December 11th, 2012

So to get everyone up to speed, here is this past weekend looked like: 

1) Friday night was a jazz concert put on by the US Embassy.  The Ryan Cohen Quartet (look them up!)   This was again at TV21.  It was a smaller event than the election party, not an open bar either, but was still a lot of fun and a nice dose of culture.  I ended up meeting the Ambassador, and actually talking to her for a little bit this time.  She has invited me to meet with her to discuss being an FSO!  (I met with the Political FSO here, Bryan, who was a tremendous resource and a very nice guy)  Hopefully between these meetings I will learn all I need to know to pass the test in February and get through to the next rounds of things.  

2) Saturday, a two part series.

       a)  Saturday afternoon, I went with Michael to the Skena Up Festival.  It was an international student film festival, all of them were shorts.  Being here showcased a lot of great potentials, a positive future about the movie industry, and just generally good movies.  It was free, relaxed, and fun.  

      b)  Saturday night started with dinner at Andrea and Michael's flat.  It was a pre-Pub Crawl dinner, so it was El Paso Tacos, chicken and veggie stir fry (over rice), cheesy bread, roasted cabbage, and loads of water.  It was a nice base for our adventures that night.  The Irish put on a 12 Pubs of Christmas pub crawl every single year (or at least this year and the previous one) and it is always quite the hit.  While we didn't finish the crawl, we opted to skip a few places and head over to the Irish pub, there were still about 40 people out to have a great time.  A great time was had by all.  A rough morning was had by all as well.  Still, I got to see a lot of places that I didn't know existed or rarely visited.  Plus I met a lot of cool new people and just had a blast in general.  

3) Sunday:  Brunchday/Funday

My friend Dan is leaving tomorrow to go home (and get married 2 days later)  so we went out to brunch on Sunday to this little place near my house.  It was fair, though I think we didn't go about the menu correctly.  The Bloody Mary (which came with the meal) was good, it was almost real!  That night we met over at Dan's apartment as he gave us gifts, things from the KFOR PX and his leftovers, while we talked about our adventures here, watched Discovery channel, and enjoyed each other's company.  Dan is a good man; he made my first few months here a lot more interesting.  I would definitely call him a friend, and I hope that I will be able to make it out to DC to visit him and his soon-to-be wife!

On the same coin, I wanted to direct everyone's attention to some great things that my friends have done while they have been here.  First off:

Jason, my co-worker's boyfriend who I has become one of my closest friends here, wrote a great Op-Ed for the Seattle Times.  I would like everyone to take a second and read through it.  I've also listed his blog, which is one of my favorites to read. He is a lawyer, so he uses big words.  You've been warned.  

1) Seattle Times

2) Legally North of Babylon 

Michael, another close friend of mine who is a writer for Ask Men, has a few submissions a week on the current trending Internet topics.  His style of writing is entertaining; I believe he is going places.

1) Expat Diary (From here you can link to his other stuff)

2) In Prishtina


Pictures are en-route.  I swear 

Albanian Independence, Greece, and Beyond

Still we were onto Thessaloniki.  2nd largest city in Greece.  Back into the EU.  Greek Food.  Perfection.  Though I will admit that the ride into Saloniki is rather ugly, it's the industrial port side of things.  But it got real pretty, real quick.  

So we had all these huge plans to travel more of Greece while we were there, but the weather and the relaxation factor took most of that motivation away.  Still we thoroughly explored Saloniki and were true gluttons.  I don't think I have eaten as well as I did there.  The seafood was fresh.  The food was homemade.  The food was rich.  The food, expensive for Kosovo but cheap for EU, was the best part.  I think I ate more in that time than I have eaten the entire time I've been in Kosovo.  The food was so good, especially all the bird liver we had, that it killed Jason on the way home.  It wrecked him.  Gluttony/rich foods are bad when you've been away from them for a few months.  That's a PSA in there for everyone.  

I highly suggest including Saloniki on your Greek travel plans.  But I could be biased, going from Prishtina (which I do adore) to Thessaloniki was a culture shock.  We, albeit ridiculously tired, were struck dumb when we tried to pick a restaurant the first night.  I mean there were options, which just blew our fatigue addled brains.  We picked a good spot, where I had some deliciously fresh fried Calamari.  We called it an early night and headed to the market the following day.  

