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Those of you I haven’t heard from in some time, comment, send me a message, let me know you’re out there! Also, I’m now without my laptop—very sad—so all my writing for the next year will be unrevised right out of the head writing, apologies in advance for any errors or omissions Sofia, Bulgaria—July 3rd, 2005 Thinking, pondering, wondering, debating—what do I do next? I’m at a bit of a crossroads. My friends have all had to go their separate ways, and I’ve been in Sofia working on the remainder of my travel plans before August 9th when my Russian visa becomes active. (Note: Tourist visas to Russia are only valid for a 30 day window that you pre-select). I can either continue going east through the rest of Bulgaria, then move into Romania, followed by (maybe) Moldova, and then the Ukraine, OR I can reverse directions briefly to visit an area that is not normally considered, especially recently, a tourist destination—Kosovo. Now just so you know, I’m not doing this on an absolute whim. A couple of my friends have visited here in recent months, and they lauded the Kosovo for its friendliness and authenticity
Then I
A Kosovar playing to the war hero
You can see the Kosovar man here seated at the base of the statue of a war hero playing a small flute. hear this on the news at my hostel:
European News Update— July 4th, 2005
PRISTINA, Kosovo Synchronized explosions in Kosovo's capital were aimed at blocking the path to independence from Serbia, the province's ethnic Albanian president and the prime minister said Sunday.
The three blasts - at the United Nations mission office, the headquarters of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and Kosovo's Parliament building - rocked central Pristina around 9.30 p.m.
No one was injured. But any violence could hurt hopes of a positive review by UN envoy Kai Eide, now beginning an assessment of whether Kosovo has achieved enough democratic stability since 1999 to begin negotiations on its future status.
Needless to say, that made me a bit apprehensive about visiting; however, immediately after this I was talking to the owner of the hostel in which I was staying. His words on the matter were: “If I listened to all the horrible news that comes out of America, I would never want to visit there either”. Hmmm….I think that he has a point. So, after a decent amount of further deliberation, I decide that tomorrow I backtrack and visit Kosovo.
A smaller version of the original
Except this time this 'Statue' takes its place at the peak of the Hotel Liberty in Prishtina Kosovo. That means that I would take the 09.30 bus out of Sofia back to Skopje, Macedonia (~6 hrs.), then transfer to another bus station across town, and then I could get on another bus to Pristina, the largest city in Kosovo. And if that wasn’t logistically complicated enough for you, realize that in that time period I had to change currencies 3 times! Always logistical problems!
Okay, so I made it Pristina without too much of a problem, and on the bus I met a young guy from Kosovo who would turn out to be extremely courteous, helpful, and informative. As we became friends, he told me that his name was Artur, he’s 24, and he was returning from Skopje after having just received a visa to Sweden that he had been waiting on for 8 months. This was just so he could go visit his girlfriend there whom he had met in London while he was working there as a waiter for 3 ½ years because he had been seeking asylum. Yep, I said asylum; that basically means that he was a war refugee. Think about that for a moment…how dramatically different your life would be if
This is classic
So it's not in Kosovo, but this was our skipper for our short cruise in Ohrid, Macedonia. You'll note the shots of Rakija, a strong Macedonian liquor, on the table--It was 10 a.m. you had to flee your country because of war. Not really imaginable for me really, and it makes the subject rather touchy with people that have actually experienced it.
On a lighter note, Artur is an extremely interesting and intelligent person. Upon arrival in Pristina he actually escorted me to the place where I was going to be staying; that means that he also bargained with the cab driver to make sure that I wouldn’t get ripped-off. Then when we arrived at the guesthouse that had been recommended to me by a friend of a friend Kosovo contact, he proceeded to bargain down the receptionist down to an even more reasonable price—I ended up paying 10 Euro for a single room, very good. Then, as if Artur hadn’t done enough since he was flying out the next day to visit his girlfriend for 1 month, he proceeded to show me around the town, find me a good place to eat, and then have a drinks and coffee with me. It was quite overwhelming really. But that’s the type of hospitality that many people offer here in Kosovo, and it won’t soon be forgotten.
I should also say that I have never encountered more pro-American sentiment in any country I have every visited. When Artur found out that I was an American, he first thanked me and the American people profusely for intervening in the conflict between Kosovo and Serbia. He was not alone either as I have been amazed by the number of American flags everywhere, images of the Stature of Liberty, and even a street named Bill Klinton. (Pictures later when I have a better computer to work with).
And this tops it all off.
If you haven’t noticed, the posting date on this journal is July 4th—Independence day in the U.S. Since I am currently not in the U.S., I really didn’t expect much fanfare or celebration in Kosovo for a national holiday that they don’t even have. Au contraire. In the center of the city, in the evening, there was a stage set up flanked by American flags and ready for a big performance. And what do you know, around 10 o’clock at night the festivities kicked off. A Marilyn Monroe voice is heard over the loudspeaker. No music yet…”HaPpy BirTH - day to yooouuu. HaPpppy Birthhhh - day to yoooouuu. Happy Birth - day BE-LOVED
AMERICAAA….” (You get the idea). I was truly shocked.
This was then followed by a number of performances by famous Kosovo singers singing in Albanian. And many of the songs I have since heard on the radio, not to mention the fact that when I returned to my room the only thing on television was that exact performance, live, that was still going on. A little bit of propaganda? Probably. However, there were still quite a few people at the performance.
So what point, if any, am I getting to? Well, I’ve been thinking about this as I write. What I do know is that I would never have experienced anything like this if I would have continued to go east in Bulgaria. So, for one, I am very glad that I decided to come back this way. I have felt safe here and quite comfortable for the past three days. That’s not something you expect being in a country that was at war a mere 2-3 years ago. But because Kosovo is a UN protectorate, it almost seems like there are as many police and UN personnel around as there are Kosovars or pedestrians.
Second of all, you never get to see the reality of the news that we always hear about unless we actually go see it and talk to those that have experienced it. For us back at home, it is all black and white and we read in the newspaper headlines or hear about it on television as it gets sandwiched between today’s sports new and the weather, and then we think, “Oh, that’s tragic…What should I have for dinner?”.
And third, (yes there’s a third; a bit verbose today) it’s not everyone in the world that thinks the U.S. is doing terrible things and imposing their rule upon the rest of the world. We didn’t really have anything to gain economically or politically by being the leader in the NATO bombing and occupation here, but I can see after being here that we have done a good thing. We are helping a region, a people gain their autonomy after a history of violence and repression. In my mind, that’s a good thing. There’s a lot of history behind it that I’m just beginning to understand, but after being here I see a number of motivated people moving in the right direction.
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Vicky
non-member comment
What a world
It's quite a question -- In such a big world, when, where, and to what extent do we intervene? There's no way to get everyone's agreement on the answer. Good for you having this grand adventure. I really enjoy the posts.