Multi-ethnic holiday party

What do you get when you bring a Serbian Orthodox priest, an American soldier, Christian and Mulsim kids and an Albanian Muslim Santa Clause together around a Christmas tree? A lot of good laughs!! One of the extra projects that was placed in my lap when I got here was to plan a multi-ethnic holiday party for 8-12 year-old Albanian, Serbian, Roma and Egyptian kids from Prishtina and surrounding areas. I was told everything my predecessor did, how great it was, how much money she raised, how many volunteers she had and how great everyone felt about it. The pressure was on to make it as good as it was in the past, yet I had no idea how to go about any of it. It took up until two weeks ago for anyone to shed any light on how to organize this. So with some last minute adrenaline, a lot of help from volunteers and the wise insight of Naim a.k.a. Santa Clause, we were able to pull it off.

US KFOR donated some school bags and transported a bunch of kids. After several emails and meetings with the American and Kosovo Chambers of Commerce, I was able to get donations of food, drink, school supplies and money in order to buy supplies for crafts. The volunteers at the American Center worked their behinds off cutting out ornaments, painting materials for picture frames and actually printing out the pictures the night of the party so the kids could take their photo with Santa Clause home with them. So the kids arrived, made their picture frames, sang some songs, ate some pizza and sat with Santa. On their way out they were each given a backpack full of pencils, pens, scissors and rulers and left with huge smiles on their faces.

The whole process of planning this event was about as stressful as any event planning experience I've had. I somehow find myself with these tasks while never really asking for them. But after all the headaches, it was of course worth it. It usually is. I mean, look at that picture!!!

Ultimate Mission in Kosovo

Thank God I found Ultimate Frisbee. Not only has it introduced me to an extremely fun past-time, it has introduced me to a wonerful group of good friends and an even better activity than bowling to bring people together. So when thinking of something to top the day of bowling with my Serbian and Albian high school kids, Ultimate was a logical answer. Someone suggested getting these 40 kids together to play soccer, which I shot down immediately. Of course they all know and love the game. Some of them live and breath it, which is exactly why I didn't want it to be the vehicle for peace here. Because some of these kids take the sport so seriously, it would automatically open the flood gates of competation and hot heads. Like bowling, Ultimate is a game where everyone can be equally crap, start from the bottem and figure it out together. As far as I'm concerned, that's exactly the kind of experience these kids need to have with each other.

So the field was reserved, the kids were transported and the games began. With the help of six Ultie friends and a December sun bringing the temperature to about 50 degrees, coaching 40 kids how to throw, catch and play the game by the rules all worked out perfectly. For about 20 minutes the coaches took the kids through drills as if they were coaching these teams for the World Cup of Ultimate. It was beautiful! These kids were naturals and had a blast. I saw them work the Frisbee up the field together, cheer each other on, laugh at their mistakes and congratulate good plays. "Good game, Teacher," was said by most of them and they all wondered when we could do it again.

This past week I went from teaching just one group of these kids to teaching two. It looks as though teaching high school kids remains in the cards for me. This whole ACCESS outreach project is for two-years. I'm the teacher starting it here in Kosovo and I'm finding myself getting to a point of wanting to be the teacher to close it as well. These kids are just starting to get to know something and people they have likely grown up being afraid of. They they've volunteered to open the doors and explore. We've just started it all and I'd hate to think about them finishing without me. From Ultimate Frisbee to dinners at each other's homes? We'll see and hope.

Good-bye

Gave my first Kosovo farewell today. In a crowd of internationals working for government organizations, good-byes rank up there with death and taxes on the list of inevitables - actually, higher than taxes since most of those living abroad manage to avoid them. Thor, the big Scandinavian teddy bear, was the first person I met here. On my first night in my apartment he called me to see if I needed help with any settling in issues. The St. Olaf connection bound us together immediately. Because of Thor, my first two-and-a-half months in Kosovo have been full of things to do and a crowd of people with whom to do them.

In this past week leading up to Thor's departure, I've been very aware of the fact that adjusting to this place has been extremely easy. Theories of culture shock say that you will most likely have a downward mood swing early in your time abroad, once the initial thrill of being in a foreign country has worn down. Aside from maybe my first week here when I wasn't working much, a night has not gone by where I was sitting home alone wishing I had someone to call or a reason to go outside. Thor and his Thor-ganizing of events, dinners, Frisbee games and road trips saved me from the feelings of homesickness and loneliness of living abroad.

Three of us met at Thor's place at 5:30 this morning to escort him to the airport. He has been saying good-bye for the past week and has shed his share of tears for the three-and-a-half years of energy and emotion he's put into his job and his friendships here. He has been a literal social and professional icon here for a long time. He's leaving quite a bit and there are several people who have been with him through the best and the worst. He's lived in a lot of places and said a lot of good-byes and knows that he will see again those that matter because of the past they all share. I feel a bit of a void without him here. Probably leaves some room for the loneliness to finally set in. I'm about due, I guess. In the mean time, I'm counting on Olaf to be the tie that holds me to Thor. I just might be seeing his Nordic face strolling on The Hill some day.

Universal Message

We didn't get Thanksgiving Day off. The day is one of many American traditions that everyone around here knows from the movies but doesn't recognize. Regardless of the lack of awareness of those around me, I was determined to spread the message of the day to all I encountered. The more I'm away from family for the big holidays the more I find my own meaning for them. They are more than big meals, football and leftovers. When you don't have those familiar things available to you, you have no choice but to find something else meaningful in it all.

The night of the US elections a friend asked me if I'd help him cook a Thanksgiving dinner for a bunch of the Frisbee friends. Getting my hands into the making of a Thanksgiving meal can be so much fun to me, I of course said I would love to help. For the entire week leading up to the day the two of us took trips to Bondsteel, the French, German, Italian and Danish KFOR bases and their PX stores buying turkeys, frozen pies, wine, Stove Top Stuffing and looking high and low for cranberries and canned pumpkin. For that which we were not successful, we were able to improvise and find local modifications. Some angel was watching and brought a donation of canned pumpkin to me from London that wasn't being used by anyone else. Saved me from having to cut up and cook an entire pumpkin. The turkeys available were frozen mini Butterballs. Our guest list became over 15 and we decided we would definitely need two of them. Seeing as two turkeys do NOT fit into an oven at the same time, we were up until 2 AM cooking the first one Wednesday night after Frisbee. It required a call to Grandma Helen for some tips and in the end bird #1 was a good test. We knew what to do to make #2 better.

For my class that day, I explained a little bit about the holiday and how it began. Pilgrims, Mayflower, religions persecution, difficult winter in the new world, native Americans helping out, and a final feast of thanks. I made a point of telling them that what was historically a celebration with religions intent, centuries later has evolved into a holiday celebrated in the US by every race, religion and nationality. Every culture that has immigrated to the country has created their own tradition around the day that has been set aside to recognize all of the things in our lives we are fortunate to have. The kids went on to make lists of the things they were thankful for. From family, friends and teachers to electricity, socks and the USA. Without the meal and without the TV on, these Serbian and Albanian kids got the message. We all have reasons to be thankful.

