A Trip to Peru to the Seventh Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy

During the last few days I undertook a trip to Lima, to the Seventh Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy. I accepted the gracious offer by the organizers, having in mind that this could be a wonderful opportunity to learn more, taking into account the program filled with opportunities to meet active people from all parts of the world we live in, and also get a small taste the fabled land of Peru and see what they've done in the areas of progress and inclusion. I intend to share that knowledge via regular blogging, if possible.
 
The whole trip from Skopje to Lima went well, taking almost 24 hours. The capably organized itinerary spared me the stresses that go along with such complex ventures, having to mix and to match budgets with schedules and then to feel guilty if something lags or goes amiss along the way. The primary criteria for choosing the schedule seems to be the shortness of time between the connecting flights, sparing me the indemnity of long waits at the airports in Zagreb and Amsterdam. 

In-flight Croatian newspaper Jutarnji list column "News from Lilliput" claims some
politicians in Poland and Croatia blame communist system abolished in 1990
for the economic misfortunes suffered by the economies they govern.

The airport of Schiphol impressed me with new uses of technology. The automated check-in, which only required putting a page of the passport within a small hole of electronic device, and the new procedure for checking the persons of the passengers by the security guards. In addition to putting our belongings and belts on a conveyer belt to pass through a scanner, a new type of examining apparatus has been introduced. The traveler has to stand within a cylindrical construction and put his feet on drawn imprints of feet and raise his or her hands in the universal pose of surrender. A portion of the device then goes around the entire body in a fashion similar to modern dental X-rays. In addition, if nothing beeps, the traveler is directed to another image of two feet on which is directed to stand, and then manually frisked by a guard of the same sex, who applies high standards of decency. Moreover, the best toys on offer to passers-by were not in the duty free shop aisles devoted to products for kids, but in the wast electronic gadgets shops for adults, sporting various why-pads, walkies-talkies, spy cameras disguised as pens, and little remote controlled helicopters and speedboats.

Moving sidewalks on Schiphol add to the futuristic feeling.

I was spared the long airport waits, which is fortunate as I do not
posses the yogin-like flexibility of this napper.

Upon boarding at the last leg of the journey, some familiar faces appeared in the queue: Darko Brkan from Bosnia and Vukosava Crnjanski from Serbia. They hail from NGOs that run elder sister projects to our transparency and accountability applications Truth-o-Meter (mk: Vistinomer, sq: Vërtetmatës, sr: Istinomer, ba: Istinomjer) and Votemeter (ba: Glasometar, mk: Glasomer, sq: Votëmatësi). In retrospect, it seemed that much of the airplane has been populated by Assembly participants, on the way to the hotel there was at least two busloads of us. 

The flights were uneventful in terms of misfortunes, so I could devote much time to napping and some to reading a few pages from a trusty paperback of the Gulliver's Travels. Little turbulence here and there over the Atlantic failed to stir the calm of the passengers during the 12-hour flight. I must commend the Dutch KLM for the excellent quality of offered food and drinks, on par with the Turkish and French airlines. The in-flight entertainment system, consisting of a small computer screen embedded in the seat in front, showing YouTube-sized films also proved adequate as means of informing what's considered mainstream from the recent Hollywood and cable TV production. Expectedly, I took most pleasure in watching the Simpsons episode in which Marge becomes a fun-mom by food-blogging with the kids. I also delighted in learning about a Dutch film called Nova Zembla, about the voyages of Barentsz to the Arctic, and vowing to peruse it under better technological conditions. 




I feel much obliged to the Government of Republic of Macedonia which, at some point in the past, found time to conclude a treaty with the Republic of Peru that allows touristic Macedonian citizens to enter the country without a requirement of a visa. This proved of much use upon arriving at the apparently recently refurbished airport in Lima, which introduced a feeling of entering a very modern metropolis.

However, I was not spared of having to explain many of my fellow travelers where do I come from. I fault their isolated education systems for installing ignorance about the geographical position or the current state of affairs of Macedonia, which seems out of place considering its importance both in history and economy, as we are so often reminded while at home. In my heart I expected that lack of direct flight connections should not have interceded with spreading the fame of the many achievements of my country. Still, there are people in the world who haven't even heard of the name dispute - the efforts of a neighborly nation to prohibit Macedonia's inhabitants to speak its name, seemengly out of pure brotherly Christian love (applying the third biblical commandment, as they claim to revere the name to the point of ascribing it divine attributes) and the valiant counter-measures, whose elaboration fills the minds of people at home. I also paid a small price in additional time of waiting in front of immigration and hotel desk counters, as the servicemen sought the name in pull-down lists in their computer programs.

On the shuttle bus I learned a bit about Lima, from people that have already been here, and about the region, from travelers coming from nearby countries. The weather these days is expected to be fair, as the Spring advances on this side of the Globe, but with a cloud cover arising from the evaporation of the Humboldt Current preventing direct contact with the Sun. I was advised not to walk the streets at night, as the inequality of wealth in this rich community also breeds quite a few pickpockets and muggers among the mean classes. I was warned, they often grab purses, cameras and mobile phones if held at length from the body of easily identifiable and thus targeted foreigners.  

Similar to the Balkans or Caucasus, South American activists devote time to explaining basic facts about their region, due to general lack of international media attention. In such situations I urged them to start cooperation with Global Voices. In those conversations I also learned that the rights of the indigenous people in Bolivia have suffered a decline under the current rule, and that a new highway in their territories poses a danger to the whole Amazon basin, and would affect the climate worldwide. To my surprise, I was informed that all appearances are not to be taken for granted, because their president might "look like indigenous," but his policy is based solely on promoting the interests of cocaleros (coca leaf growers) - a group to which he belonged to begin with. I took to mind to explore more, as I found parallels with tobacco industry in Macedonia, which also involves huge government subsidies to the growers, who having little other sources of income are also a very dependable voter base. I also learned that Brazil is the major market influencing the whole region.

The Novotel hotel proved to be quite exquisite, providing a very all-American feeling with the electrical plugs compatible with the U.S. system, many decorative pillows on the bed, and choice of up to three shower faucets. I look forward to conveying the visuals of the city which I missed arriving at night and feeling a bit jet-lagged, but resolved to compensate in the future blog-posts. 

Next: Opening of the Seventh Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy