Hmmm...

American interests being attacked in Serbia, Bosnia and Slovenia. Maybe Kosovo is the safest place to be after all....

Oh, everyone should be happy to know I finally exercised some self restraint today, Peter and I went to the Harley store, and of course they had my bike sitting there. 2008 Harley Night Rod Special. Too bad I didn't have the $27,000 for it.

Kosovo is born!

OK, sorry for posting the pics and no explination. My computer died halfway through my story, so here it is.

KOSOVO IS BORN. That seems to be the theme around Pristina. Now, before you all start worrying about me having been in Kosovo, less than a week after them having declared independence, I should tell you there was not a lot to be afraid of. I planned this trip in place of a spring break trip, as I figured I would get much more out of it than being drunk with a bunch of friends. I was not wrong at all. Furthermore, I did have the foresight to go to the US Embassy in Prague (not recommended, they wouldn't let my insulin pump through security) and discuss my plans with them, and I was told what I had in mind would be OK. Furthermore, for a city of nearly a million, only a few dozen ethnical Serbs are left, and the unrest in Belgrade and Mitrovice is being caused by Serbs upset over the split. Therefore, a few dozen, mostly elderly, people were not going to be causing riots that I should be worried about.

Pristina is a war torn city. That is the best way to put it, at least the most non-offensive way of saying it. Years of war are still visible, even after nearly a decade of rebuilding. Gutted shells of buildings remain everywhere downtown. Any older person will point out exactly what damage the Serbs did while occupying Pristina, which is no small amount.

While the city itself is a mess, the people are the exact opposite. They are, quite possibly, the happiest people I have ever met. Children run and play, soccer in the city squares is a guarantee. Teenagers walk arm in arm from cafe to cafe, with no real destination in mind. Elderly guys sit on park benches for hours talking (about what, I have no idea). The best part? Everyone has a smile on their face. Everyone is excited, and certainly very happy about the future.

I must say, though, the food on this trip was amazing. Hands down, the best, and fortunately for me, the cheapest food I have had since I have gotten to Europe. The very traditional meat burek with drinkable yougurt will set you back 70 euro cents. I kid not, $1 for a lunch that filled me up. I had three lunches and desert at an upscale bakeshop near the UN complex, for under $10. Half of that went to the bakeshop, so in reality three lunches of traditional Kosovo cooking for under $5. Dinner was had at a very upscale, yet traditional, restaurant, once again by the UN complex. The clientel was mostly higher ranking US officials, who probably should pay closer attention to how loudly they are projecting some of their seemingly confidential conversations. Lamb in a yougurt sauce, 2 beers, a side order of potatoes (I got 5 baked potatoes), 2 loafs of bread, a glass of moonshine (moonshine is apparenly legal and common in restaurants here), and baklava for desert will set you back about $15 in a expensive restaurant in Pristina. Not bad at all. I should also mention that the only menu I ever seen in the country was writtenon a chalkboard in a few of the little shops. The cheap restaurants you look in a case and tell them what you want, and the expensive restaurants they tell you whats available, and you tell them what you want. Simple as that.

However, the best part of the trip for me, was seeing a completely different culture. The Czech Republic is great, and Poland was too, but in al honesty, they are a very western culture. Change their native language to English, and they are no different to me than the south would be. Kosovo, however, is different. Hearing the mosques broadcast the daily Muslim prayer a few times a day, was something I had never encountered before. Horse drawn carts existed in Poland, but they were tourist attractions, not a means of livelihood for some poor family. Poland and CZ both show some damage from wars of years past, but there aren't chunks of road missing from where a bomb was dropped 10 years ago. St. Nicholas' Serbian Orthodox church is right downtown, construction started in 1995, and it was never finished due to war and the expulsion of Serbs. It sits now as a hollow shell, with no one able to decide to do with it.
However, even through all the poorness and pain of war, the people are happy. That is what I take from this trip, how someone can be so happy with nothing. They are genuinely a nice people, who love what America has done for them. Not once was I treated with any disrespect, it would be inappropriate according to their culture for them to do so.

Finally, the last thing that will always stay with me, is being at the bar saturday night, trying to thank the bartender for the free drinks (they really, really love Americans, especially American tourists), and having him tell me no, thank you for all American has done to help the people of Kosovo. That was one of the most touching moments of my life, and I still have the Kosovo beer bottle with the American flag label to remember it.

Outskirts of Pristina, horses are still used for work here, Martyr's Memorial, memorial and tomb of the last president of Kosovo: Rugova, road by my hotel

UN/NATO compound, Kosovo independence signs, staue of 15th century hero outside the UN building, National Library, Thank you sign

Kosovo

View of Pristina from Velenia Hill, Opening of new ProCredit Bank (Kosovo's President attended, he's in the middle of that crowd), traditional dance outside the bank, Bill Clinton Boulevard, St. Nicholas Orthodox Church

Krakow, Poland

Well, I realized this is my only journal of the trip, so if you don't want to hear about outside of school things, stop reading it.

Poland was a fun time, probably two of the best days I've ever had. We got in late thursday night, the train left Prague at 2:00 and got in about 9:30. We walked to our hostel, which was very nice (better than some hotels I've been in), then spent the next few hours looking for a restaurant still open.

Friday we walked around town. Old town here had the largest open square in Europe, excluding the museum thingy in the middle, St. Marys, which is the most decorated church I have ever seen, and a crazy street performer knight, who knighted Peter for his charitable donation. We spent some time at Wawel castle, which is amazing, but unfortunately we got there too late to see the armory and crown jewels. That night, we went to the bar in the basement of our hostel, played some card games, and the nice thign about travelling with 5 girls (maybe the only benefit...) is that the bartender/owner decided we needed lots of free champagne and vodka.

Saturday we went to Auschwitz concentration camp. It was very sad to visit a site of mass murder, but I was overall disappointed at how the place is run. It felt no different to me than visiting holocaust museums in America, which is not too good, because this was at the site. I got a much better visit, in my opinion, by wandering around the empty buildings and sites with a guide book than by looking at the exhibits.

Saturday night was much more fun, we went to this awesome Polish restaurant. People were singing and dancing, there was some guys playing accordian and violin, and cute Polish girls dressed traditionally that I really wanted to bring home as souviners. I tried some blood sausage, which suprisingly isn't too bad. Then my Officer's Platter came, which is a pile of meat. Everythign on that was delicious, except for one thing. It looked like a piece of steak, so I popped it into my mouth, and it turned out to have the most horrible texture ever. Think of the stringyness of meat with the consistancy of cheese. Turns out it was pig's stomach. I'll be sure to never order stomach again. The good point is, no one is ever going to grab a bite of anthing off my plate again :) Oh, I found I like pirogies too, as long as they are meat filled.

Sunday morning was the only downside of the trip. We were headed to the train station at 5:30am, so no one wanted to walk. We took a tram, but couldn't figure out how to buy tickets, so we just got on. Unfortunately, in Krakow, ticket inspectors check tickets at 5:30am, and we all got hit with fines. I'm willing to put that behind me, though, and say Poland is an awesome country that you should visit should you get the chance.

Now, I'm off to plan spring break.

Wawel Castle, Erin and Jordan jumping with a cute little girl from Texas (jumping pics were the theme of the trip...), Auschwitz, my new favorite restaurant (complete with plates of meat, singing, a guy playing violin and accordian, and some Polish girls I wanted to take home as souviners), and a cool gothic cellar that is now a bar.