Lucky in Life

Too many of us take life for granted. Really and truly we do. I have grown up in a very loving, very supportive family, where I have never really wanted for anything (though I am sure at some stage I thought I wanted a pony). I never experienced any great tragedy in my life (and hopefully will not), and my chief concerns in life have been schooling related.

In school we read about great tragedies; the holocaust, Rwanda, the Yugoslavian conflict, Darfur, and many other instances which were marked as tragedies on the world scale. Yet these were distant, they almost seemed too extreme to be real, I knew no one who had experienced such things, and my life continued on in its pleasant way despite my emotional condemnation of the actions about which I had read.

Fast forward to my life from March 6-12, 2011. After having spent a couple days in Kosovo I was already seeing the effects of the conflict, from destroyed houses & businesses, to signs advertising for those missing from the conflict, my extra long flight due to the avoidance of Serbia and other indicators of tensions. Monday night I almost started to cry when two girls my age were telling me over dinner about walking for days, not knowing if one would be killed, in order to reach the relative safe haven that Albania was at the time. They told of horrific things they had seen along their way, as well as experiences of their friends (also our age) who saw and suffered unimaginable tragedies. I felt a sense of guilt, guilt that my life was seemingly perfect while others had to suffer through events that no one should ever have to.

By Tuesday I had started to internalize these feelings, turning these stories into further motivation for why I wish to go into world politics and diplomacy. At lunch I got the opportunity to talk to a wonderful Albanian lady named Arta. She talked to me about her experiences during the conflict, what she had been forced to witness, along with the fear that one has for the safety of one’s family and friends. She kept mentioning how lucky we were to be able to get a good education and have the opportunity to experience the world. Lucky to have, by chance, been born in a society in which nothing stands in our way from accomplishing our dreams. Moving on to other topics, our conversation eventually drifted to the traditional arts of weaving in Albanian culture. I told her that I would love to be able to see, and purchase some of these traditional weavings. My friend Beth was also interested in the possibility of taking home as a souvenir a traditionally woven article, such as those we had seen in the national museum.

When we finished lunch our new friend Arta grabbed Beth and I, hurrying us down the street to a place where we could acquire some of these pieces of art. Suddenly we stopped outside a little , slightly dilapidated place. She had explained on the walk that it was a local NGO for women maimed in the war, where they wove things in traditional Albanian fashion in order to raise money for things such as basic care, housing and things of that nature. Walking into the place on International Women’s day was quite special, for they were having a tea party with all the women of this organization. They were so excited to have us visit them, taking a fair amount of time out of their party to talk to us and show us their works of art. Speaking through Arta, who acted as our translator they told us of lost limbs, mutilations, and other forms of maiming which occurred during the war. Through Arta, we expressed our thanks for telling us their stories, and we selected a few items each to purchase. Before we left they told us that it means so much for other people, like Americans, to show interest in these women’s stories and what they are doing.

This visit really affected me, and I have been thinking about it ever since. Though I still feel a sort of guilt, I feel more of what Arta referred to as Luck. That I was lucky in life to be spared of such experiences and as such I have a responsibility to attempt to improve conditions for others in this world. We live in a small world. That is undeniable. Many of us are blessed to have been born into fortunate circumstances, but with that comes a responsibility not to be ignorant of others’ circumstances, and to strive to improve the situation of our fellow beings around the world. While we debate about what to wear for a night out, or worry about if we will get into the best graduation programs, we forget. But we should strive to never forget no matter what we do in life, for to forget entirely would be to lose purpose. These brave ladies of Kosovo taught me that, and for that life lesson I shall always be Thankful!

A Bridge Divided

On the 8th of March we went to Mitrovice, which was fantastic. This is a very interesting visit since the globalization is not as present as it is in Prishtina, and ... the city is divided in two. North Mitrovice is home to the Serbs, South Mitrovice is home to the Albanians and there is not any amount of significant interaction between the two. How, do you ask, is one city divided into two? Well, Mitrovice is naturally divided by a river, and this natural division became an ethnic division to the point where soldiers are guarding both sides of the bridge in case of trouble.

