Kosovo
Kosovo is inspiring.
To those who don't know where Kosovo is (and don't feel bad. Really.), it's former Yugoslavian country. And you can tell. I went there for a week with my War Crimes and Human Rights class to study a post-war climate, and I definitely got it.
It's a shell of a city bursting with construction built by foreign investments after the war. The bombed buildings are still there, but new 4-story houses are being frantically built alongside them. The problem is, there's no city planning or infrastructure laws, so the construction is insane. The second problem is that there's no one to live in the houses because everyone left during the war, and due to the squatter laws, those that do probably aren't the people the houses were built for in the first place.
Here's more problems: The UN and NATO both have run of the country, but so does the Kosovar government. So does the police, so does the army, so does foreign investments-- what there are of them. So rule of law is pretty hazy. We talked to government agencies up the wazoo, and I still don't know who controls what. And neither do they.
Next, Kosovo isn't even a country, but they think it is. They want it to be so badly, but their infrastructure is a disaster. The people of Kosovo are optimistic, ecstatic even, about their independent status, but only 22 of 27 countries have accepted Kosovo as a sovereign country. The problem with that is, it's all politics, of course. The racial and religious tensions between the Albanians and the Serbians are explosive (Serbians are mainly Orthodox, Albanians are mainly Muslim), but no forward movement (and by movement I don't mean talking about it, which happens every day) has been made for dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia (which is a no-fly zone, by the way.), which means no forward movement for the groups inside Kosovo.
The next problem is that Kosovo's economy hinges on foreign investment, and the capital Pristina is built on tourism. But all the tour buses are sitting in parking lots. Our tour guide insisted that there are a lot of tourists, but when we asked if they come to see a post-war city and the destruction of the country she didn't understand the question.
Here's the problem with the economy: Ok. Here's one of the problems with the economy. The unemployment rate is over 40 percent. The percent of the population able to work is huge -- it's one of the youngest populations in the world. But there are no jobs and people have no money (the percent of people living under the poverty line is 17, but it may be higher. The last credible census was from 1971).
Here's a run-down of my trip:
Sunday
Airport day. I'm 45 minutes to the airport because I didn't have Kroner to pay for a metro ticket to the airport, so two Danish men give me 35 pity Kroner. I then proceed to take the metro in the wrong direction for 20 minutes before I notice.
Thursday
Visited Decani Monistir. Incredibly, astonishingly beautiful. The outside was ruins of a very old church filled with trees and a pond, and the frescos on the interior walls, floors and ceilings were from the 13th century. However, as it was an Orthodox church, it was run by Serbian Orthodox nuns who, as I mentioned before, had a strong dislike for Americans. We were allowed 10 minutes and could only be in a large group in a place she could see us.
Hiked up Rugova Gorge through the mountains to a Rugovian village farm where they gave us fresh milk and cheesy corn bread. I pet a baby cow wearing a necklace and Steph named him Eddy.
Words cannot explain how beautiful our surrounds were, so here are some photos:
Kosovo is inspiring.
To those who don't know where Kosovo is (and don't feel bad. Really.), it's former Yugoslavian country. And you can tell. I went there for a week with my War Crimes and Human Rights class to study a post-war climate, and I definitely got it.
It's a shell of a city bursting with construction built by foreign investments after the war. The bombed buildings are still there, but new 4-story houses are being frantically built alongside them. The problem is, there's no city planning or infrastructure laws, so the construction is insane. The second problem is that there's no one to live in the houses because everyone left during the war, and due to the squatter laws, those that do probably aren't the people the houses were built for in the first place.
Here's more problems: The UN and NATO both have run of the country, but so does the Kosovar government. So does the police, so does the army, so does foreign investments-- what there are of them. So rule of law is pretty hazy. We talked to government agencies up the wazoo, and I still don't know who controls what. And neither do they.
Next, Kosovo isn't even a country, but they think it is. They want it to be so badly, but their infrastructure is a disaster. The people of Kosovo are optimistic, ecstatic even, about their independent status, but only 22 of 27 countries have accepted Kosovo as a sovereign country. The problem with that is, it's all politics, of course. The racial and religious tensions between the Albanians and the Serbians are explosive (Serbians are mainly Orthodox, Albanians are mainly Muslim), but no forward movement (and by movement I don't mean talking about it, which happens every day) has been made for dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia (which is a no-fly zone, by the way.), which means no forward movement for the groups inside Kosovo.
The next problem is that Kosovo's economy hinges on foreign investment, and the capital Pristina is built on tourism. But all the tour buses are sitting in parking lots. Our tour guide insisted that there are a lot of tourists, but when we asked if they come to see a post-war city and the destruction of the country she didn't understand the question.
Here's the problem with the economy: Ok. Here's one of the problems with the economy. The unemployment rate is over 40 percent. The percent of the population able to work is huge -- it's one of the youngest populations in the world. But there are no jobs and people have no money (the percent of people living under the poverty line is 17, but it may be higher. The last credible census was from 1971).
