Saying Goodbye to Summer in Style

After having traveled for almost 6 weeks this summer for work, no wonder I was wondering how summer could almost be over. Fortunately we had a final week long get away planned in a small fishing village just north of Dubrovnik Croatia where we rented a waterfront house with close friends Fredrick and Oslem (and son Eric) of Pranvera's from law school (and later joined by Gabi). It was wonderful to have non-stop time with the kids having been away too long and we had an added bonus with my sister Stacey renting a room just next to us for 4 nights as she happened to be finishing up a 3 week holiday from Italy and a local Croatian cruise.

Most time was spent swimming off our dock or at the local pebble beaches, partaking in fresh seafood meals, long happy hour, early morning waterside runs and just time with friends and family. We went to a local village one evening for a family meal in a residents home where everything was made on their farm from the rakia to cheeses to olives to veil. A wonderful evening! And then we did the obligatory visit to the fortress city of Dubrovnik where we took a gondola ride to the above mountain and walked the upper walls looking out to the ocean and within the town.

Our final perfect weather day was spent on our own boat with 2 other couples cruising between 3 islands with fresh seafood and bottomless cups of wine flowing in-between.  On the drive back home ( 9 hours) we lunched in the spectacular city of Katar Montenegro to wander the small alleyways and admire the cliff-side fortress walls. As wonderful as the vacation was and time with friends, we also appreciated returning to our home in Pristina as we all buckle down for a fully engaged school, work, and Fall schedule.

Not all work...

I just returned from 3 weeks in Tanzania (Dar and Morogoro) working on a USAID water partnership project. Aside from missing the kids and great routine we have in Kosovo, it was a great hands on learning experience and a way for me to keep my field skills sharp. And as you can see, we found our moments of fun too.

Greek Vacation

We are blessed that with only a 5.5 hour drive we can arrive here... A local beach town for surf, sea, and sun. Intense heat each day with not many clouds in sight. Nice seafood restaurants in nearby local villages. Minimal waves to tip the kids and a huge water park (apparently the highlight of the 'beach' vacation) less than 20 minutes away. Rea has become fully comfortable on her own in the water including going down some slides by herself (first time was not intentional). My father has joined us for 3 weeks and became the star with with kids playing in the sand. As anyone with kids knows ironically the beach vacations are not as relaxing as one might think. For collecting all the gear to applying repetitive sunscreen to feeding to naps to playing, almost no time to make it through even a chapter in our books. And the evenings too worn out to make it just down the strip to the local evening outdoor bars. But overall we loved the time away as a family and hope this will recharge us till our next seaside trip early Sept where we will meet up with my sister, Stacey.

4th of July in Lake Ohrid, Macedonia


Happy Summer Everyone!! Sorry it has been so long since an update from the Kirkbrides. I guess pattern proves that we typically post only the exciting trips /events where we remember to bring along the camera instead of relying on our selfies (my ancient iPhone 3 doesn't actually take reverse photos--the horror). This said, life has been great and busy over the past 3-4 months where we have primarily been in Pristina Kosovo, with the occasional day outings.

Adi just graduated from Kindergarten with wonderful marks and a tendency to excel in reading and the sciences. He still loves ILG where I actively serve on the Board with a wonderful international community as well a fair amount of local families. He has been playing soccer weekly and loves after school cooking and Albanian class.

Rea is at a local daycare where she is known as the most independent and determined child but with the charm and smile to get whatever she wants. Unfortunately our 1 minute walk to her school will now involve daily drives as they relocate across town this summer. She is still not speaking complete sentences but solidly interchanging words between Albanian and English (most Albanian so I have to ask her brother to sometimes translate for me;-) She loves to come home daily and jump on our trampoline before going in to read or play with dolls. Our 'new' nanny helps out each afternoon as I am usually at  home still working outside on the deck when the kids arrive.

My consulting practice/lifestyle has been great. I juggle about 4-6 clients/projects but have managed to have about 3-4 hour average workdays from the comfort of my outside office looking into the green hills of Germia Park surrounding Pristina. I travel about every 2 months and spent 2.5 weeks in Kenya recently and am preparing for 3 weeks in Tanzania end of Aug. The long trips are hard but where I am able to really 'do' my work whereas my 'remote' work keeps me busy but not around the actual partnerships I build and support. I have complemented my job with guest teaching at several Universities, consulting with local NGO's/projects on development work in Kosovo, just got new studio space to teach yoga once/week and sit on the Board of the international school here. Any 'free' time involves the gym, shopping, yard maintenance, playing with the kids, preparing the dinners and most often bath nights.

Pranvera on the other hand has been rockin her new USAID Rule of Law project where she seems to spend more time as Acting Director than her Deputy title. Her new boss has been relocating to Kosovo for what seems forever and she has been managing the office along with having to accomplish huge deliverables for USAID under tough project micro-management conditions. Her days are long and tedious but she loves getting back into the technical law work she is so good at and feels that she is making a difference in a country that matters more to us (vs. Mozambique). She is able to connect with old friends regularly and we see the family weekly as they drop by or we walk to their house.

Another great thing about Pristina is its central location. It only took us 3.5 hours on good roads to take the long holiday weekend off in Macedonia to enjoy fresh fish, clean blue waters, pebble beaches, a nice hotel room and great long walks through the lakeside town of Ohrid visiting ancient churches, amphitheaters, castle and quaint cafes. The first 'break' for Pranvera in along time and we all enjoyed each others company and the sun! So nice when the kids get old enough to entertain themselves while we complete our sentences to each other or a drink for that matter. But only a couple days more till my father arrives and we take our official summer vacation in Greece for a week so another post will be arriving soon.