Last Friday Yoani Sánchez received another type of recognition, when she was awarded the Ortega y Gasset Prize in Journalism by Spanish newspaper El País, the most prestigious in Spanish language (equivalent to the Pulitzer in English language) named after philosopher and journalist José Ortega y Gasset. As Penúltimos Días [es] reported, she received the award in the category of Digital Journalism for the following reason :

… por la perspicacia con la que su trabajo ha sorteado las limitaciones a la libertad de expresión que existen en Cuba, su estilo de información vivaz y el ímpetu con el que se ha incorporado al espacio global de periodismo ciudadano.

… for the perceptive way in which her work has dodged the limitations of freedom of expression that exist in Cuba, her sharp information style and the impulse with which she has joined the global space of citizen journalism.

Yoani wrote a post titled “I can't believe it!” after hearing about the award:

Esa porción de filóloga que aún me queda –que conoce de literatos, filósofos y nombres académicos- está dando saltos de contenta por el Premio Ortega y Gasset de periodismo que me han otorgado. La blogger, por su parte, siente que tantos obstáculos para acceder a Internet, tanto memory flash llevado de aquí para allá, ha valido la pena. Sólo atino a recordar que era abril –ya Eliot había reparado en la crueldad de la primavera- y decidí exorcizar mis demonios en un Blog. Comencé por expulsar al más paralizante, ese que nos hace apelar a la máscara, el disfraz y el silencio. El segundo en la fila de los desalojados, fue la apatía del que sabe que no puede hacerse mucho. A mediados de agosto, la legión formada por la frustración, el desencanto y las dudas ya drenaban con cada post. Lo que parecía una terapia personal, para sacudirme todos esos achaques, se convirtió en un espacio para muchos que, curiosa coincidencia, también tenían sus propios demonios. Lectores, yo sólo soy el rostro en la barra lateral de este sitio. Ustedes, polemistas, incendiarios, censores y boicoteadores, son, en fin de cuentas, los que hacen el Blog.

That portion of a philologist that I have left - that knows about people of letters, philosophers and academic names- is jumping for joy over the Ortega y Gasset Prize in Journalism that I've been awarded. The blogger, on the other hand, feels that for so many obstacles to access the internet, so many flash drives that I have carried around, have all been worth it.
I can only manage to remember that it was in April - Eliot had already noticed the cruelty of spring- that I decided to exorcise my demons in a Blog. I started by expelling the most paralizing of them all, that one that makes us resort to a mask, the disguise and the silence. The second one in the line of the abandoned, was the apathy of that who knows that not much can be done. In mid August, the crowd made of the frustration, the disillusion and the doubts were already draining away with each post. What seemed like a personal therapy, to shake off those ailments, became a space for many who, funny coincidence, also had their own demons.
Readers, I'm only the face on this site's sidebar. You, polemical, incendiary, censoring and boycotting readers, are, at the end of the day, the ones that make the blog.

Many blogs and readers have been celebrating Yoani Sánchez's award, such as Enrisco [es] , Bitácora cubana [es], El blog de Tania Quintero [es], just to name a few. Cuban writer Zoe Valdés, who lives in Paris, expressed a wish:

Ojalá el Premio Ortega y Gasset siga premiando a periodistas cubanos, notablemente a aquellos que se encuentran en celdas de castigo hoy en día, y que aún así siguen informando de la realidad de las cárceles cubanas. O a otros periodistas cubanos, que llevan años, en condiciones peores que la propia Yoani, ella misma lo ha dicho, intentando pasar la comunicación de la realidad, fuera de la isla, a través de llamadas de teléfonos, o a través de correos inseguros.

I hope that the Ortega y Gasset Prize Award continues recognizing Cuban journalists, especially those that are today in solitary confinement cells, and who in spite of that continue to inform about the reality of Cuban prisons. Or to other Cuban journalists who for years have been trying to communicate the reality of the island through phone calls or insecure mails, in worse condicions than Yoani - she said it herself.

Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge, Višegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina by Wodnerduck”, used under a Creative Commons license.

Day and Night, who posted a couple photos of the bridge, describes it as a masterpiece:

Characteristic of the apogee of Ottoman monumental architecture and civil engineering, the bridge has 11 masonry arches with spans of 11m to 15m, and an access ramp at right angles with four arches on the left bank of the river. The 179.5 m long bridge is a representative masterpiece of Sinan, one of the greatest architects and engineers of the classical Ottoman period and a contemporary of the Italian Renaissance, with which his work may be compared. The unique elegance of proportion and monumental nobility of the whole site bear witness to the greatness of this style of architecture.

The Bosnia News blog reports that on March 25th UNESCO Director Koichiro Matsuura presented the Bosnian authorities with a certificate on the listing of the bridge in a ceremony in Sarajevo, recognizing its “outstanding universal value.” However, Bosnia News explains that:

UNESCO Director Koichiro Matsuura's visit to Visegrad was canceled “for security reasons”. The organizers of the event decided not to hold the ceremony on the bridge after the Bosnian Association of Women Victims of War announced plans to put a plaque on the bridge commemorating genocide victims from Visegrad at a ceremony that was to have coincided with the certificate-awarding ceremony.
Members of this Bosnian association put the plaque on the bridge and read out the names of 3,000 genocide victims from Visegrad.

The Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge is the second monument in Bosnia that UNESCO has recognized, after the Old Bridge in Mostar. About the Mostar Bridge, the blog Balkan Cities reported that “a ‘chink' (a crack?) has appeared on Mostar's Stari Most (Old Bridge). Previously, UNESCO had forced Bosnian authorities to stop the construction of a hotel near the structure by threatening the country with the removal of the bridge from the World Heritage List.”

Speaking of the Mostar Bridge, the Italian-language blog Balkanscapes, which is devoted to the restoration of buildings destroyed during the 1990s Yugoslav wars, recently analyzed the significance of the new Old Bridge. This is how he describes the construction of the original bridge, which was destroyed in 1993:

Fortemente voluto da Solimano il Magnifico, venne realizzato nel 1556, in nove anni, dal geniale architetto Miram Hajruddin, il quale, ben consapevole delle difficoltà tecniche di realizzare un ponte di quelle dimensioni con un'unica arcata, e temendo l'ira di Solimano, che gli aveva promesso la morte in caso di crollo, preparò il suo stesso funerale per il giorno in cui sarebbero state tolte le impalcature. Il ponte non crollò, e per secoli rappresento il simbolo della convivenza tra etnie diverse, cattoliche/croate, musulmane/bosniache, ortodosse/serbe. Quel ponte fu, per secoli, la vera e più autentica porta verso l'Oriente.

Intensely wanted by Suleiman the Magnificent, it was finished in 1556, in nine years, by the brilliant architect Miram Hajruddin. Being aware of the technical difficulties to build a bridge of those dimensions with just one arch, and fearing the anger of Suleiman who had threatened him with death if it collapsed, the architect prepared his own funeral for the day in which the scaffolding would be removed. The bridge didn't collapse, and for centuries it has been a symbol of the cohabitation of diverse ethnic groups, catholics/Croats, muslims/Bosniaks, orthodox/Serbs. That bridge was, for centuries, the true and most authentic door towards the East.

However, he doesn't think that the current bridge, which re-opened in 2004 after years of reconstruction, has kept the same spirit of uniting the peoples of Mostar:

Ma quel ponte, che per secoli ha unito i quartieri croati a quelli musulmani della città, che per secoli è stato luogo di transito, di passaggio, di comunicazione […], ora sembra aver incorporato un'invisivile barriera. Da soglia tra due anime della città, così dicono in tanti, esso sembra ora essere un limite invalicabile.

But that bridge, which for centuries united the Croat and the Muslim quarters of the city, which for centuries has been a place of transit, of passage, of communication, now seems to have incorporated an invisible barrier. The threshold between two souls of the city, as many say, now seems to be an impassable boundary.

