happy Naw-Ruz

And happy spring, too! It's really been lovely here this past week - not overly warm, but mostly beautiful... The kind of weather that makes you want to be outside... Apparently, I'm not the only one thinking that because enormous numbers of kids have appeared en mass in the streets, playing and rollerblading about until quite late at night. Of course, I find the obvious lack of helmets a little nightmarish, especially considering that the sidewalks here are about as nice as the roads! But that's a different story. I'm definitely looking forward to things like hiking (I've finally found the large park outside of Pristina!) and sitting out on my mini balcony when the weather heats up a little, but, at the same time, I'm dreading the fact that it will be oppressively hot here in no time at all. I just have to keep reminding myself that nothing can be worse than a summer in Maryland, and all will be okay...

Speaking of spring, Naw-Ruz, meaning New Day, is the Persian New Year's, but it is also celebrated as the Bahai New Year's. Although I have to keep reminding my mother that I'm not converting any time soon (seriously...stop worrying!), I have befriended people from the small, close-knit Bahai community here in Pristina. They are awesome, and it's been especially nice to hang out with such an international group including people from Malaysia, Ireland, England, Algeria, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Iran, Canada (Vancouver, actually!), the States, and of course, Kosovo. I guess, as an expansion, it's been easy to build friendships with everyone on an individual level because there is an inherent sense of common values and shared interests stemming from the basic fact that we are all in Kosovo and all involved in some sort of development work. Anyway, yesterday we had a big party to celebrate their New Year's and to mark to end of their crazy 19-day fast (think Ramadan - no eating from sunrise to sunset every day), and it was a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, though, it was also great to me to spend time with friends because my week was not so fabulous with regards to work... I've come to realize, not only am I not busy enough with fundraising to feel productive and useful, but I'm just not doing anything that I find really fulfilling. I do think that the organization is wonderful and doing good things, but my interest in their work lies with the role theatre can play in peace education and I am feeling very detached from that aspect of the office. Now that I've recognized this, I know I need to try and figure out how best to deal with it. Because the office is so small, though, and I rely on the people I work with for friendship as well, I don't want to rock the boat too much or in the wrong direction. Any advice out there?

Otherwise, this week has been fairly slow paced. I mean, for the first time in my life, I have actually been motivated to go to the gym! The one I eventually did join has turned out to be a very friendly and non-intimidating kind of place despite the fact that it's officially called the Pristina Bodybuilding Gym :) And I have spent a lot of time reading (Tolstoy has been keeping me thankfully busy for quite a while now), and mucking around on a guitar (I've improved, but am still generally pitiful), and watching pirated dvds (one was so obviously taped in a theatre that people kept getting up in front of the camera!). It's been relaxing, but a bit too relaxing. So I'm working on it...