So eastern Europe is quite interesting and I can't think of a single thing I don't like despite the sometimes challenging conditions the people live under. On this note, I should mention the time I spent in Pristina, Kosovo and my travels throughout the country. It’s a fascinating place for a variety of reasons which I will cover in this and future posts, but include economics, culture, geographic location, politics and history. The war that gripped the country in the 1990s was still evident everywhere and I went on many tours of battle sites on my own and with groups.
Depending on who you ask and what interest they may have in the area, Kosovo occupies a unique place geographically. Surrounded and landlocked by divergent cultures, religions and geography it's still gripped by the remnants of war and processes set in place by Western European forces to set it up as an independent nation. The results of this remains to be seen, but during my time in the country I found the people to be generally friendly, accommodating and willing to share and inform you of their country and it's culture.
There is much to see in Kosovo as it has a rich history due to its location and has been controlled, governed or overrun by outside forces for centuries. The breakup of what was Yugoslavia thrust the entire region into economic and political chaos that eventually deteriorated into war. The area eventually broke up into its constituent parts along with their linguistic and cultural boundaries as best they could as you can see while traveling. But, human nature, greed, politics the general myopic tendencies of humans have create borders that are or will be forever in dispute depending on which side of the cultural line you stand. These issues make the entire region a fascinating place to visit as each area struggles to define itself, safeguard what it sees as its domain and attempts to build an economy.
I think I mentioned actually lived in Pristina for a while and had quite a good time learning about the country, its people and cultures. What a fascinating place, and challenging for the average person I learned quickly. As a whole it's quite conservative and although friendly I found it a challenge to walk up and start a conversation with a female. Seems that although it's possible depending on where you are, (say a public place) you can ask questions but quite often there are language barriers as English doesn’t seem to be as prevalent as elsewhere although there are pockets within the population where this is possible.
Like I said earlier, the people are generally friendly and accommodating but the location and surrounding activity will influence whether or how helpful they are. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed my attempts to communicate and except for a few exceptions, the people would at least point to someone who could help me.
I spent time, from several hours to a day or more in many of the cities within Kosovo like Ivanijica, Ferizaj, Leposavic, Skenkeraj, Mitrovice, Prizren and Peje to name a few of the major ones. Each city was somewhat unique in the level of activity and diversity/ration of cultures (Albanian and Serbian) and I found the whole experience unique and quite interesting. Many of the little villages are suspicious of outsiders but welcoming of Americans or Westerners if you’re in an Albanian area. If you find yourself in a Serbian controlled area they were generally distant and not all that interested in helping although they would sell me things when I was shopping.
I visited mosques, churches, museums, cathedrals, wineries and liquor production facilities that seem to be popular. I think the drink is called Rakia which is a fruit brandy popular in theBalkans. There were a variety of types made out of everything from honey to prunes or basically whatever was locally available. The people are ingenious and hard working, I have to give them credit as they survive under generally challenging conditions and make the best of it.
I visited a few of the battle sites from the events that took place during the 1990s making sure I was sensitive to all the sites and did not disrespect the locals as I felt I should. The entire country still bears the scars of war and I found quite a number of buildings and houses that had been destroyed. As the country continues to develop and loosen the grip of outsiders it will be fascinating to see what transpires and this landlocked country evolves into independence.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and if given the chance I would spend more time touring the area and becoming more acquainted with the people and their cultures.
More about individual cities and tours in following posts. Stay tuned
Wizard of Where