The post has several comments on the new Old Bridge, and one of them, by cicciosax, says that it “has become an ethnic symbol of the Muslims which, as it was to be expected, has been rejected by the Catholics, who erected a gigantic cross to confront it.”

Now a new cross, to be erected in Sarajevo as a memorial to the Serbian war victims, is causing discomfort in the city. Samaha explains why such a memorial would be offensive to most Sarajevans and why she is against the idea:

You and I know that when that memorial is viewed from the city, that when that memorial is pointed out, the reference that will be made to it is “that is the spot from where some of the deadliest attacks were cast upon our city”. I sincerely hope that this memorial does not go up because as I stated before the memorial will not serve the purpose of honoring the dead it will serve as a landmark of aggression and ethnic cleansing and to place a cross on that spot is neither a service to God or man but if the Serbs choose to honor their dead in this way then let them.

YakimaGulagLiteraryGazett also dislikes the idea of the cross memorial:

I think that kind of memorial has more in common territorial pissing or flipping the bird than it does with anything to do with religion. […] Most Muslim memorials to the war are of very modest dimensions, and even most Croat memorials are smaller. I find crosses of this type VERY un-Christian frankly.

And she wonders:

why don't these people help Serbian war survivors? Why don't they help the injured people from their side?

Easter by Nic Hyland, used under a Creative Commons Lincense.

Green Thursday

The Thursday before Easter is the day of the last supper, when Jesus Christ feasted with the apostles on lamb with bread and wine. Because of that, it is usual to bake lamb for Easter, but now real lamb often gets replaced with gingerbread lamb replica. The Journeys of Captain Oddsocks explains that Green Thursday is so called “because of the long green robes worn in church and the spinach and cabbage traditionally eaten on the day.” He also describes the customs of the day:

… customs include the boys’ game Chasing Judas, and the baking of twisted spiral buns representing serpents, the symbols of betrayal. In some villages there are processions led by a captive Judas in a straw suit which is ceremonially burnt at the end of the day. When sprinkled into a clean jug of water, the ashes of Judas were believed to have special powers including the abilities to guard against fire and protect the health of livestock for the coming year.

Easter Sunday

The Journeys of Captain Oddsocks describes Easter Sunday as “the big day”:

The day that Christ rose from the grave, the day of new life cleansed of suffering and victorious over death. The morning is for attending church services, (the bells having returned from Rome) and the early afternoon is set aside for a great feast. After the meal it’s time to visit relatives, and in some places to ride in a horseback procession through the countryside with blessed twigs to ensure fertile fields for the year ahead. While the men and boys are out gallivanting around on horses, girls are at home decorating eggs in preparation for the following day.

Egg Time by Semmi, used with permission.

Easter eggs are called kraslice, from the old Czech word krásný, meaning red, which was the most common colour used for dying. The designs are usually very intricate and, as The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia points out, “some eggs are even decorated by using a drill and hollowing out portions of the shell”. In fact, the techniques used to hand-paint and decorate them are truly an art form, and there are even competitions for the best kraslice and a museum dedicated to the craft.

During the weeks preceding Easter, Czech and Slovak cities have street markets selling kraslice, gingerbread lambs and other Easter items, such as the one in Prague's Old Town Square, photographed by My Czech Republic Blog.

Red Monday

Easter Monday practices, involving boys pouring water over girls and lightly whipping them with braided branches, are the most controversial of Easter traditions. As The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia explains, “if you are not Slovak and didn’t grow up around these traditions, you might find them at best—odd, at worst—barbaric.”

What? by Laura Appleyard, used under a Creative Commons license.

So what happens exactly on Easter Monday? The Czech Daily World explains the pomlázka whipping tradition:

Throughout the day men (usually in groups) visit their female relatives and friends and spank them with special whips. […] These whips are hand-made from willow rods, the length ranges from 50 centimeters to two meters. There are ribbons at the end. There used to be a tradition that women would add their own ribbons so the whip would say how many women the particular man has already visited but this seems to fizzle out. And women are chased around (if they decide to make it interesting or to play along), or they just stand motionless and the male visitors would spank her butt. However, it should not hurt. Or at least not throughout the whole procedure.

The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia explains why willow branches are used to make the pomlázka (which is called korbáč in Slovak): “It is the first tree that ‘wakes’ in spring and, according to folk tradition, the fertility and vitality from the branches were thought to flow into the woman during this act.”

Czech Mate Diary explains the exchange taking place during the whipping:

If you were one of the first houses the mob visited, you were lucky: the guys are still kind of sober, kind of polite and kind of mellow. You let them into the living room - or better - just a hallway, give them some refreshments, offer them more vodka and let them “spank” you. If they still have their egg baskets, you would also stuff couple of eggs in them and if you are lucky they leave afterwards.

Pomlázka whipping in the village of Hříchovice, near Pilsen.

Tischler's in Prague posted an article from the Prague Daily Monitor on an American woman's reaction to the tradition:

…men and boys […] go door to door singing Easter carols, demanding “treats” (eggs, chocolate, liquor, or a peck on the cheek) and the right to beat the women with their pomlázka whips for good luck. While my female students said they generally enjoyed decorating Easter eggs and preparing Easter sweets, none seemed too fond of the pomlazka or gendered traditions.
[…] Being both female and a foreigner, I presented a problematic situation. Should our hostess offer me chocolate eggs and liquor as she did her male friends? Should she offer me nothing? In the end, I was given a warm welcome and a glass of red wine.

In addition to whipping, Easter Monday also involves dousing. According to The Journeys of Captain Oddsocks, in some regions the girls get their revenge on Tuesday when it’s their turn with the whips, while in other regions they return the rejuvenation with a bucket of ice-cold water. In Slovakia, however, it seems that it's the girls who get watered on Easter Monday. The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia explains the ritual:

…it’s customary for the girls and women to stay at home while the boys and men, usually dressed in nicer clothing and sometimes even in kroj – traditional costume, go from the residence of one relative to another, bringing greetings and intending to oblievat’ – to “water” the female relatives present. Water is the symbol of life and the pouring of water is a gesture meant to bestow year long health and beauty. Some use a spray of perfume instead of water, or both.
Isn’t that nice? The women folk get watered and whipped while the men get fed and given drinks, and the little boys are given money or chocolate in exchange for their work of the day. Just so you know, being watered can range from having a teaspoon of warm tap water dribbled over you (my personal experience), to a bucket of frigid well water thrown at you.

Instead, Greece, and the U.N. by default, have continued to call Macedonia by the name “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. As former B92 blogger Lucy Moore points out, “It’s an awfully long name for a tiny country, but you can call it FYROM for short”. To which she adds: “With Greece still hung up on a name from the third century B.C., Serbia's 1389 claim to Kosovo suddenly seems more reasonable”.

Photo by Tigertweet, used with permission.

Now the dispute over the name of the former Yugoslav republic could jeopardize its bid to join the EU and NATO, both of which Greece is a member. An invitation to join NATO is expected at the summit of the organization to be held in Bucharest in April, and after Kosovo's declaration of independence last month, Macedonian officials say the country (which has a sizable Albanian minority) needs membership in the security organization, and later in the European Union, to maintain stability.

However, Greece has threatened to veto Macedonia's membership bid if it does not change its current name (Republic of Macedonia). In addition to NATO, Macedonia is hoping to start accession negotiations with the EU in the fall, based on an EU progress report released last week. The only problem could be, again, its name. In the words of the EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, “If we can't settle this issue, I'm afraid it will have negative ramifications [for EU accession]”. Balkan Baby urges both sides to reach a compromise soon for maintaining stability in the region, with more flexibility on Greece's side:

Given the current instability which looms over the entire Balkan region, it seems highly irresponsible of the Greeks, as a relatively affluent country, to try and hinder the progress of Macedonia, a poor but democratically aspiring country which unlike Serbia wishes to bring itself closer to the West and encourages stability. Greek opposition is likely to infuriate Macedonian nationalists and this in turn could lead to a repeat of the bloody clashes that occurred in 2001 against the republic's Albanian minority. It seems that it is time for Greece to step down from its pedestal and start playing a more responsible and mature role in the region, something which for sometime it has tried to avoid as it promotes itself as a Mediterranean nation rather than being part of the Balkans. Out of defiance maybe Macedonia can ask for Greece to be forced to change its name to The Former Ottoman Hellenic Republic of Athens?

