Happy Valentine's Day

After a successful Christmas Concert, I was asked to MC the Valentine's Day Concert titled "This One's For You".  The SRC (Staff Recreation Committee) agreed to follow the concert with a Valentine's Bash.  We filled the cinema hall and had a wonderful time :)  There was no charity drive this time, it was for the pure musical enjoyment of the staff.

The weather is still rather gray and dreary.  Of course, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow so we can expect six  more weeks of winter :-P  Didem screened "Groundhog Day" for the movie committee as it is ever the classic Groundhog Day movie :)  On the 13th of this month, the temperature dropped down to -15�C (or 5�F)!  Brrr!!! I finally kicked Smokey out of the bedroom for excessive shedding and muddy paws.  Whenever he had the muddiest paws in all Kosovo, he would run straight to the bedroom and jump on the bed.  Luckily, this winter I was a bit wiser and purchased a duvet cover since the comforter never fit in the washing machine.

Thinking of the washing machine, I was slightly surprised to discover that European washer and dryers are smaller than our "economy-sized" washers in the US when I arrived in Kosovo.  I can usually wash two pairs of jeans and a couple of shirts but that is all.  Then, if I am lucky, there will be enough power to run the dryer but usually not.  I often end up spinning the excess water out of my clothes by removing half the laundry and running the spin cycle again...and then remove a pair of jeans or sweater from the laundry for a hang-dry.

Brr!!!

I wrote to my mom last week to tell her how the weather was wonderful and the temperatures was up to 55�F but this week, I take it ALL back!  Brr!  It is freezing cold now!  The temperature took a sudden dive from pre-spring into the bitterness of a Kosovo winter.  Two days of 20mph wind with temperatures in the teens!  Today it is clear and 14�F, which is still bitterly cold!  I am fortunate to have those two wood-burning stoves in my flat to heat the house up when I get home from work.  I usually spend 15 minutes in the morning hauling firewood upstairs before taking a shower.  It's a good work-out for me!  Plus, you really can't beat the crackle of a wood fire while you sit on the couch and drink hot chocolate :)

Happy New Year

I have been in Kosovo for the past two and half (2.5) years now.  While many people complain about how horrible it is, I can see that a lot has changed for the better since August 2000 when I first visited.  I remember the days when you didn't know if you could cook dinner because the power might go out, mornings where you took a cold shower out of a bottle, piles of burning rubbish on the streets, packs of wild dogs roaming the streets, and worse to all...bad pizza was all you could find to eat (ketchup as tomato sauce, bologna as meat!)

The power still occasionally goes out but life goes on.  At least it is regulated now (5 on: 1 off,, 4 on: 2 off during peak hours.)   Winter is a little worse than the rest of the year because power consumption goes up due to heating...the worst I can remember the winter of 2002/3 when it was one on/five off for a week or two (usually it is four on/two off.) The winter of 2003/4 was not that bad. Yes, the temperatures dipped down into the low teens but the power was only regulated to four on/two off during the worst days (maybe three hours off every once in awhile.)

There is still an estimated 50,000 stray dogs in Kosovo but there is a Humane Society trying to help take care of the problem.  I have taken two litters of puppies born in the UN compound to their facility in the hopes that they'll go to good homes.  Plus I did take that one special (sometimes I think he's "little yellow bus special" but I still love him) puppy home :)

There are some problems with crime.  Last month just after I left, we had reports that unknown persons booby-trapped two UN Police vehicles with hand grenades.  Luckily, no was was injured because the officers were aware of their surroundings enough to find them.  Additionally, there has been a group of men attacking women and stealing their handbags.  Two ladies from my office have been mugged but fortunately, the assailants did not manage to steal their bags.  Petty and organized crime are two problems that Kosovo still faces and the UN along with local authorities will need to work on resolving.

Overall, I have learned quite a bit about myself in the time I have been in Kosovo.  I think that when you come to a mission, you discover new things about yourself that you might not have in a comfortable environment.  I made great friends from all around the world and learned much about the world around us for a unique perspective that I might not have gotten elsewhere.

