Kosovo Diaspora

Ok, for the record is it Di as pora or Deeas pora?? Never figured that out. Anyway, I would say Kosovo has plenty of both of them. I have never lived someplace where the people that don't even live here get so much attention and alter so much of the normal summer activities that you really start to resent them. First off, there must be close to 1MM Kosovars who left during the war and are spread all around the planet, but mostly in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and to a lesser degree Austria and the US. So apparently they all return to Kosovo during the summer to do the following:
* Get married
* Show off their 'wealth' in the form of expensive sports cars they bring back
*Drive worse than most the locals with no respect what so ever for laws, people or common courtesy
* Pack themselves into 2 or 3 of the most popular bars/clubs often causing others to close down (at least for the summer)
*Pack every single flight to and from Pristina causing rates to go up and filling up reservations till end of the summer
*Of course see family and friends

So allow me to elaborate.

Weddings
Apparently every single restaurant and wedding hall designed for hosting these is booked every single day and night for 3 months to accommodate all the traditional weddings. Each one of these involves a convoy of cars honking non-stop as they bring the bride to the Hall and blast loud traditional music out of their cars (or have a band playing in a pick-up truck). Of course they drive very slowly and clog up most the 2 lane highways and gridlock Pristina during the weekends. We passed by 29 of such convoys in the two hour drive from the border to Pristina. And for the grand finale, they will shoot guns off (some automatic). Knowing what goes up must come down, I usually run for cover if I'm caught outside and hear such celebrations.

Cars
There must be double the number of cars on the road now verses any other time of the year. These are easy to spot from their European plates and the fact that 95% of them are very nice BMW's, Mercedes or other expensive cars. Since it is almost expected that all the Diaspora are making a lot of money overseas and living the good life (sending some of their money back to Kosovo), they must show it off, even if they have to rent these cars to drive them back here for the summer. It is ALL about show!!! The best is seeing some huge SUV's that have been shipped all the way from the US for the family to drive during their visit back to Kosovo. And of course none of the laws in Kosovo apply to them so you better just get out of their way since they get priority.

Clubs
I think there is something about this show and tell culture where people will not go to a bar, cafe or club if others are not there. So this means that this entire city's youth would prefer to cram themselves wall to wall into 2 or 3 bars and leave many of the bars that were 'in' just weeks earlier empty, often causing them to close shop pretty quickly. I have seen places go from 0 to 180 to 0 in 8 weeks. And others have been opened up just for the summer to cater to the Diaspora (with higher prices and cover charge) and are expected to close as the summer comes to an end. Fortunately, many of these are open air so the smoking isn't as bad. But then again, I'm avoiding them all together so no matter.

Flights
The only personal experience I have with this over the summer was my 1 day trip to Vienna for my doctor's visit (flying business class). But the situation continues to hold true for any flight in and out of Pristina, except now the arriving ones are more empty with the departing ones full of the entire families returning to their host countries. Everything about the experience is chaos. Kids are EVERYWHERE. Most out of control, getting sick, running, playing. Then many of the passengers know each other so they are visiting non-stop and usually ignoring the English or German cabin crew as they instruct the plane to remain seated etc. You can even see it on the flight attendant and ground crew faces that they can't wait for their shift to end and to rotate onto some other flight segment. I was thinking of going to London for a long weekend (normally under 300 euro). IF there were any seats at all during the summer, the price was 750 euros. For the summer holiday that I will be taking next week, I will be traveling down to the Skopje airport for a quick, cheap direct flight to Croatia to meet my sister for a week. Peace of cake except for the fact I have to figure out how to do the 2 hour drive to and from Macedonia.

I'll be happy (as will many of the locals) when summer clears em all out...

Lake Ohrid Macedonia in Full Swing

When cities in the Balkans say they are in season, a better description would be 'We're Full'. Period! Very few places to stay, restaurants with extra long waits for food (or seating), wall to wall people strolling water-side/central, no privacy or space on the beaches, kids everywhere and club music thumping until (only 2am in Ohrid). Despite these 'givens' for any of the locals out here, my friend Pranvera and I decided to enjoy a weekend away in the beautiful lake-side town of Ohrid, a 4-5 hour drive from Pristina. I splurged and rented a nice Passat with excellent CD and some extra pick-up to help me pass all the trucks on the single-lane in Kosovo and enjoy the high speeds of the expressway in Macedonia. The drive would have easily been closer to the 4 hour mark if it wasn't for the fact that we chose the 'less traveled' route via the mountains to cross over into Macedonia and had to wait a good hour at the border so the lazy guards could process all 7 cars. Unbelievable how needlessly slow that process was but we were enjoying each others company and bitching about the nice cars that were able to bypass us, cut in line, pay a bribe and be on their way.

