Certain Smell in the Air

There comes a certain time in the year when the farmers in Kosovo begin to burn the fields.  It is a strange sight where I live to go out on your balcony and see the night illuminated with the fierce orangish-red color of fire.  Last week the fields behind my house were burning so I had to keep the doors and windows closed on that side of the house.  The scent is not the most pleasant and while I can't remember ever seeing the ranchers burn the fields in the US, I suppose there is a certain chemical benefit to having the ash fertilize the soil.  Actually, I imagine that burning fields is prohibited in most places because of the air pollution it produces.  For a few weeks, the clean air I so love where I live will be hazy and thick with the scent of burning crops.
I drove a colleague to Prizren yesterday to the German KFOR hospital.  A trip that should take 1 1/2 hours took 2 1/2 hours due to overloaded trucks and three traffic accidents on our side of the road.  The area between Shtime and Prizren is mountainous and the road winds quite a bit...the impatient drivers cannot handle being stuck on a one-lane road behind a slow moving truck so driving can be dangerous when they attempt to overtake.  Seeing beyond a curve isn't a necessity to some of the drivers...I guess they imagine anyone coming the other way will stop for them if they see them coming...not realizing that it takes time to slow a vehicle!

Bucket o' Fun

It's that time of year again...bucket shower days in the dog days of summer.  I actually couldn't even get a good bucket shower this morning at home and had to shower in the bathrooms at work.  I think the cleaning ladies got a kick out of that and I know the guys in my office do because they tease me about it :-P  But se la vie, when the farmers near Gracanica need to irrigate their fields, I have to do without water or enough pressure.  Perhaps one of these days they will separate the residential water supply from the agriculture supply...but I doubt that I will still be here when that happens.
The power is being regulated four on-two off in my area.  I heard that KEK is going to start regulating power based on the payment of individual bills.  So if you pay more than 55% of your monthly power bill, you will not have power cuts.  If you pay between 25-55%, you will have five on-one off.  If you don't pay or pay up to 25%, you will have four on- two off.  Of course, I still have never received a power bill and I again heard that Serbia is sending power to Kosovo for some of the Serbian areas...but I doubt that Gracanica is included in that list because of its location.

Declaration of Independence

Today, students were passing out declarations of colonial independence flyers in front of MHQ.  I briefly skimmed over the flyer which contains the text of a UN Resolution from 1960 before tossing it in a garbage dumpster down the road.  I wonder who exactly the students think is the colonial power?  Maybe the UN but passing out the text of a UN resolution will not bring any results.  I saw some UN vehicles driving around with the flyer still stuck under the wipers...I think the demonstrations gather more interest and attention (sans egg throwing because that's just wrong!)
I forgot to mention a couple weeks ago but the blast barrier and concrete blocks at the front of MHQ were defaced with "Jo Negociata.  Vetvendosje" which means "No Negotiation.  Referendum".  The blast barrier was repainted and that evening the graffiti "artists" struck again.  I think they sprayed the blast barrier three times.  Then when the Serbian PM visited, there was an egg-tossing protest.  I think some of the regular UN staff ended up with bits of egg in their hair and clothes...I would have been a bit upset.

Elsewhere in Kosovo, Serbs blockaded the Mitrovica-Zubin Potok highway this past week in protest of attacks on the village of Zupce from a neighboring Albanian village.  It was reported that shots were being fired from the Albanian village into Zupce and a hand grenade was thrown into the backyard of a house causing damages.  The blockade was lifted after ten hours when UNMIK and KFOR pledged to establish permanent checkpoints in the area.

