ick summer

Around here, I never know exactly what the temperature is or what it is predicted to be. That's just a given, I guess, when you can't read the papers or watch the news. So, unlike the constant weather updates I receive for the crazy east coast -- 33C for the pride parade in Toronto? Yikes! -- all I can tell you with certainty about Kosovo is that it's been hot and gross. I never before would have believed anyone who told me it can be both dry and dusty and excessively humid at the same time! I honestly don't understand how that works, but that's definitely reality here... Summer with a vengeance.

But, thanks to the completely uncomfortable weather yesterday, I finally found my chance to go swimming!! The pool was fairly clean, in the small village of Gracenica not far out of town. Besides the fact that it was packed (because there aren't many refreshing things to do on a hot day, and pools are still in short supply), and packed moreover with mostly men (which is unfortunately a standard in the Balkans), I still felt like a kid a Christmas… Ok, at least how I’d imagine that to be :-) Oh, it was wonderful.

The only other plus is that summer has brought my flowers to life. I bought some seeds not long after I arrived, and planted them in old pots on my balcony. They just started blooming this week. It's enough to brighten my days.

 


 


And this one is for mom... Remember Macedonia? Respect yourself, smoke cigarettes. Genius, hey?

 

who knew?

So, work is super quiet. For real this time. Since we normally perform in schools, which are out for the summer, our tours are either finished entirely (like the UN play) or on mid-year hiatus. The time I do spend at the office now is primarily for email and trip-planning, and after days of looking at pictures of Capri and Florence, I admit I'm anxious to go. It seems cruel to be forced to wait another month!

However, I also am trying to find a way to get to Greece before leaving here, which is the only other thing I am seriously looking forward to. I am not opposed to travelling alone in theory, but I don't think I would be comfortable travelling alone to a place I've never before explored. (Sounds funny, I know, considering my current situation, but still...) The obvious choice for a travel buddy is the new Canadian intern working with us, because, of course, she, like me, is totally overwhelmed by the workload :-)

Now, it is quite simple to get to Greece from here without flying, and simply involves travelling through Macedonia. Unfortunately, it turns out to be not so simple: Canada must have done something to seriously bother Macedonia, because the visa requirements make it nearly impossible for Canadians in Kosovo to get one! You must visit a Macedonian office to deal with the matter, and the closest one to here is in Tirana, Albania -- a torturous 12-hour bus-ride away! I have managed to by-pass such problems with my trusty American passport (currently home to two stamps: Macedonia and Macedonia!), but this is a luxury clearly not afforded to everyone.

Being here has forced me to really understand, for the first time in my life, how amazingly lucky I am simply to have these two little books... two pieces of paper with my name on them, proving me to be a Canadian and an American citizen. They are given to me as a birthright, as I have done nothing in my life to particularly earn them (other than fill out forms and wait in ridiculous lines at government offices). Yet they offer me rights that the majority of the world does not have...

In Kosova, most people have UNMIK Travel Documents. Without being an official country, Kosovars have no official passports! With the Travel Document, you can travel freely to Albania, Macedonia, and maybe even Turkey. And that's it. Every other country in the world requires a potential visitor from Kosova to get a visa, which is not only expensive, but very inconvenient considering that most countries do not have official offices here. I have been told awful stories from friends recounting their degrading visa experiences, and end up feeling terrible when people I know are rejected, and left unable to visit relatives, or go to school abroad, or participate in theatre festivals as desired. To me, it seems so crazy that people can be rejected literally for being from here. Countries like the U.S. and England, for instance, reject applicants sighting a great risk that the traveller will try to stay abroad. But to explain the insult, that is like saying to some one: "Your country is not worth living in... You couldn't actually *want* to live there."

Most of you reading this are free to travel - free to move - like I am. I guess until you know people without such ability, it is difficult to value it enough.

back to life as usual, plus two

So where do I start after such a long hiatus??

Not sure.

Perhaps in Macedonia?

First off, true to reputation, Ohrid is beautiful, and we could appreciate that despite the sometimes cold and unpredictable weather.

 


 


The little town is situated on a stunning lake surrounded by low hills belonging to both Macedonia and Albania... Yes, I can now say I have seen Albania. And water! How I have missed it! Seriously, I have never in my life been landlocked for as long as I have been here. Even in Israel, living in the middle of the desert, we took relatively frequent trips to the coast. Sadly, though, the lake was far to cold to consider swiming, which, coming from me, is saying a lot. Let's just say that it was so windy, that little fish were washed up on the sidewalks :-)

 


Ohrid, itself, is a fascinating place with lots of history, which is highlighted well by a great massive fortress, many old churches, and traditional Balkan architecture.

 

St. Jovan's Church

 


And the area has a unique mix of clearly ex-communist influence and sleepy, Italian-style villa culture -- I'm stuggling, however, to find a good way to explain this combination. Perhaps you must see for yourself sometime? Ohrid remains mainly undiscovered as a tourist destination for Westerners (Europeans and North American alike), but it appears this is also changing. It's easy to access, for instance, being only a 2.5 hours drive from Skopje on beautiful roads (it's a good thing we bussed to Skopje, however, because mom would have had an absolute heartattack driving in Kosova!). Our hotel, too, was lovely, modern, and clean with such ammenities as a pool, sauna, and buffet breakfast. The only negative was a horrendous sense of interior design!

