Fresh Soup Anyone?

I have to share the story with you because it is so funny!!!
We have a semi-restaurant in the UN compound called the "Terrace Lounge" which serves sandwiches, pizza and pasta for lunch/dinner.  They started having daily specials and today, they had chicken soup.  Now, I've had the chicken soup there before when it wasn't on special, and it was Cup-o-Noodles style (out of a packet!)  So, just to make sure that the special was 'special', I asked if the soup was fresh.  The waiter said yes, it is fresh.  Then he thought for a minute and said that it was from the packet.  So, I said okay, it's not fresh.  His response was yes, it is fresh out of the packet.  Fresh Cup-o-Noodles!!!

It reminds me of a similar incident in one of my favorite restaurants in Pristina, Pinocchio.  On the menu, they listed fresh orange juice which happens to be one of my all-time favorite drinks.  I ordered a fresh orange juice and to my surprise (I really shouldn't have been surprised but you do hope!) the waiter came with bottled orange juice.  I looked at him and said, "no, I wanted fresh orange juice."  He told me "it was fresh when it was bottled"  *AGH!*

Rain, Rain, Rain :-P~

Agh!  I have CABIN FEVER!  It has rained for almost three weeks straight...okay, except for five minutes of sunshine here and there.  I am ready for sunshine like you wouldn't believe!!!  We are still on vehicle restrictions in Kosovo so even a day-trip down to Prizren for fresh fish is out of the question.  So, weekends are being spent inside drinking hot chocolate and surfing the internet.

On a good note, the rain is making everything incredibly green!!!  My rose bush and pansies are doing wonderful...but I never did get the vegetable garden planted because of the weather.  Maybe I will try to do it this weekend...or else it will be getting too late!!!  I bought seeds for lettuce, radishes, peas, and beans...all of which are difficult to find during the summer. 

I remember when I first arrived in August of 2000 for a visit.  The only vegetables that were available were tomatoes, peppers, onions, cabbage, and cucumbers.  Now we have two kinds of peppers *LOL*  No, just kidding.  Now it is possible to find almost everything...except that you usually only have a choice of one kind of thing.  What I mean is if you want lettuce, you can have butter leaf lettuce...if you want tomatoes, you can have regular big tomatoes (or if you are lucky, they might have some mushy cherry tomatoes).  The vegetables also usually sit outside the markets in the heat/sun all day so that by the time you go shopping in the afternoon, the lettuce is wilted, the carrots are soft, and the tomatoes are mushy :-(

Butt Whuppin'

Smokey escaped out of the yard last night and because the weather wasn't so good, I chose not to chase him around in the rain and mud.  Emin says that he saw him around 11pm when he opened his window for fresh air but thought that I was out walking him as I usually do at night before going to bed...so he didn't think twice until he saw him sleeping outside his window in the morning.  When I saw him, I hardly recognized him!  He was smelly (I mean SMELLY!), muddy, and beat-up.  His nicely groomed fur was muddy, matted, and more tuffs of winter fur were coming out *yuck*  When he came into the house, he went straight to his water bowl and noisily slurped up an entire bowl of water....then went into the living room and passed out on the floor (long night, I guess!!!)

I've had Smokey since he was one month old so he is more familiar with people than wild dogs.  The vet says that he probably thought he was king of the world until some street dog whupped his butt over a female dog in heat :-P~ 

Anyways, the poor guy is in kennel quarantine for the next 10 days due to a large bite on his back leg.  He also has something wrong with his left ear but no visible marks...we just know it is bothering him because he keeps tilting his head to the side and shaking his ears.

May Day

I saw something new this year for May Day.  The Albanians in Hajvali and near where I live in Gracanica celebrated the coming of spring/May Day.  They lit fires Friday night and were dancing, jumping, and celebrating around the fire.  It was an unusual thing for me to see but I guess that the origins are quite old...coming from the pagan worshippers in Turkey prior to the rule of the Ottomans.  In old times, it was the Shaman that danced and leapt through the fire while communicating with the spirits.  During the ceremony, he would make predictions of the future.  I also heard that it was a pagan ceremony to pray for fertility, both in crops and family.

One Month Later

It has been a little over a month now since the Kosovo riots.  The road in front of UN MHQ opened last week and things appear to have returned to normal...at least on the surface.  I like to think of Kosovo as a duck on the pond.  Everything looks calm on top but underneath, the feet are moving a mile a minute.  The checkpoint basically in my front yard remains and appears to be a semi-permanent fixture at the entrance to Gracanica.  I wouldn't be surprised if the checkpoint remains until the end of the summer.  The road closes from 8pm to 6am with razor-wire dragged across the road.
Tragically, three international police officers were shot and killed (11 others injured) in a shoot-out in the Mitrovica Detention Center, allegedly over a discussion about Iraq.  Two female American CivPols were killed and the Jordanian that was accused of starting the gun-fight...the 11 injured include one Austrian and the rest are Americans.

Toilet Paper Express :)

It isn't everyday that you see a police escort for toilet paper.  No, I'm not joking.  The road in front of  UN MHQ (Mission HQ) has been blocked to non-UN traffic since the 17th.  The contractor's van carrying toilet paper for HQ had a police escort this morning as I was coming to work.  It must have been VIP (very important paper!!!)  

I spent the weekend doing my spring cleaning and planting flowers on my balcony.  You wouldn't believe how dirty my walls get during the winter with those wood burning stoves.  Amazingly enough, the original color of my TV is black :-P~  My back is complaining this morning but the house is clean!!!

The weather is good with temperatures in the 50's.  I was able to open up the house and air-out after being shut up all winter.  I love the transition from winter to spring...taking a walk and breathing the fresh, brisk air...seeing the flowers coming up and the trees budding...planting a new garden...the newborn animals :)  I took a walk into Gracanica yesterday down to the monastery and took some pictures that I will upload when I get them off my camera :)

Cabin Fever Galore!

Things are quiet in Kosovo with continuing vehicle restrictions and checkpoints.  The Swedish soldiers continue to ask me if I am Albanian or Serbian.  The other night when they asked to see my ID, the Swedish soldier was very taken aback when I showed him my UN ID.  He said "Oh, you work for UNMIK!"  

Many of us are suffering from cabin fever now.  We've been stranded in Pristina for nearly three weeks.  The DOA (Director of Administration) keeps sending out situation updates stating that the airport and border crossings are open...but we can't get to the border unless we take a taxi some 60 kilometers!  I will try to alleviate some of my cabin fever this weekend by planting my garden...I just hope that I'll be able to stay in Kosovo to see the results :)