Sometimes You Just Have to Laugh

You know, there are times in your life that you just have to laugh...and in Kosovo, you do it loudly.  This past Saturday, Andriy and I headed south of the border (Macedonia, not Mexico!) to see about picking up some tickets for a Deep Purple concert in Skopje.  At the Kosovo-Macedonian border as we were entering Macedonia, we witnessed something that just made us smile, shake our heads in disbelief, and laugh out loud.  There was a KS-vehicle in front of us at the border.  Supposedly to save money on fuel, one of the popular things to do while waiting in line is to get out and push your vehicle.  Well, this strapping, healthy 20-30 year-old man had his 70 year-old grandfather get out and push the car across the border!  Truly unbelievable to see this old man pushing a car through the border (at least 20-30 minutes in the hot sun as well!)  Maybe the old man didn't know how to drive but his grandson could have at least sacrificed a pack of cigarettes as to not make the poor man push the car through the border on a hot summer day!
The weather has been going from hot to rain to hot to rain.  As I usually say, just wait five minutes and the weather will change.  As a strange turn of events, my power was off for eight hours last night.  There seem to be some problems at the power station and some speculate that unless the problems are fixed soon, we may be without any power from KEK (worst case scenario would be no power from KEK but importing from outside...probably paid for by the UN).

It's wedding season again!  Yup, this year it is my mission to capture the Kosovo wedding convoy in action on Skopje highway or elsewhere in Pristina.  Seeing is believing and before I leave the mission, I have to have it down on film.  The tradition is quite interesting and the people seem to be enjoying themselves so much that I really want to get a picture for the site.  I wished I had my camera on Sunday when I went to Bondsteel because there was a wedding convoy with several traditionally dressed musicians on the back of a flatbed truck playing on the side of the road.  Ah, se la vie...whenever you really need a camera you usually don't have one!

Another Explosion

There is another explosion to add to last Saturday night's list.  On Monday, a bomb exploded in front of the building that houses the Ministry of Returns and one of the Serbian political parties.  As usual, there have been no claims of responsibility.  Luckily no one was injured but the building was damaged.  It seems that since the special advisor has arrived to check on the standards the factors that do not benefit from stability will try to make it difficult for Kosovo to proceed to what is looking like full-independence.  While I personally don't think that Kosovo can support a multi-ethnic and fair democratic independence, the political rhetoric seems to all point towards a break from Serbia instead of automony.

Happy 4th of July

Wow, four years in Kosovo without ending up in a mental institution!  It's hard to believe it but I've really been here that long and the time has flown by.  Previous 4ths have been on the weekend so I was able to throw a BBQ but this year, it was on a Monday so it ruled out a party at my place :(  But, I decided to take my friends out to dinner at Hani 2 Roberti, a very nice restaurant near the MHQ.  It was a grand night and lots of fun.  We not only celebrated the 4th but my four-year anniversary.  Strange to think that it has been that long!
In other news, there were three explosions in Pristina on Saturday night.  Two grenades were thrown: one into a travel agency next to Irish Pub and one into the parking area of the Government Building.  Then an explosive device was attached to a UN vehicle in the MHQ compound through the fence.  It's the second time that this has happened in the compound.  We joke about it being UN-Security but these kind of things make you think about it.  There are no claims for responsibility and the SRSG sent out a letter asking the staff not to speculate whodunit but to continue working towards the goals (like packing up and leaving!)  I find myself being cynical at best right now but for all the talk of progress, it's evident to me that many things are just lurking under the appearance of being calm.

Sum-Sum-Summertime

The weather is being sporadic at best lately.  It goes from hot/sunny to cold/rainy every few days.  We had an incredible storm on Sunday night.  I arrived back from a weekend in Greece with my capris and sandals to find strong winds, lightening, pelting rain, and overall really bad weather.  I ended up hiding in the house of a colleague until the storm subsided since I wasn't really dressed to brave the elements :)  Today is sunny with temperatures in the 70's but who knows what it will be like tomorrow!

Oh, I forgot to mention that my contract has been extended another six months.  When I called to tell my mom, she guessed what I'd say before I did.  "I've been extended another six months but after that, I don't know".  It seems to be one of our mantras in the mission.  Never knowing how long you'll be needed in the mission or if they'll want to move you to another location.  Some of my family asks if I want to come back to the US, especially my mom.  But actually, right now I am enjoying being overseas and I am still fairly young so I feel that I better take advantage of the opportunity to travel the world while I have it!  Maybe some day I will return to the US but not now.  If I am no longer needed in Kosovo, I hope to move on to Africa if possible to another peacekeeping mission.