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.