(the infamous bridge)

(soldiers on the Albanian side)

(soldiers on the Serbian side)

And as we were told by K-FOR representatives, this bridge was and still is the boiling point for tempers on either side. With rocks being collected at either foot of the bridge, both groups are ready if the tension does boil over. Last September it did just that and for the first time since the war soldiers were shot at, while they were trying to intervene in such an instance. This bridge, to me, really epitomizes the tension that is still present in Kosovo. Though the majority of people may want to move on with life, there is an underlying fear that there will be further conflict.

( a soldier and his guard dog [actually it is a stray dog] screening those going over the bridge)

Throughout the day we stayed on the South side of the bridge, but since we were Americans we were allowed to walk across the bridge to step on the North side for a brief time.

(view from on the bridge - to the right is the Serbian or North side, to the left is the Albanian or South side)

(Here I am investigating the armored truck on the Serbian side, only to burst into laughter since the soldiers in the truck are gathered around a pizza - needless to say I was probably closer than I should have been)

It is sad that a bridge enabled the separation of these people along ethnic lines, and that despite the passage of time it still separates them. On one side of the bridge Albanian flags fly in grandeur, and on the other side Serbian flags fly in the same grandeur... one bridge, two worlds.

Gorgeous by Nature

Though Prishtina and Mitrovice are nice cities to spend time in, it is when you go outside of the cities that you see the beauty of this land. Already showing signs of spring in some places it showed the potential of this area as a premier vacation destination! However be aware, until the infrastructure of the country improves things such as electricity, hot water, internet, and the availability of toilet paper may not consistently be available. Joking aside, I know that I would love to return to Kosovo!

With blue skies and rolling land dotted with the occasional home, the countryside in Kosovo is picture perfect.

Here I am at the Field of Blackbirds, where the Battle of Kosovo Polje took place in 1389.

No matter how many pictures I took of the mountains it is hard to capture the beauty of them. None the less, here is an attempt at doing so.

Some goats living above the Cheese factory that we toured.

With warmer temperatures than Copenhagen, sunshine, blue skies, and green grass it was wonderful to spend some time outside in Kosovo.

Being American in Kosovo

One thing that my class could never get away from when in Kosovo was being easily identified as Americans. From the moment we arrived to the moment we left, we were starred at, had strangers coming up to us, and in general always stuck out no matter where we were. Thankfully, unlike some areas of the world, in Kosovo it is wonderful to be an American. When we confirmed that yes, we are Americans , the Albanians were overly friendly and extremely helpful in navigating Prishtina (the capital where we stayed most of the time). Since I am not typically a big fan of this sort of attention it took a little getting used to, but near the end of the week I was getting used to having people in restaurants, stores, and the streets come near me to stop and stare.

(U.S., Albania, Kosovo, U.S., Kosovo - flags)

I dare to say that many places in Kosovo fly more stars and stripes than in many U.S. cities. For instance, during the ride from the airport to our hotel, which was a relatively short distance, I counted 14 U.S. flags, and saw a statue of Bill Clinton. This in addition to the fact that we were driving on Bill Clinton Boulevard led me to believe that Kosovo is definitely a pro-U.S. country!

(statue of Bill Clinton)

Oftentimes where ever we were in the country, when the Albanian or Kosovo flag was flying, next to it would be the U.S. flag. All the taxis we took on the trip had American flags hanging from the rear view window, and the shops coordinated their manikins so that they were oftentimes dressed in red, white, and blue. Even in the countryside, far from where most tourists go, there were American flags.