Dieneke's Anthropology Blog describes at great length the intricacies of the name issue, explaining why both sides have a right to the name:

The dispute centers around the issue of the use of the adjective “Macedonian”. This adjective has a geographical sense, describing someone who is from the geographical region of Macedonia. However, for the inhabitants of FYROM [Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia], it also has an ethnic sense, since many (or most) Slavic-speaking inhabitants of FYROM consider themselves to be Macedonian in an ethnic sense. […]
-The people of Greece are justified in wanting to deny exclusive rights to the Macedonian name to FYROM, because FYROM encompasses only part of Macedonia: geographically, the northern part; genetically, a subset of the Macedonian blood; linguistically, a Slavic dialect of the Macedonian region.
-The people of FYROM are justified in wanting to have some rights to the name Macedonian: they inhabit parts of Macedonia, they speak a Macedonian dialect of the Slavic group, and they have come to think of themselves as a separate nation from other Balkan Slavs.

Demonstration in Thessaloniki for the name change of the Republic of Macedonia. Photo by Pappalicious, used under a Creative Commons license.

Both Macedonian and Greek bloggers feel very strongly about the name issue, which external observers like Greater Surbiton, find hard to understand:

…it may be difficult for a sane person to understand what is happening here: try to imagine the English fighting with the Welsh over whether Boadicea was ‘English’ or ‘Welsh’, or with the French over whether Richard the Lionheart was ‘English’ or ‘French’. Try to imagine the French fighting with the Germans over whether Charlemagne was ‘French’ or ‘German’. This is something that no mature, democratic nation would do. Yet in the twenty-first century, it is apparently possible for NATO expansion and Balkan stability to be jeopardized over something like this. In fact, the implications are even more dangerous: if Slavs are not allowed to share in the heritage of Alexander the Great, are British citizens of West Indian or Asian origin allowed to share in the heritage of Boadicea or Richard the Lionheart ? Are German Jews allowed to share in the heritage of Frederick Barbarossa, or Italian Jews in the heritage of Julius Caesar?

UN envoy Matthew Nimetz, who is tasked with helping Athens and Skopje find a solution to their 17-year-old dispute, has been busy since last month, negotiating the search for a name acceptable to both sides. He recently presented a set of 5 possible alternative names and has been meeting representatives of both countries. The proposed names were: Constitutional Republic of Macedonia, Democratic Republic of Macedonia, Independent Republic of Macedonia, New Republic of Macedonia and Republic of Upper Macedonia. The proposals were not very well received: a few Macedonian blogs circulated petitions against a name change, thousands of people protested in Macedonia, and there have been similar demonstrations in Thessaloniki, the capital of Macedonia in northern Greece.

The blog Say:Macedonia, whose author considers that “it is a basic human right to choose a name for yourself and to express your nationality,” comments on one of the most popular proposals amongst Greek media in an open letter to UN envoy Mathew Nimetz:

In relation to “Upper Macedonia”, while the Greek government has indicated its willingness to agree to this name (as the Greek media has reported in the last few days), it should be pointed out that this name is inconsistent with its official position. If an “Upper Macedonia” exists then logically there is also a “Lower Macedonia.” Therefore having this in mind, how can the Greek government argue, among other things, that the name “Republic of Macedonia” has irredentist claims on northern Greece, but the name “Upper Macedonia” would not?

The Macedonian flag over the town of Ohrid
(Photo by rtw2007, used with permission)

As NATO's summit in April is approaching, time is running out for a deal between Skopje and Athens to solve the 17-year-long dispute, so a few bloggers have made themselves useful by suggesting alternative solutions to the dispute. Here is Greek blogger's Eugenia Loli-Queru idea:

The solution is to make both countries, a single country. Call it “Macedonia and Greece”, or call it “Macedreece” or call it “Greedonia”, I don’t really care. The point is, these two cultures have MORE in common than they think they do. Ancient Macedonians were very similar in their culture and religion with the rest of Greece. It takes guts to merge two countries, but it has been done in the past, and it can be done again, peacefully. […]
My final argument is this: both cultures adore Great Alexander, and each one wants the hero to be their exclusive hero. And yet, all Great Alexander wanted for both, was a united Macedonia-Greece. By not having the wisdom to merge after 2,500 years, neither of you deserve him as its hero.

Other bloggers like Florian Bieber think that, following Macedonia's name proposals, generally republics should be required to add meaningful descriptive adjectives to their names:

“Smallish Republic of Montenegro” (SROCG)
“Kinda Democratic Republic of Serbia” (KDROS)
“Democratic Federal and Sometimes Confederal Republic of Three Equal Constituent People and Nobody Else of Bosnia and Herzegovina” (DFSCRTECPNEBH)

Now there's even a Facebook group where you can contribute to finding a solution for the dispute by suggesting a suitable adjective for Macedonia, which includes proposals like Post-Modern Republic of Macedonia (PoMoSoMa), The Not Even Remotely, Honestly not even a little bit, Hellenic Republic of Macedonia (NERHNELBHRM) or Ajvarska Republika Makedonija (ARM).

From Venezuela, Curiosa congratulates [es] all women:

… a todas esas mujeres que le echan un camión de pierna cada día, aquellas a las que les dijeron que no podrían salir airosas de una enfermedad, aquellas que les dijeron que eran muy chamas o muy viejas o muy novatas para ese cargo, aquellas que fueron subestimadas sin saber su potencial, aquellas que fueron ridiculizadas, aquellas que fueron vejadas, aquellas que fueron víctimas, aquellas que les costó y les está costando un mundo sacar a sus hijos o a su familia adelante, aquellas que ríen y lloran sin pena de expresar lo que sienten y no sentirse por eso menos que nadie, a todas esas mujeres que deben batallar con un prototipo de tetas operadas y cuerpos “perfectos” en un mundo lleno de eso cada día mas, a todas ustedes mujeres, porque dentro de cada una saben qué es lo que más las hace fuertes, lo que mas las motiva, lo que las saca adelante.
Porque se que dentro de todas y cada una de ustedes esta la llave, la clave, para salir adelante y mirar alto con orgullo y decir: Nunca me subestimes, porque en realidad no me conoces.

… all those women that have a truck on their leg every day, the ones that were told that wouldn't be able to overcome an illness, the ones that were told that they were too young or too old or too inexperienced for a post, those that were underestimated without knowing their potential, those that were ridiculed, those that were humiliated, those that were victims, those that are struggling to raise their kids or their family, those that laugh and cry without embarrassment of showing their feelings or feeling inferior to anyone because of that, those that have to face the model of a woman with breast implants and “perfect” bodies in a world with increasingly more of those, to all of you women, because inside each one of you there is something that makes you strong, something that motivates you, something that makes you go forward. Because I know that inside all and each one of you there is the key to survive everything and look up with pride and say: Never underestimate me, because in fact you don't know me.

Also from Venezuela, Yosmary Delgado [es] pays a tribute to courageous women in Latin America, such as Arlen Siu Bermúdez, am 18-year old revolutionary student leader against the Nicaraguan dictatorship that was assassinated by Anastasio Somoza's National Guard. She also posts a song dedicated to her, as well as a couple of videos honoring women.

Photo by Subcomandanta and used under a Creative Commons license.