Here's a run-down of my trip:
Sunday
Airport day. I'm 45 minutes to the airport because I didn't have Kroner to pay for a metro ticket to the airport, so two Danish men give me 35 pity Kroner. I then proceed to take the metro in the wrong direction for 20 minutes before I notice.
My last text to Chris before I left was: LOL I'm 40 minutes late. Good story.His e-mail to me: What!? Did you miss your flight? What's going on?!A reassuring chat with our teacher during our layover in Budapest:
Greg: Hey Ulrich, what's the water situation in Kosovo? Can we drink the tap water?Tour of Pristina, the capital city. Shock mode on.
Ulrich: No, you have to drink it out of a bottle. Except make sure you drink a little bit of tap water every day so when you get kidnapped, you'll have an immunity when they force you to drink water as torture.
Missing persons
University of Pristina Library. It's a brain. But you probably knew that.
First 5-star, four-course dinner of the week. Every other meal to follow this pattern. Because we're rich here.
Monday
Take a cab to the ICO. Costs 2 euros. We make it rain.
Visit ICO. I pay attention.
Visit EULEX. Here are my notes:
Now, please reference my notes and read the part where I wrote, "entire under-educated generation." (It's by the giant lizard with the back scales.) That means that my generation didn't get the chance to go to school because of the war. There's currently a bigger push for students to attend college, but one of the main issues is lack of additional languages besides Albanian. Even Serbian isn't taught as much as it should be.
Visit University of Pristina to attend a lecture on world politics. Because of the language barrier, it's basically World Politics 101. We sit uncomfortably (in the cold room because the University can't afford heat) as the professor explains the new direction of warfare in a modern world: civil war. We nod and smile. Then that one guy (You know, that guy in your class that talks more than he breathes. Maybe he doesn't even know how to breathe. Maybe he just breathes through his many many opinions.) started answering every single question. We didn't agree with everything, but we respected his opinion. But then we started to disagree. Then he got his facts wrong. But when we'd attempt to correct him, the professor wouldn't understand what we were saying, and would write on the whiteboard "religion" under the category of "challenges" instead of "chances" instead of writing "extremism" in that category. Then we looked like idiots, but we weren't sure if the students could understand what was going on.
They do, however, understand when James mentions he's from Texas. Everyone in the room laughs. "Like George Bush!" they say.
Dinner. At least at my table, none of the Kosovar students could speak English. Not that I expect them to, of course, since I'm in their country, but it did lead to an interesting dinner. The boy next to me couldn't speak a word of English, but he puts in a great word for Albanian chivalry. I don't even know his name, but he always handed me my plate first, got me dessert and wine, pulled my chair out for me and put my coat on for me.
Jeff (who is black, as an important side note) makes friends with the Albanian guy who says, "What up brotha, you like basketball?"
Tuesday
Visit Field of Blackbirds, one of the largest battles in Europe, where the Christian alliance tried to block the invading Ottoman Turks.
Me: So... is this the battlefield? Are we standing on it?
Steph: Is it an option to get back on the bus?
Visit OSCE. I elaborate upon my dinosaur drawings (see photo of dinosaur with glasses in chair). Not because I wasn't interested. I was. But when they started talking about the different roles of ICO, EULEX, the UN and OSCE, I gave up, because they just don't have any idea.
Lunch in Mitroviche, a city split between a bridge, Serbs on one side, Albanians on the other. We went on the bridge, but couldn't go across because Serbians have a major (understandable) distaste for Americans and would throw rocks at us if we went over there.
Got flowers in honor of International Women's Day. You're welcome.
Wednesday
Visited Kosovar Stability Initiative.
Got a manicure with Ana.
Attended the Lidhja Ballet. Most of it. But in the end, I had the entire plot wrong.
Natasha: No, that is absolutely not what happened.
Me and Ana: So... wait. She wasn't engaged to a guy with a twin and she didn't get pregnant and not know who the dad was?
Thursday
Visited Decani Monistir. Incredibly, astonishingly beautiful. The outside was ruins of a very old church filled with trees and a pond, and the frescos on the interior walls, floors and ceilings were from the 13th century. However, as it was an Orthodox church, it was run by Serbian Orthodox nuns who, as I mentioned before, had a strong dislike for Americans. We were allowed 10 minutes and could only be in a large group in a place she could see us.
Words cannot explain how beautiful our surrounds were, so here are some photos:
Friday
Visited KFOR. Learned about border issues. I listened because they gave me snacks. One of the main issues why Kosovo isn't being recognizes as a sovereign country is because its borders are controlled by UN and NATO forces by both land and air on the Serbian side, which is over 1/2 of the country. They explained that there's conflict whenever they try to remove the forces, so right now there absolutely has to be governance.
Had pasta without sauce for lunch. I guess sauceless pasta transcends borders.
Hopped on a plane to Budapest!
