Peacemaker

These are a few pictures from last weekend's opening of the children's show, "Peacemaker," or "Ndërtuesi I Paqes" in Albanian. It was very successful and got a lot of great media coverage, but, most importantly, the kids in the audience really appeared to enjoy the show. It was super cute, too... a bunch of kids kept offering advice to the actors on stage and a tiny boy sitting beside me fell off his chair laughing :)

 

These are a few of the lovely "Peacemaker" posters around Pristina. The story follows a young person learning to juggle (hence the juggling balls) in the context of a war between two groups, the Reds and the Blues (hence the two colours).

 

This school teacher was showing old CCTD production posters to her grade-one students while they were waiting to get into the theatre.

 

Teatri Kombëtar (The National Theatre) where the show was staged.

 

Three of the show's four actors after the premiere... The costumes were great for young kids because they were so colourful and bright!

random thoughts and a political update

I had never really considered, until this week, how much the international (UN/OSCE) community here is like a university club. Well, really, they collectively act and look like a bunch of college dorm kids, mainly because so many of them insist on wearing their ID cards (and some, their mobile phones, too!) attached to lanyards around their necks. I can't stop thinking now that I'm surrounded by a bunch of generally middle-aged people, mostly men, whom are frantically walking around town as thought they are late for some exam and paranoid that they've left the ever-so-essential ID at home. It's rather amusing... Especially when applied to the plethora of uniformed local police officers, foreign army officers, and U.S. marines.

In other random news, remember that I mentioned a long while back that I never managed to open doors the right way? Stupid international, right? Well, while that has mostly been resolved, there's one problem that still remains: I am incapable the standard, European, "meet and greet on the street" kiss. Seriously, I always (and I mean, ALWAYS) end up looking like a big buffoon when I try, which is often, considering it's a custom expected by most locals and even some internationals. More often than not, I simply end up head-butting the person I mean to be kissing hello! The problem lies in the fact that there seems to be no set standard for how to do it here, unlike in other places in Europe where I imagine the tradition is more regular. In Kosova, sometimes you only kiss one cheek, sometimes both, and sometimes you are expected to do three kisses. Then, there is the head placement dilemma... I asked friends once what cheeks go together first and was told right to right, but it appears not to be a set rule. Anyway, I am still working on it, because I think it's a beautiful tradition. But I expect to continue getting it wrong. Yep. Stupid international :)

A few things have happened in the political arena recently that are worth mentioning. For starters, Enver Haradinaj, the younger brother of the former Prime Minister, was killed... I would say assassinated, but never know when exactly the term applies. It's believed that the family is being targeted in revenge for their role in the war, especially now that they are more vulnerable with Ramush Haradinaj (the former PM) out of power and out of the country. Regardless of what atrocities the sons may have committed -- and I feel fully incapable of commenting on that -- I find myself feeling badly for Haradinaj family: they had already lost sons in the war and have two that are currently in jail (including Ramush at the Hague). In general, I don't believe in extra-judicial "justice", but it's very clear in this situation how it will only backfire. Instead of allowing the Albanian population the opportunity to perhaps gain a real acceptance of the pain that was caused on their behalf in the war (through Ramush's Hague trial), the population is simply likely to view all "justice" now as veiled revenge attempts. It's unfortunate, I think.

To make it more interesting, the UN Office of Missing Person's and Forensics, which we are working with for the Memory Project, has publicly announced the discovery of human remains found in a cave within Kosova... and initial results of the investigation shows that the bodies are those of Non-Albanians (i.e. Serbians). One reason that this is a major finding is simply because there haven't been any mass graves to speak of found inside the province (country/territory whatever) -- in the context of the 1999 war, most bodies were transported into Serbia proper. But the fact that they are not Albanians will definitely have large political ramifications. I'm still unsure about what those might be, but it has a potential to really affect our play, too. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.

no Ohrid, but Laplje Selo

My little trip to Lake Ohrid didn't pan out over the weekend, which is okay. It was good weekend for me to be here because so much has been going on still with regards to the UN project. And, really, I have no doubt that I will find another time to get down there, perhaps, as with everything else, when I have more confidence in good weather. It's been very spring-like here lately, with tulips and dandelions and - amazingly enough - green leaves on the trees, but also complete with spring showers and grey skies. It's getting a little tedious!

