I am currently in Serbia on a study visit. I don’t have time to write in detail right now, but if you’re interested in my experiences and observations, you can look on my ‘micro-blogging’ Twitter page: www.twitter.com/hilkoblok
Posts Tagged ‘travel’
Twitter Serbia Updates
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008Studenten bezoeken de nieuwste Europese staat
Friday, May 2nd, 2008*Persbericht*
Utrecht, 24 april 2008
Van zondag 4 tot en met 10 mei reizen vijf Nederlandse studenten op uitnodiging van vredesorganisatie IKV Pax Christi naar Kosovo om daar met leeftijdgenoten uit Servië en Kosovo te praten over identiteit, etnische scheiding en Europese integratie van de nieuwe staat Kosovo. De reis vindt plaats aan de vooravond van de verkiezingen in Servië.
Op 17 februari 2008 heeft Kosovo de onafhankelijkheid verklaard. Dit leidde tot spanningen en protesten in Servische gebieden in Kosovo en in Servië zelf. Als gevolg van de erkenning van Kosovo door EU-landen en het sturen van EU politie en rechters naar de gloednieuwe staat is de Servische regering gevallen. Nieuwe verkiezingen vinden plaats op 11 mei. De Servische minderheid in Kosovo mag van het VN-bestuur niet meedoen aan deze verkiezingen.
Vijftien jongeren uit Servië, Kosovo en Nederland gaan in de week voor de verkiezingen in gesprek over identiteit en Europese integratie. Kan Kosovo een multi-etnische staat worden en kan het op termijn toetreden tot de EU? Bovendien gaan de jongeren zélf wat doen aan het wegnemen van de haat tussen de verschillende bevolkingsgroepen. Samen zullen de jongeren op 9 mei, Europadag, in Pristina Loesjeslogans verspreiden die aan het denken zetten.
De studenten ontmoeten beleidsmakers, politici en activisten en gaan in gesprek met ‘gewone burgers’. Ook bezoeken aan de Servische enclave Gracanica en de verdeelde stad Mitrovica zijn onderdeel van het programma. Later dit jaar reizen dezelfde jongeren naar Servië en in oktober zal een bezoek aan Nederland en de Europese Instituties in Brussel plaatsvinden.
De Nederlandse deelnemers zijn:
Emil Andel (25) uit Waddinxveen, student Communicatie aan de Haagse Hogeschool; Hilko Blok (23) uit Amsterdam, student Sociale Psychologie aan de Vrije Universiteit van Amsterdam; Jacqueline van Dooren (20) uit Utrecht, studente Sociale Geografie aan de Universiteit van Utrecht; Evelijn Martinius (19) uit Amsterdam, studente Politicologie aan de Vrije Universiteit van Amsterdam; en Lenneke Sprik (22) uit Groningen, studente Internationale Betrekkingen aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.
Voor meer informatie over Our Future zie: http://ourfuture.ikvpaxchristi.nl.
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Hoera!
A Hitchhiker’s Guide To Albania - Day 2
Saturday, February 16th, 2008
One of the most interesting things about hitchhiking is the different mindset you have as soon as you are on the road. An example of this is sleep. This is what happened…
A Hitchhiker’s Guide To Albania - Day 1
Saturday, December 15th, 2007
After half a day of travel, we have arrived in Germany. A ‘convoy’ of Polish guys with three cars just agreed to take us along. There’s something unsettling about them, though; perhaps it’s because their cars are a bit too fancy, or maybe it’s because they are quite obviously talking about us - in Polish. I bet wondering how much money we’re carrying, or how much our livers would be worth on the black market. Since my mastery of the Polish language is limited to the word ‘ousta’ (meaning ‘lip’, thank you Veggie Tales), I couldn’t make much sense of it. Still, I had been craving for some more excitement, so I can’t complain.
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Home in Holland
Wednesday, July 25th, 2007From a small village in Bosnia (Bos. Petrovac) to Amsterdam in less than two days; that’s gotta be some kind of record! On Saturday, 5 PM, I got a ride from the village in Bosnia directly to Austria, and from Austria a direct ride to Münster, which is close to the Dutch border. There a german guy dropped me off in Enschede on Monday 3 AM.
I killed time by chatting with a homeless Dutch/Spanish guy. We shared a beer (his), and some Austrian chocolate and disgusting German bread (mine). He gave me tips on how to get free food and shelter.
It takes some time to adjust. After three weeks of temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, and even above 40 degrees, it’s hard to get used to the rain. I also find myself walking around Amsterdam from a hitchhiker’s point of view, in constant search of a small park, or some other kind of shelter where I won’t be bothered. I also still have the urge to run to the edge of the road and get a ride whenever a car with Dutch number plates passes by.