The rest of the afternoon was spent listening to music, cutting veggies and smelling the second turkey roasting to perfection with my cooking partner in crime. We had a blast preparing it all. And the icing on the cake was the Australian guest asking what a parsnip was, how you make stuffing and marveling at how pumpkin could taste so good. I've been here for two months now, and cannot begin to explain how thankful I am to have been able to spend the day doing something I love doing with people that I'm lucky to share a great day with. One more of so many things in my life to be thankful for!

Show me the money

Was on my way out of town with a friend and we got stick in horrendous traffic. We could see fireworks in the distance and wondered what the occasion was and why we weren't invited. Turns out it was the grand opening of a new shopping mall. A fancy 3 floor clothing store on the edge of town and it was PACKED!!! And the cars parked outside weren't your lowly 15 year-old VW Golfs. Brand new Audis, MBWs and Mercedes were prevalent. And just like the other shopping centers like it, inside are Polo sweaters, 7 Jeans, Esprit bags and jackets along with other expensive western brands. Ironically, not but a few hours earlier a student of mine was making a joke about how prime time TV in Kosovo is 7 - 9 AM because no one has a job to go to in the morning.

Every time I encounter this mysterious phenomenon of apparent consumerism with peaking unemployment statistics, I have to ask and try to make sense of it. Three answers prevail. At the end of the 90s when Albanians were being run out by Milosovic and the Serbs, a lot of them sought asylum in Europe and the states. They got jobs there that paid better than anything they could get here, and have never come back. Instead, their foreign incomes come back to feed their families and generally support the local economy. Another more obvious but less complete answer is how much the international organizations here employ the locals, which is true to a certain extent. However, the percentage of Kosovar Albanians that have the education and language skills to nab jobs in these organizations is extremely small.

The third, and maybe the answer that applies to most is that the affluence seen here has a lot to do with the local Mafia whom historically, the US has supported. I have a hunch this mob culture spreads out across this entire country. Organized crime culture is a way of life that has existed here for a long time and has proven to be a viable means of survival. As a result it permeates. Even if one is not involved directly with mob activity, the family and doing whatever means necessary to protect the family is the bottom line to people here. There is an unwritten code - the Code of Dukajini - which states that if an individual from one family kills a member of your family, you have every right to retaliate on any member of the murdering family with murder, regardless of who was actually holding the smoking gun, so to speak. Every one of your actions is seen as an action done by the family. The code goes back in Albanian culture for years, having nothing to do with relationships with Serbia or any other neighbor. And when money is concerned, every penny one makes is a penny for the family. They are all in it together.

The picture above is of a Kula - a structure built to protect one family from a neighboring feuding family. There is even a room isolated and removed from the rest with a wood-burning stove - the only one in the house. Women were not allowed in this room. It was for the men only, to hide out from whoever wanted to kill them on any given day. These places are now turned into bed and breakfast places and often visited by internationals for a bit of culture. that's why I got the picture.

Feels like I bring up this topic over and over again, but I can't help it. Day after day questions I ask about the dichotomies that exist here give me the same answers. Illegal, corruption, Mafia, laundering, revenge. The US and NATO came here to save the Albanians from ethnic cleansing done by Serbs. Then, according to others, the US helped Albanian terrorists perform their own form of ethnic cleansing on the Serbs. And clearly, cultural norms that existed well before any international organization even looked at the area have a huge influence on the efforts toward independence that are being made here.

Needless to say, I go into these shopping centers and give them my business. It's a setting familiar to us internationals and we like being there. And, I have to admit my I got a bit of the New York City China Town rush when I looked at the price of those jeans that would have sold for $180 at Macy's and saw that here they were no more than $30. They don't have to be as covert here as they do in China Town. There really isn't anyone here to bust them for selling fraudulent goods. So, they build their shiny malls with bright lights and big windows showing that someone here has money,

The Military

They are here in all different forms, from all different countries, each country claiming it's own territory of the province to look after. They are few, they are definitely proud, and this weekend the 6 US Marines in Kosovo held their annual Birthday Ball. You've got to know someone to get tickets for the thing at the cost of 30 Euro. The Frisbee team network proved fruitful in the search, so myself and 4 other ladies equally intrigued by men in uniform snagged ourselves seats.

A cab took us to a hotel just outside of town where we were greeted by the soldiers. So polite and obviously happy to meet five new ladies. They took our coats and we entered to the bar area where the servers were walking with trays of cheese and meats, fruit juice and shots of vodka and whiskey. A sign of what was to come, no doubt. For the next hour the space filled with women in proper ball gowns, men in uniform and tuxedos along with military men and women in the camouflage fatigues. Into our second drink, Laura and I mustered up the courage to break from the Frisbee contingent and mingle with the others. Clearly the military men had not seen women in civilian clothes in quite a while. They are confined to their base for the most part - Bondsteel - and rarely get out to experience life in P'tina. They might have every US comfort at their fingertips - Doritos and Twinkees at the PX - but by no means do they have a chance to have a normal life. Clearly by the name the base is quite secure. People like us can only get on with a military escort. Well, needless to say we had quite a few invitations by the end of the night. From what I've heard about the PAX, I might be able to get my hands on those baking supplies before Christmas after all!

After cocktail hour, we moved up to the dining room and sat down for the ceremony. This is where the Marines showed their stuff with their marching, calling out, rifle handling and cake cutting. Yes, the major part of the ceremony was the cutting of the cake with a sword and feeding it to the oldest marine in the room. He in turn handed the first piece of cake over to the youngest marine in the room. I, the American, along with the Brit, Canadian, Irish and Swiss women with me found it a bit strange that a cake was the center of the ceremony, but I guess it was a birthday celebration.

After the ceremony, we were fed chicken or beef, bottles of wine and some good laughs with the other guests at our table. They were all Americans either working for the US Mission or US SivPol, the international police force here. Then, in typical wedding reception form, the DJ started spinning the tunes and the dance floor lit up. After dancing the night away with the marines - not one taller than 5' 8" and no older than 24 - we grabbed our souvenir wine glasses and headed back to town. Definitely an experience worth having.
Dress - $30
Shoes - $20
Hairdo - $4
Dancing with 6 marines in full uniform - Priceless!!!

Corruption

This article reiterates a bit things that have been said in conversations I've had with some Albanian colleagues here. The purpose and effectiveness of the international community here has been lost, they say. corruption prevails and those whose job it is to enforce the law haven't taken steps some think is necessary to stop the deep-seeded corruption that seems to be a part of the cultur here. These colleagues of mine are afraid of what will happen with independence is granted and the presence of the international community lessens. Many are not all that confident that Kosovo can sustain an economy, governemnt and legal system that will be for the good of the people living here.

