In Between the Rest

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Believe it or not living in Kosovo isn't all about the weekend get aways. Mostly, it is about living and working day to day in a regular routine like anywhere else in the world. But with the subtle differences of not having power at some point every day, constantly fighting a runny nose or cough due to various viruses or breathing the very polluted air, always having mud on your shoes and pants and not understanding most of what people are saying around you. On the flip-side, I am able to walk to and from work everyday in under 10 minutes, a majority of each work day begins at 8 and ends at 5 which usually includes some type of meeting, training, or field visit to a client outside of Pristina, I hit my local gym 2-3 times/week, teach yoga twice/week, and am usually able to arrange frequent, nice dinners out for under $12USD (even if our dollar is the weakest ever).

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Pranvera and I will see each other most everyday whether for a meal, a workout, a machiatto, a walk, or just hanging out watching our nightly 1 hour of 'Scrubs' on TV. I feel like I have gotten older quite quickly out here since aside from my scheduled activities, I don't find myself out drinking and partying like I used to. An obvious reason is the smoke literally kills me in almost any establishment but I think I have also become bored with going to the same places and seeing the same people time and time again. I often wish there were more live music halls or even dance places that start before 1am that would get me excited about having a night on the town. We have been known to do a karaoke night out here or there but often times will attend private 'going away parties' or group meals at the nicer bars/restaurants and then calling it an evening.

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Of course with the massive abundance of DVD shops selling black market copies for 1.5 euros of anything you can see in the theaters, movie night is a must every now and then. Whenever I can actually find my local movie man open, I am able to rent a relatively good quality version for a mere 50 cents. And then there is my recent attempt at learning Serbian. It lasted for about 3 weeks and then with getting sick, or traveling, or being tired, I realized I just don't have it in me to learn another language out here. In reality I will be leaving the Balkans come this summer to return to the US and for any regional travel I do between now and then I'll have Pranvera to be able to translate everything fluently. Plus, if I have any brain-power left to learn more, I have plenty of room for improvement with my Albanian. I still try to practice weekly with Pranvera's mom and nieces whenever I am over visiting. Slowly slowly.

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So then there is work. There was a point at the beginning of the year when several of my projects weren't going to happen and I was just dying trying to fill each day. In this line of work I really find I have very good days and bad. Some of them I doubt that I get this development thing or that anything I have done out here makes any difference or was any benefit to those I am trying to help. Other days I feel like I moved the mark a little. With only 4 months left with my work with my project, the schedule appears very very full. A summer marketing internship program I created for 10 students and 10 businesses will soon be realized so preparation on selecting the students, preparing their job descriptions with the companies and putting in place supervision of their jobs is slowly coming together. My team still has several big conferences and trade linkage events to produce while we continue to train companies and associations on how to do marketing.

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The most exciting thing I have created is a Packaging Design Competition that I designed as a way to provide assistance and training to local businesses and marketing agencies on improving the terrible packaging of local food and beverage products. The exciting thing about this is that it has never been done like this before and each target I created has been realized. It proves the power of belief in getting others on board to help you realize your dream. This activity will culminate in an 'Oscar' style award ceremony that will be broadcast live on TV, have one of the international judges I recruited flown in to deliver the top 3 awards and then have some of the labels actually produced on the packaging. Similar to the internship program this event has a local organization I partnered with that will take on responsibility after the completion of the pilot event and produce hopefully more successfully in years to come. En shalleh.

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Weekend days around town are very low key. They usually involve a trip to the local market for fresh fruit and vegetables and every other week when I can take a project vehicle I will drive out of Pristina to one of the large hypermarkets to stock up on all the other needed foodstuffs. Weather provided, Pranvera and I will do our token power hike out in Gremia which is the only green space park area right outside the center of town where we can get into nature, breath fresher air, see the kids, dogs and families playing and get mud on our boots (as it should be). This is where I have done most the mountain biking over my time out here but for the time being it is just too wet and muddy.

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I will try and spend some time at Pranvera's house and am usually lucky enough to grab at least one large late lunch with various members of the family. I really love her mom's home cooking and feel blessed to basically have a second family who has adapted me. I love playing with her nieces and nephew who remind me of the special time I miss with my cousin's kids back in Washington. They are one of the reasons I really look forward to moving back to DC after I complete my 'tour of duty' in Kosovo. But not before Pranvera and I take off for 1 month to enjoy Thailand over the summer. A well deserved break in warm clear air and water for us both. In the meantime we'll continue with our various weekend adventures including London with very close friends of us both to celebrate Pranvera's birthday. Now we are both the same age in mind, spirit and body (although all my friends still say she is the fun one:-)