We arrived just in time to enjoy a night out on the town. Our splurge for a closet-like room along the waterfront just outside of town was acceptable except of the fact that our greeting fruit basket was covered in mold leaving less than pleasant smell in the room. Fortunately, it got us upgraded to a room with about 2 more square feet which we enjoyed. Trying to maintain our momentum we wandered up through the crowds of people in between all the kiddie rides, BBQ stalls, bad Serbian turbo folk music and some of the best display of Balkan fashion I have ever see (refer to 'On the Catwalk Baby' blog). PranV wanted to take me to a nice seafood place she knew of which happened to have been one of two places I had previously eaten ate during one of my lunchtime visits to the town. Unfortunately I can't say the food was a good as last time. My Ohrid trout must have been cooking for hours since it was as dry as the bed of rice it was on. Fortunately the staff was very accommodating and found a new fish willing to sacrifice his life to please just another tourist.

The great thing about Ohrid is it is one walking street after another with nothing but cafes, clubs and restaurants (many on the water). So we just went about to cruise the strip eventually fighting our way into a very crowed dancing bar where we made our way to the bar for a drink and carved out 1 square foot out on the dance floor to move and groove. Of course stopping every couple of minutes to stare and comment on the girls' outfits (not leaving much to the imagination). And slightly to our disappointment everything shuts off and closes at 2pm emptying everyone in the narrow streets at the same time (essentially a drunken summer parade full of mostly underage partiers. Our stroll down the waterfront was the perfect romantic nightcap before arriving at our hotel to crash, in eager anticipation of enjoying what my boss claims to the be the best breakfast in the Balkans (he has been out here 7 years).

I should have know better than to raise my expectations to European/American standards. Yes the breakfast buffet was nice but offered mostly overheated and dry eggs, bacon, sausage and then the standard Balkan mixed cheese, veggie and meat platters. I will say it had the best damn cream puff I have ever had and the fruit was much better than what had been left in our rooms. Fortunately the weather was perfect and even though PranV had already gone for a long run/walk while I slept in, we returned to the pebble beach she had scouted out to lay in the sun, swim in the nice cool lake and do some reading. All great fun even even though families continued to prop up their umbrella's all around us and have their naked kids running back and forth with their lethargic mothers yelling at them to stop whatever things they were doing. Ahhh, family vacations.

After recharging our batteries with a quick shower we hit the town for a half kilo beef lunch with beer and the infamous shopka salade. Enough fuel to get me up the hill to explore the Ohrid fortress and it's spectacular views of the surrounding areas, waterfront activities and Albania in the backdrop. After playing around a bit we wandered down past the monetary to St. Sophia right on the water. Most picture perfect church I have ever seen. I had actually visited these places earlier (as had she) so we again just enjoyed each others company, the beautiful setting and nice walking exercise (obviously easy enough on the arm). I guess we showed our age(ing) at this point since the only thing we both agreed to do next was nap. Of course in anticipation of another large night on the town. Not quite needing sleep I watched back to back episodes of one of my favorite sitcoms, 'Fraiser'. Always a good laugh.

And before we knew it we were back on the catwalk, packed beyond belief. The weather had already begun to take a dive with more wind and cooler temperatures which were invigorating (after having had so many weeks of almost 100F). Problem now was where to go. Too many places to choose from and most appeared full. Street after street we checked out shops, artist galleries and a couple potential dining areas before we entered a very family oriented pizza joint to wait extremely long for a tiny pizza and the wrong order on our entree. At least we were all about the company rather than the cuisine. Enough to fill the appetite and allow us to return to one of the hip cafes for after dinner drinks and people watching, Balkan style. I had earlier high hopes to drive to an all night beach rave I had been told about and then as the time approached I wondered who I was really kidding. We faded away quickly to be ready for another large breakfast and a visit to the soring of the entire lake and an extremely peaceful monastery right on the Albanian border.

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Could have been the perfect Sunday outing with the cloudy, rainy and windy skies if it weren't for the fact that it was Sunday and EVERYONE else was doing exactly as we were. Plus I hadn't packed any cold weather clothes so we only spent 1 hour wandering the grounds, churches, beach and hotel before heading back to the car for another 5 hour return drive. Uneventful except for the fact that as soon as we crossed the Kosovo border, we must have passed or been caught behind no less that 2 dozen wedding convoys complete with the Albanian flag waving from the front car, everyone honking non-stop, a towel tied to the side mirror of each following car and the one carrying the bride always wrapped in some of the kitchiest ribbons, bows and streamers usually with a huge bouquet blocking the drivers view while sitting on the hood. A nice welcome back 'home'.

Paying Tribute to the Mountain of the Gods

Mt. Olympus Greece 9,570ft.

I can now claim to have climbed to the highest point in Greece this past weekend to pay my respect to Zeus, Hera and the rest of the gang. Our team, on the other hand, consisted of 12 internationals all working in Kosovo from eight different countries with me being (comfortably) the only American. We were switching from French to English to Spanish so often I couldn't tell which was which. Very nice.

So the adventure began as soon as we could all bolt from our respective acronym employers including UN, EU, USAID, UNDP, and UNMIK for the five hour drive through three countries to arrive at our perfect seaside youth hostel where the boys and the girls all crammed into the bunk halls for a VERY short sleep. The drive was relatively uneventful except for observing the acres of burned forest everywhere due to the unusually hot summer we have had. Oh, and Michael's rock star performance of holding back his (car) sickness till we crossed the Greek border and he could deposit his lunch on EU soil. Poor guy but at least he had a packet of sanitary wipes to clean himself (VERY inside joke).

