them. After the performance, the club went back to dancing. Any time a couple got a little hot and heavy, the crowd would form a circle and stare and even flash photographs. Not clubbing behavior that I am used to!
The creepiest point in the evening came when we were talking to a couple of Croatian guys who all of a sudden got upset about something and started to move away. We asked them what was wrong, and they pointed out to us that there were gays next to us, referring to two men dancing together, and they couldn’t’ be near the gays. A sad commentary and I fear not a unique opion in these parts.
We arrived home at 3am after a 45 minute walk through the snow covered and abandoned streets.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Invest in Quality
I am borrowing the desk of a dairy expert on the project and so I have the honor of sitting in front of a poster entitled ‘Invest in Quality’ with a large photograph of sperm, a photograph of two cows copulating and a photo of a very geeky looking vet. The text? “Health certified U.S. semen enhances your herd health program and provides a significant return on your semen investment”.
I’m thinking about stealing the poster to put up in my office.
I’m thinking about stealing the poster to put up in my office.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
The Birdie has flown the coop
Whew. My boss has moved onto greener pastures, or at least onto the next country. No more long boring dinners talking about work while dodging his insults. He’s a real gem. The upside is that with him gone I feel light and free. I still have lots of work to do, but now it will be fun.
I’m in Croatia to write Success Stories for an agribusiness project that is closing down. Having traveled to Macedonia, Serbia and now Croatia all in the last two months gives an interesting perspective. They were once all part of the Yugoslavia, but now they have such different levels of development. It is interesting to compare based on my first impressions, but I am also learning that my first impressions are often incorrect. I had thought that Macedonia was much worse off compared to Serbia, but Macedonia’s GDP per capita is $8,200 while Serbia’s is $4,400. There is a lot of disparity in Serbia because the war was primarily fought in the South and the north has the richest agricultural land – resulting in a 30% difference in average incomes. From what I have seen of Croatia it really does not need development assistance. Because of the relatively high standards and sophistication, I assumed that Croatia would be exporting significant quantities of agricultural products to the EU – but they are not. It just goes to show, you cannot judge a book by its cover.
Not much to write about my activities as I am mostly just sitting in an office reading documents this week and trying to figure out what to do. Next week I will be in the field so hopefully the posts will be more interesting! The plan for this weekend is shopping, museums, massages and lots of good eating.
I’m in Croatia to write Success Stories for an agribusiness project that is closing down. Having traveled to Macedonia, Serbia and now Croatia all in the last two months gives an interesting perspective. They were once all part of the Yugoslavia, but now they have such different levels of development. It is interesting to compare based on my first impressions, but I am also learning that my first impressions are often incorrect. I had thought that Macedonia was much worse off compared to Serbia, but Macedonia’s GDP per capita is $8,200 while Serbia’s is $4,400. There is a lot of disparity in Serbia because the war was primarily fought in the South and the north has the richest agricultural land – resulting in a 30% difference in average incomes. From what I have seen of Croatia it really does not need development assistance. Because of the relatively high standards and sophistication, I assumed that Croatia would be exporting significant quantities of agricultural products to the EU – but they are not. It just goes to show, you cannot judge a book by its cover.
Not much to write about my activities as I am mostly just sitting in an office reading documents this week and trying to figure out what to do. Next week I will be in the field so hopefully the posts will be more interesting! The plan for this weekend is shopping, museums, massages and lots of good eating.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
South Park Anyone?
My company has several projects in the Balkans and so there are plenty of other consultants from the home office around to keep my company. Maybe too many, and not just because of the questions I have about international consultants soaking up aid funds, but also because my boss is in the adjoining room to mine and there are 4 other home office staff on my floor! It’s like an office slumber party. Fortunately, some of my colleagues are fun to hang out with.
Tonight, the boss took a bunch of us out to a very nice dinner at a hotel that is being supported by one of our projects (which is working in tourism). The dinner was excellent local faire, the company was a mixture of Croatian and expat staff on the projects as well as us visitors, and it was great to spend an evening just laughing and enjoying good food, good wine (local) and good company.
I just got back to my hotel room, did some laundry in the sink (I refuse to pay $6 to have a t-shirt washed) and flipped on the TV to see what was on. I saw South Park and sat down to watch Starvin Marvin from Ethanopia. The characters were not speaking English, and it took me a full five minutes to realize that this was not part of the plot but that I had discovered South Park in German. Not as funny as the English Version
Tonight, the boss took a bunch of us out to a very nice dinner at a hotel that is being supported by one of our projects (which is working in tourism). The dinner was excellent local faire, the company was a mixture of Croatian and expat staff on the projects as well as us visitors, and it was great to spend an evening just laughing and enjoying good food, good wine (local) and good company.