Happy Holidays

Well, it is off to Las Vegas for the holidays.  I'm wheels up from Skopje, Macedonia at 7am.  Flying from Skopje is always a treat because the airport is such a mess and the people are truly amazing.  There seems to be little concept of order when standing in line...it's kind of a push to the front and whoever reaches the counter first, wins!!!  I'm traveling light this year so I can bring back lots of supplies with me (cake mix, spices, long johns!)  I am looking forward to going home to see my family and friends.  It has been an entire year since I've been in the US and I miss the simple things like window-shopping at the mall or meeting friends for dinner at Tony Roma's (yes, that would be Neil & Angela!)  Thinking of food I miss, I'm craving a Taco Bell's 7-layer burrito, Papa John's Pizza with dipping sauce, and steak with lobster! You think you have a problem with weight during the holidays?!?  
The snow was a little late this year.  It just snowed this week and not that much...thankfully because most of the UN-staffers are going home to their families this weekend and it would be a disaster if the airport closed!  But I enjoyed it!  It was a surprise to take Smokey outside and find snow on the ground.  And there is something incredibly peaceful about the silence there is when it is snowing.  It feels like you are the only person in the world...that is until Smokey pulls me along and I remember he is there :)  He seems to enjoy the snow as well...sniffing around and trying to catch snowballs!

Happy Thanksgiving

I managed to score a Thanksgiving Turkey this year!  Unfortunately, Thanksgiving is a US holiday, so I had to work on Thursday.  But I didn't let that stop me.  I gathered a small group of friends at my flat on Saturday evening and we had an evening of laughter and fun.  The power was fortunately on all the way through the cooking of the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and spiced wine.  Then when it came time to carve the turkey and put the cheesecake in the oven, zap!  The power goes off!  It was an interested experience trying to carve the turkey using a head-lamp (flashlight that you wear on your head - think miner) and not only that, but I didn't have a carving set, so I had to use a regular fork and the biggest knife I had in my set!  Of course, the cheesecake didn't cook properly so it ended up being more of a cheese-glop that anything!  But it tasted great :)
Earlier this month, Didem and I went to the second finger of Halkadiki (Sithonia), Greece (AGAIN!)  We stopped by Ikea in Thessaloniki and had a blast shopping.  The normal busy summer life of Halkadiki was non-existent in November.  The few stores that were open in October during our last trip were now closed.  The whole place was basically shut-down with few places to eat or shop.  I think in the future during the off-season, I'll head to Thessaloniki for some fun.

Watching Istanbul

What a crazy world we live in now-a-days. I've spent the morning in a cafe watching the news with Didem, my Turkish "sister", as she frantically tried to get in touch with her friends and family.

One friend that works in security thinks that Kosovo will be hit in the near future. I asked why because there really is nothing of interest here...but the reply was a simple, it is a soft target. It's somewhat frightening to imagine that there is someone out there filled with enough hate that they want to kill you just because of what passport you carry.

The Iraq War has created some divisions in our office. Last summer, we were a tight knit group but this year, it is split into sub-groups. One colleague declared that he did not want to hang out with me because I was supporting the war. He never actually tried to ask me what my viewpoint was but only saw that in the first days, I wore an American flag scarf in support of the troops (of course, I did support the war because I thought Saddam needed to be taken out of power, WMD or not.) But it was interesting to see how people judge you on the foreign or domestic policies of your country rather than your individual opinions!

I asked Didem, my Turkish girlfriend, why Al-Quida would strike Turkey and she told me that it most likely was because they were a Muslim country but not all followed the ideals of strict Islam. Then we thought about Saudi Arabia. Now there is a fairly strict Islamic state but struck by Al-Quida...because the royal family has too many ties to the Western world. I think that there must be no country in the world, except maybe former Afghanistan, that can satisfy the wants of Al-Quida.

Have you heard the song by the Black Eyed Peas called "Where is the Love"? There is part of the song that talks about the media and negative images are the main criteria. But sometimes I wonder if maybe there is more bad to report than good. Everywhere you look, it seems that there is death, destruction, and mayhem. I think I can relate to Didem's anguish after watching the events of Sept 11 unfold from my hotel room in Germany in 2001.  I think of this attack as a Turkish Sept 11th....

CITS Road Rally III

After coming in 1st Place at the last two Road Rallies, it was time to help out planning one.  CITS Chief Jim Martin was leaving the mission in a few weeks so we held a Road Rally mid-September.  With two other IT colleagues, we planned a route through Kosovo taking participants from Pristina to Batlava Lake to Ferizaj in an all-day event.  Things went without a hitch except for one vehicle that ignored our 4X4 advice and got stuck in the mud (the driver decided to plow down the middle of the mud rather than going through the shallow right side as we suggested...and also ignored the advice to let the best 4X4 driver take the wheel at that point!)  
The next Road Rally is probably going to be held in the springtime (May 2004.)  Already during this rally, one of the colleagues asked if I would like to help plan the next route...and someone needs to watch him or else it will turn into a 4X4 motocross event!!!