Elections

They needed two days to do it because history has shown that Serbs are a bit apathetic politically. So the last Saturday and Sunday of October were slated to be polling days. Serbs voted as to whether or not their country should adopt the first constitution ratified since the Milosovic era. Liberals in Kosovo protested the constitution saying it was creted in haste, yet Serbian political leaders from all parties supported it. The major controversy surrounding it regarded it's preamble which declared Kosovo an integral part of the country of Serbia. In the mean time, Kosovo Albanians were not invited to participate in the voting weekend.

Any international working for the UN, US Office, EU or other international organization leading this place into a final status says that this constitution will have nothing to do with the status talks happening here. It's primarily a desperate attempt at a final attack before Serbia loses Kosovo. The desperation became clear when, in the final hours of the election, it seemed as though a majority of the people in Serbia - what was needed to participate in the voting in order for the results to be valid - were not going to the polling booths. But somehow there was a fina surge that pushed the number over the top. Voter turn-out was 53.3% and 96% of the ballots were "yes" votes. Most of what I read states what the typical skeptic would think. People without valid ID were allowed to vote, entire families voted together, multiple voting was not monitered. You can't help but wonder what measured desperate minds took in order to manipulate the results in their favor. Voter turn-out of the Kosovar Serbs was the highest among any Serbian region - well over 80%. These people need all the protection they can get, and it seems as though they believe that remaining a part of Serbia will get it for them. Check out these links for more details.

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/world.aspx?ID=BD4A306103
http://www.examiner.com/a-369313~Serb_Vote_Reasserts_Claim_Over_Kosovo.html?cid=rss-World

As far as I'm concerned, all the Serbs and Albanians need is a weekend of bowling together. Forget elections, status and corruption for a weekend, strap on flourescent orange and green shoes, pick up a pink ball and roll that sucker down the alley. No one is good at this game, making it instantly humbling. And if you are good, no one else really cares because they are all having too much fun being bad at it. With music playing and a warm beer in your hand, the tension lifts, everyone laughs and the disco lights throw shadows over all things bad. It worked with 16 of my Serbian and Albanian students last week. Why can't it work with a country of politicians?!

Greek gluttony

We were going to Greece-land and no one was going to stop us. Hazel and Adria got the car and picked me up 5 minutes after my class at KIJAC ended. We were on the road heading south by early afternoon before the hoards of other internationals got off work to flee good ol' P'tina for the long weekend that marked the end of Ramadan. Hazel has made this trip several times during her 5 years in Kosovo and Adria and I were glad to be passengers in our little rented Opal. It was an easy border crossing into Macedonia for the three-hour drive around Skopje and down to the Greek border. From there is was another hour to Greece's second largest city of Thessaloniki. Winding around mountains and coming down to nightfall over the Ionian Sea and the sparkling city was just what these three English teachers needed. We found our hotel and headed for the water.

Dinner the first night, as with all three nithgt, was full of feta cheese, cucumber and tomato salads, grilled vegetables, meats and seafood and red wine. It was the off season, so places were not very full. At each restaurant we were the center of attention with a flirtations Greek man waiting on us hand and foot. We stuffed ourselves with the manna realizing that our gluttony was actually pretty darn healthy. Keep on eating!!! So, while we sat, ate, drank and people watched the evenings away, we shopped the days away. The city center of Thess was a lot like 5th Ave. in Manhattan with store upon store lining the streets. We couldn't afford most of it, but definitely splurged when our frugal teacher minds were able to let go for a second. I was damned if I could find a pair of shoes that fit my feet! This problem in Japan made sense, but I thought Europe would be able to supply me with female footwear. No such luck.

Everything was closed on Sunday so we rolled out of our sea-side hotel and walked the shoreline hopping from one cafe to the next. The outdoor cafes are clearly typical of the whole Balkan region. I could not help but find the atmosphere of these cafes exact duplicates of Astoria, Queens. I must have said to my companions a thousand times how much of this place reminded me of my old neighborhood. I was always wondering how the cafes of Astoria could be completely full of people drinking coffee all day and night. In Queens that seemed strange to my non-Greek self. In Thess it was the way to live. As the sun went down the coffee was replaced by wine and ouzo a la Cavo on 31st Ave and 45th St.

The drive home seemed long. We dropped Adria off in Prizren via the Kosovo mountains which were blanketed in the fall rainbow. As the sun fell behind, it was all in flames with reds, yellows and oranges. Hazel and I said good-bye to Adria and headed for the road to Prishtina finding it was completely torn up! The arrow pointed right so naturally we followed it looking for the next arrow. The road became more of a bumpy dirt field that seemed to be going nowhere. We followed the car in front of us that seemed equally lost. For 20 minutes we bobbed up and down like boats going through hurricane waters. Who the hell created this detour?! And there was clearly no other way to go! We were tired, hungry and really pissed off at this point. Thank God it was not raining or we would for sure have capsized and sunk into a sea of mud.

But we made it back a little pit poorer, a little bit heavier and a little bit happier from our time in Thessaloniki, Greece. Check out the link to Wikipedia, which I never saw until 5 minutes ago. Knowing the history of the place was not a priority before I left for this long weekend. What I was looking for was thoughtless touring, shopping and eating. Mission accomplished!!!

Welcome

What makes a person welcome? I guess you could start with an invitation. Maybe a good history with someone will make you more likely to open your doors for them. Often times, one will be welcomed out of obligation. Duty requires one to offer an invitation when the reality is that the other is not welcome, just there because someone else ordered it.

The United Nations Mission in Kosova (UNMIK) has hit a point with a lot of people here of overstaying its welcome. Although not often stated outright, it's definitely felt in conversations with a lot of Albanians. Although many of these locals are employed by UNMIK and other international organizations, there is a sense that, after seven years, their presence has lost its purpose. One of the obstacles is the corruption that, like a cancer, has infected the independence efforts and spread into the veins of these organizations. It's halted growth and those here to make things run sm oothly aren't doing anything about it. Although still in love with Bill Clinton and the US - seen as the saviors of the Albanian people and Kosova - the Albanian locals' affection for the UN is quickly dwindling.

And of course the Serbian population, as small and isolated as it is, never wanted and still largely fight any contact with the international community here. As I went out to interview and meet the Serbian high school students that applied for my Access class in Gracanica, their disdain and indifference toward multi-ethnicity was clear from the director, to the teacher and to most of the students. On our way there, my Albanian colleague, Ardian, was dreading the visit, calling the director an asshole that only wants to be angry and hate the Albanians. Neither of us had met the guy before, but we heard about his encounter with Craig and Wendy last week. I wasn't expecting a warm welcome from the guy, but I didn't think he'd close the door on us. "You're early. Go wait outside." When the teacher found us, she immediately gave excuses for students' low English level. "Because of the bombing they did not have proper schooling . . . " I could feel Ardian's temper heat up with every word she said.

