workshop 1National tales

Greece

Greek team presented the Micrasiatic Catastrophy. It refers to the end of the Greek-Turkish war of 1919-22, the flight from Turkey of the Greek administration, which had settled on the western shores of Asia Minor, during the Treaty of Sevres, as well as the almost disorderly retreat of the Greek army after the collapse of the front and the now generalized expulsion and extermination of a large part of the Greek and Christian population of Asia Minor. In total, in the autumn of 1922 approximately 900,000 Asia Minor refugees arrived in Greece. There were too many refugees and no one was willing to host them. They felt shame for something they were not responsible for and couldn't do anything to change. Today, however, the Greeks who were forced to come to Greece from Asia Minor founded their own separate colonies near the capital, giving the name of the areas that inhabited the coasts of Asia Minor.

Latvia

Since Latvia was part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Latvian people are speaking 2 languages: Russian and national Latvian. Although they live all in the same country Latvians do not like these who are Russian speakers in their country. In the region of the country which is near the Russian and Belarusian borders most people speak Russian and closer to the capital everyone speaks Latvian, although they know Russian, but they do not speak Russian.

Spain

Spanish team talked about the oppression Muslim people suffer in Spain, focusing on the two autonomic cities located in Morocco, Ceuta and Melilla. They explained how Muslim people face big discriminations both in regular day and in the working aspect. The story we told was about a Moroccan guy who had to cross the border with Spain everyday to go to work and he had a really hard time crossing from Morocco to Spain because of how he looked, parallel to that there was a Spanish person who was crossing the border everyday to bring weed from Morocco but they never checked him because he was white and Spanish.

Romania

"Harap-Alb" is a Romanian fairy tale that tells the story of a young prince who sets out on a journey to fulfill a series of challenges in order to marry the daughter of the Emperor of the Underworld. Along the way, Harap-Alb receives help from various magical creatures, including a unicorn and a dragon, and overcomes obstacles such as a river of fire and a forest of thorns. Eventually, Harap-Alb successfully completes his tasks and returns home with his bride, living happily ever after. The tale is a classic example of a hero's journey, with the protagonist facing trials and tribulations before achieving their ultimate goal.

Macedonia

Once upon a time there was a young boy called Rauno. He was living with his parents and his brothers and sisters in a small village in Macedonia. He haved a really neglecting parents and they forced him to work. He was going to school also. His classmates were very mean to him and they were making fun of him because he was white. He was very sad. One day after a really bad joke from his classmates his teacher heard about this and she invited him to tell his story in front of the class. He told his sad story and his teacher started to cry. After this event he was called "The white gypsy". This is how the story of white gypsy was created.

Bulgaria

In Bulgaria we have a tradition where boys and men dress up in furs and animal skins, put scary masks on their faces and jump with huge bells tied around their waists. It's believed that Kukeri monsters are so ugly that any real monster would run away screaming. That's a centuries - old tradition intended to chase evil spirits away. Women have been discriminated because they're not allowed to celebrate that tradition and to wear those furry customs. Nowadays that has started changing because you can already see a women wearing it even though not that often