I just got back to my hotel room, did some laundry in the sink (I refuse to pay $6 to have a t-shirt washed) and flipped on the TV to see what was on. I saw South Park and sat down to watch Starvin Marvin from Ethanopia. The characters were not speaking English, and it took me a full five minutes to realize that this was not part of the plot but that I had discovered South Park in German. Not as funny as the English Version
Zagreb
After a fun final evening in Belgrade to take in the sights (and a fun final night at a bar listening to an excellent funk band), I took the train from Belgrade to Zagreb – a ride that was reminiscent of earlier times traveling from Beijing to London by train. It was a pleasant ride, and I met a really nice young Serb woman who just returned to the region after living in the UK for the last 9 years. She has come back here to look for a job, now that there are good opportunities for English speaking IT experts near her home – a decision of one person, but it is indicative of the positive changes in the region.
Zagreb is a different world compared to Belgrade. Belgrade certainly has a trendy fun outer appearance, but I got the feeling there that this was a mirage and that if you just scratched the surface, you would see the other side. This feeling was supported by the hodgepodge of architectural styles in the city from Austro-Hungarian masterpieces to bombed out buildings to Soviet-style cement monstrosities. I actually got to see the other side of Belgrade in person as the train crossed over the Saba river. Next to the tracks was a Roma (gypsy) settlement that could compete in stature with any squatter camp in Africa. The informal town of maybe 1000 houses was comprised of roughly made brick buildings with corrugated roofs with no streets, no sewer system, no electricity and I’m sure no employment for most of the people. The government has set up a Roma settlement outside of Belgrade, but it is too far away for the Roma to be able to come into to town to try and make a living (often by begging).
I am sure that this side exists in Croatia, but there are no bombed out buildings (Zagreb was not bombed during the conflict). I have not seen any beggars on the street, and the city certainly feels more like Europe and any other former communist country I have ever visited. I am staying in the Westin across the road from the national theatre, a beautiful building (as I will demonstrate by a photo soon). It is ballet and opera season and I am planning on attending later this week. I keep having to remind myself that I am actually here for work in economic development!
Zagreb is a different world compared to Belgrade. Belgrade certainly has a trendy fun outer appearance, but I got the feeling there that this was a mirage and that if you just scratched the surface, you would see the other side. This feeling was supported by the hodgepodge of architectural styles in the city from Austro-Hungarian masterpieces to bombed out buildings to Soviet-style cement monstrosities. I actually got to see the other side of Belgrade in person as the train crossed over the Saba river. Next to the tracks was a Roma (gypsy) settlement that could compete in stature with any squatter camp in Africa. The informal town of maybe 1000 houses was comprised of roughly made brick buildings with corrugated roofs with no streets, no sewer system, no electricity and I’m sure no employment for most of the people. The government has set up a Roma settlement outside of Belgrade, but it is too far away for the Roma to be able to come into to town to try and make a living (often by begging).
I am sure that this side exists in Croatia, but there are no bombed out buildings (Zagreb was not bombed during the conflict). I have not seen any beggars on the street, and the city certainly feels more like Europe and any other former communist country I have ever visited. I am staying in the Westin across the road from the national theatre, a beautiful building (as I will demonstrate by a photo soon). It is ballet and opera season and I am planning on attending later this week. I keep having to remind myself that I am actually here for work in economic development!
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Sights and sounds
It's after midnight and I just got home after ending the trip to Belgrade in style at a pretty good underground (literally) jazz club with a great live funk band. I left my two colleagues at the bar and headed home to get some sleep before a 7 hour train ride to Zagreb, Croatia tomorrow.
Today was a day off, which I decided to make the most of. I spent the morning wandering around the Kalemegdan Citadel, a fort at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers that was originally built by the Celts over 2000 years ago (before the arrival of the Romans), but has been rebuilt an estimated 40 times since then. Most of what is there today was built in the 18th century by the Austro-Hungarians, and that brief history gives an idea of how complicated the lineage of this region really is. The citadel today is a community park that was filled with old and young out strolling, jogging and just hanging out.
In the afternoon I walked through the throbbing metropolis of Belgrade to the Sveti Marko church, a historical landmark. On the walk back to the hotel I walked passed the Parliament building and noticed the TV camera crews getting ready out front reporting on the lead-up to the elections tomorrow. This is the same Parliament building where anti-Milosevic rallies were broadcast around the globe in 2000. Who knows what the situation will be here one week from now. With so many politicians riling their supporters with claims that they will never give up Kosovo anything could happen (especially give that anyone who knows anything expects that the UN will mandate independence for Kosovo this year!)
