"Gori Vatra"

KinoABC, Pristina's only cinema (*and now with two locations*), celebrated its fifth anniversary this week with three days of free French films and, on Friday, a gala, invitation-only preview of the Bosnian film, "Gori Vatra". You see, this is the benefit of working for a theatre organization: getting myself into any supposedly restricted cultural events :) So, despite having political drama o' plenty and other important current events to follow here, the anniversary of a movie theatre somehow received the highest publicity of any single event I've seen in Kosova! It's the same with police and sports, too... The strongest show of police presence I've seen here has been for basket-ball games in Pristina, with the streets literally lined with UNPOL (UN Police) vehicles and officers frisking everyone attempting to cross into the "restricted area" (otherwise known as the city Centre!). It seems to me slightly bizarre, but maybe it's a good sign that cultural events get a lot of support?

Back to KinoABC, the English title of "Gori Vatra" is "Fuse", and the best explanation I've found of it's meaning comes from a New York Times film review: "Watching the story unfold is akin to watching a ridiculously extended fuse burn for so long that you almost forget there's a bomb at the end"... but in a good way :) I'm told that Bosnian cinema is known for its dark humour, and "Fuse" definitely supports that reputation. The film takes place in post-war Bosnia, and tells the story of a small town that learns of a potential upcoming visit by the then-President Bill Clinton. In their frantic struggle to prepare for this honour, the town must deal with the hidden reality of ethnic intolerance, crime, prostitution, and also what they lost during the war. And yet, in typical Jewish humour style, the film manages to deal with the tragic with such comic light-heartedness that the audience is not plunged into total depression.

Maybe some of you have already seen the film? I believe it showed at the Toronto Film Festival sometime in the past two years? But, basically, "Fuse" comes highly recommended to anyone interested in the reality (albeit a theatrical reality) of life in Balkans.

 

food on the brain

I had a splitting headache yesterday, carried over from another one the day before. I tried stretching and massage and even sleeping, but all were futile, so I took drugs, which I normally try to avoid. They did nothing, too. And then, yesterday afternoon, I had a coke, and viola, realized the problem: caffeine withdrawal, after two and a half days without coffee. Yikes! Seriously, it was a little frightening, especially because even a few large cups of black tea over the past few days couldn't match the amount of coffee I had become used to. I did have a cup of coffee this morning, and am feeling fine, but am definitely thinking that I should cut back. Well, a little, at least :)

Anyway, I helped some friends put on a barbeque on Sunday afternoon. It's really kind of fun throwing a party for yourselves! It even involved a trip to Maxi, one of several larger stores a short drive outside the city centre that manages to import a wider selection of foods and things. The entire time I've been in Kosova I've only been twice, so it's always exciting.

Sadly, though, the concept of a BBQ here for us near-vegetarians (oh wait, I mean myself!) remains slightly disappointing. The stores are a long way off from carrying alternative meat products, or even tofu, which is easy to find in other Balkan states like Macedonia and Serbia. That said, I did find tofu on the menu at the local Chinese place and even liked it -- apparently, absence does make the heart grow fonder! So, I'm still looking forward to a Chinese-style fresh trout bbq which was promised to me by a friend from Malaysia, but until then... Even without eating any actually barbequed food, it smelled good, and the atmosphere was BBQ-esque, and Sunday was a good day.

On the local cuisine front, Pristina's first Japanese restaurant is supposed to open this week. I'm intrigued, though a little skeptical. Sushi, this far inland, in a part of the world where milk, eggs, yogurt, and cheese are *all* left unrefrigerated, is slightly sketchy if you ask me! I imagine that it will be like ordering Japanese from the food court at a mall (or from that addictive Asian place at the McMaster student centre). And still, despite my high standards, it will be something new for a change. I'll let you know how it goes, but do wish me luck... a friend of mine got food poisoning last week from the Thai restaurant :)

a rural weekend

Pictures from Brezovica, from our day trip there on a beautiful Sunday not too long ago. (I can't take any credit for the photos, though, because they were taken by a friend of mine.)