Got a new Prishtina arrival this week from Michigan, Dee the fellow ELF. She's a last minute fill-in for a guy that backed out of the program this fall - affectionately named Bob the Bailer by Adria and myself. Dee was an ELF in Turkey and Macedonia before coming here to Prishtina. She also lived and taught in Guatemala for a bit before joining the order of the ELFs. Sounded to me like an interesting woman . . . until I met here. In all actually, Dee is quite the opposite of interesting. This woman has made a living standing in front of a class, teaching them how to effectively use a language, but you'd more likely peg her as a life-long employee of the gift-wrap department at Bloomimes. Communicating with human beings is clearly not her forte. And I can thank Ardian in the US office for finding her an apartment in my building. She now lives four floors below me and when coming and going from the building, I keep the stair lights off and bold by her door as quickly as possible. At this point, my goal is to introduce her to as many people as possible in the hopes that someone else will willingly welcome and so she has other phone numbers to call other than mine.

The best open door I've found so far was the Sunday brunch buffet at the Danish KFOR base. In order to boost morale, the Danish military here offer their soldiers an amazing breakfast buffet every Sunday. They have extended the invitation to any international living in Kosovo, military or civilian. A group of us took the 45 minute drive, gave a passport to the heavily armed security guard and walked directly to the mess hall where we payed 8 Euro for one heck of a spread! The hall was filled with Swedish, French and German military as well as randoms like us. Would the US military welcome people in like that? I think not.

As a whole, I have felt very welcome here so far. Albanians, most Serbians and the international community have found reason to open their arms to this stranger from the states, for whatever reason. All of these communities can be very selective, however. To not be welcomed by any one of them could get in the way of quite a bit of life here. Makes me realize that eventually it will be my job to be welcome to people that come here. Keep the Karma positive.

English Access

So, I've spent the better part of this week with Craig Dicker - the Regional English Language Officer for the Balkans/Eastern Europe. He is basically in charge of every ELF like myself in the entire region. He bases himself in Budapest, but calls Prishtina his second home. He taught English here back in the 80s, met his Kosovar Serbian wife here, married her here and had the most ethnically diverse wedding party I've every heard of. It's amazing they were able to keep it blood-free. Craig knows everything there is to know about the area and teaching English here. AND he's a damn cool guy from New York City that used to teach at JFK High School in The Bronx. He's only in Kosovo for a week and I'm lucky he's basing himself here in Prishtina, allowing me to spend more time with him than most might.

One of the main projects we've been working on since he got here is the Access program. Craig says he doesn't get too excited about things anymore, but this program has got him fired up. It's very ambitions and something the head of the mission here is going to be looking closely at because it is the ethnic outreach that is so difficult to accomplish around here. We went to meet with directors of two high schools in the Serbian enclaves of Prishtina - Gracanica and Llapllesello - in order to discuss their participation in the program, which includes bussing students from thee communities into Prishtina - Albanian territory - twice a week for an English class which will have some Albanians attending.

The US office has had time to stroke and director at Llapllesello, discuss this program and build trust with him. 5 of us were at that meeting which included doing shots of rakia (plum whiskey). The relationship with the director at Gracanica was not yet stroked, resulting in a very different meeting. Only Wendy and Craig went in to meet him while the rest of us waited in the car. Swarming him with all 5 of us could have been a bit intimidating. Over an hour later, they came out looking like they barely won a fight with a pack of dogs. What needed to happen, and clearly did, was for this man to vent to these two Americans about what their people have been through in the past 7 years. He pointed to his secretary sitting in the other room and told of how she watched every one of her brothers get shot in their home at point-blank range by a group of Albanian thugs. He said that every person in that school had similar stories, and they continue to live in fear. These things have happened even during UN occupation and "protection." The leaders of the community answer to Belgrade, but even the Serbs give them little if any protection from afar. In fact, there is a "Belgrade installation" whose presence is in the community in attempts in block any efforts made to integrate the Serb community into the general population. These people are alone, afraid and this guy has a hard time trusting an American effort to teach their kids English with Albanians.

We'd like to have a Roma contingent in the program, but finding these kids is going to be difficult. They are basically the "gypsies" that live in small bunches in these Serbian communities. They attend Serbian schools until the 8th grade when most of them drop out. The few that have continued to high school have parents with trust issues as well, that is if their parents have not been killed.

My last night with Craig was spent sitting with the other ELF here discussing in detail what and how exactly to handle this class of students. If we don't build trust amongst these students, the Serbian students will quit and the program will implode. We discussed how, in the first days, discussion cannot get even close to any topic that might be ethnically charged - food, family, holidays. The students will naturally enter the class and sit with their own kind. Do we mix them up right away or let them be separate? We cannot give these Serbian students any reason to feel inferior, threatened or less than their Albanian peers. One wrong word could send them off. And the possibility of anger flaring and students getting physical is of course possible. Such a delicate situation that could go so wrong. But, if done carefully this could go so wonderfully right, and I can't even explain how excited I get thinking about that. This could turn out to be the only minority outreach program the US Mission here has done. Honestly, the pressure is on me to make this work. It gives me chills!

Border Crossing

Check out the news article link. It's is from Al Jazeera and I think does a good job of explaining what Serbia is up to right now. It seems as though they are quickly building their defenses up against the inevitability of Kosovo independence. A vote on a new constitution that had to pass by two-thirds was passed unanimously. Included in the constitution were words "reasserting sovereignty over Kosovo." Serbian authorities don't care if UN talks on Kosovo's ultimate status are still happening and apparently they don't care that a good number of Serbia's citizens don't agree with this hasty political move. They will not give up this place.

The relationship between Serbia and this UN administered territory of Serbia (Kosovo refuses to consider itself part of Serbia and Serbia refuses to let Kosovo stand alone) all makes it very interesting for anyone to cross the border separating the territory from the country. A common practice of the internationals around here is a "stamp run." This is a day-long venture over the borders of two countries and this territory. It begins with a 2-hour drive into the city of Skopje in Macedonia. The trip to Macedonia involves a border that can be crossed pretty freely, as long as it's not a holiday weekend with every single UN/EU vehicle lined up and headed for Greece. On these days a good deal of time needs to be allowed - a bit like waiting for the big roller coaster at 6 flags on Memorial Day weekend. On any other occasion, these vehicles are often allowed to jump the line and cross through, no problems, which was the case for us. Skopje is the destination of choice for the simple luxuries one cannot find in Prishtina. Our time there started with McDonald's and moved on to the local shopping mall with clothing shops worth spending money on. Here also exists a supermarket where a desperate soul can find soy milk and soy sauce!! Oh my stomach is so happy right now. The architecture of the city is a bit like Prishtina - very communist-style cement block buildings with a smattering of glass-pained, more modern looking office buildings. There is a river with a very charming foot-bridge that crosses over to a castle-type structure on a hill surrounded by minarets. As with Prishtina, but on a much larger scale, there are cafes with outdoor seating lining the streets that are full of people drinking their macciatos, lattes and OJs. Not sure where these people will go when the snow falls, but I'm sure it will be a much smokier existence within walls.