Yet Ohrid, as a city, is still very real. Our room offered a perfect view of the nextdoor property, which is basically a ramshackle home with a caved in roof...and people definitely lived there. Even without such drastic poverty to prove the point, I highly doubt that an increase in tourism will entirely errase local culture. Every morning, we found cute little men with their fishing rods preparing for a lazy day by the lake. Traffic is generally slow, with lots of bicycles and, as in Skopje, the vast majority of cars are old, tiny, and white...

 


... Overall, it's a cute place, with good food, too! I had some of the best calamari I've ever had, and fresh fish for the first time in 4.5 months. Speaking of which, a funny thing happened while mom and I were out to dinner one night... The restaurant was basically empty (because it was a cold and a weekday), and in walked one of the actors from Gori Vatra, the Bosnian film I have been raving about. I did a double take, and then spent the rest of our meal feeling embarassed because I knew that he knew that I knew him. Although I was too nervous to say anything, true to form, mom insisted on talking to him before we could leave. It was a good coincidence. And for good measure, I noticed we had ordered the same thing :)

So, overall, the trip was enjoyable. And my mom's visit ended well, with a wonderful meal that we both prepared for a bunch of my friends here in Pristina. Successful in the end, this endevour also afforded us opportunity to have our only real fight throughout the entire ten days -- apparently, I don't have a realistic conception of how long it takes to defrost frozen chicken :-) But despite that, and other assorted craziness, we survived.

I must admit that it's been nice to have some space to myself this week. The other Canadian girl who is now working in my office has finally found her own place to stay, conviniently across the hall from my flat. And while I loved the company, my tiny apartment once again feels like my own. And I guess life is back to normal. Busy, but relaxed. Full of coffee (some things will never change!), lots of online planning for our August trip through Italy, France, and Ireland, and most excitingly, babies... Two boys, born on the same day, exactly one week ago.

Please welcome my new cousins Andrew and Lucas into the world.

reality

Day Five of mom's visit, and time for an update.

We spent Friday night and most of the weekend in the city. Since Pristina is a small town, we'd already been everywhere there is to go and seen all that there is to really see by Saturday afternoon... We toured the old mosques (one of which I recently discovered was originally a synagogue), the museum, the university area, and the city center. We met my friends for coffee, sat around at cafes (thanks to hot and sunny weather), and I played ultimate as usual on Sunday (leaving mom to chat with the side-line crew). We even went to see "Gori Vatra" at the cinema. And it has definitely been interesting...

I have been able to selectively chose the pictures and comments I post here. And while I have no intentions to fabricate the truth, hide anything, or falsify, writing has offered a gradual entrance into Kosovar life and society. I am realizing now that seeing things with your own eyes, without the filter, can be shocking, so let's just say that my mom has been quite overwhelmed...

...overwhelmed by the piles of garbage that litter the streets and back lanes... by the physical reality of unpredictable power outages... by the seeming inability of people here to feel and act on any sense of collective responsibility...and mostly with the dirt, dust, cigarette smoke, and, again, the garbage...

Of course, it's not that I don't see these problems, but just have become accustomed to their presence as part of reality here. I know that the problems will continue to exist for a while (if not a long time!), but I guess I also believe that, within time, things will change. I don't know whether I have the tremendous patience, energy, or will necessary to be permanently involved in development work, but I do believe in it... even for a place like Kosova, where, five days after arriving, my mom still can't get over its failings and weaknesses.

Sadly, though, my super plans to show her the nicer parts of the area failed fairly miserably :( We went yesterday to visit good friends of mine who live in Strpce, the small Serbian community near beautiful Mt. Brezovice. Green hills, a river, wild flowers, fresh mountain air, and open spaces. But we almost saw nothing of it all because of the non-stop rain! Thus restricted to a car-based tour, we couldn't even see outside the car windows due to the tremendously dense fog -- I mean, fog so thick that it hid entire mountains! We drove with my friend to Prizren, the first town I visited outside of Pristina, and probably the most interesting city in Kosova with its old Turkish ambience... and then we spent the entire afternoon at a cafe because it was pouring.

Lovely, eh?

Alas. I'm hoping the weather will clear up by tomorrow, when we leave for Macedonia. Maybe then we'll be able to see the more attractive parts of the Balkans. Otherwise, I'm sure my mom will have interesting things to say when she gets back home.

Then again, I'm sure she'll have interesting things to report anyway.

random thoughts (again)

This week has been a bit of a whirlwind.

Yesterday, we picked up another Canadian girl from the airport, and she'll be working with CCTD over the summer until she goes back to university in the fall. And she arrived just in time for the Albanian-version premiere of "The Longest Winter" at the National Theatre. I can't imagine getting off a long-haul flight, arriving to find your luggage didn't quite make it (no problem -- we'll pick it up today), and then sitting through a somewhat complex play in a totally foreign language... but she seems to have survived :)

Also last night was a going away party for a good friend of mine from Ultimate. If you thought moving to Kosova was crazy, adventurous, and/or strange, he is moving to Afghanistan on Monday! He'll be based in Kabul (thankfully) working on elections shtuff. Apparently, Afghanistan is the new "it" place for us internationally-types, especially now that Kosova is old news. Although I'll be quite sad to see him leave (seems like we just met!), the party was wonderful. Instead of walking into a room and not knowing anyone -- like I did months ago -- I now feel like I'm past the small-talk stage with so many cool people, and the community feels like my community, too. It was the kind of realization that just dawns on you, and makes you smile.

And finally, to add to the excitement and commotion of the week, today is the *big* day... I mean, I haven't cleaned so much since I was working as a room-maid on Kibbutz!

Mom's flight arrives in two hours.

I'll keep you posted...

:)