First Day -- "Democracy and Civil Society" -- at State University Tetova

Delighted that, in addition to the 3rd Year law students (taking Comparative Constitutional Law), I have the pleasure of working with 1st Year Political Science students in this Democracy and Civil Society course.

Today's topics included What is Politics? Why Government? What is Democracy?

Old Bazaar Skopje

Pretty excited that my Skopje teaching assignment at SEEU is adjacent to the Old Skopje Bazaar.  Turkish coffee and kebabs and pastries await me after class.

Macedonia was part of the Ottoman Empire for 500 years, and the Old Bazaar in Skopje is evidence of that. (For more about the history of the bazaar, see http://www.exploringmacedonia.com/old-bazaar.nspx )

(There is also a Museum of Skopje Bazaar which we will have to visit one of these days. Stay tuned!)


On our second weekend in Skopje, we wandered into the bazaar only briefly - after we had attended a performance at the opera and visited the National Gallery art museum that is housed in the Daut Pasha Hamam, a 15th century Turkish haman near the Bazaar.  We arrived just as everything was closing. We did hear the sundown call to prayer from a few different mosques - managed to capture just the very end from my phone 

This weekend, we were able to spend a bit more time in the bazaar, after touring the Museum of Archeology.

I am teaching at SEEU Skopje campus ... I love that it is the gateway to the Old Skopje Bazaar

I may have to check out their military insignia collection at this shop to see if I can pick up something interesting for my Dad

 

Yum!!  Reminding me of some of the amazing pastries we had in Amman

Aaaaaaaand....my Turkish coffee

We tried kebabs at Destan's...fantastic!

 For more about Destan's see their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/kebapcilnica.DESTAN/

kebabs in the making!

you can watch the kebabs being made from the window - reminded me of watching them make the beignets at Cafe du Monde in NOLA

Brought back wonderful memories of our previous trip to Istanbul, and our visit to the Arasta Bazaar - you can see pics of that post here (there are 14 posts from Istanbul, before and after this post about the Arasta Bazaar)

http://jainmoldova.blogspot.mk/2010/11/arasta-bazaar-and-other-shopping.html

The Balkans and American Diplomacy in the 20th Century....a meeting wtih Professor Miso Dokmanovic

After my first class at SEEU, I met with Professor Miso Dokmanovic from Ss. Cyril and Methodius University. (UKIM)

We had the pleasure of meeting this summer at the European Society for Comparative Legal History Conference in Gdansk.  (You can learn more about the conference on their website here
http://www.esclhconference2016.pl/ And you can learn more about my participation in the conference on my Moldova blog, here http://jainmoldova.blogspot.mk/2016_07_01_archive.html - There are 9 posts about the ESCLH conference, my research, and Gdansk)

I was interested to learn more about the research projects undertaken by the NGO ISIE, the Institute for Strategic Research and Education (See http://www.isie.org.mk/

I am looking forward to visiting the UKIM campus and hoping to make plans to deliver a guest lecture this spring.  For more about UKIM, see http://www.ukim.edu.mk/en_index.php

Professor Miso Dokmanovic's book about American foreign policy in the Balkans -- pictured on the cover are President Kiro Gligorov (the first president of an independent Macedonia) and President Bill Clinton (the only US President to visit Macedonia)

Enjoyed a delicious Hungarian goulash at the Pelister restaurant.  (If you look at the sign in the picture, you can see that this week there was a special Hungarian themed-week with additional menu items)  See http://www.pelisterhotel.com.mk/

First Day - Constitutional Law - SEEU Skopje

Enjoyed my first day of Constitutional Law at SEEU Skopje campus. Looking forward to a great semester.

Seminar Selfie!

this is the campus from the back

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the Kale Fortress is behind the SEEU campus

the view from my classroom - this is the Kale Fortress

while we were on break - you can see the Kale Fortress from the classroom window

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supreme Court Bingo comes to Skopje!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supreme Court Bingo comes to Skopje - more prizes to be awarded next week

Hidden Macedonia with Chris Deliso

I appreciated author Chris Deliso's making time to meet with me to talk about places to go and things to do in Skopje.  He literally wrote the book about travel around Macedonia and the Balkans (including for Lonely Planet, my favorite guides).  He let me borrow a copy of his book Hidden Macedonia: The Mystic Lakes of Ohrid and Prespa. I can't wait to follow along on that journey.

 His forthcoming book is Migration,Terrorism, and the Future of a Divided Europe.

You can learn more on his website, here http://chrisdeliso.com/

We met at Broz Cafe, which I quite enjoyed. I will most definitely return.  (Here is their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Broz-Kafe-Coffee-Shop-283919414985658/ )

lots of interesting memorabilia - including this Tito tea set

we met at Broz Cafe

looking forward to reading his book HIDDEN MACEDONIA

art workshop at Vitrum Art Glass Studio

On Saturday we enjoyed a glass art workshop at Vitrum Art Glass Studio.  Thanks, Mimi!

our group in the studio - soon-to-be glass artists from Bulgaria, Poland, Albania, the Netherlands, Macedonia, and the USA

first step -- arranging the glass -- my daughter's will be a piece of wall art

I am making a coaster

then we add powered glass colors to the background

and then liquid glass color to the relief pieces

we each made heart pendants for necklaces as well

mine should look like a Macedonian flag when it is finished

this is my daughter's wall art - before it heads into the kiln

We can't wait to see the finished products!

Here are some of the items available in their shop, next to the studio. (Now we are wondering how we can get one of these lamps home in our suitcase... In the meantime, I treated myself to one of the bracelets.)

You can see more of their work on their website  http://www.vitrum.com.mk/

and on their facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/vitrum.com.mk/

First Day of Constitutional Law at the State University Tetova

My first meeting with my Constitutional Law class at the State University Tetova.

Looking forward to this semester!

 

A warm welcome from the Vice Dean of the Law Faculty