Articles by: Tmelník – místo pro mladé
Field trip to Gracanica
During our Erasmus + project, we had a field trip to Gracanica on the fifth day, we could say that we witnessed the two sides of the Kosovo medallion. On our way there, we had an interesting visit on the ruins of the historical city of Ulpiana, and met Petar, our “guide” and the head of the Serbian community NGO in Grecenica city. Ulpiana was a clear proof of Roman influence in the first centuries. The ruins were found by the archaeologists just by chance because there were some modifications in the area that were supposed to be held. The structure of the old city was very interesting, because it witnessed the fact that in that era, the people lived in tribes, or very big families, and were living in harmony, because they shared every facility and the buildings had plenty of rooms. Visiting the Serbian NGO was an interesting part of our day, because we learned that the organization was created like 5 years ago, but became functional only in the last 3 years, and consisted in volunteers of different nationalities. The municipality gave them a building where to develop their activities, differently from the Turkish NGO in Prizren that had to pay everything by raising funds. Next to the NGO building was a Roma community, living in cottages that were in a white painting and a uniform construction and conditions. They looked very friendly in their way, but the sadness of poor life, was reflected in their faces. The Grecenica Cultural Centre served as a multifunctional place, for music plays, festivals, theatre and cinema. Speaking about the culture we have to mention the fact that the culinary local dishes were colorful and in full harmony with all the cultures that lived at the same city. Our next station and perhaps the most intriguing part was the Gracenica monastery, a building of great architecture constructed in XIV. From the outside, we could notice the complexity of the structure, and enjoy it aesthetically. Our guide, gave us some information about the history of the monastery and told us the legends that surround this ancient building. The interior of it was fully covered in frescos. We also had the chance to speak to some people working on and cleaning the paintings. To all of us, this was a great experience, which helped us in creating a new conception of the life of minorities.
Field trip to Prizren
During the field trip to Prizren in the Erasmus +, there was a lot of things that left a print in our minds. It was like a game changer for the “normal” places that we came from. The entire city was laying in both sides of river LumBardhi, fully organized and equipped with all natural beauty, like hills, field, mountain, forest. Our visit consisted in a meeting at the NGO of a Turkish Association called “Dogru-Yol” , visiting the city Castle located on top of the hill, and the city-center. “Dogru-Yol” means right direction, and that was the intention of the former volunteers that was created in 1951, pushing the local Turkish community, but not only to contribute for a bright future of their youngsters and teach them how to live in full harmony with the other minority. During our group meeting with the head of the organization he did inform us about their aim in now days that want to keep spreading and preserving their culture within their families, even if they are mixed in nationality, help them to understand and respect the other people who come from other countries and cultures. Our field trip had a lot of interesting parts, including the City Castle where you could have the city on the palm of your hand, have historical information about it, looking at real and not modified buildings inside of it and, why not, have some perfect pictures as a memory of this experience. The city center was full of shops, selling souvenirs and clothes. We randomly entered a souvenir shop and there was a Muslim lady wearing a hijab as representative of her religion whom could speak Albanian, Macedonian, Turkish, English and that was very nice to us. The next visit was to a clothes shop, the seller was nice and could speak Albanian and English, but nearly everything was counterfeit. Something interesting about the city was that there was a few homeless animals who looked really friendly, well treated, and in good psychology conditions. One of the bridges during the riverside was quite interesting because it was full of lock that the lovers lock there and throw the key in the river as a sign for their newborn eternal love. At last but not the least we paid and visit and bought some handcrafts souvenirs from a mister who had like an international business of his own, because during the summer he operates in Durres, Albania. He was a real self-made talent who could speak Albanian and English that was giving his work in exchange of 2-3 Eur.
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