The whole idea and purpose of the stamp run is, after power shopping in Skopje, to cross the Macedonia/Serbia border in order to get a Serbian stamp in one's passport. This way, for the next month, one can cross the border from Kosovo directly to Serbia and come back without any problem. So the routine goes from Kosovo to Macedonia to Serbia, acquire the stamp and then head back into Kosovo. The woman that drove the four of us is an EU tax employee here, so r car had EU plates making this, I think, a bit easer than if we took a car with Kosovo plates. The border crossing from Serbia into Kosovo was a bit unique. Once you leave Serbia, there is about a 5 mile stretch of beautiful, undeveloped road that winds through the mountains. This "buffer zone" seems to keep a safe distance between the two borders and apparently NOT the place to jump out and throw the Frisbee around - flying objects not welcome. In a few months, who knows what will happen of the stamp run. Serbia might not ever every allow anyone who has ever been in Kosovo to cross into their borders.

A Swede, an Irish and two Oles took a road trip through two countries and a UN occupied territory, ate McDonald's, bought some jeans and soy milk, listened to good music and enjoyed what was a mostly a beautiful scenic drive through mountains of the Balkans. I can't help but find quite a few parallels this all has with my time in Japan. Prishtina is my Iida, Skopje is my Nagoya and driving through the mountain ranges in a car of people from around the world speaking English is equally beautiful and good laughs on an Asian island and in a UN occupied European territory.

Talking Politics

2008 Republican National Convention to be held in the Twin Cities?! That just might have ended my considerations about moving myself back to St. Paul. I was in New York City for the last one of these things the Republicans held and it was hell! If I'm in 'Sota for the next one, I might be accused of ghastly things . . .St. Paul being called, "The House the Norm Build." Yea, when he was a democrat! Now that sucker is riding the torn tails of the Republican party to DC. Why couldn't the democrats been a bit quicker with their bid?

Out with the international ultimate Frisbee crowd last night. They are all government employees - UN or other country's missions - and these conversations are hard to keep up with in this crowd. These people make lives out of discussing global politics and history, they speak multiple languages and have been living abroad for most of their adult lives. More often than not I find myself sitting back in my chair eating my pizza in fear of being engaged in the conversation. I like to think I'm relatively intelligent - granted, I'm not the best speller, but I can hold a fairly intellectual conversation. But with these folks I often feel like I must have missed some serious school days or didn't watch BBC News enough. Are these people normal representatives of their countries - probably not the average. They hold this diplomatic positions because they know diplomacy. But I do believe that the average American does NOT get the global education that people of other countries get. The Americans who are up on these things have to find their sources and seek them out. Our general media do not encourage the US public to be up on these things. I didn't miss any days of school and I do read the New York Times and listen to NPR, but I don't think like these people do. I wasn't raised to, like a lot of people in The States. So, if The Twin Cities and the Republican convention come up next time, I'll engage. Might be my chance to show that I at least read the newspaper.

Mission of Ethnic Diversity

My first weekend here and was a long one due to the start of Ramadan. Most of the folks I've met so far had plans already to head out of town, so I stuck around Prishtina. Haven't been here long enough to justify a trip away, yet there really isn't enough to do here for three whole days. Adria came up from Prizren for a couple of nights. She said its even worse down there. So here we are. The weather is absolutely beautiful, though. About 70 degrees, sunny, light breeze, good for our own little cafe crawl through town. Good thing I had someone to talk to because, despite the modern appearance of my apartment, the utilities maintain a sort of war-torn status. My internet connection has been about as reliable as a cell phone connection in the New York Subways. The cable literally goes out my window to the utility pole down on the street. When I close my window I'm kinking the hose so the connection goes in and out. Without internet, all I have is E! Europe, BBC World News and a whole lot of low-budget porn channels on my TV. God help me and get this internet working right!!

As of this morning, I am the proud recipient of a State Department Grant through the Public Affairs Office of Prishtina Kosovo for the purpose of organizing and holding a regional English Language Conference. It was something I wanted to do eventually, but didn't realize I'd have the money this soon. The fiscal year 2006 ends this week so I had to open a bank account here yesterday in order to receive the money in time. From what it sounds like, I could be expecting to have around 200 participants from around Kosovo, maybe even reaching into Macedonia and Albania. One big goal will be to include Serbian teachers of English, which will be a challenge. The government in Belgrade does not encourage the Serbian population to get involved in Albanian/UN promoted events. Local teachers of English as a whole don't have opportunities to participate in professional conferences so it's a great opportunity for them to get the exposure and experience. My goal will be to offer the opportunity to both the Albanian and Serbian teachers of English in the area.

In attempts to be pro-active and avoid dying of boredom, I went out to KIJAC - the MA Journalism program - in order to meet with Willem, the director, and find out about the classes I'll teach. A driver picked me up in his BMW and on the way out there we were stopped by the Kosova Police. The road to KIJAC is also the road to Mitrovica - the northern region of Kosovo that is ethnically divided between Serbs and Albanians and where ethnic conflict is pretty hot. All the news surrounding Kosovo lately talks about the seemingly inevitable decision for Kosovo independence and the backlash that may result from the Serbian population. The increase in security and UN activity has been evident. When the driver was pulled over today, he mentioned this increase in security and how he saw it as a necessity rather than a hindrance.

I was able to meet t the class of first-year students at KIJAC and they all had great energy. I could tell some had excellent spoken English skills. I've already received an email from one, however, saying that he is really struggling with English and wants to spend as much time with me as possible. This class will be the first academic group that has Serbian students together with Albanian students. This is a BIG step and I'm sure adds a very interesting dynamic to class discussion and interaction. A mini Mitrovica, in a way, and it's up to those of us working at KIJAC to make sure ethnic diversity is successful on our own small scale. So I'll take my baby steps and do what I can to contribute to the efforts here.

KOSOVAREPORT: U.N. envoy dismisses fear of Kosovo precedent

KOSOVAREPORT: U.N. envoy dismisses fear of Kosovo precedent

Academic Extremes

I met with Leo today, the woman with whom I will be teaching English at the University of Prishtina. She said she has been teaching there for 11 years. It's not her full time job. According to her, the university pay is worth peanuts. She's got a full-time gig working for an NGO on the that conducts political science seminars for young local politicians. She tells me that UP has a lot of problems and that the students not only don't speak much English when they enter, but that the university doesn't impose much of a need for them to learn it. Classes are meant to start on October 1. She and I will most likely be taking that first week to test the students and place them into different leveled classes. She wanted to make sure I understood that things would move slowly and be quite unorganized at first and that I would have to be patient. I don't know, sounds a bit like September at Brandeis High School a couple of years back.

Now I must share about the Kosovo Institute of Journalism And Communication (KIJAC). It is a MA program here in Prishtina that is funded my the Royal Norwegean Minestry of Foreign Affairs and is this year partnering with the University of Nebraska's journalism program. Apparently they used to be housed in central Prishtina, but had to moved for some reason. In the drive out there, Wendy, Ardian and I were talking about how I would get myself there and back. As the drive continued to drive toward nothing, our conversation started turning to whether or not I'd go there at all. The closest thing to the building was a cemetary. Everywhere else was wasteland. When we arrived at the building, we were met by a Dutch man that was at least 6' 4" wearing a rainbow-striped shirt with glowing blue eyes and a platinum smile. His name is Willem and his CV covers media work all over the world. He escorted us into the front door and we were transported into this man's rainbow world. Winding staircases, track lighting and walls geometrically painted with colors that must have been inrpired by the shirt. He took us on a tour of the most high tech academic facility I have ever seen. Audio and video editing equipment, classrooms hooked up with video conferencing, LCD projectors and computers for students that I know I never had access to. And this is in KOSOVO?! The professors here consist of a former executive producer of the BBC, journalists from Australia, Norway, the states and they hve worked in Cuba, Vietnam, Venezuela, Etheopia,Spain, Bosnia and God only knows where else. I suggest you check out the link.

