Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Yes, the school year is about over and I am really really really excited to get back to the States for a few weeks this summer, but that is not the reason for the Wizard of Oz reference in the title. The inspiration for the title comes from the absolutely amazing rain storm I just got stuck in. After seeing a great performance of a pianist and cellist at the National Theater here in Pristina - amazing comedy musical performance where these musicians played everything from Beach to Bee Gee's - and having a cocktail, my friend Jerome and I started a walk home when the sky opened up and the wind blew showing something made the gods unhappy. And there was absolutely nothing we could do. We were half way home on a dirt road, no restaurant open around us and still half a kilometer to go. The wind was blowing rocks from the dirt road up into our faces, the wind made it next to impossible to walk and I was laughing in amazement at the whole situation. I had never been in anything like it. I seriously felt like Dorothy trying to get into the cellar with Auntie Em as the twister came toward her. UNBELIEVABLE! Just got home and felt like getting in the shower was pointless. God, I hope my flowers on the balcony made it through!

And when I wake up from my journey over the rainbow I will, like Dorothy, be back with my family in the mid-west. It's been a heck of a trip full of my own strange caste of characters that have been my companions through it all. There is no wizard, but UNMIK is behind the curtain of smoke and mirrors doing what it can to make sure the people of Pristina are told what they need to hear in order to keep them happy. International friends and colleagues have walked with me along the yellow brick road helping me negotiate which way to travel and some fun adventures around the region we have had.

There have been some big bumps in the road with my students in which I have had to be the guide helping them to decide how to react and move forward. With them, the destination isn't very clear. For some it's an independent status for Kosovo, for others it's a unified Serbia and for a few it's just living in harmony without individual pride getting in the way. In a final evaluation I asked students to fill out regarding the class I asked whether or not they would return for next year. "YES of course!!" was the answer they all gave. I believe they all want to return to our nice safe and fun milti-ethnic class. It's what they all want to be able be in the long run. Despite what they say, I'm sure they all know in their minds that there is a strong chance this will not be able to happen because of what the wizards and rule makers will decide, whenever it is decided.