#13 June 2019
F O Y T I C S Y E K N MO НАЦИОНАЛНА АГЕНЦИЈА ЗА ЕВРОПСКИ ОБРАЗОВНИ
AURA
ПРОГРАМИ И МОБИЛНОСТ
Erasmus+ logo should be min. 200mm high
TAKE 5
Jose Sanchez Ruiz - writer & designer -
Hristijan Nikoloski - graphic designer-
Borche Adzieski - writer -
Antonio Boshkovski - writer & editor -
Liljana Belakaposka - writer -
Sevim Civan - writer -
Ilija Binoski - writer -
Francesco Lozupone - writer -
INDEX 6. DELICATE 9. FENIX CHOKED
12. MY DIARY 13. BARIs -FOCACCIA 14. There's always light at the end of the tunnel
A G I R IN S H T N O M 2 . 16
17. ERASMUS+LOVE STORY
Youth association “Info front- Prilep� is a Youth NGO that provides information to the young people regarding ther Erasmus+ Program, European Volontary Service (EVS), stimulates creativity, creative activism, youth mobility, non-formal education,cultural exchanges and information distribution. Our main aim is decreasing the unemployment rate among young people in our community. Also we provide possibilities for education of young people, so they can be more competitive in the labor market. We are organising seminars, debats in the local high schools and faculties, in which we inform the yongsters about the possibilities of youth mobility and non-formal education. The projects we executed, we work on right now and we prepare for the near future are local and international, in the fields of entrepreneurship, gender equality, art and culture, creative writing workshops, environment, European awereness ecc.. Formed in 2011, Info front-Prilep acts as a Macedonian branch of Loesje international and has EVS Sending, Coordinating and Hosting accreditation since 2012 (2015-1MK01-KA110-002670).
INTRO Curiosity is characteristic for monkeys. Their eagerness is making them discover what is hidden beyond. Some monkeys from Prilep are very curious, so curious that they are discovering new galaxies.
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Delicate, a flower blooming in a spring field, gracing the world with its presence announcing what is yet to come -Beautiful times from the heart and the sunFighter, defying the winter, time and time again showing us all there is more than the now and then, Precious, a flower’s love in your heart, a wonderful gem to never part. Warmth, what beauty and love you bring to this land, melting the ice from winter’s hand. Love, what you teach us every day, grace the world with your beautiful soul in every way. 7
Liljana Belakaposka
DELICAT E
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A FENIX CHOKED IN ITS ASHES
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Jose Sanchez
The first time when someone mentioned Macedonia, I didn´t know anything about it. The only thing i knew is that Macedonia was a mark above Greece in the map and to be honest its pronunciation sounded to me very exotic. You probably don’t know, but Macedonia in Spanish means fruit salat. Mmmm tasty. Imagine eating macedonia in the middle of summer with pineapple, apple, banana, strawberries, lemon and orange. I remember when my friends and me were making jokes like: ‘’What language do Macedonian people speak? Do they speak with fruit codes like hey pineapple, today I feel a little bit like an apple! What fruit are you today?’’ After more than two months my opinion about Macedonia is not the same. I have already met a lot of people and I realized that they don´t speak in fruit codes. I have been in different cities, I broke some eggs on Eastern week and I have made some jokes in macedonian. Macedonian people are super kind with me and all the foreigners, they are super interested about other cultures and are into learning new languages. Now I have to check my agenda to see who I am going to drink coffee with. Prilep is а quiet city where you can pretty much see young people and old people. But where are the people around 20-30 years? Where are they hidden? One of the main problems is that the minimum salary doesn’t help youngsters to stay in Prilep and Macedonia, so they just go abroad to discover new opportunities that are impossible to find in their country. Also, especially in Prilep, the problem is this city is like a zombie city, alive but at the same time dead. From the eyes of a critical volunteer,i see Prilep as a Fenix who has choked in its ashes and could fly, but now it has been disintegrated. It´s just a grey dust that neither the rain helps it grow. I arrived two months ago and I don’t find anything interesting to do. My creativity is the only thing that’s making me do things, go out on the streets and break my desperation. I can imagine the situation of a young girl with eagerness to ‘’eat’’ the world and doesn’t find opportunities in her country. It’s almost the 10
same like a lion captured in a tiny cage. Macedonia needs a change, because it is going to be an inhabited land. So what are the solutions? Maybe changing the politicians? Increasing the minimum salary? Or entering into the European Union? I don’t know exactly, because I am neither a sociologist nor a politician nor a philosopher, but I just know Macedonia needs a change. At least, people and nature make this country look beautiful. In the ashes of the Fenix, there is still hope. There is a flower growing in the ashes where the Fenix was disintegrated and a tear of hope is slowly irrigating the flower.
