1700 CET: The security situation has returned to normal. KFOR EOD blew the trunk out of the vehicle and removed the suspicious bag. The vehicle was registered in Macedonia and it could have been that the driver did not realize that civilian vehicles are not allowed to park on Police Avenue (although there is a sign stating it near MHQ.) But then again, better safe than sorry! It is difficult to find the results of the happenings in Kosovo but if any of what I know is confirmed, I'll let you know!
1445 CET: There is a little bit of excitement in downtown Pristina right now. We first heard UN-Security tell us that we needed to move our vehicles off Police Avenue. Then we got a Security announcement that the front gate was closed. Finally, there was a message that Police Avenue was closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. All those messages came out in about 1/2 an hour. I was on my way to the bathroom when I saw the KFOR EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) vehicle drive past. As it turns out, there is a suspicious package in a civilian vehicle parked on Police Avenue.
1200 CET: Today is Teacher's Day in Kosovo. Schools are not closed but classes are shortened 15 minutes. It is tradition for the students to give their teachers flowers. I'm not sure if they do the whole apple thing as well. I guess I should investigate a little more :)
It is also the Night of Fire tonight. It is the end of three-days of celebration/memorial for Adam Dashuri, who is pictured a couple stories tall on the Pristina Sports Center. I personally think he looks a bit like Grizzly Adams myself. But the memorial is for what happened to Dashuri and his village. Dashuri was one of the founders of the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army or UCK in Albanian). Dashuri's men were snipering off Serbian police. The Serbian police went to his village near Skenderbeq and basically killed everyone there (men, women, elderly, and children). Tonight, the Albanian community remembers those that were killed, celebrate the KLA, and the fight against the Serbian para-militaries.
Oh, and by the way, it's still snowing :-D