Sara Herrera B from the Dominican Republic also pays a tribute [es] to all the women that forged the country: “María Trinidad Sánchez, Manuela Diez (mother of Juan Pablo Duarte), Concepción Bona, María Baltasara De Los Reyes, Salomé Ureña, Juana Saltitopa, and other courageous women that are nowadays an example in our society”. And Malena Ezcurra [es] from Argentina, remembers the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, for their courage in protesting for their lost children by themselves, tireless and without fear:

Han extendido su ejemplo de lucha acercando su solidaridad a otras madres de desaparecidos y presos políticos de Latinoamérica y el mundo; participando activamente en las luchas sociales de los que creen que un orden mundial más justo es posible. A ellas el homenaje de cada día y el de hoy, por la verdad y la dignidad de los pueblos. “Nunca Más”.

They have extended their example of struggle bringing their solidarity to other mothers of the disappeared and political prisoners in Latin America and the world; participating actively in the social struggle of those who believe that a fairer world order is possible. To them, a daily homage and also in this special day, for the truth and dignity of peoples. “Never Again”.

“Cigarettes kill, Machismo also kills” - Photo by Flora G and used under Creative Commons license

Zenia Regalado from Cuba notes that [es] there are still many women in the world complaining about the need for such a day, because it means that women are still far from being regarded with equity, and he explains the situation of feminism in Cuba:

en [Cuba] la palabra feminismo no ha encontrado aún aceptación, si bien miles de congéneres la llevan a la práctica en la cotidianidad ante la ruptura de la pareja y la crianza en solitario de los hijos, lo cual demanda de una red de apoyo personal entre familiares y amigos para escalar las cimas de las tres dimensiones: madre, hija, trabajadora asalariada (sea profesional o no).

in [Cuba] the word feminism is still not used, although there are thousands of women putting it into practice on a daily basis after a breakup with their partner, and having to bring up the children by themselves, which requires a network of personal support amongst relatives and friends to reach the top of the three dimensions: mother, daughter, wage-earning worker (professionally or not)

Desde dos mundos [es], quotes José Saramago, the Nobel laureate writer, in response to women that are wondering if such a day is necessary:

Yo escribo, Pilar escribe, traduce, habla en la radio, cuida del marido, cuida la casa, cuida los perros, hace las compras, hace la comida, y escribe, traduce, habla en la radio, cuida del marido y de la casa, y de los perros, y sale a hacer las compras, y vuelve para hacer la comida , y escribe, traduce, habla en la radio y se encarga de la ropa, y acoge a los amigos y sigue, incansable, dialogando con el mundo, y dice “Estoy cansada” y luego dice “Pero no importa”. Yo escribo.

I write, Pilar writes, translates, talks on the radio, takes care of her husband, takes care of the house, takes care of the dogs, she goes grocery shopping, she cooks, and she writes, translates, talks on the radio, takes care of her husband, and of the house, and of the dogs, and she goes grocery shopping, and she comes back to cook again, and she writes, and she translates, talks on the radio, and takes care of the laundry, and she entertains some guests and continues, breathless, talking with the world, and she says “I'm tired” and then she says “But it doesn't matter”. I write.

For Susana Villarán [es], from Peru, this day is also necessary because there are still thousands of women that are not aware of their rights and who need to make their voice heard:

Mientras Juana e Ignacia sean maltratadas en las comisarías y las ninguneen, mientras no entiendan el castellano con el que les habla el policía, la Fiscal o el Juez. Mientras Juana e Ignacia sientan vergüenza de haber sido violadas creyendo que es su deber, sin saber siquiera que es un delito el que comete su pareja y que podría terminar en la cárcel si ella lo denuncia.
Mientras ellas amanezcan y se acuesten con miedo, habrá que seguir luchando.

While Juana and Ignacia are being mistreated or looked down upon in police stations, while they are spoken in Spanish, a language that they don't understand by the police, the attorney or the judge. While Juana and Ignacia feel the shame of being raped thinking that it was their duty, not even knowing that the one commiting an offense is their partner and that he could end up in jail if she reported him. While they still wake up and go to bed with fear, we will have to continue fighting.

Photo by FloraG, used under a Creative Commons license.

Cuban writer Zoe Valdés [es], who lives in Paris, is skeptical about the supposed change that will come to Cuba:

Y como Castro nos tiene acostumbrados a esos numeritos, la única renuncia en la que creeré será en la de la muerte. De cualquier modo, su hermano es el mismo perro con diferente collar, uno de los hombres más crueles y perversos de la historia de Cuba y de la humanidad. Con Castro II no creo en cambio alguno. El cambio sólo puede venir de la democracia, de la liberación inmediata de los presos políticos, del reconocimiento de las organizaciones disidentes de dentro y del exilio. El cambio sólo vendrá cuando Marta Beatriz Roque, Osvaldo Payá, u otros de dentro, o figuras del exilio puedan intervenir en un espacio democrático dentro de la isla. No pienso que Raúl Castro asumirá semejante riesgo

… since we are used to such acts by Castro, the only resignation I will believe is the one brought by death. In any case, his brother is the same dog with a different collar, one of the cruelest and most perverse men in the history of Cuba and of humanity. With Castro II, I don't believe in any changes. Change can only come from democracy, from the immediate liberation of political prisoners, from the recognition of dissident organizations in Cuba and in exile. Change will only come when Marta Beatriz Roque, Osvaldo Payá, or others from the inside, or figures in exile, can intervene in a democratic space within the island. I don't think that Raúl Castro will assume the risk.

Ivan García [es], guestblogging at Tania Quintero's blog, is equally pessimistic about the expectations for change:

Cansados de campañas revolucionarias, marchas y consignas, los cubanos dudan que el próximo presidente, que se espera sea su hermano Raúl Castro, de 76 años, no sea una continuación de su política. […] Algunos como Juan Oñate, 44, obrero, cree que aunque nada cambie, “al menos Raúl habla menos y no está presente tanto en la vida de los cubanos como Fidel”. […] Pero ya la calma escasea. Tras casi 50 años de pobreza material y penurias, la paciencia se agota y la desilusión aumenta. Las encuestas internas realizadas por el partido comunista reflejan que la popularidad de los hermanos Castro y de su sistema político cuenta con menos del 25 por ciento de apoyo de la población.

Tired of revolutionary campaigns, marches and slogans, the Cuban people are doubting that the next president, who is expected to be his brother Raúl Castro, aged 76, is not going to be a continuation of his politics. […] Some, like Juan Oñate, 44, construction worker, believe that even if nothing changes “at least Raúl talks less and is not as present in the life of Cuban people as Fidel”. […] But the peace is scarce. After almost 50 years of material poverty and dearth, patience is running out. Internal surveys by the communist party reveal that the popularity of the Castro brothers and their political system is supported by less than 25 percent of the population.

After Castro released another letter on Friday calling for “a united vote in favor of the Presidency of the General Assembly” and thus continuing to meddle in Cuban politics, Alexis Gainza [es] declared that “joy lasted as much as a meringue in a school”.

Bloggers like Cuban in London, quoting Frank Sinatra, regret that Castro is stepping down after so many years on his own terms:

It’s hard for a British citizen to understand the stature of the outgoing leader. After all, the Cuban president outlived nine British Prime Ministers and ten American dignitaries. And he did it his way.

He also adds some blueprints for change in Cuba:

There are four principles, in my understanding, that Cuba should follow: the development of a free media and an independent judiciary are the first two. Economic and financial opening to foreign investors (as long as cherished achievements like education and health are not touched) and accountability should be the other two.

However, for Lou Rodríguez at Ninety Miles Away there's nothing to envy in Castro's way of leaving power:

Whatever the media may say about leaving on his own terms, leaving as a doddering old man, evacuating from three orifices, you can be sure, was never on his wish list. I could almost find it in my heart to feel sorry for him, almost. My head, however, offers no absolution. I will dance metaphorically over his grave, if the old buzzard doesn't outlast me.