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MY DIARY Hello everyone! It’s me, Sevim - the new volunteer from Turkey. Right now I have to write an article for our magazine, but I want to do something different. So I’m going to share my diary with you. Because I know that everyone are eager to read someone else’s diary. Things that are hidden are always more interesting! If you are ready let’s start! Today I had some bad news from Turkey and my heart hurts. Yesterday afternoon i was talking with my cousin on the phone and i told her about the concert in Prilep. She wanted to watch the concert with her boyfriend and I told her I’d call her. Anyway, I called her, but she didn’t pick up. And this morning i found out why. Right after we talked, my cousin’s boyfriend had a heart attack and he died. I couldn’t believe when i heard about that. And honestly i didn’t want to believe. For the first time, i’m away from my home and my country made me so sad. I realized that life is short and I am far away from everyone I love. My family, my love, my best friends… But on the other hand, life is too short to give up on my dream. Living here is like living the dream. My dream. Seeing Singapore is also my dream and I know i’ll go there, but without my family. Sometimes you have to give up your dream to start living another one. It’s nice to grow up and experience your dreams, but at the same time it’s hard. Now i’m talking to the person who is reading this article. Please hug your family, your friends and YOUR DREAM. Life is short - difficult, but wonderful. We should love our friends, travel and be grateful for everything.
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Sevim Civan
BARI’S FOCACCIA
The focaccia is a flatbread, soft and delicious, dating back to the Phoenician era. It was born 3000 years before the pizza and it was a dough made of millet, barley, water, and salt, which the Phoenicians cooked with a rich amount of fat. In the second century b.C., Catone the Censor, politician, historian, general and writer of ancient Rome, told of a dough of round shape cooked on stone with olive oil, spices, and honey, called panisfocacius (panis = bread, focus = fire). During the Renaissance period, the focaccia, even if it was a bread destined for breakfast, was tasted together with good wine during weddings at the time of the blessing. Today, the focaccia varies from region to region, but Puglia and Liguria contend the paternity, despite its presence are strong throughout the Mediterranean.The Apulian variant is also mentioned in the documentary film “Focaccia Blues”, set in Bari, in 2001, where the American giant McDonald’s decides to open a mega fast food restaurant ignoring a small restaurant on the same street that sold the famous focaccia from the south. At the end of the feature film the baker, loyal and no-global, check the colossus forcing the latter to close its doors. The typical Bari focaccia is very common in the areas belonging to the provinces of Bari, Taranto, Barletta-Andria-Trani. In the mosttypicalversion the base of the focaccia is obtained by mixing: re-milled semolina, boiled potatoes, yeast, and water; in order to obtain an elastic, soft but not sticky dough which, after rising, is spread in a greased sheet with plenty of extra virgin olive oil of Apulia. You should come to Bari and try it! 13
Francesko Lozupone
There’s always light at the end of the tunnel
The young man is holding his 19 years in his hands. In his mind the past is ruling and the considerations are travelling somewhere towards the future. He’s looking at the mirror and noticing the present. That present is his kingdom built in the past, yet still unfinished, waiting for the future! The young man is an expression of a man whose smile reflects the untouched inside him and whose thoughts are telling a lot, yet very little for some. Uncertainty. An unexplainable feeling whose floor could be seen by the young man and he could stare at the emptyness and suddenly step into the coldness. But now on his path a lot of buildings have rised, some taller, other shorter. ‘’I’m confused, help me! I don’t know what to do’’ - he said. In his head he could hear the people shouting at him from every building to enter. He’s hearing them, but he cannot see them. No matter how hard he tries to see what’s hiding behind that fog in the distance, it’s in vain. But still, he doesn’t stop fighting. Suddenly, a big black cloud has rised above his head on the sky, stealing the light that was lighting up his path. Darkness. There’s darkness everywhere. That darkness has taken away the small piece of self-confidence he kept deep inside. All of a sudden, he realised that he was in a long and dark tunnel. And that particular tunnel represents his life. If he goes far enough, do you think he can see the light? No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t see anything, neither in front of him nor behind. But at the end he could make a difference between the things in the nothingness. He knew there were walls around him, floor and ceiling. He discovered that there’s nothingness and darkness. Instantly, the young man felt comfortable being there, wishing to stay there forever. But despite these thoughts, a part of him wasn’t completely sure about that. So he continued walking. From time to time he would stumble on some stone or stool, but he kept on going. After an eternity of walking he got use to avoid those obstacles who were hurting him, but he never found the light. But he couldn’t stop either. Moving forward made his self-confidence on a higher level and the thought of the existence of the light stronger. As time was passing by, he started to be afraid of finding the light. He knew what is
