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.