 

This is the ideal Kosovar landscape, of course, from the window of a moving car :)

 

These strange haystack formations are common in every village in Kosova. The odd part, beyond the fact that I've never seen them anywhere else, is that you will never find one in use (ie. partially dismantled). It's a mystery.


 

Chickens!

 

This old woman from the small Serbian village was very cute, well, in a tough and worn out sort of way... she kept chuckling at the thought of us wanting to take a photograph of her.

 

The perfect album cover.

BBC on the missing (click)

me? hockey?

I watched the Hockey World Championships.

(Yes, yes, aren't you all proud of me??)

A Canadian friend told me on Sunday afternoon that Canada was in the gold-metal game, but when asked if I would be watching, without giving it much thought I said "no". I only remembered it was on in the evening after randomly flipping to that particular channel while eating dinner, and I found myself unexpectedly attached to the game. I watched all by myself (no one here follows hockey -- it's Europe, if anything, they watch 'football') and without even the benefit of commentary because the satellite channel was from Germany. I didn't feel much of the excitement (or, in this case, shall I say frustration?) that usually accompanies high-energy sports, and I didn't even care that Canada lost...

...but there was something strangely comforting about seeing guys in maple leaf-clad jerseys gliding across the ice, and knowing that people at home were watching the same thing...

good and bad

Exactly one week after the Serbian version of "The Longest Winter" premièred, the Albanian cast finally had their turn to perform in front of an audience... a young audience. We went back to Mitrovica, to one of the original schools that we visited in February when conducting workshops with students on the subject of missing people. The kids were quite enthusiastic; aside from thunderous applause, the students insisted that the actors re-play one of the scenes again after the show was over :) Also after the show, the actors led an open discussion with the kids, asking questions about certain aspects of the play, from comprehension ("what was going on?") to more advanced reactions ("was this action right or wrong?"). From the way the students responded, it was clear that they both understood the play on a basic level and could interact with the themes and dilemmas presented in the story on a more advanced level...

That said, holy lord! The audience was like my worst nightmare! The kids were totally disorganized, and during yesterday's show, kids were standing, moving around within the room, and actually walking freely in and out of the gym! The best part, as always, was that cell phones kept interrupting the performance. Anyway, it wasn't surprising behaviour considering that I have found children bouncing off the walls -- literally -- and screaming in school halls on several previous occasions. Let's just say that education here is a far cry from schools at home where even five-year-olds know how to walk in lines, to sit in proper rows, and to use their "indoor voices" (ever so predictably,) indoors.

Here, one the one hand, it seems that kids simply don't have much experience with organized school events -- even assemblies happen, maybe, twice a year -- and thus, they, have little practice with being organized. But, really, it is very clear that the bulk of the problem lies with an utter lack of direction and instruction. (Or, to rephrase, an utter lack of appropriate and productive direction... I did see a bit of yelling and even some whistle-blowing by teachers and superintendents yesterday, but it was again, ever so predictably, not at all helpful). So, while students aren't getting much in the way of discipline (in the best sense of the word) from school, I'm told kids are often given free reign at home, as well. Basically, it's not a behavioural problem, but an educational one that extends all the way up to lack of training for teachers and parents.

It's been interesting for me to think about how I responded to this situation. It seems that there are two general reactions by internationals... Some people lower their standards, saying, "Yeah, well, what can you expect? You're in Kosovo," as though it's an excuse. In contrast, for others, a belief that life here will always been sub-standard is reaffirmed (like the person who actually said to me the other day, "The more you're here, the more you hate the people here."). Although it sounds awful, maybe you need a bit of both to respond productively? You must understand and accept that there will be differences (response a), but still become upset enough (response b) to see what needs improvement.

(After the show, once I had stopped steaming and talked to a few people about how disgusted I was with the audience, we were able to set up simple means of avoiding the problem in the future... It's just a matter of starting each performance by doing the jobs you would expect teachers to do at home: organizing the kids, making sure that they are seated, and reminding everyone to turn off their mobiles...)

Ahh. Despite all its weaknesses, I noticed something here this week that made me nostalgic for a time past. In Pristina, restaurants and cafes actually leave their deck furniture outside overnight... unlocked, unchained, and with no signs that read: "property of ____". Maybe it's only something small, but it's nice.