Today was a day off, which I decided to make the most of. I spent the morning wandering around the Kalemegdan Citadel, a fort at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers that was originally built by the Celts over 2000 years ago (before the arrival of the Romans), but has been rebuilt an estimated 40 times since then. Most of what is there today was built in the 18th century by the Austro-Hungarians, and that brief history gives an idea of how complicated the lineage of this region really is. The citadel today is a community park that was filled with old and young out strolling, jogging and just hanging out.
In the afternoon I walked through the throbbing metropolis of Belgrade to the Sveti Marko church, a historical landmark. On the walk back to the hotel I walked passed the Parliament building and noticed the TV camera crews getting ready out front reporting on the lead-up to the elections tomorrow. This is the same Parliament building where anti-Milosevic rallies were broadcast around the globe in 2000. Who knows what the situation will be here one week from now. With so many politicians riling their supporters with claims that they will never give up Kosovo anything could happen (especially give that anyone who knows anything expects that the UN will mandate independence for Kosovo this year!)
Celebrity Sighting
I just had breakfast with Barnaby Phillips! For those of you who have never been in a country in Africa with only the radio for outside communications glued to the BBC 24 hours a day – he was the BBC correspondent for Southern Africa for several years but is now working for Al Jazeera. Unfortunately, I was with two senior male colleagues who turned into strutting peacocks in the situation and dominated the conversation droning on about their own experiences and asking Barnaby if he knew people they knew, attempting to prove their own importance. Hopefully we will share a breakfast table again tomorrow – and at least one of the peacocks will be absent.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
I apologize that I did not have time to offend you
So ended one interview with a farmer in Serbia yesterday. It was a very friendly conversation and he was quite open, answered my questions, provided a lot of helpful information, and even went out of his way to introduce me to others and take me out to the field, but in the end there was some underlying tension - a simple reminder that many Serbians see the NATO bombing as being led by the US and they despise Americans because of it. In the wholesale fruit market outside of Belgrade earlier in the week a trader took ten minutes out of his busy morning to tell us how much he dislikes Clinton (although I’m sure he used much less dainty language edited by the translator). These underlying tensions between different ethnic groups and towards outsiders are complex and not easy to understand. They make working here interesting.
I traveled to Central Serbia on Friday and spent my day with the head of a blueberry cooperative. Serbia is so much more advanced compared to most countries where I work, but I keep having to stop myself from making that comparison as Serbia really should be compared to the rest of Europe and it is certainly far behind Germany, Austria or even Slovenia. Still, there are lots of changes taking place and assuming peace reigns, Serbia seems to be on the right track.
I traveled to Central Serbia on Friday and spent my day with the head of a blueberry cooperative. Serbia is so much more advanced compared to most countries where I work, but I keep having to stop myself from making that comparison as Serbia really should be compared to the rest of Europe and it is certainly far behind Germany, Austria or even Slovenia. Still, there are lots of changes taking place and assuming peace reigns, Serbia seems to be on the right track.
Context
This is by far the slowest reconnaissance trip that I have ever been on. Yesterday we had one meeting at 5pm and spent the day in the office setting up meetings and reading documents. Today was a bit busier with one unhelpful meeting at noon and an interesting visit to a progressive fruit and vegetable trader in the afternoon. Unfortunately there is really not enough to do for two people and I am feeling a little stifled by my colleague. Ahh well, hopefully things will pick up.
I have decided to stay in Serbia an extra day and not take the train to Croatia until Sunday so that I can spend one day in the city of Belgrade exploring and seeing something other than the inside of offices. Interestingly, there is a national election on Sunday. Unlike some places, it is expected to be peaceful regardless of the outcome, but no one really knows what that outcome will be. There are seven political parties which are estimated to receive between 5 and 35 percent of the vote, so there will have to be a coalition government, but none of the 7 are all that keen to work together.
Even more interestingly, the timing of the election has a lot to do with Kosovo. The Serbs view Kosovo as an integral part of their nation and feel that the international community has no right to decide on whether Kosovo should be independent. Kosovo is currently officially a province of Serbia, but it is a protectorate the UN/NATO. The Albanians in the province feel that as a discriminated against minority in Serbia but the significant majority of Kosovo, they have a right to independence. An advisory group has been preparing to advise the UN Security Council on whether Kosovo should become an independent state their verdict has been expected for some time.