It’s good to be home and get a proper shower, good food and a good night’s rest, though.
Back through Bosnia
Thursday, July 19th, 2007We’re currently in a place that would be marked on a map by ‘There be dragons’. Surprisingly, there’s an internet cafe, and even more surprisingly, half the population here speaks Dutch or German. Apparently many in this village were refugees in both these places. I should remind myself to be more careful about what I say in Dutch to Ulysse…
We left Albania two days ago, and took a slight detour through Podgorica, the capitol of Montenegro. We had spoken to two people at a mobile phone promotional stand at the train station, and were hoping to meet them again. We did, and the results were two very short nights, a wonderful day, and a place to sleep. I even got to discuss Nietzsche with one of them, and am now the proud owner of ‘The Anti-Christ’ in both English and ‘Serbski’. I’m trying to learn Serbski now, so this should be a great help…
The weather has been horrible: 42 degrees celcius in the shade. Apparently a town nearby had the highest measured temperature in all of Europe. It is not good for hitchhiking!
We’re hoping that the owner of this internet cafe will drive us to our destination, because it’s in the middle of even less where, and too far to walk.
Back in Albania, back home?
Wednesday, July 11th, 2007We arrived in Albania, and it’s been a bit of an emotional period for me. The minivan took us from Ulcinj (Montenegro) to Shkoder (Albania). We walked to the highway to Durres, and eventually got there with two different ‘rides’. I felt more at home than I have ever felt in the past five years. From the skyline with the palace on top of the hills, silhouetted by the setting sun behind it, to the crazy traffic everywhere, to the strange combination of ugly communist buildings and modern highrise; everything was so… familiar.
The Rolling Stones Stole Our Mojo
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007
We were on a roll. We hitchhiked from Holland to the southernmost part of Croatia - staunchly refusing to take any kind of paid transportation. When we reached Montenegro, however, some Stones blocked our way, and messed up our plans. Because of a Rolling Stones concert in a village nearby (Budva), we had to take a bus from a nearby town to Podgorica, Montenegro’s capitol. And what are the Stones doing in Montenegro anyways?
Aside from that one detour, our trip went just as planned. After our stay in Zagreb we travelled south through the coastal city of Split, then Dubrovnik, then Podgorica. At the moment we’re waiting on our ‘fugon’ (mini-van), which will take us to Shkoder, a town in the north of Albania. Our plan is to get to Durres today; our final destination.
In this town (Ulcin) about half the people are Albanians, and it’s been great to finally speak some Albanian again. I get very confused though, because throughout our travels we’ve spoken English, German, French, Albanian with others, and Dutch with my co-hitchhiker. A few minutes ago, I started a conversation with ‘Excuse me’ (I forgot the Albanian for that), asked for the time in broken French, used some German words for no reason, and padded all that with (I hope) some decent Albanian.
Of course the reply was in the Montenegran dialect of Serbian/Slavic, and she didn’t understand a word of what I said. Her eyes just sort of glazed over and she smiled. We get that a lot in this region. For some reason, I enjoy all this confusion.
A Short Break in Zagreb
Saturday, July 7th, 2007
After hitchhiking for three days, we took a short break from our spartan adventure in the city of Zagreb. We booked a room with two beds, and could finally sleep without the constant fear of being sent away (Munich Airport at night), robbed (a field in Slovenia), or taken into custody (an unfinished house in a rural German village). We got a much needed shower, went shopping for some food, and enjoyed the many beauties of Zagreb.
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On The Road
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007Clothes? Check. Sleeping bag? Check. Enough books to last a year? Check. My co-hitchhiker Ulysse (blog) waiting for me in Amersfoort? Check. Passport? Che… oh crap.
After discovering that my ID-card is valid only in the EU and a few other countries, but not Albania, I had to postpone my travels. Fortunately, a (expensive) speed procedure allowed me to finally leave today.
Current stop: Amersfoort. We’re visiting Baptiste, Ulysse’s cousin, and we’ll spend the night here, and start hitchhiking tomorrow. In an effort to keep my bag as light as possible, I’m leaving some stuff here. I still haven’t decided which book to take. I love them all equally! As it is, I’m carrying six kilo’s, which is much, much less then I took on my last trip.
This will be an interesting trip. I expect this trip will be quite a bit more spartan than my other hitchhiking attempts; I’m traveling with an experienced hitchhiker who spent three months traveling to and in India on an extremely low budget.
This will also be the first time I return to Albania in five years. I’ll get a chance to practice my Albanian again, and I’ll meet old friends, and visit all the places that were part of my youth.
And, of course, just getting there will no doubt be very interesting. Our current plan is to go through Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Bosnia, Serbia or Montenegro, and finally Albania.
Off we go!