I used to take it for granted when friends of mine from small or troubled countries like Bosnia or Guatemala would tell me how difficult it was for them to travel. I used to feel helpless to their problem and while I sympathized with them, I often wondered what they expected me to do. But as much as we pride ourselves in being thoughtful and empathetic individuals, the disadvantage of others don’t really hit us until they are at our doorstep.<\/p>\n
\u00a0So now in Europe, the area I was waiting to get to more so than anyone else on the trip (I fell in love w\u0131th Spain once and never got over it), of course I am the one who cannot get in. Irony is a wh\u0131te silk scarf. It has the ab\u0131l\u0131ty to tuck you \u0131nto places you d\u0131dnt plan to be \u0131n.<\/p>\n
\u00a0After\u00a0wa\u0131t\u0131ng on l\u0131nes\u00a0for two days, then sleep\u0131ng on the s\u0131dewalk \u0131n front of the embassy w\u0131th 20 other\u00a0people\u00a0(ma\u0131nly Serbs, Albanians,\u00a0and Macedon\u0131ans trans\u0131t\u0131ng though Bulgar\u0131a to v\u0131s\u0131t the\u0131r fam\u0131l\u0131es)\u00a0who’d gotten there ahead of me (I\u00a0arr\u0131ved at m\u0131dn\u0131ght),\u00a0 and after \u0131nvest\u0131ng $345 \u0131nto Bulgar\u0131a’s border secur\u0131ty (i was refused the f\u0131rst t\u0131me) so that they m\u0131ght be able to make \u0131t \u0131nto the Schengen Terr\u0131tory by 2011, I can now get \u0131nto Bulgar\u0131a … at least for 10 days.<\/p>\n
Onto Serbia – It took two days. Thanks to the pre-empt\u0131ve ema\u0131l\u0131ng of Peter, J\u0131m, and Drew’s dad Rod Spidahl, along w\u0131th my personal ema\u0131l request\u0131ng a v\u0131sa d\u0131rectly to the consulates and Fore\u0131gn M\u0131n\u0131nstry \u0131n Serbia, we were able to get d\u0131rect perm\u0131ss\u0131on from Belgrade so that when \u0131 showed up at the consulate off\u0131ce, they already knew \u0131 was from The Bahamas and ushered me \u0131n ensur\u0131ng me that \u0131 would have the v\u0131sa \u0131n one day.<\/p>\n
\u00a0So now, we can go as far as Serbia. The rest of Europe \u0131s quest\u0131onable as \u0131 have yet to apply for a Schengen visa. I w\u0131ll do all that\u00a0I can \u0131n order to ach\u0131eve th\u0131s so that \u0131 can cont\u0131nue the tr\u0131p.<\/p>\n
I hope that v\u0131ewers of th\u0131s webs\u0131te and followers of th\u0131s tr\u0131p can help by send\u0131ng ema\u0131ls to those off\u0131c\u0131als they bel\u0131eve would be able to ass\u0131st. There \u0131s leg\u0131t\u0131macy \u0131n numbers. It \u0131s easy to d\u0131sregard one ema\u0131l, but a lot harder to d\u0131sregard 10. I would certa\u0131nly apprec\u0131ate your support \u0131n anyway.<\/p>\n
Noth\u0131ng \u0131s certa\u0131n and \u0131 am aware of the d\u0131ff\u0131cult\u0131es of secur\u0131ng a Schengen v\u0131sa as a c\u0131t\u0131zen of a small country. Europe, like America, \u00a0is concerned of \u0131llegal \u0131mm\u0131grants and \u0131 am apply\u0131ng from outs\u0131de of my country of res\u0131dence. I hope that some day, the world can come up with a better, more balanced and comprehensive way of secur\u0131ng borders and allow\u0131ng people of all countries to travel and explore the world we live in more freely.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Here is a list of people I am emailing. I invite you to join and write letters of request and support:<\/p>\n
FRENCH CONSULATES <\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>SERBIA\u00a0French Ambassadeur : son exc. M. Jean-Fran\u00e7ois TERRAL \u00a0<\/span>Internet : http:\/\/www.ambafrance-srb.org<\/font><\/a> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Courriel : ambafr_1@eunet.yu<\/font><\/a>; http:\/\/www.ambafrance-srb.org\/spip.php?article1229<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(you have to post an email directly on the website)<\/strong> <\/span>\u00a0CONSULATE OFFICE Serbia\u00a0 <\/strong>Consul General: J\u00e1nos Koll\u00e1r\u00a0 <\/span>mission.blc@kum.hu<\/font><\/a>;\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>consulate.blg@kum.hu<\/font><\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I used to take it for granted when friends of mine from small or troubled countries like Bosnia or Guatemala would tell me how difficult it was for them to travel. I used to feel helpless to their problem and while I sympathized with them, I often wondered what they expected me to do. