Blogs from Kosovo, Europe - page 5

Hicran Cigdem Yorgancioglu Kosova 2011 Hicran Çiğdem Yorgancıoğlu ‘nun Kosova devr-i Alem Hicri Alem Hicran Çiğdem Seyahatnamesi’nden ..seyahat notlarından alıntılardır . Her hakkı saklıdır .. / Eserin tüm telif hakları H.Çiğdem Yorgancıoğlu’na aittir . Eserin izinsiz kopyalanması çoğaltımı ,yayını ,dağıtımı halinde 5846 sayılı Fikir ve Sanat Eserleri Kanunun hükümleri geçerli olacaktır. Kosova Cumhuriyeti Ne güneşten gözlerim kısılıyor ne de yağmur yağacak da ıslanacağım diye düşünüyorum. Balkanlar üzerine kelimenin dağlık anlamı üzerine , dağ dağ gidiyorum. Zaman yayını ve okunu alıp hazırlanıyor yine atmaya beni dünyanın bir köşesine .Her hâlükârda bir sesleniştir yazmak. Eski Osmanlı sancağını “Dardania” antik ismi ile çağırıyorum bakalım kim gelecek. Boomerang değil ya eko yapan sesim evrende . Elbette yazılar uçsa bile ,ses titreşecek sözler seste bâki kalacak. R... read more

After visiting the much talked about, yet slightly disappointing lake Orchid in Macedonia, all 4 of us hitchhiked to the massive Tikves winary in the South. for €5 we got a personal tour of the factory, 5 bottles of fine wine and a few shots of lethal 60% local rakkai. Hitchhiking back drunk in the evening was quite a funny experience. I’m not quite sure how I made it back to our hostel, but on our rides I kept on rambling on about how much I love the rakkai here, and somehow 2 different people gave me a 1.5litre bottle of homemade 60-80% brew. most people say threes nothing to do in the capital Skopje, but I found it one of the best cities I’ve been too - a modern part with cafes and random sculptures ... read more

Location: Peja, Pristina, Prizren Length of Stay: 2 Days Cost per Day: $74 Hmmm... not a great deal of inspiration here... Its highly unlikely that you will need more than a day or 2... Poor little Kosovo... the past has not been kind... its had an extremely tough time of things and in fact has only been an independent nation for just over 2 years... Serbia btw still refuses to recognize its independence... Its going to take time to get well though as there is an awful lot of healing for this little girl to go through... There is, as to be expected still a great deal of animosity towards the Serbs... Still... people are kind and extremely proud of their new found independence... They will ask you straight away... So... Do you like Kosovo?... Umm... ... read more

I can’t hardly believe that in an hour I will be loading my bags and heading for the Pristina International Airport. Yippee! Once again, me and my buddy are heading to Camp Atterbury to prepare both logistically and administratively for the return of the masses of KFOR 12. Doctors, Lawyers, Headquarters Staff Members and the hard working Soldier on the street will all be heading home sometime soon also. But for now it’s just three of us. All said and done, nearly 800 soldiers will return back to 34 states and territories, hopefully by August KFOR 12 will be all but a memory. Families will be happy to have their loved ones home, Soldiers will be happy to be back on US soil, and all of us will have memories of significance that will keep ... read more

As we were following behind our tour guide outside the gates of Camp Bondsteel, I was deeply excited to finally be taking this journey. It is the one venture that I have wanted to do since we found out we were deploying to Kosovo over two years ago, and today is the day. As we were driving towards the Kosovo-Macedonia border, he was in the front vehicle with his interpreter and every time we passed something of interest he would describe it over the radio. “On your right is the parcel of land that the Albanians come to and prepare their sheep for market. Down that little road is where the building burned down that was owned by Kosovo criminals. This small village is all Serbians and that village is all Albanians.” On and on he ... read more