Our two other carloads had already arrived at the hostel and most the crew was swimming in the warm sea. But soon enough we were all re-united for a birthday toast at the outside lawn Tikee Bar followed by a very late family style Greek dinner, great conversation and an 'early' bedtime for some of us around 2am. Mind you the birthday boy and company were obligated to extend well into the evening but still obligated to wake up with the rest of us at 6am to begin the full day of hiking. Slowly we made our way to the mountain base where we loaded up for the first 2 hours ascent through the lower, shaded pine forest to arrive at our breakfast spot of Refuge A. So nice to be in the company of such a range of nice people, smelling the fresh air and exercising. Other than the fact that the pack put pressure on my shoulder (and I had just gotten another steroid shot for the pain) I was able to redirect my awareness to all the other aches that arose over the next 2 days of hiking up to almost 6,000 feet.

This reminded me of many of the well maintained hikes in any of the famous National Parks in the US where you have a very clear (and challenging) path, opportunity to stop at amazing vistas, pause for a nice tea and fruit breakfast, and just continue on and up at your own pace. The scenery was magnificent as we climbed higher and higher changing to a barren hostile looking collection of rock beds chaotically tossed into the air thousands of years ago as volcanoes pushed their way up throughout the region. Words can't describe the openness and power of the earth (and Zeus). Truly remarkable.

Three more hours into it we were treading on an 'ant trail' as it wound its way from mountain to mountain getting ever so closer to the top and Refuge B where we would have a celebration drink and hearty Greek lunch to celebrate our climb. Absolutely astounded by the size and the location of these 'huts' that were perched in the basin area of the main cliff faced summit the is apparently a very popular place for rock climbers.

Our original strategy was to have a nice long lunch, take a rest and then head up the 'all four' rock scramble without our packs to the top. But it was immediately evident with the lack of sleep and the full day's adventure already, the majority heading down the hill to Refuge C (10 minutes) to deposit our packs, claim our bunk beds for the nights rest and then head outside the hut to find a chair or empty mattress to crash (hard). In the sunshine it was very warm. In the shade, cold and windy. But dressed accordingly, both were just perfect.

As dusk started to approach and I had awaken from my nap, it was time to wander about down the open fields to the cliffs edge to marvel at the beauty and sit for a brilliantly peaceful meditation. As I parked myself right at the precipice of one of the lower peaks, all i could hear was the wind coming up from the valley bellow, the bells from the donkeys in the valley above...and someone scrambling over the rocks right below where I sat?? MUCH to my surprise this absolutely remote location I had selected had a trail coming up the rock face from the valley below. Before I know what was happening a very weathered Greek man appeared with pack, cigarette and an equal look of surprise as he had to step around me sitting in my lotus position.

Back at the base camp with most my colleagues awake, we broke out the games, books, conversation and 4 bottles of champagne to again celebrate the birthday. Nice little added bonus (especially for those who would not have to carry them down). We socialized into the night all sporting our lightweight cold weather fashion gear since the temperature continued to drop I believe into the single digits. Dinner was ordered inside as we all sat around on huge table and had dish after dish prepared high altitude style as we all prepared to bunker down for the night. which meant about 20 people sleeping in 2 massive bunk beds. Each person directly next to the other, just able to pick the top or bottom, except me. Somehow I go the only single bed at the side of the room for an uninterrupted sleep (ok, I had ear plugs and eye mask). And to no surprise with that many (smelly) bodies, the cold air from the outside had not affect. Except when I HAD to use the bathroom outside at 4am. Burrrrrrr.

Fortunately I wasn't nearly as sore the second day as I have been this entire week (a result of the 2500 meter descent in only several hours). After a very simple bread and jam breakfast 9 of us were ready to rock and roll up the final rock summit. Three of us headed off a bit earlier only to begin climbing a much harder and incorrect peak. Fortunately the rest were close behind us and we corrected our mistake to scramble up in teams of 3 to the very top. Challenging but doable. Packs left on the trail we emerged at the very top one by one to be greated by all other types of hikes, including several kids that were just looking at us at we pulled ourselves over the last boulder. Apparently there was a much easier way up to the top which most of the crew opted for as a return route. Pictures taken, memories made, a ritual to the Gods, 4 of us headed back down the same route while the rest took and more secure route. Which left us each doubling up backpacks for about a mile traverse in order to allow the rest to avoid backtracking.

Done! Now we just headed all the way down. Knees were killing and by the time I rolled into the base parking lot (packed with all the Sunday picnicers) my legs couldn't stop shaking and I knew that despite all my yoga or other activities, I was going to feel this adventure. Fortunately we all were in pretty much the same shape so we got in the cars and heading back to our hostel 15 minutes down the road for a celebration swim in the very warm yet refreshing ocean. And then the most perfect seafood dinner on the beach before piling into the cars for a 5 hour drive back to 'reality'. Yet again, another testimony making me wonder how I could ever return to 'normal' life back in DC...