Markets.  They are so cool.  I am so excited for the markets in Istanbul (like a week and a half from now).  I really liked the seafood part of the market.  Squid, shark, and a myriad of fish were all right there.  The land meat one was similar, goats, cows, and pigs just propped up for display.  The freshest olives, olive oil, and cheese.  Oh Lord the cheese and olives.  After the market we made it over to the White Tower before retreating from the rain.  

This was our day to explore the city.  We went to the top of the tower and the old city.  It was a hefty, uphill walk, but the views (and the walk) left me gasping for air.  I forgot how much I liked the ocean.  (I did dip my hand in this sea, which unfortunately is not the Med)  Our late start, hill climbing, and church viewing left us ravenous.  To which we filled our stomachs with fresh fish and chips.  I think we did it wrong, as the piece of cod was enormous, and we could have easily shared and ordered all the great veggies.  C'est la view.  I ate like a King.  We relaxed the rest of the day, ate a nice dinner at around 11, and wandered back along the board walk to our hostel.  

Our hostel.  Affectionately, "The Medical Ward".  It was adequate for our needs and served us well.  It was just funny.  

Our final day, Friday, was spent wandering more.  Seeing more.  Shopping aplenty. To which I purchased a nice new winter jacket and a flag patch of Greece. (it's a strange hobby I keep) Then we feasted.  Have I mentioned how much food we ate?  I mean it was ridiculous.  It was delicious.  There was nothing bad about anything we ate. I also did very much enjoy Craft beer out of Athens.  They have one that tasted like a smoked ham.  Living in a Muslim country means that I have limited access to ham.  So eating pork while drinking pork flavored beer is something to be cherished.  It was almost an out of body experience.  

Our last day was plagued with Jason's illness.  Other than that, it all went very well.  Everybody arrive safe at home.   I even had the energy to go and visit a friend for her birthday/going away party.  Sunday, though, I was a bit worse for the wear.  

Ulpiana and Gračanica

Shadows and Ruins

So Laura, Jason, Andrea, and I grabbed a cab out to Gračanica and Ulpiana (not to be confused with the section of Prishtina) which are right outside of the city. They are next to each other and are the closest Serb Enclave. The city of Gračanica is known for the monastery there. It's not the same size scale as Decan, but it's still a pretty important place.  Close to Gračanica  is Ulpiana.  Ulpiana is a set of Roman-era ruins, complete with human remains.  A little eerie, but probably one of the cooler things I have seen since I got here.

Bonnnnnnnnnnnes

So we get out to Ulpiana, it's a field. It's not an archaeological site proper. There are farms on all sides of it, and a lonely, drunk, and (coincidentally) Serbian curator. He begins by yelling at us about taking pictures, no pictures allowed! Well that's how things go in most museums and ruins, so we oblige him and continue around the area. He leads us off towards the back section of the ruins. This was the old church building complete with tombs/catacombs. Here is where things get interesting. He shows us the human remains. I am talking full bodies, hands, limbs, skulls, etc. And we can take pictures. That's the part that blows my mind. The walls/ruins are way too fragile for photos, but human remains? Those are solid. Indestructible really.

Remainnnnnnnnnnns

We head back into town after gawking at bones and trying to communicate with the nice Serbian man, straight to the monastery. The frescoes inside are well preserved and great. The worst part about this trip was that the gift shop was not open, and there are a few gifts that I need to pick up for people! Still, the Monastery is so serene. It's surprising how well a 10 foot wall can block out all that is going on around you.

The Monastery

We leave from Gračanica, trying to find a restaurant called Ciao. It's highly reviewed, but none of us actually know where it is. We stumble across it accidentally and are a little wary of the outside. It looks run down and dirty. This gnawing worry leaves us as soon as we open the door to this beautiful, rustic, and Western style inside. All fear turns to enthusiasm as soon as we see the menu. Pork. Pork. Pork. More Pork. I personally went with the bacon-wrapped grilled pork chops. I mean of course I chose pork wrapped pork, it was the first time I had seen pork in 2+ months. I gorged. Jason had pork sausage that looked fantastic. He gorged. Laura had pork Gulag. She didn't gorge, because she's a lady. Jason and I gorged for her. Andrea had chicken, it looks appetizing and healthy. I preferred the pork. Writing this post is making my mouth water.

We ended our evening with some Rakija (from Montenegro) and tea over at Jason and Laura's. It was a successful day.

