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In a car with a stranger
Sometimes when you drive a car, you can see a person standing on the side of the road with their thumbs up, a written sign, and the hope that a stranger will pick them up. As children our parents told us to never get inside a stranger’s car, so hitchhiking seems to be everything but…
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Let’s celebrate Slava!
A week ago, I was with my Macedonian friends when one of them said to me “Chloé, I invite you to my Slava”. And of course, coming from France, I had no idea what it was, and maybe some of you don’t know either. So let me introduce you to this holiday, which has been…
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The City of International Solidarity
Skopje, 5:16 am. Still sleeping while the sun is rising behind the mountain, Marija is dreaming peacefully, enjoying her sleep before the last day of work this week. She won’t be able to do it: at 5:17, she’s brutally awakened by a terrible blast that sounds like it’s coming from hell. The nightmare is replacing…
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Human Rights Matter
Human rights is one of the greatest achievements of humanity. Human rights are the inalienable, inviolable rights that all people have in equal terms. After a long historical process, it has been agreed that humans have dignity, and that is why they have rights. In this paper I will try to explain why human rights…
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Gambling with the life
First, you are destroying your life, then the lives of the closest people and in the end – you become a problem to society. This is how most of the gamblers describe their golgotha which will ask for a lot of will, patience and support of the environment to go through and return to somewhat…
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You Are Imperfect and That is Okay
Everyone can feel inadequate, incompetent or not enough from time to time. Accepting this side of our humanity can be quite painful and distressing. We can embrace these features through self-compassion, however, this journey can be intimate yet terrifying. To understand self-compassion better, we can try to understand what compassion is generally. Compassion We can…
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Night Queens of Skopje
Dazzling costumes, fabulous dancers, and vibrant ballrooms. Between the glamour, there is a story of queer expression, creating safe spaces and celebrating culture. Since the 19th century, drag has been a subculture playing with gender and social boundaries. Rooted in the queer community, drag is about self-expression and performing art. It questions identity and challenges…
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Keep Dreaming
The question of the connection between mental health and active participation in the community and social initiatives is a contemporary topic that is the focus of the “Keep Dreaming” project. The project consists of several activities with partners from Macedonia, Spain, Italy and Greece aiming at making the connection between these two topics and providing…
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Understanding happiness
‘’happiness, noun. The state of pleasurable contentment of mind; deep pleasure in or contentment with one’s circumstances.’’ – Oxford English Dictionary. Humans have been searching for happiness since ancient Greek times. According to The World Happiness Report of 2023, Finland is the happiest country in the world, and Afghanistan is at the other end. How…
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Me Generation
Once upon a time, a group of animals met in the forest to discuss their importance. The lion bragged about its strength, the peacock showed off its feathers, and the fox boasted about its knowledge. But the mosquito interrupted, “You all may be great, but I am the most important. I can make a mighty…
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Classical Ballet in a Modern World – Breaking with 400 years of Elitism
In the world of ballet, movement has elegance. Telling stories to classical music, showing the audience the beauty of dance. The aim is nothing but perfection, hiding blistered feet and hurting muscles behind a smile. It’s a world of perfect poses, pirouettes, strong bodies, rose pointe shoes – and light skin? Dissolving from the noble…
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