Buildup to the Big Bang EU Enlargement -- from the Outside, Pravets, Bulgaria
I'm watching Euronews, and it's the Eve of the big Accession date. Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, and many these other countries I have visited are joining the European Union. This is a big deal -- something that entire nations of people have been working on for decade(s). I add the (s) because this is really the culmination separating the Christian Central European countries from the former Soviet Union influence -- so it's an eventual result, albeit much delayed, of the Hungarian uprising in 1956 and the Prague Spring of 1968 in Czechoslovakia and the whole Solidarnost movement under Walesa, and many more events.
And because I took this gig just outside the currently-acceding EU, I'm missing the party. 4 years living in Bratislava & Prague, and I miss this. I'm sad about this. It's a once-in-a-lifetime event in Bratislava, Prague and Budapest. I just read a letter from my girlfriend; I could be enjoying a big party in the Bratislava center tonite and tomorrow (not as big as for the Hockey championships in 3 weeks, but big nonetheless, the second biggest) and then stroll easily home for a few hundred yards / meters to my flat. I could be there for a special historical moment. I am sad and I miss it right now.
Euronews gets really repetitive during the normal day, but these live coverage events are awesome. Minimal commentary, and I'm getting live streams of parties, fireworks, concerts, etc. from Dublin, Ireland,; Nicosia, Cypress; Ljubljana, Slovenia; Rome, Italy; Berlin, Germany and other cities.
On the plus side, I finished creating my PolSci test and it's going to be very difficult . . . .
And because I took this gig just outside the currently-acceding EU, I'm missing the party. 4 years living in Bratislava & Prague, and I miss this. I'm sad about this. It's a once-in-a-lifetime event in Bratislava, Prague and Budapest. I just read a letter from my girlfriend; I could be enjoying a big party in the Bratislava center tonite and tomorrow (not as big as for the Hockey championships in 3 weeks, but big nonetheless, the second biggest) and then stroll easily home for a few hundred yards / meters to my flat. I could be there for a special historical moment. I am sad and I miss it right now.
Euronews gets really repetitive during the normal day, but these live coverage events are awesome. Minimal commentary, and I'm getting live streams of parties, fireworks, concerts, etc. from Dublin, Ireland,; Nicosia, Cypress; Ljubljana, Slovenia; Rome, Italy; Berlin, Germany and other cities.
On the plus side, I finished creating my PolSci test and it's going to be very difficult . . . .