Transition and Transformation from Kosovo to the US

How to even begin to capture the stories and photos for our lives over the past 8 months since our last entry? So sorry we have been out of touch but as you will now read, it feels like we have lived a lifetime in this period of massive transition, challenges, celebrations and heartache. 

 

So best to start just where we left off, the beautiful birthday celebration that ironically almost was her last as we all were infected by Covid which ravished Pranvera and occupied the better part of 3 months in recovery and rebuilding. But during this time we were even more thankful to add lasting memories from Rea's 7th birthday party (missed the previous year due to Covid), numerous remote and in-person Cub Scout outings including the famous derby car races and our annual camping trip to Lake Shkoder in Albania, a final Balkan vacation to Budva and countless other day-in-the-life routine events that took on a new meaning as many of them were the last as we prepared for our final departure from Kosovo. 

 

In case we forgot to update many of you, I accepted a new full-time position with Land O'Lake's (the American butter company) NGO called Venture37 which required me to be located somewhere in the US to work remotely (go figure) with my team stateside and in Africa. Having spent a wonderful 6+ years raising our kids (and me consulting) in Pristina, it was time for us to be closer to my home and to get the kids back on track with their education, even though we thought QSI was doing a great job. 

 

So came June 26th and after having said our goodbyes, we embarked on our first flight in almost 2 years to re-assimilate to a very different US after having been overseas for almost a decade. As if this type of transition is not difficult under the best of circumstance, add a pandemic on top of that. The absolute worse time in our history we could have attempted such a move with supply chains completely broken from car rentals, to used car purchases, to empty shelves to closed shops to relatively empty streets to skyrocketing housing prices with almost 0 availability. Despite facing this new and unique challenges around every turn, we were finally close to so many great friends and family (many of you) that it has made it all worth it.

 

You can see many of these great memories captured below from  my dad and sister joining us for 'Camp DC Summer' adventures (along with cousin Rand based in DC) to weekend visits out at our dear friends The Kaisers and all the little great outings DC area has to offer including the Baltimore aquarium, President Washington's Mt. Vernon, almost daily swimming sessions at our neighborhood indoor pool, wandering around DC and enjoying some of our old favorite eateries (that were still in business) and neighborhoods close to where we used to live.

During this time, we based ourselves in a crappy but affordable AirBnB in an easily accessible neighborhood in DC so I could take the metro into work for the 2 months we needed to desperately search for a home to buy racing against the clock on having the kids registered in a good public school district before end of August. It was hell with the ever increasing prices from decreasing inventory for places that would have been such a compromise on our first 'dream' home. But as we somehow seem to do, we finally found the perfect place in the perfect neighborhood (still further outside the city than we wanted) during the perfect weekend (of most home buyers taking a break to travel out of town) and negotiated painfully to become home owners instead of having to rented a crappy house to wait out the insanity to only move at a later date praying we could keep the kids in the same school.

 

So our new lives have started with the joy and fear of so many firsts!!  Our first time seeing storage for over 10 years that offered us some sense of familiarity and permanence as it was all we had to sprinkle throughout our new home as our shipment was delayed by 6 weeks leaving us without beds, clothes, furniture etc. But sleeping on the floor and borrowing friends' air mattresses, kitchen items, tools we adapted and managed as we had to. First house warming toasts on the only furniture we had with dear DC friend Jennifer Lewis and Kosovo mate John Reid (in town for a business trip). First day waiting for the famous yellow American school bus as Adi entered 6th grade at a Middle School with over 400 kids in his class. Fortunately he is the last and first stop finally making up for being the first and last in Kosovo (50 minutes each way). First time walking Rea to her 2nd grade Elementary school 5 minutes away across the neighborhood playground and park we have been spending countless hours at. First time finally shopping for new household items ever (since our marriage we lived in either my furnished condo in DC or overseas rentals) despite most items either not being available or waiting up to 4 months for delivery. First time walking around meeting our new neighbors and visiting the local parks, trails, high school football games, grocery stores, and homemade ice cream shop. First Halloween for either of our kids in the US with our neighborhood being know for going WAY over the top with every house fully decorated at least a month before dishing out countless pounds of candy to the costumed ghouls and goblins. First new Boy Scout and Girl scout activities getting to know the local nature and community service. First trip down to Virginia Beach (and the naval base) staying with dear college friends, the McKenchnie's. We still feel like much of this is a dream and someone else's life but having just celebrated our 5 month anniversary of entering into US, we feel blessed that we have miraculously fit right into the typical, suburban American dream, at least on the outside. 

 

The kids have really missed their home, friends and family. Pristina is all they know and remember. Pranvera has had to leave her family and aging parents along with childhood friends. The US we have returned is very different. The obvious being the affects from Covid but almost equally on the surface is the polarity and tensions between different parts of the Washington, Maryland, Virginia areas and the daily barrage of news. Meeting so many new people and starting what we hope to be new friendships has a different dance now that we are not part of a very like minded expat community. That said, our new hood is full of international families and many seem to have a similar world view as we do. We know the adjustments will continue to take time and we hope things continue to get a bit easier for us all as time passes. My work continues to be interesting and challenging as I no longer have to commute but work from our converted garage. And Pranvera has secured a full-time consultancy with a leading international development company, DAI, located 10 minutes away for when she may ever have to 'go into the office'.

But the culmination of our crazy lives and recent adventures couldn't have been captured any better than our hosting Thanksgiving with dear friends from our Kosovo days, the Sparkmans, in our new fully furnished house with my excellent chef cousin Rand providing the perfect bird, and the first case from our wine club arriving in time to spend the evening full of great drink, food, games, bonfire, smores, and most importantly, love and laughs!!