A new home

Todd and I got married almost six months ago,but since we were living between his apartment run by his landlord and mine (run by mom), we literally felt all along like we were still dating. No responsibilities and all play. We would spend weekends traveling in the region, hiking some peak, swimming in a lake or a pool, or just hanging out. All this made our move to US seem more difficult. All of a sudden we had our own apartment that we needed to run. We faced and still are facing so much
work that we often reminiscence about our leisure days in Prishtina.

We arrived in US in the beginning of September. The first two days we stayed with Todd’s friend, and meantime were working in preparing the condo for our move. Unpacking, dealing with movers, moving furniture around and disagreeing where it looks better. Needless to say, turning a bachelor’s corner into a family home was not without any challenges.

We moved in. And as we were settling in, all appliances in the apartment started breaking down, apart from one, the one we ironically talked about replacing a long time ago. Be it dish washer, heater, frig, computer, water heater, etc. So my days were spent in waiting for different workmen. When I was not waiting for workmen, I was waiting for movers. Our shipment easily arranged in Prishtina, became a nightmare in DC. Our shipment was divided into three parts, instead of one, and on top of it our belongings were damaged badly. They would say they are arriving in the morning and will be there the next day. And the best of it, was when the second shipment arrived, the truck driver unloaded heavy boxes in front of the building and asked me to carry them inside. I think I was almost ready to start kicking him. Anyway now we are settled in and are enjoying our new home.

During these times also we have been so thrilled to receive so many beautiful gifts from our friends, family friends that have been so generous in helping us make a new home. BTW we do not have space any more to fit in even a needle, but we are managing some how. We are looking forward to a weekend when we spent the whole day playing, instead of dealing with errands every night.

Shtepija e re

Todi dhe une jemi martu para gjashte muash, por si duket, pasi qe jetonim duke levizur ne mes te baneses se tij ( per te cilen perkujdesej I zoti I shtepise) dhe baneses sime (per te cilen perkujdesej nena ime), per kohen kur ishim ne Kosove ne ndiheshim thuse ende ishim duke kaluar. Nuk kishim shume pergjegjesi dhe mjafte kohe me shetit. Vikendet I kalonim ne vende te ndryshme te regjionit, duke u ngjitur ne maje te ndonje mali, apo duke u lare ne pishina, liqene. E gjithe kjo e beri levizjen tone ne Amerike me te veshtire. Tash e kemi banesen tone per te cilin duhej perkujdesur vete. Prej se kemi ardhe jemi ballafaquar dhe ende ballafaqohemi me veshtiresi, keshtuqe me endje I kujtojme ditet tona me pak pergjegjesi ne Prishtine.

Ne Amerike arritem ne fillim te shtatorit. Dy ditet e para ishim te vendosur tek shtepia e nje shokut te Toddit, dhe ne nderkohe pastronim dhe pregaditnim banesen per te levizur. E gjithe koha na shkoi duke u marre me kompanite e transportit, duke I levizur gjanat prej ne vendi ne tjetrin dhe debatuar e mospajtuar se ku rrinin me mire. Mos me zgjate shume, do te them qe nuk eshte e lehte te shendrossh banesen e nje beqari ne banese familjare.

Mirepo,perkunder te gjitha sfidave hyme ne bamese. Dhe dersia ishim duke u vendosur, te gjitha pajisjet e mundshme filluan te prishen, perveq makines per larje per te cilen kishim folur ma heret se do te blenim te re. U prish, makina e eneve, ngrohesi I ujit, nxemja, frigoriferi, kopmjuteri. Te gjitha nje nga nje. Keshtuqe une ne rolin tim te ri, si shtepiake, gjithe diten e kaloja duke I pritur mjeshtrit te cilet thonin se do te vinin ne ora 10 te mengjesit e vinin ne ora 7 te mbremjes. Kur nuk isha duke i pritur punetoret, prisnja Movers qe na I bartnin gjerat tona nga Kosova. Te gjitha gjerat qe shume lehte I paketuam ne Prishtine, per ti derguar me aeroplan, arriten ne Washington me shume telashe, dhe ate ne tri kiste. Dhe pervoja me e mire ishte kur shoferi I kamionit I cili e solli kistin e trete te gjerave, filloi ti shkarkonte pakot afro 50 kilogramshe ne trotoar dhe me tha barti ti tani nalte. Per pak kam fillu me shqelmu por vetem fillova me bertite. Port ash perfundimisht jemi vendose dhe jemi duke e shijuar shtepine tone te re.

Gjate kesaj kohe gjithashtu jemi kenqaur duke pranuar dhurata te shumta nga familja e miqte tane te cilet ishin shume te mire me ne.

Por me nuk kemi vend per asnje gjilpere, po kemi vend per musafire. Te gjitha skutat e baneses jane plote e perplot me gjerat tona. Dhe me padurim jemi duket pritur vikendet te cilat nuk do ti kalojme ne cpaketime, dyqane e blerje, por duke I vazhduar aventurat tona.

YES WE CAN

Tonight I felt like I was 14, 16 or 18, cheering, screaming or defying discrimination in the streets of Prishtina. Tonight democracy won! And the big question (the President Elect asked) if there was anyone out there still doubting whether America is a land of opportunities, was answered! From the early morning, you could see people on the polling stations waiting in long lines to vote. In the coffee shops and stores, people were wearing I VOTED stickers. The excitement, anxiety, euphoria could be felt in the air. Todd had a yoga class after work, and as soon as we had dinner we hit the town to be with the crowds when the election results were announced. We went to a bar recommended by a friend of Todd. Unfortunately, I was a bit distracted and I forgot my ID home. For those on the other side of the planet, you can not go in a bar or club unless you have any identification card with your birth date on it. Funny enough, it should feel like a compliment, but unfortunately it is just a rule. Anyway, I asked Todd to let me in first as I will try and get in myself without an ID. And so I did. The bouncer let me, after a cute smile and I have a friend inside waiting for me, type of an excuse. We went in just as the groups were cheering. Obama has just won another state.

The bar was full with people, hard to move around, a very diverse group of people, young and old, black, white, yellow, man and women. The level of energy was so high, that you could almost touch it. We quickly sank into the energy of the group and starting cheering every time Obama would win a state, and booing every time when McCain would win. We kept drinking, dancing and talking to people in the meantime. Until in the end as the last polling stations on the west coast were closing, CNN announced that Obama was the new president elect. People were crying, cheering, dancing, screaming and yelling. It was so wonderful to be part of that. An African American woman standing close to me asked us to have a picture together and in mean time she told me: Now I believe that we are an equal part of America, and that democracy won. And she started yelling; Yes We Can. We heard first the McCain speech and then waited for a while until Obama gave his speech.

It was a marvelous, inspiring speech, his words were so powerful. Why Kosovo can not have a leader like that, I keep asking myself. Whoever writes his speeches, or if he does write them himself, when he speaks, you feel like he is speaking from his heart and you do believe him.

After the speech we went out in drenching rain, which funny enough stopped after a minute or two. There were already crowds on the street; there was a band in the corner of U Street. People were celebrating, singing and dancing. It was fabulous. Seriously I felt like being home and fighting for democracy and freedom. We spent an hour just joining the groups of people on the streets. It seemed that people were still in awe of what has happened.

For the first time America has elected its first African American president, if this is not history I do not know what is. And I felt that this is a new America being born. This is a new era for a great country.