For Jaime Leygonier [es], Castro didn't retire, he was made to retire:

No se retira, Fidel Castro era incapaz de retirarse, incapaz de saberse incapaz, lo retiraron hace año y medio con una incruenta revuelta palaciega, todos contra el animal enfermo, como mismo retiró Stalin a Lenin, para que se repusiera de su enfermedad bien lejos y bien oculto. Muy mal tenía que estar el anciano jefe de la manada para que con absoluta unanimidad lo desaparecieran sus secuaces.

He does not retire. Fidel Castro is incapable of retiring, incapable of knowing that he is incapable. He was retired a year and a half ago in a palace coup, all of them against the sick animal, just like when Stalin retired Lenin, so that he would recover from his illness, very far and very hidden away. The chief of the herd must have been in pretty ill in order to be made to disappear in absolute unanimity by his henchmen.

Review of Cuban-American Blogs criticizes Western media for their moral relativism towards Fidel Castro:

If Hitler had retired as Führer before 1939, what would the reaction of the Western media have been to his decision? Not much different, we suppose, to their reaction to Castro's “retirement” as Cuba's president-for-life.
[…] The media now recoils at condemning tyrants for their crimes as if their own objectivity were judged by their subjectivity to them. When forced to mention those crimes the media characterize them as allegations made by the tyrant's detractors. But their so-called achievements are never identified as the allegations of their apologists.

Another issue widely discussed in the Cuban blogosphere was the official visit of Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State for the Vatican, on Wednesday to mark the 10th anniversary of the Pope's landmark visit to Cuba in 1998. Rui Ferreira [es] describes the mass that Bertone officiated in Havana's Cathedral square, followed by about 3,000 Cubans who expressed their desire to receive the visit of Pope Benedict XVI soon “to bring us peace and improvements, which are very much needed”, according to a woman attending the mass.

Reinier “El Gusano” Potts at Babalu Blog, after quoting an article in The Independent describing Bertone's mass, expresses his disgust:

The sight of these Cuban Communist henchmen participating in a Mass is revolting. But, I have to confess that I get a little perverse pleasure out of the irony of hearing about this bunch of murdering thugs having to bow to the Almighty in a sobering preview of the judgment that’s ultimately coming their way, in a ceremony that could very well represent the last rites for the regime. At least raul had enough sense not to attend.

Marc Masferrer has published human rights violations in Cuba this week, such as unlawful arrests of independent journalists, and has also posted a musical a tribute to political prisoner Oscar Elias Biscet, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for opposing the regime in 2003. A campaing was launched this week to pressure the Cuban dictatorship for his release, he reported.

Penúltimos días [es], who also posted a song as a soundtrack for today's Assembly election, has been collecting media reactions to Castro's announcement to retire. And amongst those, he started a Top 10 of the most stupid things written about Castro in the last few days, with readers' contributions in the comments section. One reader mentioned a comment made by filmmaker Michael Moore, who shot part of his latest film Sicko in Cuba and wondered about the possibility of bringing Castro to give his acceptance speech:

As long as he keeps it under five hours. I'm telling you, that's got to be a ratings grabber. Can you imagine him? Showing up? If I could talk to (Oscar producer) Gil Cates and maybe get Castro in a dance number at the beginning of the show? Great.

It turns out Castro is a great subject for entertainment and humor, as shown by Claudia4Libertad collection of recent jokes about him on American television late night shows. Here's a sample from David Letterman's show, who also made a list of ‘10 reasons why Fidel Castro is retiring':

Experts believe that now that he has resigned,” Castro “will either be succeeded by his brother, Raul, or by his idiot son, Fidel W. Castro.

To finish this roundup, here's a very illustrative little parable that Enrique del Risco wrote [es] in his blog:

[…] un niño al que un compañero de juegos había hecho dar su palabra de honor (o de pionero, no recuerdo bien) de que se mantendría de guardia en el parque hasta que vinieran a relevarlo. Pasan las horas y el niño se mantiene de pie haciendo guardia, aterido de frío sin que el supuesto relevo aparezca. Al fin un transeúnte le pregunta qué hace allí y el niño le explica. El hombre trata de convencerlo de que se trata sólo de un juego, que seguramente los niños que le encomendaron hacer guardia estarán en sus casas calentitos pero el niño se aferra a la palabra empeñada. Por fin el hombre, convencido de la firmeza del muchacho busca a un policía y le explica la situación. El policía va entonces hasta el muchacho y le dice que él es un oficial superior y ha venido a informarle que su turno de guardia ha terminado tras lo cual el niño medio congelado entiende que ya no se trata de romper con su palabra sino de acatar nuevas órdenes y haciendo un saludo marcial se marcha. El cuento terminaba, si no recuerdo mal, con el hombre que había ido en busca del policía admirado ante la firmeza del niño. De más está decir que no era un cuento destinado a enaltecer nuestra firmeza sino a reafirmarnos la docilidad. […] Ya no somos niños, hace mucho tiempo todos hemos visto que todo no se trata más que de un juego. Los que dieron la orden original están calentitos en su casa o simplemente muertos mientras nuestros melancólicos no hacen más que aferrarse a viejas consignas, a las viejas palabras empeñadas, como a un instinto en el que al parecer les va casi todo, empezando por su propia idea de sí mismo. Sólo les digo esto: la realidad no es tan generosa como el cuento. Si aparece un nuevo policía será para decirles que todavía les quedan unas cuantas horas de guardia.

[…] a kid gives his word to a playmate that he would stand guard in the park until he would be relieved. Hours pass by and the kid stands guard, stiff with cold, with no sign of being relieved by someone else. Finally a passerby asks him what he's doing there and the boy explains. The man tries to convince him that it was just a game, and that probably the kids that sent him to stand guard while they would in the warmth of their homes, but the kid sticks to his word. In the end, the man, convinced by the firmness of the kid, looks for a policeman and explains the situation. The policeman then asks the kid and tells him that his an upper-ranking officer and that he came to inform him that his shift is over, after which the half-frozen boy understands that it's not about breaking his word but about following new orders, and with a military salute he goes away. The tale ended, if I remember correctly, with the man that had looked for the policeman being really impressed with the little boy's firmness. Needless to say it wasn't a tale destined to extol our firmness but to reaffirm our submissiveness. […] We are not children anymore, we all realized a long time ago that this is just a game. The ones that gave the original order are in the warmth of their homes or simply dead while our nostalgia is just hanging onto old orders, to old words given, like an instinct in which they have everything to loose, starting by their own idea of themselves. I just tell them this: reality is not as generous as the tale. If a new policeman appears it will be to announce that they still have a few more hours of standing guard left.

However, Spain vehemently protested to Russia a few days ago over remarks by President Vladimir Putin in which he likened the situation in Kosovo to that in Spain's Basque and Catalan regions. For the Spanish government, Kosovo has nothing to do either with Catalonia or with the Basque Country.

Photo from the blog Catalonia, the next state in Europe

Bloggers in Catalonia have been debating the issue intensely during the last few days. While supporters of an independent Catalonia have welcomed Kosovo's independence with campaigns like adding a banner recognizing the new state or including the title “Today Kosovo, Tomorrow Catalonia” in as many blogs as possible, other Catalan bloggers agree with the position of the Spanish government.

Diari del votant anònim [cat] thinks that Scotland is a much better model to admire, and Joan Safont [cat] thinks that Kosovo should not be dismissed as an example to follow by other European regions with aspirations of sovereignty:

It is not comparable with Catalonia or the Basque Country. However, I think that any process towards sovereignty in Europe should take it into consideration. That's the reason why we are so repeatedly told that the two cases are different.
[…] Kosovo might not be our mirror, but every time that a new state says freely what and how it wants to be, the world becomes freer.

Narcís Sastre [cat], however, is not sure about what to think:

I can't help but having contradictory feelings. On one hand, as a defender of people's right to self-determination, I am happy for Kosovo, but I can't help feeling a certain empathy with Serbia, who is witnessing the loss of a territory with a great symbolic and historical value.