I'm enjoying the work we've been doing with the Memory Project play, though. Mostly it has involved intensive discussions with the director about the text and potential revisions. In a way, being out of school and spending so much time on the computer, I find myself really drawn to the intellectual aspect of this project :) But the practical work has been interesting, too. For example, I attended the initial auditions for the Serbian cast on Friday evening. It was a fairly major event for me considering I'd met only one Serb (who is working on the play) during my entire time here, but also in general, because two friends from my office - both Albanians - went as well. For everyone to simply be having a good time, playing theatre games with a group of sixteen-year-old high school kids from the local youth theatre group, was really remarkable.

It was also my first time in a Serbian village, despite the fact that we were a mere seven minutes from Pristina! To me, on the surface, Laplje Selo seemed no different from any other village, with well-dressed and apparently healthy kids, and crumbling, impoverished buildings. However, this impression lasted only until I discovered that the village economy, along with that of all Serbian villages, is based solely on Serbian Dinars; the Euro, the only currency accepted anywhere else in Kosova, is literally worthless. Clearly, there is more difference than meets the eye...

Speaking of differences, I don't think I've yet mentioned the different sense of time here.... I guess most places have a unique time-related quality, and here life runs on "Albanian time." Maybe it's the nearly 70% unemployment, or the coffee-shop mentality, but time just doesn't seem to be considered the valuable commodity it is in North America. I find myself constantly waiting for people, whether it's for a meeting or to get specific things done at work, as though waiting isn’t a waste of my time. For instance, I still haven't managed to get anybody to actually change the English-language materials on the CCTD website. I'm not pointing fingers or anything - it's as much my responsibility as the next person's - but it's a good example as one of the many things that are treated in typical "do it later" fashion. The problem is that today quickly becomes tomorrow, and then the next day, and nothing materializes. It’s nearly funny! I mean, the office doesn't work a normal 9-5 schedule, either. It's almost as if every day requires only part-time effort, and we make up for it by having no clearly delineated weekend. To me, it's bizarre, but also frighteningly addictive :)

That might explain why I've gotten so blasé with writing recently. Hmm...

dear anonymous

Yes, yes. I hear ya. Time for a new post. It's just that my absence this week has been proportional to the amount of stuff going on at work. Last night, for example, I sat down to dinner at 10:30pm! I've already mentioned that we have one theatre production in the works, "The Peacemaker," which is being directed by a visiting American professor. This play is still in rehearsals, but also involves coordinating with the National Theatre, where the show will premier on April 23rd, and dealing with the costume designer, the set designer, and the poster designer, too. Apparently, it's a full-time job to get a show ready for stage...

The problem is that no one here can work full-time! The British director for the UN Memory Project play arrives in Pristina tomorrow. The play is written, thankfully, but needs more editing (today's project) as well as translation into both Albanian and Serbian. To make matters more complicated, as if it wasn't enough for my little office to be involved in two simultaneous large-scale projects, we haven't had a lot of luck finding professional Serbian actors to audition for the Serbian cast... They all seem to have left for Belgrade. Oy. I guess I'm simply nervous about how we will manage with both productions on such a tight timeframe. I know that everything will likely be successful in the end, but worrying about all the details now is exhausting :)

I will be able to relax more on the weekend, though, because I'm planning on going to Lake Ohrid in southern Macedonia for a few nights with a friend. A four or five hour-long drive from Pristina, and quite close to Greece, I have been hearing for two solid months about this amazingly beautiful UNESCO world heritage site that I absolutely must visit. I'll keep you posted. Over this past weekend we managed to organize an office field trip to Rugova, a striking gorge that runs through the mountains near Kosova's eastern border with Montenegro. While I was slightly disappointed that we didn't do any real walking or exploring -- I'll have to go back in the summer, anyway -- the drive, the waterfalls, and our leisurely lunch there were gorgeous, pun intended :)

Otherwise, tomorrow I must return a cat I've been cat-sitting to a friend who was out of town for two weeks. The cat's name is Matz-Matz, which is the Albanian equivalent of cat-cat in the "here kitty kitty kitty " sort of way. Matz has been good company, but she has a bit of a foot fetish... She likes to bite them! Normally I would use water (like a spray bottle) to stop a cat from doing something bothersome, but Matz is impossible: she actually loves water! It seems natural to me for cats to like dripping faucets and other such apparently entertaining things, but I've never known a cat who doesn't even flinch when it gets wet (or soaked, for that matter). I have found Matz-Matz curled up on more than one occasion in my tiny bathroom sink, sitting in a small pool of water, and she has also tried, literally, to get in the shower with me. Basically, she's crazy, and in Albanian you'd say "cuckoo" (with emphasis on the "oo" sounds).