Today I was told that last summer the Serbian government was concerned about the imminent verdict (in favor of Kosovo) and so the parliament rapidly drafted and passed a new constitution which, among other things, had a specific clause declaring Kosovo an integral part of Serbia. Parliament was then disbanded and elections are being held on Sunday. It is now expected that the Kosovo Advisory panel will present their suggestions to the UN Security Council one week after elections. This way, when the verdict comes out the political party that is now in power cannot be blamed as the decision will have been made right after the election.
It is also expected that the Security Council will decide in favor of independence for Kosovo, which already has it’s own government in place. Of course a key to successful independence is economic security and Kosovo really has very few opportunities, with a population of two million living on poor agricultural lands and surviving on remittances, which are declining as Albanians return to Kosovo. If Kosovo is given their independence, it is unknown what the reaction will be, but there are plans being put in place to deal with any contingencies.
This is a very interesting time in this region’s history and I will be watch closely as events unfold over the next couple of weeks.
I have decided to stay in Serbia an extra day and not take the train to Croatia until Sunday so that I can spend one day in the city of Belgrade exploring and seeing something other than the inside of offices. Interestingly, there is a national election on Sunday. Unlike some places, it is expected to be peaceful regardless of the outcome, but no one really knows what that outcome will be. There are seven political parties which are estimated to receive between 5 and 35 percent of the vote, so there will have to be a coalition government, but none of the 7 are all that keen to work together.
Even more interestingly, the timing of the election has a lot to do with Kosovo. The Serbs view Kosovo as an integral part of their nation and feel that the international community has no right to decide on whether Kosovo should be independent. Kosovo is currently officially a province of Serbia, but it is a protectorate the UN/NATO. The Albanians in the province feel that as a discriminated against minority in Serbia but the significant majority of Kosovo, they have a right to independence. An advisory group has been preparing to advise the UN Security Council on whether Kosovo should become an independent state their verdict has been expected for some time.
Today I was told that last summer the Serbian government was concerned about the imminent verdict (in favor of Kosovo) and so the parliament rapidly drafted and passed a new constitution which, among other things, had a specific clause declaring Kosovo an integral part of Serbia. Parliament was then disbanded and elections are being held on Sunday. It is now expected that the Kosovo Advisory panel will present their suggestions to the UN Security Council one week after elections. This way, when the verdict comes out the political party that is now in power cannot be blamed as the decision will have been made right after the election.
It is also expected that the Security Council will decide in favor of independence for Kosovo, which already has it’s own government in place. Of course a key to successful independence is economic security and Kosovo really has very few opportunities, with a population of two million living on poor agricultural lands and surviving on remittances, which are declining as Albanians return to Kosovo. If Kosovo is given their independence, it is unknown what the reaction will be, but there are plans being put in place to deal with any contingencies.
This is a very interesting time in this region’s history and I will be watch closely as events unfold over the next couple of weeks.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Eventful voyage
My trip to Serbia could definitely be classified as eventful. Because the trip was only approved a few days before I left, I bought my ticket at the last minute and so ended up stuck in the second-to-last row of the plane. The good news (or so I thought) was that there was an empty seat next to me, with a French gentleman in the aisle seat.
Shortly after dinner the Frenchman disappeared to the galley in the back of the plane from where a wonderful sewerage smell was wafting. My row-mate did not return for quite a while which was fine with me as I really just wanted to get some sleep on the plane as I knew I would have to hit the ground running when I arrived Belgrade the next day. At some point just as I was drifting off to sleep, I felt him crash down into the seat next to me – the empty seat. I took off my eye patch to glare at him and discovered that he had found a friend. He had brought a woman back to the seat and proceeded to spend the entire night flight drinking wine, chatting with her, which led to holding hands, smooching and even a little groping – all of which entailed a lot of noise and movement including bumping me several times as I was attempting to sleep leaning on the opposite side of the seat. It was one of those situations that was so bizarre that it did not really sink in until after the fact. The best part is that in the morning after she had returned to her seat, I realized that he had a wedding ring on – needless to say this was clearly not his wife as they ignored each other and headed off in opposite directions when we deplaned.
I had a 4 hour layover in Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris in the B terminal. Take this as a warning – if you ever have a layover in that terminal, just change your flight plans. There are a grand total of 10 seats in the entire terminal (no exaggeration) and to get to any other terminal you actually have to go through customs. After confirming with an AirFrance employee that this was really the situation, I went through customs and found and empty bench where I curled up like a bag lady and slept for a couple of hours inhaling second hand smoke with my cell phone in hand with alarm set.
