Ode to August

August. The end of the long hot summer. A month when languidness seem to takeover even the most energetic of people. Is it the nearing of the new school year that makes sluggishness our normal state of mind during this time of the year? Perhaps it is the temperature, which in our country usually culminates in August, rising well over the 40th degree Celsius. August’s temperature-rage evokes an unreasonable and unexplainable wish in me. Well aware of its impossibility, walking barefoot on the boiling-hot asphalt at noon, when the sun heats it up the most, has always been something that I’ve wanted to try.


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Awake from my daydream I brood over the last month of August; what joy and what problems did it bring this year? To begin with, in our microcosm of the NOVA community, August is traditionally the month when we open the gates to newcomers during the Orientation Day, this year held on the 31st. An exciting day for our new classmates, and even more so for us, volunteers and Student Council members who are always eager to meet the people, that from that day on will share the chairs and desks of our NOVA classrooms with us. The more the merrier, they say: this year’s Orientation Day brought a new reality to the school, as a record number of students are attending NOVA. Nonetheless, this change has led to the filling up of our school’s capacities, and until the primary school students were relocated, library space became a hot-topic in NOVA.

For our REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA, the 12th of August brought the friendly soccer match with Spain. After many scandals with ticket selling, the stadium was lined up with fierce soccer fans as well as with a shockingly great number of Macedonian females who, somehow, seemed to cheer for… Spain? Luckily, this was only the effect exerted on them by the blond presence of Fernando Torres on the soccer field of Gradski. After 2 brilliant goals scored by Pandev and a result of 2-0 at half-time – Torres ran out on the soccer field and, well, … did his magic. In 4 minutes Spain scored 3 goals, thus establishing the end result: 2-3. At the end of the match all seemed to be happy and satisfied: the Spanish guys won; we claimed how despite the loss, we have proven a worthy rival; and the Macedonian females… they were satisfied with getting a glimpse of Torres’s hair. ☺

Undoubtedly and inevitably the events that will mark the month of August in the BALKAN REGION are the two equally fantastic U2 concerts in Zagreb, Croatia, that took part on the 9th and the 10th. To my utmost pleasure, I had the privilege of being one of the 60,000 people on Maksimir Stadium who unfortunately lost their voice the next morning due to singing their hearts out on the concert. Even so, I witnessed something majestic, as I saw the 50-meter-tall state-of-the-art stage, his ‘space junk’, as Bono called it. The opening act, the Irish rock band Snow Patrol was also fabulous as I am a fan of their music too, but when I heard the sound of The Edge’s guitar playing the familiar chords to ‘Breathe’, I found myself in desperate need of air from all that excitement. My mind was in an euphoric state as I danced to the beat of ‘Vertigo’. I felt the beauty in the wave of emotions which absolutely took over me as I screamed ‘It’s a beautiful day!’… The audience was electrified as the spectacular show unfolded in front of its eyes; the musicians were selflessly pouring themselves into the performance, producing ‘intimacy on a grand scale’, as Bono said, and transforming the spectacle into an intimate affair. Then, for a minute, they stopped. Bono introduced the next song, ‘One’, by dedicating it 'to everyone in this region who's had their warm hearts broken by cold ideas.' The song summed up the entire evening. The mere statement made its way to the hearts and souls of all the fans. It certainly made its way into mine.

As a socially engaged band, U2 has condemned the Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi’s arrest and ongoing trial, which nonetheless ended on August 11, with her being sentenced to three years with labor, reduced to 1 ½ years’ home detention. Suu Kyi’s arrest and subsequent trial won WORLDWIDE condemnation. On August 18th, the American president Barak Obama asked the Burmese military leadership to release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi. Moreover, critics have argued that her continued detention is imposed on her only to prevent her from participating on the Burmese elections in 2010.

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As these events shook the public worldwide, it became evident that the lazy summer days were soon to be over. The boiling-hot asphalt still remains in my memory now, and I reason, and yes, I understand: August’s charm resides in the awareness of summer’s imminent end, and the remembrance of the days past.