The holy grail of EVS

Time is running and I just break out in sweat when I think about August and the end of this wonderful year which is getting better from day to day. Yes! Everyone was right! They were right when they told me I would fall in love with Vranje and they were right when they told me the real fun EVS gets only after six months. One milestone was the Mid term meeting in Sremski Karlovci near Novi Sad where I saw all my lovely EVS colleagues again. But before the meeting I used the chance to see and to like Novi Sad. Its a much greener and a more livable place than Belgrade although I appreciate the socialistic charm of the Serbian capital. But back to Novi Sad: Everyone was talking about this “Waffel guy”. He seems to be an institution among the EVS scene. The reason could be that he is a former EVS volunteer from Belgium who loved Novi Sad so much that he came back to open a Waffel house. And what to say about him? He is quite an original - kind of grumpy and will show when guests are not coming at the right time but even though a warmhearted and open dude who makes the best waffels on the spot and who has a lot of games so that you can spend hours or days there. So we did and the “Munchkin Apocalypse” edition totally banned us.

Back to the “milestone” of my EVS. The mid term meeting felt from the first moment like we never separated after our on-arrival-training in Sarajevo. Everyone enjoyed the getting back together and even the quiet and introvert people showed that they became more confident in language and appearance. All Germans brought the stolen slippers from Hotel Hollywood and so the German stereotype “love their house shoes“ was perfect again. A nice part of the meeting was the “heroes journey” that we pulled over our EVS experience. The theory of Joseph Campell inspired many authors for their books like “Lord of the rings” or “Harry Potter”. The aim for us was to find a hero that fits us in order to tell our “heroes journey”. So what should I say about my heroes? Its the Monsters AG – lovely and brave, cute though. My story is called “Sleeping beauty Vranje- the big wake up” and I'm a prince in the suite of the small green monster with megaphone that can spring Vranje out of its apathy. The batteries to my megaphone are not bought yet but at least I'm in the progress to speak a language that they understand – Serbian although this progress is stuck a little. But as long as people in Vranje are waiting for some big change that they don't know what it will be you will have a hard time to engage them for the small things in their community. The holy grail of my story is obviously a better and clear perspective for my further life... still not in sight.

On the third day of the meeting I cried. They call it guided fantasy. They will switch on the most emotional music that they can find and will tell you to close your eyes and let you imagine some really emotional moment like the last day of your EVS and the moment when you leave the city. It was too much for me. I tried to hide but realized that it doesn't make sense because they will see the red eyes. I've rarely had those intense moments during my time in Serbia and it surprised me and probably exactly that was the aim of the exercise. But to draw our feelings in a picture in the tradition of Waldorf really was the peak for my tolerance. Even though I accept the methods I don't have to like them all in the same way.

Next to the program we had some interesting sightseeing in Sremski Karlovci – a city that really cares about sustainable economy and tourism. From the hostel which is an ecological center, to the local winery that produces Bermet– a dessert vine that is only produced in Sremski Karlovci and was served on the Titanic, to the honey farm where you can buy all weird sorts of honey that you can imagine, right up to the grammar school which is the oldest secondary school in Serbia that has a library right from the Harry Potter movies. Inclusive the beautiful banks of Danube you will have a wonderful time in this place. I reserved a bottle of Bermet for me in the hope that my ship will not sink after its consumption.

After this short but intensive reunion everybody got back to his own EVS routine. Except of me. For one month I was my own boss in the office. Beside of that fact I started teaching German and ended up totally busy and stressed in a positive way, though. With the set up of a band in Vranje and the small parties I contribute my music to I slowly find my former busy German schedule again which makes me glad. And then there is this inexplicable sympathy for this city. Everyone is resigned and conditions are just getting worse but as soon as springtime shows up things seem to be more beautiful and nice. And then you will meet other people that are coming back to the town because they enjoyed their time as EVS as much as you do now. Those people might understand much better what it means to be a foreigner here and that there is a difference between being a volunteer and really try to make a living in Serbia which can be much harder.

Lately we started a training dedicated to radio as a medium to promote values of human rights like anti discrimination or integration of minorities. During the first part I already had the possibility to lead my very first training session - sure about radio. That I got the predicate „smart ass“ afterwards was perhaps down on the fact that I pretend to know more then I actually do. I have to admit that I never had intensive contact to Albanian people since they are not living in Vranje. This training is supposed to include Roma, Albanian and Serbian youth. To find Albanian participants for the second part I went to another city near Vranje – Preševo. Eventhough there is only a distance of 30 kilometers between the two cities there is one big difference – a proportion of 90% Albanian people. It couldn't be more different and in fact Preševo has the biggest amount of Albanian population in Southern Serbia. But what was much more surprising for me was the guest friendliness and the glowing eyes of young people in the youth office that received us – a Serbian, a German and the French guy who teached them English less than two years ago. And what to say about the radio training? There were on fire! For me its hard to understand how the conflict between Albanian and Serbian people can persist so long even though there is no obvious reason anymore. Unfortunately parents implement their point of view to their children and they never get a chance to know it better. And when there is a personal history for some people they should at least realize that not everyone can be charged for the mistakes that several people might have done. Obviously also big media far from the regarding region like to inflame tensions. In order to that a drone with an Albanian flag in a football game against Serbia meant as a joke can become the biggest insult for Serbians.

Our training- no matter how small it is- can make a difference and bring many different people on one table to start a discussion and to break stereotypes. (Thanks to Ivica for his continious input to this subject.)

Flickr album

A real vranjanka you can only get when you were on local TV. CHECK!