Shadows and Ruins

Prizren and Thanksgiving

So I want to first off apologize to all of my followers with my absence.  It has been a hectic time for me, with work, travel, and the weather, so I got a little behind with it.

So I left off right after Bajram, so I will try to remember all that has happened between now and then.  This is definitely going to be a 2-3 post update.

So the first weekend of November saw me visit the city of Prizren.  It is an old town that has retained a lot of its Turkish heritage, through the various wars and occupations.  It's a stunning city, with a river meandering on through.  The city is tucked at the base of some smaller mountains, though there were snow capped mountains in the distance.  Prizren is in the bottom left corner of Kosovo, near the Albanian border.  I was in Prizren for a CouchSurfing event, a meet up of sorts, which people came from all over the Balkans (and the rest of the world) to see old friends and make new ones.

This was definitely an interesting adventure for me; I rode down with two people I had never met.  A German police officer and a local Kosovar who works for the local telephone company were my fellow passenger and driver respectively, but it was far from awkward and was quite an enjoyable ride.  Every nationality and ethnicity was present when we arrived.  It was organized by this really cool girl from Serbia, who had been organizing these for 12 years.  There were Serbs, Albanians, Kosovars, Turks, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Croatians, English, Scottish, Australian, Kiwis (New Zealanders), Americans, and Italians.  I think that covers everyone, but needless to say it was quite the spread.

Besides making good friends (specifically: a Croat named Bojan, a German named Dori, and an English girl walking from England to Istanbul), two things stood out to me.

1) The Hike-   We hiked around 2 hours to a clearing out in the mountains that had a great view of the city and the surrounding snow caps.  It was exhilarating and welcomed.  The air was fresh and pure; it was overall a fun adventure.  When we came down the mountain, we stopped by the old city wall that towers over the main part of the city.  The sun was starting to set, so the views were breathtaking.  I was literally inundated with breathtaking views, it rocked my world.

2) When her fellow Serbian friends asked "Why are you hosting this event in Kosovo, it's shit!"  She asked them "Have you ever been to Kosovo?"  When their response was clearly no, she responded, "This blind hatred it stupid, you are stupid, please piss off” (She was taught by the Brits).  It was such a refreshing dialogue rather than the typical hatred between these two Republics.

So it was a nice weekend to visit another Kosovar city and get out of the grind that is Prishtina!

The week after was the Election, to which I had secured an invitation to the Embassy's gala event.  It was a grand ole time; I shook hands with the Ambassador, enjoyed Samuel Adams beer, and was in a good mix of American and International company.  I even woke up to watch the election results, but it was cold and rainy (and 4:30 in the morning) so I did not make it over to Jason and Laura's for their election breakfast party.

While I did not travel the following weekend, I did have a chance to get to know a great Canadian couple that I have become fast friends with.  Michael is a writer who followed his girlfriend Andrea, Political Affairs Officer for the UN, to Kosovo and continues to write.  We ended up hanging out at the Irish pub and then going to see Skyfall (Which I enjoyed immensely) with a whole mess of UN folks.

Since we did not have the week off for Thanksgiving, we opted to have it on the 24th instead. Our idea was for the Americans to produce the food, and our international friends produce the alcohol.  So much fun was produced that night.  That Saturday, which will live in football infamy, was an epic day.  While we did not kill our own turkey, per my previous post, we did have a good sized bird courtesy of my friend Mackenzie and her connections at Camp Bondsteel.  I personally made ajvar deviled eggs (turned out PHENOMENAL, to be humble), mashed cauliflower, and roasted beets.  I think three dishes is a good amount to make, but it was not even close to a fraction of the feast that we had.  There was turkey, two things of mashed potatoes, two things of stuffing, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, brownies, stewed curried pumpkin deliciousness, cranberry sauce, my three dishes, and plenty more that in my food (and nothing else) induced coma.

That was just the food.  We also had a whole mess of Raki, wine, and mulled wine.  The mulled wine I think killed about half of the international community; Jason might have been a little heavy handed with the Brandy (think like my eggnog a few Christmases ago).  It was delicious, but strooooooong.  The party was a great success; delicious food, plentiful drinks, and wonderful company was in abundance.  It was a true Thanksgiving.  We even had a second Thanksgiving the next night to over indulge again!

Pics soon to follow, my adventures in Greece to follow as well.