(House in the countryside flying an Albanian and American flag in the tree)

Reflecting back on my trip to Kosovo, there is one moment in particular which epitomizes an Albanian’s enthusiasm for the U.S. My friend Beth and I went shopping together at various points on the trip, but the one thing we had trouble finding was the Kosovo flag. Though it flies from almost every building, we could not find the flag in a store. At this point we had almost gaven up on our quest to buy a flag, and we were wandering down Mother Theresa Boulevard (Bulevardi Nënë Tereza) talking. As we were passing people selling things on this pedestrian street we noticed that one such person was selling flags. This man, who was over 60 years old, had goods spread out on a blanket on the ground with a duffel bag of more goods next to him. Since we do not speak Albanian and he only spoke a few words in broken english it took some time to purchase the Kosovo flag. After trying to sell us an American flag, he pointed and said – British? When he didn’t understand what we meant by saying U.S. I pointed to his duffel bag which was covered in US flags and said United States of America. At this he face lit up and he was so excited, repeating the word American over and over. He then shook our hands and talked to us in Albanian for a while, of which I unfortunately did not understand a word. Despite not understanding what he was trying to say in Albanian to us, I shall always remember how genuinely excited he was when we were able to relay where we were from, as a pure expression of the enthusiasm in Kosovo for Americans.

Kosovo - A Land In Transition

As many of you know, I was in Kosovo from the 6-12 of March. Despite people asking me if I really thought it was safe, and the warnings about being abducted (too many people have seen the movie Taken), I was so excited for the trip. When one of your majors is World Politics and Diplomacy, being able to go to Kosovo is absolutely amazing! I can not even put into words how my experience was, besides that it was incredible.

(the view from our hotel room's balcony)

Being in the country, you are able to fully grasp the reality of the situation in a way the a textbook would never allow you, from observations on the street, to meeting with international organizations helping to stabilize Kosovo, meeting with local NGOs working to rebuild the society, listening to locals tell of their lives in Kosovo, and seeing some of the tensions first hand, the experience is most assuredly something that can not be encapsulated in the classroom.

(one of the many areas of road construction)

Kosovo is a self declared (and therefore contested) state which was formerly a part of Yugoslavia. If you take the Albanian viewpoint, Kosovo broke away from Serbia as a result of the Kosovo War. After the international community intervened to stop the war Kosovo was under control of the United Nations for a time (UNMIK- Security Council resolution 1244) and finally was able to Declare independence in February of 2008. The official Serbian view is that Kosovo is still a part of Serbia that is currently being administered by the international community. Like many areas in the Balkans, Kosovo has seen many tragedies within its borders particularly during the peak of the war in 1998-1999. It is these tragedies, tensions, and the recent progress in the rebuilding of the state that we came to study.

(this wall in the city center is one of several covered with the photographs of those missing from the war)

Wandering around Prishtina you notice the construction and the traffic before anything else. Since the war had been very destructive, efforts are under way in most areas of the city to rebuild. Though at the current moment such construction makes the area appear devoid of the typical city ambiance, it is a wonderful sign of the progress that has come to the region. I hazard to guess that within a few years Kosovo will be highly evolved from what it was this past week, to a place that is the vacation destination of many.

(Prishtina Skyline)

There are many things that still need improvement, such as the enforcement of traffic laws. When rebuilding a country and trying to preserve human rights, giving individuals a ticket for illegal parking or running a red light seems utterly absurd. As such I saw things like driving on a sidewalk, cars parked in incredibly bizarre places, people jumping out of cars’ paths, yet thankfully I saw no accidents.

An underlying theme throughout Kosovo is the issue of sovereignty. Serbia does not acknowledge Kosovo as a sovereign country, so when flying to Kosovo the plane ride is actually around an hour longer since one must fly around Serbian air space. Even at the different international organizations you see a great division between pro-Kosovo and neutral member states of organizations such as EU-LEX, K FOR, International Civilian Office, and European Union Special Representative. Sometimes it becomes so divided that one person has to assume a pro Kosovo position at certain times, and a neutral position at other times, which to be truthful, just makes the situation of Kosovo being aided in stability endeavors from the international community even more muddled than it already is. Yet, as with the construction, there has been much progress in this area. The international force here is slowly decreasing and more responsibilities are being given to the Kosovo government every day.

In talking to the different international as well as local organizations working towards stability in Kosovo you got a great sense of the need to heal and look towards the future with hope. While there are still missing signs around Kosovo from during the war, the feeling amongst the people around the country leans towards the creation of a peaceful future, one in which the past is not forgotten but is learned from so that it does Not repeat.