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Antonio Boshkovski
hurting him and what to avoid, he could tell what is safe and what’s dangerous, but the light would have changed everything. Will it hurt him? Will it take everything away what he has been building in this tunnel this whole time? Eventually in the distance, a spark has appeared. He was curious, not knowing what is that spark that was constantly changing its shape. It gave him a new feeling. Is it hope? Or is it fear of the unkown? After some time a lady has appeared in front of his eyes. A light was beaming behind her shape, strong enough to emphasize the curves, but not so strong to blind him. Walking through that labyrinth of which he thought there was no exit from, she’s was coloring the parts of the path in gray with her footsteps. But does that mean that the lady wants the young boy to drown in the depth of the unkown? Or maybe she wants to help him find his way to success? Who knows! From that pale light, the lady gave him her hand. He decided to trust her without thinking a lot. She took him to the only road that wasn’t colored in gray. And then the young man knew. It was his path. A path where the dust reveals only one thing - a giant wall, where the cracks have written: ‘’You didn’t come to this world to be defeated! Don’t cover your eyes with a blindfold that can confuse you. Have faith in yourself. Don’t forget that the most difficult mountain is the life itself, who’s opening its doors wide for you to taste all of his benefits. And remember, never lower your view below from your height!’’ By doing so she made it clear that despite the times of uncertainity, the answer is hidden deep inside him. He just needs to take a look into the depth of his soul, his heart. And to hear all of the things that needed to be heard. And in that moment he knew that the lady was his light who helped him decide what to do next. She made him think deeply and she gave a purpose to his life in a way. These words got stuck to the young man’s heart, like a fly on a duck tape. A 19-year old colorful canvas was circling in his head, born with weep, followed by kids laughter and rised in judgements and ideas. He realised that we are closing doors to things that can bring us victory and we give the key to the
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2 months in Riga
Yes, exactly 2 months spent in Riga. A city wherever you turn, everything has its own untold story, waiting to be discovered. All this started with a crazy idea (most often, crazy ideas are the best): “I want to go out of my comfortable zone alone with the people who I will I meet first time in my life� Thanks to the Erasmus + Programme, I managed to fulfill my goal that was in my head, and luckily, somehow I found myself in this beautiful city located in Latvia At first, I had little difficulties, but in time and with the support of the people around me, I managed to overcome the pace of everyday life in this environment. My goal here is very simple. I came to learn the things that I was always interested in, and which would be of a benefit to me in the future. Borche Adjieski
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Borce Adzieski
Erasmus+ love story
You have probably heard that during Erasmus+ project some love stories happen and if you are lucky enough you may experience one of these. Unfortunately in most of the cases it ends pretty fast, because it’s hard to keep relationships on distance. So, is the long and happy Erasmus+ love story possible? Yes it is guys. Maybe it seems hard and in some way impossible, but Erasmus+ LONG TERM love stories exist. One of these is our story. We are Ilija and Xenia. We met 2 years ago in Spain during a youth exchange. For both of us it was the first Erasmus+ project and we both were very excited about it, but we definitely didn’t expect to hook each other up. Fortunately, it happened. Honestly, it was hard to say our first goodbye. That was at a time when the project finished, mainly because we were still young and didn’t know how can we meet each other again. But finally, we found a solution – we decided to write a project, the both of us. It was a huge struggle for two 16 –year old teenagers to go through it and not seeing each other year and a half. Luckily, the project was accepted and we met again, which was a whole new level of our Erasmus+ love story and since then we figgured that the distance is not a problem. Ilija & Xenia
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Ilija Binoski
McDONALDS RESTYLE loesje@loesje.org www.loesje.org
IT'S LIKE A MONKEY PUTTING ON MAKE-UP AND TRYING TO LOOK LIKE A GIRL BUT IT'S STILL A MONKEY
YOUTH ASSOCIATION INFO FRONT-PRILEP Address: Andon Slabejko bb., 7500 Prilep, Macedonia Tel: +38970719945-+38970764064 email: infofrontprilep@gmail.com facebook page: facebook.com/infofrontprilep
The articles contained in the magazine reflect the personale points of you of the authors and don’t reflect the opinions or the points of you of the members of Youth association Info front-Prilep or of the Youth association intself. “The European commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute and endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the autohors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the Information contained therein”