Because of the international faculty, the classes are taught in English. For the first time, this year's entering class - 25 students - has 5 serbian students enrolled. Now this is a big deal and something they are very proud of. Their ultimate goal is to be a media center for all of Europe and opening their doors to all kinds is crucial. And I am going to be a part of this! These students need to write an MA thesis in English by the end of their second year, so my job will be to strengthen their academic writing in English. This becomes more important to them having Serbian students in the class because English will serve as the culturally unbiased common language in the classroom.

Issues

For the past couple of nights I have been able to get together with a group of internationals living here in Prishtina. It is safe to say that every one of them - about 30 so far - is here working for some government's mission, the UN or an NGO working on the development and for the most part working toward independence of Kosovo. From privatization of businesses, security and police to trouble-shooting technological issues, they are all here for generally the same purpose, applying their expertise in whatever way they can. Like myself, most of them had no special interest in the region. They were given a post and took it with curiosity. Many of them have been here 3 or 5 years, done the work they could and are ready to get out. It's almost like they have reached a standstill with the progress they've been able to make.

The perception of the Kosovar Albanians in regards to the presence of the UN and foreign missions varies depending on age. Those closer to middle age genuinely believe that there would be no Kosovo without the United States. "No Bill Clinton, no United States would mean no Kosova," said one 50-something man I met on the airplane. Ardian, who is in his mid-thirties believed that good progress was made with the presence of the international community up until 2002/03. Citizens' freedom was returned. Restaurants and cafes opened, consumer selection and variety increased and an energy was given back to people who had been living either under communism or persecution for the previous few decades since the end of World War II to endless bouts ethnic conflict decades prior. When the UN bombing stopped in 1999, it seems to me as though chains were broken and the Albanians of Kosovo were suddenly told to be who they wanted to be. With the ideas of democracy and capitalism, the international organizations assisted these people in finding a life for themselves.

Of course it is not all perfect. During this time of growth, unemployment and poverty continue to exist. Minority Serb and Roma enclaves exist in Kosovo which inherently leaves the cloud of ethnic conflict hanging overhead. One main hurdle in the negotiations of Kosovo status is the treatment and integration of these minorities into the general population. Serbia wants to make sure they are treated well and Kosovo wouldn't mind if they just left all together. In the past month, as the status talks seemingly progress towards Kosovo independence, lightening has shot from this cloud in the form of bombings and deaths in the minority enclaves. And they are ready to fight back.

And in the mean time, the infrastructural progress seems to have hit a stand-still. Power-outages still prevail. Left-over buildings - either intact and empty or bombed out - still remain. A university exists where corruption prevails from top to bottom. Those thirty-somethings at the age of making a difference and creating a place for themselves in society seem to believe the international efforts have reached a plateau in the past 3 years. Their confidence in the international presence is getting less and they are starting to wonder when will they truly be able to live independently.

Once I meet with my students I will have a sense of how the younger generation sees it all. In addition to the udergraduate and graduate classes I'll be teaching, I will also have a class of minority Serb and Roma high school kids that will be bussed into Prishtina for an English class getting exposure they are not given in isolation from the majority Albanians.

In the community

I had a good chunk of this morning off, so I took a walk with the camera. So here they are . . . Star Wars just a few hours ago in this galaxy. The one with the spikes represents eagles, a national symbol. It's actually the sports facility and has the football stadium next to it. The one that looks like bubble wrap is the national library where I'll be teaching one of my classes. I was told it was meant to symbolize white hats traditionally worn by Albanian men. So, this is what the brilliant architects came up with.

I've got to start meeting with the deans of the universities where I'll be working, but Public Affairs Officer at the Mission sets it all up and needed to go as well and apparently they were all in morning budget meetings. Oh darn, free until two. I took a bit of a walk around in the morning. There is a long staircase that leads up Sunnyhill to the US Mission compound so I headed that direction. You get a great view of the Eagle from there. On the walk back I wanted to stop and get some thing for breakfast and stopped at this little market that was stuffed full of some pretty good loot. They had Wasa Rye Crisps and some beautiful fresh produce. I've been told that doesn't last into the winter, though. Might have to resort to frozen veggies.

The woman who had my job before me, Michelle, has been great about getting me in contact with people she knew while living here. One of the guys that organizes an ultimate Frisbee team and all sorts of other things gave me a call and I met him for a coffee in the morning near my apartment. Thor and I started into the small talk and he asked the basic questions. "How are things going for you here . . . What did you do before this . . .Where are you from . . . Where did you go to college . . . " When I told him St. Olaf his next question was, "What dorm did you live in?" Yes, Thor is a former Ole. Of course he is . . . he's an American named Thor. There is another American here named Sven and his sister went to Olaf. Go figure. So the conversation went on with all ice broken. Apparently there was going to be a party in the evening with ultimate people and he invited me to join.

The afternoon meeting was good. I met Professor Gashi of the Political Science faculty where I'll have a few classes to teach. My Assistant Public Affairs Officer, Wendy, Ardian and myself were lead down a dark hallway of the Poli Sci building and I could feel the buzz you feel on every college campus the days before classes start. In a large frame on the main wall were the headshots of all the previous years graduates wearing their square black hats and red shirts - the colors of their flag. If you talk to an Albanian Kosovar about the University of Prishtina they will speak very highly of the quality of education there. Speak to anyone in the Public Affairs Office of the Mission and they would tell you not to send your children there. Corruption seems to rule here. Part of the PAO's is to fix these problems, but corruption runs deep. Students don't pay tuition, professors don't get paid the salaries they deserve (the majority have PhDs from what I understand) Many have other jobs and put little time into teaching. More times than not they are paid by the students for passing grades.

The discussion we had focused on what my schedule would be and how the English program worked. A placement test was established last year by Michelle and the other English teacher. The scores on those tests was extremely low, even for those students that were coming from the English lit. department. This year, due to the fact that every other department wanted to take the English portion of the University's entrance exam off, it's predicted to be worse. I'll hopefully meet with the other English teacher soon to discuss all of this.

That one hour meeting was my work day. I said good-bye, bought more grocery necessities and was picked up by Thor and Sophia - a former member of the Swedish national women's soccer team - and we were off to the party. A beautiful home lived in by an Irish man and a Belgium woman who were expecting a baby. 4 other women at the party were expecting too. Quite the "active" international community for sure! Seems to be a rotating crowd with no one staying in Prishtina much longer than three years. It sounded like a lot of them are on their way out come the first of the year. Kind of a bummer to start meeting people knowing they'll be flying off soon.