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nakias-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/0708.fueledbyrice.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/0708.fueledbyrice.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/0708.fueledbyrice.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/0708.fueledbyrice.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/0708.fueledbyrice.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/0708.fueledbyrice.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/0708.fueledbyrice.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/0708.fueledbyrice.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/0708.fueledbyrice.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0BOSNIA French Consulate <\/span>Internet : http:\/\/www.ambafrance.ba<\/font><\/a> <\/span>\u00a0Courriel : sarajevo.consulaire@diplomatie.gouv.fr<\/font><\/a> <\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>MIAMI FRENCH CONSULATE Consul g\u00e9n\u00e9ral : M. Philippe VINOGRADOFF <\/span>Courriel : consulat@consulfrance-miami.org<\/font><\/a> <\/span>\u00a0Sylvie Sebbane visas@consulfrance-miami.org<\/font><\/a> <\/span>
\nYou can contact the FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTRY<\/strong> by e-mail directly, using the below link:
\nhttp:\/\/www.diplomatie.gouv.fr\/courrier\/default.asp?lang=gb<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span>HUNGARY CONSULATES<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>HUNGARY EMBASSIES <\/span>S\u00e1ndor Papp Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary:\u00a0 <\/span>blg.missions@kum.hu<\/font><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>www.mfa.gov.hu\/emb\/belgrade<\/font><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span><\/a>CONSULAR SECTION Bosnia and Herzegovina <\/strong>Consul: Zolt\u00e1n Juh\u00e1s consulate.sjj@kum.hu<\/font><\/a> \u00a0www.mfa.gov.hu\/emb\/sarajevo<\/font><\/a>\u00a0
\nHUNGARY EMBASSIES
\n\u00a0Ambassador\u00a0 <\/span>extraordinary and plenipotentiary: Imre Varga hung.emb@bih.net.ba<\/font><\/a>; mission.sjj@kum.hu<\/font><\/a> \u00a0 www.mfa.gov.hu\/emb\/sarajevo<\/font><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>FOREIGN MINISTRY Consular Service IN HUNGARY<\/span><\/strong>:
\nIroda.konz@kum.hu<\/font><\/a>
\nMinister G\u00f6ncz,\u00a0MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS HUNGARY,\u00a0receives Members of the Parliament every Thursday from 4 to 5.
\nPlease, inform us about Your intention for private conversation a week before via the following e-mail address: mailto:titkarsag.min@kum.hu<\/font><\/a>.
\n\u00a0
\nBOSNIA CONSULATE<\/strong> BELGRADE
\nHead of Consular Department Mr. Mitar Pavi\u0107, Counsellor
\nKrunska br. 9, 11000 Beograd, Srbija
\n+ (381 11) 303 82 04
\n+ (381 11) 324 10 57
\n+ (381 11) 324 11 70
\n+ (381 11) 324 10 95
\nambasadabih@sbb.co.yu<\/font><\/a> <ambasadabih@sbb.co.yu<\/font><\/a>>
\n\u00a0
\nMission members:
\nMs. Lepa Babi\u0107, Minister-Counsellor
\nMr. Salih Bukari\u0107, Counsellor
\nMr. Jasmin Demir, Counsellor
\nMiss Kristina Barnjak, First Secretary
\nMr. Elzin Go\u010dobija, First Consular Employee
\nMs. Ljiljana Stjepanovi\u0107, Second Consular Employee<\/span>Sven Alkalaj
\nMinister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/strong>info@mvp.gov.ba<\/font><\/a> <info@mvp.gov.ba<\/font><\/a>> +387 (0) 33281-101<\/span><\/span><\/span>BOSNIA Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports<\/strong> Obala Maka Dizdara 2,\u00a0<\/span>E-mail: ggrahovac@fbihvlada.gov.ba <\/font><\/a><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n