The Basque government, on the other hand, expressed its enthusiasm even before Kosovo's declaration of independence considering it an example of “how to solve identity and belonging conflicts in a peaceful and democratic way”. Basque senator Iñaki Anasagasti also applauded Kosovo's move in his blog [es]:

The best news of the week have been the independence of Kosovo. Not a single bullet shot, not a single kale borroka action, with a new president visiting the Serbs in Kosovo assuring them that the new country in which everybody will live without discrimination and with respect.

These statements have stirred controversy on the issue and have been rejected by a wide array of Spanish blogs and forums, that consider that Basque politicians like Anasagasti “live in a parallel reality”. A user of the social portal Menéame ironically says:

So in Kosovo there was no genocide, there was no bombing by NATO, it's not an occupied country in which only the presence of foreign forces guarantees the peace, there are no old hatreds… all of that took place in my imagination.

Photo by Baxerrian, used with permission.

For Francisco Veiga [es], what is at stake in Europe after Kosovo's independence is not that it may create a precedent for other territories, but the type of precedent that it is:

[…] What is being debated here is not the old byzantine-politological discussion about the intangibility of really existing borders or the hypothetical “domino effect” on Iberian sovereignty movements. The issue at stake is another.
The central problem […] is that Washington and Brussels are recognizing, de facto and de jure, the validity of the armed way to achieve nationalist political objectives in the European continent. Or more precisely, the old basic principle of “action-reaction” of guerrilla and terrorist groups since more than a century. Because that's what is shown by the fact that the current Albanian-Kosovar Prime Minister of Kosovo is Hashin Thaçi, a former guerrilla commander of UÇK whose code name was “Snake.” Or that another Prime Minister, Ramush Haradinaj, also a former military leader of UÇK, is being tried in the ICTY in The Hague for War Crimes.

He also adds, in his latest post, that the EU has unknowingly managed to align most Balkan countries in their lack of enthusiasm for Kosovo's declaration of independence, and criticizes EU's role in the process:

In fact, EU's behavior in the Balkans doesn't differ all that much from the one that European hegemonic powers would have adopted a century ago. Actually, it's the perfect anniversary: 1908-2008. The first date marks the annexation by the Austro-Hungarian Empire of what was then the protectorate of Bosnia-Hercegovina, which led to the Great War five years later.

Although in his blog Cartas del Este [es] Basque professor Asier Blas didn't support Kosovo's independence, he is is optimistic about the benefits of the new state of Kosovo for its Serbian minority:

At the end of the day [Kosovo] is not for me and not for you, not for Albania nor Serbia, it's for Kosovars. And in the long term this move especially favors the Serbs, because if Kosovo manages to establish itself as an entity with its own uniqueness, the ghosts of a future Greater Albania will be left behind […]
We should add to all this the opportunities that the future membership to the European Union will bring. If it happens not too far away in the future, the outcome will be that the Albanian and Serbian populations will have a very free relationship with Albania and Serbia. Newspapers from Serbia will reach Serbian-Kosovars, as well as TV stations and other cultural products. There will not be boundaries and regional economic integration will be underway, which will make it possible to play down the limits of the current states.

Shannon, an American working for the UN in Pristina, on Feb. 10 described what is expected to happen next regarding Kosovo's independence:

It seems that the clock is ticking on Kosovo's independence. It is expected that Kosovo's parliament will sign a declaration of intent to declare independence on 17 February. The actual declaration is due to take place in early March. The timing of the decision is interesting as it looks to be set to take place right before the meeting of the EU and on Sunday which would give more than 100 countries a chance to recognize Kosovo's independence before the UN in NY woke up and Russia could call an emergency session of the Security Council to block the move. There are fears that jovial mobs of Albanians celebrating may attack fleeing, angry, and scared Serb communities who are expected to make a mass exodus from Kosovo following independence despite Kosovo PM's assurances and pretty speeches about how Kosovo Serbs should stay.

And, in her last post on Feb. 14, she added:

Lately the news makes my head spin in regards to Kosovo's independence declaration. There are so many conflicting reports about what will actually take place this Sunday. Will it be an intent to declare or an actual declaration…at this point, I really can't tell and anyone who reads the news as I do is probably just as confused about what is going on. The UN has issued a warning to staff to be vigilant and to not take part in any celebrations in their official capacity and Serbia's PM has asked Kosovo Serbs to stay put and reaffirmed that Belgrade will never recognize the declaration. Meanwhile, some Serbs in the north are ready for a fight should Kosovo try to rein in north of the Ibar river.

Photo of Prizren from Wikipedia licensed as public domain.

At the end of January, as Slovenia was entering its second month of EU presidency, a memo of consultations between the U.S. State Department and Slovenia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was leaked to the media. In the memo, Americans outlined their foreign policy priorities (including support for Kosovo's independence). This sparked a heated debate in Slovenia. Slovenian blogger Sleeping with Pengovsky has recently expressed his opinion on what his country's position should be:

As odd as it may seem, Slovenia and Kosovo share a common link in recent history (apart for the fact that they’ve both been a part of Yugoslavia).

[…] Milošević started the breakup of Yugoslavia in Kosovo and it is only right and fitting that the process come full circle and ends where it started twenty-one years ago. Slovenia declared independence only four years after that fateful phrase and the memory of every political power in the world (including the EU and the US) trying to block our way to independence one way or another is still very much alive.

Not so much out of solidarity or heeding to a US dictate, but out of the fact that Kosovo has similar legal grounds for independence and that Serbia lost it by waging war against its people (just as it did in Slovenia), I think that Slovenia must recognize Kosovo as soon as it declares independence. I think it is only fair that Slovenia uses the same arguments when deciding on this as it did when arguing its own case for independence seventeen years ago.

Dr. Filomena, another Slovenian blogger, disagrees with that view. For her, Slovenia shouldn't be the first to recognize Kosovo's independence, “if for no other reason, then for the sake of our investments in Serbia.” She also discusses whether Serbia should be entitled to have a say in the matter and be compensated for Kosovo's loss:

I hope that whether or not Serbia is entitled to a say in the issue of Kosovo’s independence in the eyes of the EU or the US that keeps one of its largest military bases in the world in Kosovo, a region that is positioned strategically and holds an enviable reserves of lignite, which are estimated at around 12 billion tonnes (source), other natural resources and fertile land with cheap labour to boot, I do hope that they offer Serbia what its people will consider fair compensation for lost territories and resources. Considering what’s at stake, it shouldn’t be so hard to offer the country something more tangible than the EU freer trade, visa liberalisation and educational exchanges […]

Although for most external observers and international media the independence of Kosovo is inevitable, for Serbian bloggers that outcome is still debatable and a painful issue, as expressed by Serbian-Croatian blogger Boris Matijas [es] in a little metaphor of EU negotiations with Serbia on the Kosovo issue:

-Can I cut your arm?
-No
-Can I cut your arm? Please
-No!
-Come on, let me cut your arm, please.
-No, stop being a pain!
-Ok, fine. No need to get so worked up.
Some years later…
-Let me cut your arm.
-No!
-Ok. Listen. This is my last offer: let me cut your arm and I'll let you be my friend.

Aleksandar Vuksanović at Semanario Serbio, a collective Serbian blog in Spanish, recently wrote a post giving his reasons against Kosovo's independence:

The independence of Kosovo is the maximalist solution that satisfies the demands of the Albanians, completely ignoring those of the Serbs or other ethnic groups in Kosovo. In theory, there's a broad range of possible solutions for Kosovo that could satisfy both sides because we can find similar situations in the world. I'm referring to some solutions like Hong Kong (one country - two systems), South Tirol, Faroe Islands or some type of autonomy such as Mount Athos in Greece. We have to grant to the Albanians all the instruments for them not to feel threatened but this shouldn't allow them, as it has been the case until now, to threaten and harass other ethnic groups in the province.