Resident without an address

Day 3 and it all seems to be coming together. Baggage has arrived, moved into the apartment, using the internet and washing the same pair of jeans and shirt I wore on the flight over and for the first two days here. Drank a bottle of wine and ate a bowl of rice. Haven't managed to find salt and pepper yet, so it was a bit bland. I did get a bottle of red wine though. Makes any ordinary bowl of rice edible.

Today was spent bumping elbows with the big dogs. After being picked up at our hotel by MotorPoll, we were taken to Alpha Gate of the US Mission compound. Literally a village where all the diplomats live and work. It's a bit unfair that these people claim to be living abroad. Other than the fact that they pay in Euro, there is nothing foreign about the way they live. They even admit to living better here than they do back in the states with their mansions, maids, cooks and drivers. All of the Foreign Service Diplomats have taken extensive Albanian language courses and could probably speak it quite well, but they'll be damned if anyone asks them to use it. Every Albanian they work with speaks English, Serbian and at least one other European language, but they can't even bring themselves to speak the local language in the country they call home for at least 2 years.

We had a security briefing where we were pretty much just told which bars to stay away from unless you want to be a "lady of the night." No land mine warnings, no lessons on how to disarm anyone, nothing more than "lock your doors and don't walk home alone too late when you've been out drinking with the other internationals here." Guaranteed I'll see the Deputy of Security out at a pub one night. I'll just make sure to follow her lead.

But now I'm settled into the apartment. The view is amazing and the balcony a real treat. Internet and 150 satellite TV channels but I can't get anything mailed to my front door.

Day 1 1/2

Well, we're here! "We" being the other new resident of Kosovo. She is here on the same program as me, but will be living in a smaller city in the mountains about an hour from Prishtina. Our Austrian airline plane landed and emptied us right onto the tarmac to walk all of 50 meters into the airport. We pretty much just saw Passport Control and the "baggage claim" area. It was here that we all grabbed our luggage carts and lined up. There was no conveyer belt, no chute, nothing other than a group of people that looked like there were waiting to hear, "ready, set . . . go" before the gates opened and we were set free. And that's exactly how it happened. We filed out to a sidewalk area where baggage was lined-up buffet style. People walked around the bags, grabbing what was theirs. Little by little the selection lessened, until the sidewalk was clear. As I observed the system, I of course searched for the four pieces of luggage that contained my worldly possessions. But, as the sidewalk cleared it became more evident that my possessions did not make it to the buffet. No, my luggage did not join me on the journey. When I checked them back in MSP I was told by a women that clearly had no idea what she was talking about that I needed a Visa to get into Kosovo. I was told before and reassured after that this was NOT the case. Regardless, she did not believe me and marked my luggage so that, in case I was not allowed on the flight from DC to Vienna, my luggage would not be allowed either. Well, the message that I made it on didn't seem to reach my bags. So here I sit in my hotel room, worldy possessions diminished to a computer, one extra pair of underwear, pair of socks, pajamas and a tooth brush. Not bad, really. Just thinking that once I start meeting my other colleagues, my jeans and shirt are going to be in quite ripe.

The Kosovar working in the U.S. Office, Ardian, is in charge of our orientation and he has been a gem so far. He has helped me find an apartment with a great view, shown us around town, given us his perspective on what is happening here, taken us for some great food and as soon as he can get my luggage and me back together again, he will have high ranking status on my favorites list here. I can't wait to post pictures of the architecture in this place. During the communist Tito years, the traditional buildings were destroyed or dwarfed by giant cement blocks with windows. To build nationalism and individuality, they went nuts with their creativity and erected a couple of buildings inspired by cultural symbols. All I can say is that they've made eagles and white hats look like structures George Lucas might create for the Empire.

My bottom line first impression . . . I get some good vibes from this place. There is a lot to discover in Prishtina, Kosovo, and the Balkans that I might not ever see unless I had the opportunity to come here.

What I'm in for

"I will be bluntly honest with you- your position can be one of the most frustrating and, at the same time, rewarding positions in the region(perhaps in the world)." Quote from an email sent to me from my Regional English Language Officer (RELO), Craig, in Belgrade. His bluntness has to be appreciated. I'll take blunt over sugar-coated any day. It allows me to get crazy-excited yet forces me to keep my feet to Earth a bit. Craig said about one of the projects that I'll be working on, "The rhetoric is all there, but the follow-through is missing." Heck, I worked for the New York City Department of Education for 4 years, a slow-moving monster that is fueled by perfected rhetoric, missing the follow-through more often than not.

He also sent me an 81 page document from the Kosovo Institute of Journalism and Communication (KIJAC) which will be one of project sites. A great deal of the books and articles I've read discuss the "myths" that have fueled the anger and conflict in Kosovo. Julie A. Mertus's book, "Kosovo: How Myths and Truths Started a War" is clearly based on how embellished stories and interpretations of events by conflicting groups caused chain reactions of violence. Sam Vaknin on the online Global Politician lists several examples of the, "Myths and inexactitudes, platitudes and wrongs, errors and omissions, lies and distortions" that contribute to a great deal of the noise that comes from the region (The Myths of Yugoslavia Part 1 8/1/2006 http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=1042&cid=3&sid=10).

The 81 page document from Craig uses local media coverage of a conflict that happened in March, 2004. In regards to the violent outbursts, the local coverage was the subject of debate. Two reports written by the Vienna based OSCE Office of the High Representative on Freedom of the Media and the Pristina Office of the Temporary Media Commissioner that licenses the Kosovo broadcast sector evaluated the performance of the media during the mid-March conflict and found that further investigation was needed. They concluded that, "Reckless and sensationalist TV reporting has contributed to the ferocity of the outburst of ethnic and mob violence, by displaying a serious lack of professionalism and a neglect of core professional values," (The Establishment of the Kosovo Institute of Journalism and Communication (KIJAC) and A Center for Journalism and Communication Proposal for a development cooperation programme; pp. 40). Due to the nationalist tendencies and conditioned response of defending either ethnic Serb or Albanian Kosovars, journalists' angles focused on the opposing extremes resulting in counter-responses of nationalist defense. Objectivism, in other words, is not common practice among Kosovar journalists.

It seems as though teaching objectivism in journalism through the modes of technology and English language will be the focus of my position. Understanding and coexistance of conflicting groups cannot be established as long as media take sides. In countries in crisis media are the sole trusted sources of information. People trust and depend on them to tell them what they need to know. A critical eye in the media consumer does not often exist. Given this, it is the responsibility of the media - journalists - in giving an adequate and unbiased reality to its audience.

This will be my job . . . ! . . . ? . . .

Alternative news source

A great site written by journalists with no connection with the main-stream media monsters. They do their own thing with a perspective worth checking out. They have a good 2-part series on Kosovo leading off right now. Go to it and it will give you a ton of other related links.

http://globalpolitician.com/default.asp

Kosovo's independence the only option?

