NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: If you want to participate, see here. (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=518561).

IC:

It was sunrise at St. Basil's catholic school in Milano. Today the children buzzed with excitement as tehy knew they had guests coming. They moved towards the auditorium, and quickly down. The Dean stood up.

"Ciao, students. Today, we have ambassadors here from around the world to tell us about their nations. Our first visitor is... from Maraque."

The dean ushered the ambassador and his materials onstage, and the children waited for him to begin...

“Thank you very much, Dean,” Ambassador Vlatko Bertalan said, stepping up on to the stage. “First and foremost I’d like to thank the students here at St. Basil’s Catholic School for allowing me here today with such a warm welcome.”

“I’d like to start by talking a little about Maraque’s beginnings as a nation and how it became such an important part of modern society today,” Vlatko said, pausing. “Some 39,000 years ago African immigrants from present-day Liberia some how traveled across the globe, eventually landing in the continent of Devaraja. These brave and courageous people fled their homeland because they faced persecution by
their tribal leaders simply because they did not want to follow tribal law, believing they were unjust. It is unknown how these people got to Devajara, but it is widely believed the continent was actually a part of Africa at one point.”

[Pictures of various old artifacts from Maraque are on a big projection screen, including ancient drawings of a mythical three headed white buffalo.]
“It is at this time that Maraquean civilization as we know it started. In the first 2,000 years of inhabiting Devaraja, the country was already becoming a major world power with a population of over 4 billion and a highly developed and sophisticated economy. Indeed, Maraqueans were among the wealthiest citizens in the Nation States world. The economy, as strong as it is today, has slumped in recent years, and is currently in a recession, albeit people are still prosperous, just not as much as before.”

[Another picture depicts huge towering skyscrapers in a tropical coastal scene. Some buildings are noticeably almost a mile high. In another slide, a picture of economic depression is shown, as old battered townhouses are shown with the caption “slums of Super City.” Yet, they’re eerily still nice compared to 3rd world nation poverty.]

“Culturally, Maraque is a multicultural paradise with people of all ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, and cultures living together in harmony. There has not been any major ethnic squabble in Maraque for centuries. The largest immigrant population in Maraque is Japanese, then German. As such, these two languages are very important – but not essential – in every day Maraquean life. We also have sizable religious minorities, including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, among others. The largest religious community is Muslim, with them compromising about 6% of the entire Maraquean population. The vast majority of Maraqueans, however, are theistic agnostics, presently at 78%. Atheists make up 12%.”

[A photo of a typical school in Super City, Maraque shows children of all different social classes, religions, skin tones and clothing styles sitting together having lunch in a cafeteria smiling and laughing.]

“Food in Maraque is traditionally very spicy. Maraquean dishes usually have a lot of rice and pasta, and rarely any meat. 1 5th of Maraqueans are vegetarians, and as such the slaughter of animals for food is seen as taboo and cruel in many parts of the country. I, personally, love a good steak.”

[A picture of various Maraquean dishes is shown. A dish with white rice topped off with beef and a brown sauce is shown steaming from the table on the stage, as well as some famously Maraquean vegetarian dishes and delicious looking pasta.]

“Currency in Maraque comes in $1, $2, $5, $10, $15, 20, $25, $50, $75, $100, $125, $500, $1,000, $10,000, $25,000, $50,000, $100,000, $250,000, $500,000 and $1,000,000 denominations. We also have coins which come in $0.01, $0.05, $0.10, $0.25, $0.50, and $0.75 denominations. The name of the currency is the Mara with the coins called Shlzats. The current exchange rate is about $1.00 Mara = $1.9 Universal NationStates Dollars.”

[Pictured are all the denominations in a row, including the coins. The paper money has pictures of famous landmarks on the front, with either a national animal or phrase on the back. The coins have the faces of the most influential Monarchs in Maraquean history on both sides.]

“Traditional Maraquean dress is usually made out of silk. It is usually a gown-like piece draped over one shoulder, much like Buddhist monks wear. It usually is accompanied by sandles or bear feet. Yet, most recently typical European dress has been introduced and we’re seeing that worn by many people. As you can see, I’m one of them.”

[A picture of men, women, and children wearing the bright red silk gown worn by many traditional Maraqueans nationwide.]

“Any questions?” The Ambassador said, looking out to the children.

Several people raised their hands.

"What's an agnostic?"

"How did they cross the atlantic on boats?"

"Are all mawaqeens liberal weenies?"

"An agnostic is a person that has doubts that a God exists, but does not completely deny the possibility. As most Maraqueans are theistic Agnostics, this means they do believe in a God or Higher Power, but not in the normal sense of an organized religion such as Christianity or Islam, for example."

"It is unknown how native Maraqueans got there, and many historians are still trying to piece that together."

"Liberals, certainly. Weenies, I'm not so sure about, but thank you for the excellent question."

bump

"And now for our Kanamic guest..."