Busy Busy Week

This week, we had visitors from Bratislava, our Regional Headquarters. I never knew there could be so many meetings in one day. Thankfully, I have not had to attend all the meetings, but for my poor cohorts who do, it's enough to drive one to drink. They have handled it well and I am sure they sleep very soundly at night.

So, you probably want an update on what I am doing for the women of Macedonia and their economic rights. Well, I am in the process of coming up with a 3-4 page paper outlining where we are and where UNIFEM can intercede. You are probably thinking that this sounds vaguely familiar and you are right. I have been working on this, on and off, for the majority of my time here. But it is crunch time. Holiday season (holiday is European speak for vacation) is just around the corner (read the entire month of August) so I need to have a plan in place for September, when we hit the ground running. Much to my surprise, I am working with the most senior person in Bratislava on coordinating and figuring out a potential strategy/projects for Macedonia surrounding women's economic rights for 2008-2009 and, maybe, beyond. No pressure.

I am not going on holiday for the entire month of August, nor are my coworkers, just to be clear. It is just that it is hard to get much done because everyone else is on holiday. We might shut the office down for a few days and we are all planning our respective holidays but we will still be around for at least half of the month, one way or another. I will let you know my holiday plans, once I get approval from the Boss for the time off. You know how that goes, it isn't official and the like. I can tell you that if it works out, I anticipate spending a lot of time in various hostels in the Western Balkans. And now for some pictures of Skopje. You have waited a long time for this and there are only 2 but, hey. They mean a lot to me.

The picture with the umbrellas is what a typical coffee bar looks like. Click on the picture itself and you might be able to see it better. This is how many evenings in Skopje are spent, sipping libations (coffee, Skopsko, etc) and chatting. The other picture is of the old stone bridge that is right by the center of Skopje. This river runs through town and the coffee bar in the other picture is located right by the river. I think from this point on, I will try to include random pictures in every post. But no promises.