Åsas sida (Åsa's Page)

I always get lots of ideas when I am out travelling, and especially when I travel by myself. I guess it is because I get so many new impressions while at the same time having plenty of time to reflect. I always thought that the main purpose of travelling for me is to never go blind. I wake up, get new impressions, learn new things, and start seeing also my every-day environment with new eyes. And while I am out travelling, suddenly ideas start popping up in my head, and I find simple solutions to problems that I have reflected on for a long time.

During this journey, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, I found a perfect topic for my PhD thesis. I have thought about this for over a year without coming up with anything that has really awoken my curiosity. (As many of you already know, I have also debated whether or not I actually was prepared to go for a PhD, but I finally decided a few weeks ago to go ahead with it. I think I would regret it if I didn’t, and if it doesn’t work out, then at least I tried.) And then, somewhere between discussions with different farmers associations, it suddenly occurred to me exactly what I want to do my research on. I can’t tell you what it is yet, more than that it will seek an alternative to the unsustainable supply-chains while meeting the need for pro-poor growth. And I think I even found a potential sample group. I am very excited!!

Looking at a monoculture field in Bosnia and Herzegovina

After almost a week in Sarajevo, my next stop was Skopje and (f.Y.R.) Macedonia. It was nice to be back in Macedonia. I have noticed that going to a country that I already know is much easier than when I come to a country for the first time, because I don’t have to focus so much on the logistics and just finding my way around, the new currency, new ways of doing things, etc. We often meet more or less the same people in the government institutions also, so coming back means that I do not meet everyone for the first time. It is really nice!

In addition to my project team, the Macedonian football team was staying at our hotel. (They were impossible to miss since they for some mysterious reason constantly wore their team sweatshirts.) They played a World Cup qualification match against Norway in the beginning of our stay, and later that week, they had a match against Iceland, which we went and to see.

Skopje's Stadium was still partially still under construction

Me with a dedicated fan

Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to go out of Skopje this time. The Project that the World Bank finances focuses on institution building, so my meetings were only with public authorities in the capital.

Visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sarajevo was especially interesting for me because of all the people from there that lives in Sweden since the war. I have met so many “Bosnian-Swedes”, both in and outside of Sweden since the mid 1990s. Just before I leaving for the Balkans, I was contacted by a Swedish girl with a Balkan-sounding name who wanted to some development-career advice, and when we met up in DC, it turned out that she originally was from Bosnia and Herzegovina. And during the week I spent in the country, almost everyone I met has either had relatives or friends in Sweden, and many of them had been there. While waiting for my flight to Skopje at the Sarajevo international airport, which is in the size of having six check-in counters in the departure hall, they announced that the flight to Stockholm was departing. So there must be some traffic between the countries. (Croatian Airlines is also opening a direct flight to Gothenburg soon.)

Not all went to Sweden though. On my flight to Skopje, I sat next to a Bosnian-Macedonian couple, their two sons and one of the son’s American girlfriend. They now lived in LA and were on their way home for the first time in 17 years. They had not seen their parents and grand-parents since and the husband’s father had died in the meantime. (Their youngest son had been four at the time when they left.) So they were very excited but also emotional. I cannot even begin to imagine how they must have felt an hour later when they were finally reunited with their family.  

I really must have the best job in the world. Or one of the best anyway. Not that the travelling is fun all the time. Days filled with meetings in ministries and other institutions followed by late evenings in template designed World Bank Country Offices to catch up on work in other projects, and then going back to business hotels that look the same wherever I go, is as glamorous as it sounds. But then, there are these small breaks between meetings, when I end up at an outdoor café, preparing for the next meeting and at the same time looking at everyday life in the new country that I am in. And then there are the field trips, when I go out in the country side to meet with farmers and processors. Meetings that take place in the middle of a field or in a barn, or during a tour of a processing plant. It often ends with something to eat, and if not, there is a lunch stop at some local food serving where the food is simple but of excellent taste due to freshly provided ingredients from local producers.

The trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina was no exception. After dedicating the beginning of the week to in-town meetings, I had the opportunity to see more of the country on Wednesday that week when we drove down to Mostar and Ljubuski. The main purpose was to meet with a couple of farmers’ associations and rural entrepreneurs to hear their views on obstacles and possibilities in the agricultural sector. Even though we did not meet at a farm, they still wanted to show me fields, so I got a bit of a tour around the region. It was beautiful, and I was very impressed with the initiatives. You can check them out here on their websites: ECO Line and STAP.

The famous bridge in Mostar

Mostar

The rest of the week, I had more interesting meetings in Sarajevo with work lunches in between at nice out-door café, and a meeting with a consultant who worked with us here over a light dinner. Though the days are long, it sometimes struck me as surprising that I actually get paid for this. Especially since the report writing that comes with these trips is easy and stimulating after all the impressions that I have gathered.

I am now back in Stockholm after three weeks in Western Balkan. If you think I am lagging behind a bit on my blog, it is because the internet connection did not work at my hotel in Sarajevo, and after that, my work load piled up and I did not really have time to write. I also got increasingly tired. I know that I have colleagues that are out travelling for five, six weeks in a row, but I have to say that I think three weeks is quite enough for me. Perhaps I will get used to it, but I still find these trips exhausting. But interesting of course, so I would not want to change any of it! And with a way too long connection stop at Belgrade’s airport yesterday, I had time to write about my trip. So above are a few snapshots from the past three weeks.

Hey all my fellow EU citizens – you are not forgetting to vote for the Parliament, right? I voted at the Swedish embassy in the House of Sweden in Washington before I left for South East Europe. (I voted for the Greens in this election too, though I did consider voting the Pirate Party, and not for free downloads but for the question of who should control the internet.) If you think that the EU Parliament has too little influence to be bothered to vote, change will not come by itself – you have to demand it and voting is a good start. Develop lesson no 1: Institutions can only be strengthened in a sustainable manner through popular support. And if this is not enough for you to go to the polls, think of all the countries that I work in, where the one great objective is to join the EU. In three meetings out of four that I have had this week, people have expressed their hope of a future EU membership coming sooner rather than later. You owe it to them!

I left DC yesterday evening and am now back in Europe for five weeks. It feels good! I am very European and Europe is still home. Am dead tired though after the flights. Am blogging from my hotel room in Sarajevo, while I really should get some work done... It is my first time in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I am really looking forward to getting to know the country. I am here to finalize some analytical work that we are doing on the impact on various domestic sectors from a potential future EU membership. (I am focusing on the agricultural sector of course.) Tomorrow, I am going on a trip to Trebinje to meet with farmers to hear their views on some of our findings so far. I am here for one week before going to (f.Y.R.) Macedonia and then Montenegro. And yes, I realize that going around the Western Balkan in June hardly seems like work.

After Montenegro, I am going to Stockholm and Rome for two weeks, visiting family and friends. So though I am celebrating midsummer in Podgorica this year, June will be a great month!