It looks as though I'm going to see a lot of things happening. Negotiations between two sides that believe the land is rightfully theirs. History of war and violence between two nationalities, two religions. Foreign diplomats involved in negotiations. Deep seeded sense of nationalism. Sound a bit familiar?

KOSOVAREPORT: What will Belgrade do now that Kosovo's independence becomes the only option? (Z�ri)

Trust Worthy AND Crooked!!

The money order arrived with a little note that said, "Thank you for your patience, Molly. Good luck in Kosovo." Bugger all! Just enough kindness to make me think nice things about a man I I refuse reward with the adjective. When I brought it to my bank they didn't think it looked like a real money order. "You'd be surprised at how often people fraud these." That's better, Jerry. I knew you could keep the form. Stand up to the true fact that you are crooked and stop living the lie. For a week while waiting for it to clear, I continued to expect the worst, redy to go to the local presinct to report fraud and intentionally writing a bad check. One last check to my account on-line and there it was . . . CLEARED! Does this make him nice?. . . Not quite, but it almost makes me feel bad for reporting him to the New York City Department of Buildings.

Why?

For over a month I've bought, borrowed and attempted to read a half-dozen books about Kosovo, the Balkan region and it's history. There is a reason I got atrocious grades in every history class I took. . . people now like to call it Adult ADD. . . my mind is capable of consentrating on every third line I read in history-type books. Without a solid context that I can relate to, I might as well be reading about how to build a car engine or perform brain surgery.

The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo by Paula Huntley. This is a journal written by a woman who in the year2000, was in the place and doing the job I will be doing in 2006. She describes the city of my future residents by its gunshots, power outages, land mines and limited resources, adding that she never, "felt so alive!" Her experience working with students and understanding a situation and way of life that she would never come close to experiencing if she had stayed in San Francisco. She was afraid to go, but realized that it's the unknown, scary situations that teach us more than anything we find in a comfort zone.

That is exactly my addiction. I literally get a rush from talking, listening and understanding things that are hard to understand and often scare me. It can be physically and mentally exhausing, frustrating, embarrassing and in rare cases, physically dangerous to travel to different places, meet new people, buy groceries or order off a menu in a different language, get from one place to another. Often, it's enough to make me want to curl up in my comfy apartment and close out all that's unusual and unknown. The rush comes, however, when I step beyond what's safe and familiar, observe and experience the unusual and make the connection. The adrenalin I feel after that leaves me looking for the next hit.

Just reading this book set that adrenalin going for me. I read her words and I got it. That is exactly why I've done this before and I'm going to do it again. When I lived in Japan, it literally took me a year of taking the risks and experiencing to let go of my familiar comfort zone and become comfortable in a different zone. If it takes that long in Kosovo . . . gosh, I might not have another choice but to stay for a second year.

Up at the Lake

Here in Minnesota and Wisconsin, going to the lake is a ritural that most folks take part in. "Oh, you goin' up to the lake this weekend, Bob? You know, the weather is supposed to be pretty good." (said in the classic Fargo accent). So these are some pics - taken with my new, very sexy digital camera - of my grandparents' home in northern Minnesota where I grew up swimming and water skiing in the summer and snowmobiling in the winter. These days, activities include sitting on the dock, reading books and talking about what we'll eat next.

Trust Worthy or Crooked?

"I am not a crook." Said the landlord who is so good at convincing you that he has your best interests in mind. But as I learned living in New York City for three years, these are the people that, once they've earned your trust, they won't hesitate to manipulate you with it to their benefit. And why the hell not?! It's easy for them to get away with it. I have to admint, I've found a bit of pleasure in figuring out how to not let them get away with it.

When I moved out 2 weeks ago and was getting my security deposit back from good ol' Jerry, he wanted to be "fair" and deduct ConEdison for the 2 1/2 year we lived there from the deposit. Now, my original roomie and I did all we could to contact ConEd and get the bill in our name in November of 2003 only to find out that our apartment and the basement apartment were on the same meter and they couldn't change the name without the landlord's permission. It was at this time that "illegal apartment" became an accepted reality for us. Jerry's response to this, "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it. ConEdison makes this mistake all the time." For the next month we follow up with Jerry. "Don't worry about it" becomes the play-back recording we continue to hear from Jerry for 2 and 1/2 years. There's no electricity in the kitchen or bathroom, Jerry. "That fuse blows. Don't worry about it." Water is dripping from the ceiling in my bedroom, Jerry. "It's the radiator upstairs. Don't worry about it." The ceiling is about to cave in from the water dripping from it, Jerry. "I just need to turn off the heat. Don't worry about it." The toilet doesn't flush, Jerry. "That's easy to fix. Don't worry about it." Early on, not having experienced the play-back enough yet, Jerry earned our trust and we didn't worry about ConEd. We didn't pay a bill and we continued on with our lives of big bedrooms, a large kitchen and a back yard with a garden and grill.

Fast forward to June of 2006 and we want our security deposit back and, sorry Jerry, but I WILL NOT let you take 30 months of a ConEdison bill I have never seen out of my security deposit. I want it ALL!! He writes the check, I bring it back to 'Sota and deposit it into my dad's account. Great, been spending the cash, on problem. Today, one week later I find out it was a bad check. DAMN YOU JERRY!!! I guessed it might happen but that little part of me that gave Jerry my trust refused to believe he would take it this far. But his crookedness runs deep! And I call him on it. My first voice mail message to him - he is notorious for not answering the phone at the times we need him most. "I have a life and can't always answer the phone," he once said - Jerry, you said you weren't a crook. Well, you've proven yourself wrong. You've made a mistake and we need to talk. 5 hours later, I call back and leave another message. Jerry, you might have a life, but right now, I don't. I have all the time in the world to write letters to the Attorney General's fraud division, ConEdison and I have a direct number to the New York Department of Buildings. Call me! And of course, 20 minutes later Jerry called.

He had this whole BS story about how the tenants upstairs didn't pay him on time so he didn't have the money in his account to cover the check blahblahblahblah! "Don't worry, Molly. I'll send you another check." Hell no you won't. You're sending me a money order and if it's not here one week from today, I'm making the phone call and sending the letters. "Okay, Molly. Don't worry. I'll call you when I send it. We're about to get a big rain storm here. How's the weather there. " AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! Stop trying to pass for a nice guy because, there is no way around it, you are crooked!!

This is just one crooked New York resident I dealt with in my time there. Bottom line, don't let them get away with it and let them know you're onto them. More often than not, they'll respect you for it and life becomes easier for the both of you. The story with Jerry is to be continued, however. Let's hope that money order shows up and I didn't just shoot myself in the foot.

Blog?

Yea, I'm trying to figure out this blog thing. If I'm going to finally admit to and actually use this MA degree in journalism while teaching future journalists, I better at least attempt to join the clique of "writers" and do what all the cool kids are doing. First short-term goal - to figure out how to get the pictures right-side-up. My digital photo collection is limited so I'll test with what I've got . . . If you haven't met yet, this is Christina and Shelley, part of my NYC life-line.