As always.... good and bad together.

 

this is the simple set of "The Longest Winter"

 

the Albanian cast

 

and finally, the audience... you can tell how interested they are in the show because of how intensely they are all staring at the stage... but I made sure that the obnoxious mob of students was cut out of the photo :)

hmm

Yet again, another post, overdue.

I did not come into the office at all on Sunday, for the first time in quite a while, opting instead to take a break from anything even remotely work-related. And that, for me, includes computers, email, and this. The mental break was much appreciated, especially since I didn't really enjoy the May Day long-week as such. But even my poor forsaken mother had to make do on Mother's Day without me. Tragic, no?

I did, however, have a really good time on Sunday, driving with friends up to Brezovica, where I went 'snowboarding' not too long ago. While we did make the requisite scenic stop at the peak to check out the snow (complete with mock snowball fight), we mostly enjoyed a relaxing stroll through sunny, green meadows full of spring flowers. On our walk, we also ventured through a small Serbian village, with humble farms of chickens, goats, sheep, and even pigs - a rarity considering that the majority Albanian population is Muslim. Alcohol is everywhere (amongst other probably religiously-taboo materials), so the complete absence of pork products in most of Kosova seems to be the only obvious religious legacy. Well, that, and the calls to prayer that are blasted out of the Mosque loudspeakers several times a day... but these sounds just add to the city's atmosphere, like subtle background noise.

In other news from this week, the Serbian company for the UN Memory Project play, which has been titled "The Longest Winter," premièred on Friday evening. Although the show was low-key and took place in a cold, dilapidated, old Cultural Hall in the near-by Serbian village of Gracanica, watching the Albanian cast members (who were in attendance) give a standing ovation to their Serbian counterparts was wonderful. Now we just have to see what kind of reaction we will receive from younger audiences when the shows start touring to schools. The Albanian company, hopefully, will begin this week, so I will keep you posted.

Lastly, though perhaps the most exciting - if only slightly bizarre - thing to happen this week, was my watching Ani Difranco on TV. There she was, in typical Ani fashion, singing another new anti-establishment song on CNN. I couldn't believe that I was sitting in my quaint apartment in Pristina, watching her on Conan O’Brien. Some things will never seem to belong.

Speaking of which, it's a photo for you of our little Ultimate field.

 


p.s. It's amazing what can happen when you ask. Thanks for the comments :-)

a walk in a park

Well, happy May Day. I'm not sure if that's why everyone here has a long weekend, or if it's because of Orthodox Easter, but either way, Pristina has been nearly deserted over the past few days. It seems that everyone and their grandmothers opted to spend time outside of the city, outdoors, at Germia, the large park not far from Pristina. I went for a walk in Germia on Saturday with some friends who live near the park's edge, and although it was peaceful and fairly quiet then, I saw a local news report on TV this morning discussing the massive amount of garbage left behind by the huge flocks of people there yesterday... Must have been packed! But the park was lovely, and I am looking forward to spending more time there now that life is green again.

Germia also proved to be a good place to practice throwing the Frisbee around. Apparently, most people here have never seen a disc before! Although they do know of them from movies and television, some of the kids walking by just stopped and stared -- only one little boy ventured to try throwing with us, though :) While everyone else was interested in what we were doing, I could not get over the fact that several groups of people simply strolled leisurely through our game! To be clear, it would not have been difficult to walk around us because there were two major walking paths only a few meters from where we were playing. It is a significant difference of mentality that people do not consider changing (in this situation, going around or even slightly out of their way) to keep from bothering other people. Really, it's a somewhat disturbing attitude, and it's visible in other situations, too.... Like on the roads, where drivers are quite erratic and pushy. Speaking of which, I was nearly run over the other day, but alas, no need to frighten you all.

Anyway, things are going well. It's sometimes chilly and rainy, but life here has mostly returned to sunny days. Happily, the view out of my apartment, which for months was of a grey, muddy, and litter-strewn field, has turned into a nice view of a green, still litter-strewn field :) So, walking around the city still isn't like a walk in a park, but it's not too shabby either, and I have nothing much to complain about...

...but it would be nice to get some comments... are you still there?