Hmm... But then again, that's how I feel about this entire upcoming week: cuckoo.

drinking water and a lovely day (overall)

I specifically waited two weeks to tell you, but I'm still alive with no problems to speak of... I have officially made the switch from bottle to tap and am now a proud local water drinker! I decided that it was safe, not only because my Albanian friends drink it, but because many of my international ones do as well. Mostly, though, I just couldn't bear the amount of plastic I was constantly throwing out from buying bottled water. There's so much of a garbage problem in the Balkans with every other beverage coming in glass and plastic that I felt as though I can't contribute unnecessarily... and I really mean that everything comes in glass or plastic; the concept of "on tap" does not exist and nothing is recycled. Anyway, Kosovar water happens to taste really good (as much as water has a taste!) and is much more approvable than, say, Ontario's :)

Speaking of water, I was in Skopje on Saturday, this time very much enjoying a warm, sunny afternoon by the riverside. I went, of course, because it's nice to get out of Pristina every now and again, but also to take a visiting American theatre professor from Indiana. He's here with CCTD for a month to direct a simple play for young children called "Peacemaker," and we decided that the opportunity to travel must be had. Skopje turns out to have been a good choice as we ended up traveling with two friends of mine from Pristina, along with a friend of theirs visiting from Belgium. The company was wonderful and, because one of them works for the UN, we drove there and back in a UN car. Yep… one of those white 4x4s (Toyota's I believe?) with "UN" written in large block letters, which are so common around here. In the end, the fact that it was a UN vehicle is not exciting, but just having the potential ability to go on trips by car is. Having met, too, some more internationals with fancy cars through ultimate, a weekend in Greece, for example, only four hours away, is more of a possibility... and, did I mention that the UN pays for fuel, too?

Anyway, I think we all had a really lovely day in Macedonia. For one thing, Skopje is slightly south of Pristina, and it makes a noticeable difference... the trees there are closer to budding than those here and the cherry trees were in full bloom. While I do like living in Pristina and can tell you, without hesitation, that parts of Kosova are beautiful, Skopje really is more of an attractive and relaxing city. Its natural landscape offers rolling hills and flowing water, and the city, almost entirely rebuilt after a major earthquake in 1963, is well-planned with many green parks and large open spaces. Beyond playing tourist in the older part of town and exploring some of the city's historical sites, including the old Ottoman fortress and a Turkish bath, we did something fabulously thrilling: We went grocery shopping!

Ok. While the selection is generally similar to that in Pristina, prices are lower and they do offer some unheard-of possibilities: I came home with flax seed, TVP, real Philadelphia cream cheese, Thai curry sauce, lentils, spices like cumin, curry and ginger, and a massive smile on my face! It's funny how certain material things, while theoretically unnecessary, become more desirable simply by virtue of being nearly impossible to find. In general, though, I don't find myself missing (read: craving) things that I lack here, which I take to be a good sign.

The last story I can tell about our day in Macedonia unfortunately was a little upsetting. Child beggars are a real problem in Skopje, with most of the kids coming from the impoverished Roma community. It is not uncommon, especially as English speakers, to be really hassled for money, but we were literally accosted by a group of eight or so young children on Saturday. It was a nearly flawless show. Some of the kids worked to distract us by grabbing obviously at our belongings, pleading for sympathy, and nearly hanging off our bodies. This, in turn, provided other children the opportunity to really pickpocket and sift through our bags. One person I was with realized immediately that his entire wallet was missing, complete with a large amount of money -- we live in a cash-based economy -- ID, and most importantly, the UN cards that are required to start the UN cars. It could have been disastrous, but we were lucky. He aggressively (out of necessity) confronted the children and caught a glimpse of his wallet in the hands of a small boy standing near the back of the group. We were able to grab the wallet out of the boy’s hands, and found that nothing had been taken.

In the end, we made off shaken, but with only a couple hundred Dinars worth of pocket money stolen (thankfully equivalent to just a few Euros). Can you imagine if they had found our passports? It definitely offered a lesson in self-protection. Interestingly enough, though, I was mainly ignored by the kids who went directly, instead, for the two men I was with... perhaps there are certain benefits of sexism after all :) Anyway, it was upsetting and even disturbing, especially knowing that the Roma community is legitimately hard off, but the incident didn't manage to ruin our day. Overall, it was still lovely.