halleluiah!
I don't know what they put in Kosovar wine and beer, but it did the trick!! Last night we went out to celebrate the birthday of some one here in the office, and afterwards, for the first time since I left Vancouver, I actually fell asleep when I got into bed. Though I'm still exhausted, it was marvelous...
Today was the day of the Canadians for me. You see, I am still trying to find a place to live, or, more importantly, for people to live with. I could easily find a place to live alone, but after Arnold St. and the constant (wonderful) company in Hamilton, I would find it too lonely to go home and find no one -- especially since I am still new in town. Unfortunately, no one I am working with has space for another body. Instead, I am trying to hook up with people in the massive international (ie. UN and OSCE) community. So today, I pulled all the strings I could find and got in contact with three different Canadians...
The first is a young guy from Montreal who I met with for lunch today. He works in the forensics office here which deals with the still 2000 (or 3000?) missing people. He was actually in contact with the children's theatre about something called the Memory Project; they hope to create an educational performance involving Serbs, Albanians, and Roma to be performed in the different communities (and in the different languages) about reconciliation and the issue of missing people. .. You know, something right up my alley! In general, it was great to know more about the UN/OSCE side of life here, which really functions quite independently from the local population. At times, it feels like two separate worlds exist in Pristina, both isolated from each other except for the remarkably strong presence of official vehicles on the road. And, he is a vegan and can prove useful on the veggie food front. Unfortunately, though, he does not know anyone who is looking for a roommate...
The other two are contacts that I made through people at home. One who works for the Democratization Office, and he going to try and post a note about my housing quest on the internal OSCE website. Cross your fingers for me. The other is somehow involved with prisons through the Department of Justice, and we will meet for coffee tomorrow. He said he would ask around his office, but wanted to know if I minded living with police officers. Of course I said no, but I can't help but laugh at the possibility.
Overall, though, excepting the stress of not having my own place to live, which for the moment also means not having company at night, I am generally enjoying myself, getting to know the kids in the office, and getting along well.
Today was the day of the Canadians for me. You see, I am still trying to find a place to live, or, more importantly, for people to live with. I could easily find a place to live alone, but after Arnold St. and the constant (wonderful) company in Hamilton, I would find it too lonely to go home and find no one -- especially since I am still new in town. Unfortunately, no one I am working with has space for another body. Instead, I am trying to hook up with people in the massive international (ie. UN and OSCE) community. So today, I pulled all the strings I could find and got in contact with three different Canadians...
The first is a young guy from Montreal who I met with for lunch today. He works in the forensics office here which deals with the still 2000 (or 3000?) missing people. He was actually in contact with the children's theatre about something called the Memory Project; they hope to create an educational performance involving Serbs, Albanians, and Roma to be performed in the different communities (and in the different languages) about reconciliation and the issue of missing people. .. You know, something right up my alley! In general, it was great to know more about the UN/OSCE side of life here, which really functions quite independently from the local population. At times, it feels like two separate worlds exist in Pristina, both isolated from each other except for the remarkably strong presence of official vehicles on the road. And, he is a vegan and can prove useful on the veggie food front. Unfortunately, though, he does not know anyone who is looking for a roommate...
The other two are contacts that I made through people at home. One who works for the Democratization Office, and he going to try and post a note about my housing quest on the internal OSCE website. Cross your fingers for me. The other is somehow involved with prisons through the Department of Justice, and we will meet for coffee tomorrow. He said he would ask around his office, but wanted to know if I minded living with police officers. Of course I said no, but I can't help but laugh at the possibility.
Overall, though, excepting the stress of not having my own place to live, which for the moment also means not having company at night, I am generally enjoying myself, getting to know the kids in the office, and getting along well.
posted by melissa at 7:09 p.m.
2 Comments:
To all ye blog readers........send comments!!!!! I'm sure Melissa would love to hear from us!!!!!
hi melissa! can i have another just-for-me post? one that you won't delete this time, i mean. hope the kosovans(?) appreciate your beer belches (they hurt, i know) as much as we did. what are kosovan cookies like?
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