German author pens book on Mother Theresa's youth

"Mother Teresa - Her Youth in Skopje" is the title of a new book by German linguist and journalist Wolf Oschlies, who has taken part in almost every seminar on Macedonian language, held annually in Ohrid. The book covers the youth of Gonxhe Bojaxhiu from her birth in Skopje in 1910 till 1928. Author Oschiles in his book writes that Gonxhe Bojaxhiu was born with disability and was constantly ill throughout her childhood.
Despite that her wealthy family had provided her a happy childhood and youth. Oschiles intertwines the changes within the young woman and the old city.
He uses Mother Teresa as a "core" to paint a vivid picture of the historical Skopje. The book is written in a reporting style, much differently from many other books on Mother Teresa.
The writer explains events that had influenced her education, work and life. The book also includes 35 historical photos and cards.
Made up of 193 pages, the books is published by Wieser Verlag and costs Euro 12,95.

Struga Poetry Evenings

48th Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE) - the most prestigious international poetry manifestation in Macedonia - will be opened Thursday evening in Struga at a ceremony, which will include a traditional recital of the poem T'ga za jug (Longing for The South), concert by pianist Simon Trpceski and the international poetry recital named "Poetry Meridians". This year's SPE laureate is Slovene poet Tomaz Salamun, who has already arrived in Struga and is scheduled on Thursday to plant a tree in the Park of Poetry and to hold a press conference.
The formal opening will be followed by the annual Nights without Punctuation multimedia artistic event featuring experimental forms of poetic presentations, where Senegal author Ousmane Sarr-Sarrouss will be presented. He is the winner of this year SPE and UNESCO award Bridges of Struga for the best first poetry book by young author.
The Struga poetry festival, which will run till Aug. 23, will be attended by 75 foreign poets from 50 countries worldwide. SPE's activities were kicked off yesterday when flowers were laid in front of the Miladinovci brothers' memorial house. This year's symposium, dedicated to "Poetry and Music", is scheduled for August 21. SEP will in addition mark the 100 anniversary of the birth of Nikola Jonko Vapcarov (1909-2009). The festival's programme also includes an "Evening of Norwegian Poetry", promotion of 10 books of Macedonian poets, translated in English language.
The closing ceremony "Mostovi" (Bridges), held at the Bridge of Poetry on the river Drim in Struga including poetry readings and the awarding ceremony, will be held on August 23. Another event in the so called Caravan of Poetry, which consists of poetry performances around the country. Usually, after the end of the Festival, poetry readings are being organized in several cities across Macedonia.
The last event takes place in the country's capital, Skopje, where 2009 laureate Salamun will be declared as an honorary member of the Macedonian Poetry Association. Tomaz Salamun is a Slovenian poet. He was born in 1941 in Zagreb, Croatia, and raised in Koper, Slovenia. He has published 30 collections of poetry in his native Slovenian language. Salamun spent two years at the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop in the 1970s and has lived for periods of time in the United States since then. For a time, he served as Cultural Attaché to the Slovenian Embassy in New York. He has had ten collections of poetry published in English, including The Selected Poems of Tomaz Salamun (Ecco Press, 1998); The Shepherd, the Hunter (Pedernal, 1992); The Four Questions of Melancholy (White Pine, 1997); Feast (Harcourt, 2000), "Poker" (Ugly Duckling), "Row!" (Arc Publications), "The Book for My Brother" (Harcourt), and "Woods and Chalices" (Harcourt). He lives in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and is married to the painter Metka Krasovec.
SEP was launched in 1962 with a series of readings by a number of Macedonian poets in honor of the two brothers, Konstantin and Dimitar Miladinov, great intellectuals, teachers, and writers, born in Struga in the beginning of 19th century. Konstantin Miladinov has been considered the founder of modern Macedonian poetry and each year the festival officially opens with his memorable poem "Longing for the South" (T'ga za jug) written during his student days in Moscow. For the last 47 years the festival has welcomed about 4,000 poets, translators, essayists and literary critics from 95 countries.

Memorial museum for Ataturk

A corner stone was laid Sunday in the village of Kodzadzik - Centar Zupa municipality - marking the start of a construction of Memorial House of Kemal Ataturk - the founder of modern Turkey. The greatness of Ataturk's deeds, a man who was the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey, is being recognized in Turkey and beyond its borders, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said. Many memories connect Ataturk with Macedonia, including the fact that the house of his parents is located exactly here in the village of Kodzadzik.
This memorial is of special significance for the Turkish state, Turkish community in our country and for Macedonia, Gruevski said at the ceremony. Culture Minister Elizabeta Kanceska-Milevska and Turkish Deputy Culture Minister Nihat Gul also addressed the event, referring to the good cultural cooperation and friendly relations between the two countries.
The memorial will be build on the foundations of the old residence of Ataturk's father - Ali Riza. The project - worth about EUR 650,000 - will be realized by the local authorities of Centar Zupa municipality and the Government of Macedonia.

The biggest Macedonian flag ever covered up both platforms

During Macedonia-Spain football match, the North and South platforms at Philip II national stadium were covered up with the biggest Macedonian flag. The enormous flags consisted of 24 thousand parts and 12 thousands fans were needed to hold it and cover up the platforms. The organizers of this event were T-mobile, who encouraged our footballer players and showed their support for Macedonian football.

Skopje a hit destination

Macedonia’s capital Skopje remains one of the top destinations of visitors to the country. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 12,000 tourists visited Skopje in June, recording 21,400 night stays. Other tourist destinations, such as Ohridsko, Prespansko, and Dojransko lakes, received 23,000 tourists and recorded 64,500 night stays.
According to these data, the number of tourists in June was up 2.8 percent compared with the same month last year. It was also noticed that the number of Macedonian tourists has been decreasing, while the number of foreign tourists is on the rise.

Number of foreign tourists up, Macedonian tourists dip

The official number of tourist in Macedonia stood at 51.276 in June 2009, and thus reported 2.8 percent up in comparison to the respective period last year; this data was published by the Macedonian Statistical Office, which added that the number of Macedonian tourists shed 12.1 percent, while the number of foreign tourists rose by 19.7 percent.
Total number of bed nights stood at 128,611 and thus posted a 4.2 percent up on last year. It is worth noting that the number of Macedonian tourists dropped by 4.6 percent, while the number of foreign tourists rose by 15.1 percent. From January to June 2009 the number of tourists rose by 2.3 percent in comparison to the respective period last year.

Vrelo Cave depth passes 190m depth

International speleological expedition will research August 2-15 cave Vrelo in Matka canyon to determine its depth. The goal is to reach depths larger than 183 meters, thus declaring Vrelo the deepest underwater cave in Europe. Vrelo, which was nominated for the new Seven World Wonders, has been researched for several times. Its horizontal length is 450 meters and 98 meters in vertical, where from a new gap opens which bottom has not been reached.
Vrelo divers will also attempt to topple the European diving record of 182 meters. The expedition includes two Macedonian divers, as well as five from Belgium and six from Italy.

Italian diver Luigi Casati, who is part of the international diving expedition that has been exploring underwater Vrelo cave of the Canyon of Matka, reached yesterday the depth of 190 meters, the 'Vrelo' Diving Club said Monday in a press release.
The international expedition will explore Vrelo cave by August 15 and will try to prove the theory that it is the deepest one in Europe and maybe in the world. Vrelo, which was nominated for the new Seven World Wonders, has been researched for several times.
According to speleologists' assessments, Vrelo's depth is 330m, thus being the deepest underwater cave in the world, surpassing the Bushman Hole in South Africa, which holds the Guinness Record with 282 meters.