[…] The independence of Kosovo would be a prize to the terrorism that the Albanians in Kosovo used to reach the current situation. It is difficult to imagine other European groups in a similar situation not resorting (or accentuating) the use of the same terrorist methods to achieve their separatist dream.

Basque professor Asier Blas from Cartas del este, another blog in Spanish focusing on Eastern Europe, doesn't agree with the argument often used by Serbian politicians to oppose Kosovo's independence on the ground of protecting the Serbian minority in the province, because for him the leaders in Belgrade are not really interested in protecting the interests of that minority:

[…] for Belgrade, the future of the Serbian minority in the province is a secondary issue, and it is only partly interested in it because it serves as a pretext to oppose the pro-independence project.

[…] Politicians in Belgrade are not feeling empathy for the situation that the Serbs in Kosovo are living, they are only concerned about their patriotic pride wounded by the upcoming amputation of a part of their current territory […]
If Serbia were acting at the service of Serbian Kosovars, it should commit itself to a multicultural state in Kosovo. In this way, the rights of the minorities would be more protected and guaranteed, and also all those symbols of the Serbian nation that are now attacked. In that sense, Serbs have given priority to keeping Kosovo within their national boundaries and have never considered seriously negotiating a project for an independent Kosovo that would guarantee an optimal and safe situation for Serbian Kosovars.

Francisco Veiga [es] believes that regardless of whether Kosovo declares its independence next Sunday or not, the issue will sure spark passionate reactions all over Europe “with he same football frenzy shown previously towards conflicts in the Turkey-Balkan region”. For him, discussing Kosovo's separation from Serbia is discussing much more than just that:

It is a characteristic of discussions on these cases to be associated with issues that are totally unconnected to the apparently central one. As a result, real matters that are simply in the waiting list for the immediate future remain in the shade: the impressive rapprochement between Ankara and Athens, the possible debate about EU integration of the republics in the Caucasus, the threat that Kosovo's independence represents for the integrity of Macedonia or the possible chain outbreak of double standards.

We can find an example of the implications of Kosovo's independence for other frozen conflicts in Georgia, as described in Steady State's post What is Kosovo for Georgia?:

It is interesting that Kosovo was poised to get independence since 1999, but, until recent couple of years, Russia hasn’t been drawing parallels with Abkhazia or South Ossetia. Could it be due to Saakashvili’s efforts to join the NATO and his usually bitter rhetoric towards Russia that prompted Putin to argue for Abkhazia’s and South Ossetia’s independence?

In fact, for Russia Abkhazia and South Ossetia are more beneficial as they are right now — unrecognized breakaway states. If for instance they do get independence, then similarly Chechens, Ingush and other “peoples” living in Russian part of the Caucasus, could argue for “Abkhazia’s precedent” — although improbable, but conceptually very possible thing to happen.

To finish this roundup with a touch of humor, Bosnia Blog collected a typical Balkan joke with Serbian protagonists, Belgrade blogger Anegdote recently published a poster that was part of a campaign by Serbia to promote Kosovo being in Serbia, which depicted George Washington and had a quote saying, “It is time to show whether we are freemen or slaves! Kosovo is Serbia,” adding underneath a few very funny mock-up posters showing characters such as Homer Simpson claiming that “Kosovo & Mammoothohia is Serburbian forever!” or Baldrick telling the Black Adder “How about we give them a duck instead?”

And for those who still aren't sure about where Kosovo is and what's there to see, Independence and Kanun reports that Bradt has just released the first ever Kosovo guidebook!

Feb. 8 marked Slovenian Culture Day, also known as Prešeren Day, in honor of Slovenia's most beloved poet, France Prešeren, who died on this day in 1849. To mark it, Ljubljana residents gathered before the statue of the national poet in the square of the same name and listened to a recitation of his poetry, including Slovenia's national anthem.

Dr. Filomena reported that those not able to attend the recital could follow it live through the website of Radio Kaos, one of the sponsors of the event.

For those that don't know Prešeren's work, Adventures in Wheelville has posted one of his poems titled Midwastes of Africa:

Mid wastes of Africa a wanderer sped:
He found no pathway; night was now afield.
Through clouds no stealthy glimmer was revealed;
Craving the moon, he made the grass his bed.

The heavens opened, moonbeams then were shed;
He sees where poison-serpents are concealed,
And where their brood of cubs the tigers shield;
He sees the lion upraise his wrathful head.

[…]

Photo used with permission of Jennifer Dorroh

Jennifer Dorroh reported that to mark the occasion of Slovenian Culture Day, Ljubljana’s museums offered free admission to visitors:

The National Museum, which was packed with families visiting a hands-on nature exhibit, even welcomed guests with bowls of candy and juicy Clementines. Learning is sweet.

Jennifer Dorroh also reported that Slovenia ranked 15th worldwide on the 2008 Environmental Performance Index, a list of countries rated on environmental indicators such as air pollution, water resources, biodiversity and habitat, productive natural resources, and climate change. Slovenia's ranking is lower than that of neighboring Austria (6th), but higher than the rest of the countries it has borders with: Italy (24th), Hungary (23th), and Croatia (20th). The United States ranked 39th, Jennifer added.

In other good news, Café Piran was pleased to see about a positive feature article on Slovenian wines that was published in the Los Angeles Times at the end of January, and which included tasting notes on some of the wines.

On a culinary note, Un argentino en Eslovenia [es] answered a reader's query and posted the recipe for ajvar, a red bell pepper spread that is popular all throughout the Balkans. He was also happy to find out that ginger is available in Slovenia (but not ground cumin), a discovery that he proved with a photo.

For those who read Spanish, Un argentino en Eslovenia is a blog full of sharp, humorous and ironic observations on the Slovenian way of life and the blogger's own culture shock. One of this blog's categories is entirely devoted to ‘bureaucracy' and another one contains a series of “Unwritten Slovenian rules”. As an example, here's number 74:

Por alguna razón que se me escapa, aquí en Eslovenia es costumbre quitarse los zapatos apenas uno llega a casa, e intercambiarlos por unas pantuflas. Tal arraigada es la costumbre que en todas los hogares siempre hay disponibles varios juegos de pantuflas para los invitados… […]
Ahora bien, el tema roza lo ridículo cuando las famosas pantuflas son igual de exigidas cuando hacen 40 grados de calor, o cuando toda la casa está completamente alfombrada; evidentemente es más fácil lavar las pantuflas y la alfombra, que los pies.

In a later post, he even added a photo of the protagonists of what the blogger calls “Pantuflasgate” (”Slippersgate”).

Another Spanish-speaking Slovenia blogger, Una española/gallega en Eslovenia, writes about her life in Ljubljana, a city that she likes for being so green and with so many options for hiking. On Prešeren Day, for example, she described how she went on a city hike on a path called Pot:

[…] es un camino de 33 km que rodea la ciudad, donde la gente va a caminar, andar en bici, pasear al chucho o simplemente desconectar del asfalto de la ciudad. Aunque la mayor parte de las zonas están realmente en el centro de la capital, podéis ver en las fotos que parece que estemos en medio del bosque. Y es que es lo bueno que tiene Ljubljana: no es la típica capital donde no se ven árboles en kms a la redonda. Aquí se puede disfrutar del campo en el mismo centro de la urbe.

But it's not all hikes in Ljubljana, as Una española/gallega en Eslovenia recently had to go to a dentist to get a wisdom tooth removed and was very impressed with the treatment she received, which in her own words was even “better than in Spain.” However, she was unhappy to discover that the national health care system coverage that she got was very basic, and so she had to get additional policy:

En el país con forma de gallina, cuando consigues un trabajo consigues un seguro médico, por supuesto. Pero es un seguro médico básico […] Para evitar todas estas molestas situaciones, hay que hacerse un seguro médico adicional, o “Dodatna zavarovalna”. El sistema es simple: pagas unos 250 euros al año, y para hacerte más llevadero el atraco a mano armada de tener que pagar dicha cantidad, recibes un bonito paquete en casa que incluye: la súper camiseta “Jaz zate, ti zame” (Yo por ti, tú por mi), una megafashion carpeta para meter tus pólizas cada año y… atención!! Una bolsita de té Vzajemna con sabor a hierbas!! (legales). Pero aún hay más: un bono de descuento de nada más y nada menos que 20 euros!!
Pero qué suerte tengo!!

