Hi! I am going to write as much as I can before dinner. I am in Bratislava, Slovakia, attending a workshop on UNIFEM's strategic plan for the next 2 years. It is great to be here, but I am so tired. The car, or should I say, black Mercedes, picked me up at 5 AM to go to the airport. Yup, 5. I went early because I was told that I had to fill out paperwork to get my bag back as it was lost in Paris. I envision my big suitcase looking at the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, sipping coffee in a sidewalk cafe and donning a beret...so I get the airport early to fill out said paperwork (they will not process my missing bag request until I do so) and I find out that my bag will arrive at the Skopje airport at 8 tonight. What?! So I will pick it up on Friday when I get back in town.
Friday morning, I found my apartment. I have a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom flat with an outside patio. I know it sounds excessive, but it was the same price as the studio with a Murphy bed and the two 1-bedrooms I looked at. I figured if everyone visits who says they would like to, it will be nice to have the extra bedroom! It has been an adventure figuring out how to turn the hot water on, what to eat (so far, it consists of bread, muesli, fruit and an occasional beer). Since I cannot read the labels, except for mayonnaise and ketchup, I will be subsisting on said diet for a bit. My landlady is unbelievably nice. She says I could be her daughter and she took me to the grocery store and to get a cell phone -the old one does NOT work so if you want my new cell number, email me! She tells me wonderful stories and treats me well. Oh, I forgot to tell you, my place is completely furnished, including dishes, silverware, towels, etc. It feels like a home - a place an adult would live.
I am now in Bratislava, hearing all about where UNIFEM has been and where we are hoping to go. It is interesting and I can tell my program evaluation course will come in handy!!! I also can tell that my policy courses will be useful - as it turns out, countries that have recently ascended to the EU have great gender policies, on paper. However, there is a "crisis in implementation" of these policies. This is not specific to Eastern Europe, but it raises the question of how you actually get people to do what they say they will. The law says one thing, the practice is another. We are very familiar with this in America. All you have to do is look at Brown v. Board and that is the most obvious example.
My room in the hotel is totally amazing - the best room I have ever stayed in! It has a plasma, people!!! It has leather chairs, dark cherry wood furniture and bed...it rocks. And, I don't even have to share it. I am the lone American and native English speaker. I have learned 4 words in Macedonian and the first 5 letters of the alphabet (not by sight, mind you, just sound). Now you see why my diet is so sparse. The other languages spoken at my workshop are: Albanian, Serbo-Croat, and Slovakian. Um, yeah, I just smile a lot and try to be polite as possible. I have met Kosevar Albanian women and it is very interesting to discuss the recent Serbian elections and the June 15th implementation of the Kosovo Constitution. Ok, I must get ready for dinner. Despite my love of the plasma screen TV, I am going to the old part of the city - who knows the next time I will be in Bratislava. Oh, and I need to install my camera software on my work laptop so I can upload pictures. Be patient :)
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