Fortunately when I arrived in Belgrade I discovered that my colleague’s flight was delayed so I did a few hours of work and then did a few hours of sleep before heading out for dinner with the three colleagues from the home office who all happen to be out here at the same time. My first impression of the city is incredulity that the US government is actually investing in economic development here. (I am here again researching a potential new project in agribusiness development). Belgrade is now one of the hot spots for nightlife in Eastern Europe with brightly lit pedestrian streets filled with restaurants, shops and bars that I am told are even more lively in the summer. It seems like a bustling Eastern European captial with functional systems and a strong enough economy to support the consumerism on display.
Belgrade has a cell phone parking payment mechanism that lets you send a text message with your license plate number and time that you want to park and the amount is charged to your account. The parking police then just check the automatic database to see if you have paid. It seems like the US could learn something from Serbia! That said, drive around Belgrade and start talking to locals and I think the reasons for the US Government investment become clear. There are still many bombed out buildings in Belgrade from the 1999 NATO bombing to end the Milošević-lead ethnic cleansing of Albanians in Kosovo. The tensions here still run high, but my information now is all second hand – I am sure I will have more first hand information tomorrow.
One correction – the country is no longer Serbia and Montenegro. Montenegro declared their independence in June of last year (the day before the first World Cup match of the Serbia and Montenegro team) and they are now completely independent.
Shortly after dinner the Frenchman disappeared to the galley in the back of the plane from where a wonderful sewerage smell was wafting. My row-mate did not return for quite a while which was fine with me as I really just wanted to get some sleep on the plane as I knew I would have to hit the ground running when I arrived Belgrade the next day. At some point just as I was drifting off to sleep, I felt him crash down into the seat next to me – the empty seat. I took off my eye patch to glare at him and discovered that he had found a friend. He had brought a woman back to the seat and proceeded to spend the entire night flight drinking wine, chatting with her, which led to holding hands, smooching and even a little groping – all of which entailed a lot of noise and movement including bumping me several times as I was attempting to sleep leaning on the opposite side of the seat. It was one of those situations that was so bizarre that it did not really sink in until after the fact. The best part is that in the morning after she had returned to her seat, I realized that he had a wedding ring on – needless to say this was clearly not his wife as they ignored each other and headed off in opposite directions when we deplaned.
I had a 4 hour layover in Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris in the B terminal. Take this as a warning – if you ever have a layover in that terminal, just change your flight plans. There are a grand total of 10 seats in the entire terminal (no exaggeration) and to get to any other terminal you actually have to go through customs. After confirming with an AirFrance employee that this was really the situation, I went through customs and found and empty bench where I curled up like a bag lady and slept for a couple of hours inhaling second hand smoke with my cell phone in hand with alarm set.
Fortunately when I arrived in Belgrade I discovered that my colleague’s flight was delayed so I did a few hours of work and then did a few hours of sleep before heading out for dinner with the three colleagues from the home office who all happen to be out here at the same time. My first impression of the city is incredulity that the US government is actually investing in economic development here. (I am here again researching a potential new project in agribusiness development). Belgrade is now one of the hot spots for nightlife in Eastern Europe with brightly lit pedestrian streets filled with restaurants, shops and bars that I am told are even more lively in the summer. It seems like a bustling Eastern European captial with functional systems and a strong enough economy to support the consumerism on display.
Belgrade has a cell phone parking payment mechanism that lets you send a text message with your license plate number and time that you want to park and the amount is charged to your account. The parking police then just check the automatic database to see if you have paid. It seems like the US could learn something from Serbia! That said, drive around Belgrade and start talking to locals and I think the reasons for the US Government investment become clear. There are still many bombed out buildings in Belgrade from the 1999 NATO bombing to end the Milošević-lead ethnic cleansing of Albanians in Kosovo. The tensions here still run high, but my information now is all second hand – I am sure I will have more first hand information tomorrow.
One correction – the country is no longer Serbia and Montenegro. Montenegro declared their independence in June of last year (the day before the first World Cup match of the Serbia and Montenegro team) and they are now completely independent.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Serbia & Montenegro (but where is Kosovo)
I am flying out tomorrow to spend a week in Serbia and Montenegro looking at a new project. Once again, my knowledge of the coutry pre-departure is quite limited, but I do know that Kosovo is part of Serbia and yet is not in the list of regions in the country name - interesting.
I'm heading out on the trip with my new(ish) boss, which should make things interesting in all new ways. Stay tuned.
I'm heading out on the trip with my new(ish) boss, which should make things interesting in all new ways. Stay tuned.
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