Adrijana Velija!!!
At the corner of a small country like Macedonia, in a developing city Tetovo, is located the newest state university in this country. Through this important institution many Albanian students are living the dream of their past generations who were unable to gain education in their mother tongue due to the communist regime of ex-Yugoslavia who abolished the rights of many Albanians in Macedonia to study in the Albanian language. Today this dream came true and the University of Tetova counts about 15.000 students from Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo and has become a true temple of wisdom.
Creating or building this university has not been easy at all. The university started to work as an illegal institution however, the idea of establishing an Albanian University in Tetovo was fascinated and the response of youth people supporting this initiative was surprising. It has been 17 years since the University of Tetova started its work as an academic institution. Someone may find it very young the 17 years’ work of the university, but for Albanians in Macedonia are considered a lot, as they had no idea how is to study in their native language in the country of Macedonia. It a great feeling while you are walking in its corridors and see smiling faces of students and professors everywhere around the institutions, being proud of what they have. To teach new generations and at the same time to be taught by your ancestors is magnificent for the culture we embrace. Lots of new challenges are awaiting this institution which will surely be overcome as the enthusiasm of continuing strongly with hard working is present/
The greater human value is knowledge. Knowledge is strength, knowledge is power.
The occupation (unfortunately it’s not the Wall Street initiative) is called Project “Skopje 2014” and contains much controversy as Lady Gaga and her weird life. It contains building of monuments and some administrative buildings in baroque style. The Government is funding the project with citizens’ money of course. They say their goal is to give Skopje a face lift, make it a metropolis city that should have always been, to return its lost history.. and some other wet dreams.
According to New York Times, the center of the capital is a bizarre jumble of historically and aesthetically dissonant statuary! “On a short walk, visitors will see a 29-meter, or 95-foot, bronze Alexander the Great, along with statues of Justinian, Mother Teresa, the ninth-century Orthodox Christian saints Cyril and Methodius, and a 22-meter-high triumphal arch, among others” writes the NYT journalist. So you can imagine now, or If you u cant, try bumping on Alexander, he is bigger and has water and lions around.
When the visualized idea of the project first became public, citizens had huge bad reaction on it, calling it ridiculous, offensive, unnecessary, highly expensive and (opposition deputies) Governments’ personal money laundry machine project.
“Don’t rape our city” protested “Prva Arhi brigada” an informal group of students of architecture and young architects from Skopje, Macedonia. While Albanians, who are the second biggest community in Macedonia protested loudly about missing statues of Albanian culture or any other culture except Macedonian. They say “Macedonia is multicultural country, while the PM Nikola Gruevski with Skopje 2014 is trying to show the opposite”. Also, the Albanian parties expressed concerns that “the antiquization” of Macedonia’s identity is alienating Macedonia’s friends in the E.U, meaning that this hate-or-love-it project has worsted the name dispute that Macedonia has with Greece, (on that some other time).
Macedonia is a parliamentary democracy with an executive government composed of a coalition parties between Macedonian and Albanian. Albanian is the second largest community living in Macedonia, officially 25% and non-officially around 30%. Two languages are official in the country, the Macedonian one (which has Slavic roots) and the Albanian (from the Illyrians). Macedonia is the only multi-ethnic country in the Balkans. The current President of Republic of Macedonia is, Gjorge Ivanov who was elected on April the 5th, 2009.
Macedonia became a member state of the UN on 8 April 1993, eighteen months after its independence from Yugoslavia. The major interest of the country is a full integration to the European and the Trans-Atlantic integration processes. Its main priorities are of course joining the EU and NATO. In 2005, the country was officially recognized as a European Union candidate state.
On the NATO summit held in Bucharest in April 2008, Macedonia failed to gain an invitation to join the organization because Greece vetoed the move after the dispute over the name issue. The USA had previously expressed support for an invitation, but the summit then decided to extend an offer only on condition of a prior resolution of the conflict with Greece.
The main administrative center of the Republic of Macedonia today is Shkupi (Mkd:Skopje), with a population of over 600,000 inhabitants. It is a town with a 2,000 year long tradition and represents an exquisite mixture of Eastern and Western cultures, a place where many roads and
civilizations have met and mingled.
Macedonian cuisine cannot do without the national dishes which grace the table- yaniya, shketo, rice casserole, pindjur, baked beans, turli-tava, taratur, grilled meat, fish dishes, pastrmaliya, and various soups. Macedonia has exceptionally good conditions for the production of quality wines, the best among many being the wines from the Tikvesh region.
Shopping centers and bazaars lined with shops well supplied with all kinds of goods can be found in all towns and tourist centers throughout Macedonia. Some of the local craftsmen offer their products, too such as: embroidery, filigree work, handmade leather, fur and woolen products, pottery and gold and silver jewellery. Macedonian vegetable markets are traditionally teeming with all kinds of seasonal fruits and vegetables and imported products from all meridians. Many specialized shops offer their various products, ranging from car parts to sports equipment and camping necessities