The Macedonian Jamboree Part Four- Day Two PM.

I woke up the next morning, drenched in sweat and struggling to breathe! The sun I had so admired just a few hours before had hit my tent and made it so hot you could cook a chicken inside. I managed to throw myself out of the tent, wearing just a wet t-shirt and knickers, and gasping for breath I bade good morning to my now familiar minders. I believe I saw a flicker of a smile cross their lips, but as quickly as it came it was replaced by the usual stern expression. I opened up my tent fully to let the superheated air out, and rummaged for my trousers and a dry t-shirt. Having dressed under the gaze of my minders, I wandered up to find some breakfast. It was as I feared and expected, the same as the previous day. I ate and headed to the Slovenians to scrounge some coffee and biscuits. My timing was, as usual, impeccable. I arrived just as one was pouring and another opening the packet. After a good chat and coffee, I set off to my exhibition tent to start my real work, running a workshop for the younger scouts. I found to my amazement, Mihajlo setting up his wares too. So I was to get the low down on the Jamboree so far.

The Low Down on the Jamboree so far

It was day seven of the Jamboree and things were not going according to plan. Because of the ruckus over the Radovan Karadzic business, a lot of the groups that were to attend did not travel, due to the uncertainty and the risk that borders might be closed at a moments notice. About three hundred people cancelled. It had rained on day three, unheard of in Macedonia during July, it had not rained in July since 1996. So all programmed activities were cancelled, because they just did not know how to deal with rain. Most of the tents leaked, as they were mostly x-army tents donated by the various peace keeping forces that passed through Macedonia over the years of turmoil. Most of the kids got wet and upset. The staff team got pretty bored during this time and resorted to the drink to pass the time. The activities did not resume when the rain stopped on day five and this lead to a staff team that was even more bored and drunk. The hygiene contractors that were to come and empty the Port-a-loos and collect the rubbish did not show up all week which resulted in large piles of refuse around the few and far between bins and the indescribable condition of the toilets. The toilet paper ran out on day two, and no one had the where withal to get some more. It was fast turning into a disaster. The planning team were not speaking to each other anymore so nothing was being done about the situation. The international guests were bewildered, the whole UK contingent left on day four.

Back to the story.

I had suspected that things were not all rosy in the garden, the piles of garbage were the first hint, the drunken staff team was the second. While I was getting the low down, storm clouds were gathering, and just about lunch time the sky opened. My minders at this point leapt quite suddenly into my exhibition tent knocking over a table and startling Mihajlo and me. Persistent heavy rain, the likes of which would soak you in a second was pouring from the sky. The thunder roared overhead and some spectacular lightning illuminated the big dark clouds. Donning our waterproof coats we made our way to lunch. (My minders were not impressed as they were both in t-shirts.)

Lunch was again as I suspected, appalling. Fish, that I believe had been cooking since the Yugoslavs left, sour rice and cucumber. The beverage was something akin to tea. I bravely ate as much as I could stomach and Mihajlo invited me to dinner that night to make up for leaving me all alone for the first day. Happy days. It was still chucking it down when we had finished and as the programme had gone to shit, no one turned up for my workshop during the morning, and I had no reason to believe they would show up for the afternoon, I took a nap. Agreeing with Mihajlo that he would wake me should anyone show up.