To finish this roundup, let me share another poem by Prešeren, posted by Scabiosa Trenta in her blog, titled Where Now?:

I drift in dark unrest and pain.
Where now? you ask, and ask again.
Ask the wild horses of the sea,
The scudding clouds' wild company,
As they are whipped when winds ride high,
Scouring the plains of earth and sky.
Not one of them could answer where,
Or guide me out of my despair.
But this I know beyond surmise -
I'll never more behold her eyes;
Yet earth contains no hiding-place
In which I could forget her face.

Zeljko Komsic, a Bosnian Croat, is one of the three members of the Presidency of Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH), which is composed of a representative of each of the country's three constituent peoples: Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats, as laid out in the Dayton peace agreement of 1995. The three members take it in turn to hold the Presidency's rotating chairmanship for eight months at a time. Komsic, who is currently the Chairman of the Presidency, was elected in October 2006 along with Haris Silajdzic, a Bosniak, and Nikola Radmanovic, a Bosnian Serb.

A few days ago, in the face of the growing popularity of blogs, Zeljko Komsic decided that it was time to have his own blog to talk about his daily life as a President. As it was to be expected, the launch of Predsjednikov Blog (The President's Blog) has caused quite a stir in BiH amongst bloggers and internet users in general.

In his first post, Komsic introduced himself to his fellow bloggers:

Blogeri, kako ste?

Prvo da se zahvalim prijateljima iz portala Sarajevo-x.com na pomoći i ideji da otvorim blog. Nadam se da ću koliko-toliko biti redovan bloger, ali stvarno je sve do mojih obaveza. Nastojat ću u ovoj komunikaciji da budem što manje oficijelan i što više jednostavan i precizan. Unaprijed se izvinjavam svim blogerima ako na neke komentare ili pitanja ne odgovorim odmah, ali stvarno nije do mene već do obaveza od kojih ja većinu i ne zakazujem sam, već ih zakazuje moj Ured.

In this first post, Komsic also described his day as a President, offering his reflections on the situation in education in BiH in a very frank and open manner:

Za početak, šta da napišem??!!

Da, jučer je bila sjednica Predsjedništva BiH na kojoj smo odbili prijedlog budžeta BiH, te isti vratili na doradu i popravke Vijeću Ministara. Ja sam lično bio protiv prijedloga budžeta jer, i pored mog prethodnog zahtjeva, u budžetu nisu ni uvrštena ni planirana nikakva sredstva i izdaci za nauku, istraživanja, razvoj i poljoprivredu. Mislim da bez takve vrste investiranja BiH ne može naprijed. Nevjerovatno zvuči podatak koji sam saznao prilikom posjete Univerzitetu u Krakowu, a to je, da taj Univerzitet otvara nove istraživacke centre između ostalog i za Nano-tehnologije, a koliko se sjećam investicije su oko 150 miliona eura. Ne zaboravite da se ovdje radi samo o jednom univerzitetu. Mi smo u poređenju s njima izgleda jos u srednjem vijeku, a to izgleda neki u ovoj državi neće da shvate.

The extremely casual and conversational tone of The President's Blog has been quite a shock for Bosnians, who have shown his excitement leaving over 400 comments in the first post with mostly positive feedback (such as “Congratulations Mr. President. This is an excellent move” or “Thank you very much for trying to build a single face for Bosnia and Herzegovina. We need that so much, as much as we need to go down the road of reconciliation, equality and a better life”). Quite remarkably, so far Komsic has been keeping his promise of updating his blog regularly.

The President's Blog comes about a month after The Ambassador's Diary (Ambassadorov Dnevnik), the blog in Bosnian language by the British Ambassador to BiH, Matthew Rycroft. As the blog Bosnia News pointed out at the time, his blog was unusual from the start:

Unlike other blogs in Bosnia, the arrival of this one was announced from the British embassy's press office with a statement from the Ambassador Rycroft saying that he had started his blog as a way not just of presenting his impressions about diplomatic experience in the country but also as a way of interacting with the Bosnian citizens. “This blog will be the place for me to express some of my impressions, thoughts and observations about Bosnia, Europe and the global future in general… the world was never as connected as it is now,” concludes the Ambassador in the first post on his blog.

Rycroft's blog may be unusual, but it's not the only one by a representative of the British Foreign Office, which started its own blog platform a few months ago and hosts, among others, the blog of David Miliband, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commeonwealth Affairs. Paraphrasing Miliband's post on things that need to happen in the world in 2008, Rycroft posted his own list of things that need to happen in BiH in 2008:

1. Signing the SAA [Stabilisation and Association Agreement] with the EU through meeting the four conditions - police, [ICTY], broadcasting and public administration - and going on to prepare for the next step in the journey towards EU membership, candidate status.

2. Fulfilling the conditions to allow OHR [Office of the High Representative] to close.

3. [Radovan Karadzic] and [Ratko Mladic] facing justice at the war crimes tribunal in the Hague.

4. Starting a reform of the Dayton constitution to make the state more functional, as it needs to be to get closer to joining Europe.

5. Improvements in education standards and proper implementation of the higher education laws to allow full recognition of students' diplomas across Europe.

On Jan. 17, Rycroft posted a video of an interview that he gave last summer, in which he voiced his opinion on the Yugoslavian wars and on the current situation of the transitional Bosnian politics:

Nationalism and ethnic tensions still exist today but it's not manifested in military or security terms, but in political terms. It's there on all three of the main sides. […] When it comes to election time, most people tend to vote for the party that they think will best defend the interest of their particular people. […] The vast majority of people are not really interested in politics, they are not really interested in ‘carrying the war by other means,' which is what a lot of the nationalists are trying to do, they just want to get on with their normal lives, with jobs, with prosperity, with the family around them… And there is a huge disconnect, bigger than there is in other countries, between the political leaders and the population as a whole.

You can see the whole 10-minute video below:

Hopefully, Zeljko Komsic's blog will contribute to bringing politics closer to the people in BiH and will inspire other major politicians to follow, bridging the disconnect that Rycroft is talking about.

On a different note, there's another new promising Bosnian blog, launched recently by Tim Clancy, the trailblazing author of the first Bosnia and Herzegovina guidebook published after the war. Clancy, who has lived in BiH since 1992, decided to start the blog Pure Intent only now, because of a rather heated discussion on Balkan politics that he had been involved in on the blog of British journalist Neil Clark.

In his first post on Jan. 21, Tim Clancy wrote this about his need to start blogging:

The thing that has happened to me here, during my long stint in the Balkans, is a powerful conflict aversion-attraction syndrome. The conflicts here, as horrible and morbid as they have been, have offered me the most precious lessons and experiences of my life. I have never felt the full-tilt of emotions as I have here, whether it be anger, pain, joy, sadness, or triumph. The problem is though, the war has carved the heart out of so many. There is an intense tendency here to ‘Bush' things to death - meaning if you're not with us, you're against us. Everything is warlike, including dialogue. That intimidates me, I think. And has created a strong aversion to engaging in dialogue (aka conflict) - because so often the result is simply that we are at further ends of the table than when we started.
(…)This mad place called Bosnia, a place i have grown to love and hate in equal proportion, has taught me at least one thing. To keep asking myself who I am. For that i am eternally grateful. So i have set up a new blog for myself. Mask off. I throw my proverbial cards on the proverbial table. Welcome to the monkey house friends!

Thanks to Dinko Lakic for the translations from Bosnian to English.