Prizren, Kosovo

Yes, it's true. Once again I am back in Kosovo - for the third time. I'm certainly not complaining. I really like working here and exploring and trying to understand the country.

The first time I was here I was just trying to figure everything out. The second time I was here it was for a short time (about a week) and I worked every day from 8 AM to 10 PM to try to get a proposal finished before I left. This is my first trip where I have felt like I had time to be a tourist. (At least for today...I anticipate the rest of my time here to be quite busy.)

So I took the opportunity to go to Prizren. Prizren is about two hours from the capital of Prishtina and in the southwest part of Kosovo. It is considered the cultural capital and I could understand why after spending about 30 minutes there. The first thing I did (after I found a strategically placed tourist map) was hike up to the ruins of an old castle that overlook the entire town. On the way up I saw some barbed wire on either side of the path I was walking on and big signs saying "Entry prohibited, use of weapons is authorized." Yikes. Should I keep walking? Do they mean the path that I am on right now or just the areas on the sides of it... So I decided to proceed, since nothing was blocking my way, and try to look really stupid, innocent, and harmless. I walked up about two more minutes and saw a beautiful Serbian Orthodox church surrounded by barbed wire. The path split off in three directions at that point, one way to the church (with big signs saying Entry Prohibited, use of weapons is authorized) one way to two big doors that said KFOR and Entry Prohibited, use of weapons is authorized and one way that were stairs up. No other signs. You can imagine which way I decided to go. But, the path was steep, the day was insanely hot, and I was dripping. I decided to sit on the steps and have a drink of water.

Conveniently enough, just as I was sitting down, up rolls a jeep that had come up the path behind me with two German soldiers in it. (I know this because the license plate had the German flag on it as did the arms of the soldiers' uniforms.) I hope this is not the time when they think use of weapons is authorized and I don't know how to say anything else in German except for alveeterzain (I know that is the wrong way to spell it) which I learned from the "So long, Farewell" song on Sound of Music.

Luckily for me, the soldiers get out of the car and #1 says "hello." Good sign. People do not say hello to the person they want to draw their weapon on. A little yelling and shouting later (in German) some other soldiers trounce out of the Serbian Orthodox church in plastic sandals and uniforms to help these guys unload some stuff from the truck.

Although I could guess the answer, I thought maybe my sweaty good looks and wedding ring would convince the soldiers to have a look at the church even though it didn't appear to be allowed. I asked #1 and he very gently let me down by telling me that the chief doesn't allow it. I checked with him that the stairs were the way to the castle and he told me yes and off I went.

Strange encounter #2: As I was walking up, I saw a guy walking towards me. Since I was alone on the path and was still within shouting distance of the German KFOR I decided to stop and pretend to admire the view while this guy passed. Using my excellent Albanian (the language of Kosovo predominantly) I said Hello (merdita...in case you're interested in learning). He responded and then I promptly said "I speak English" (in English.) He didn't unfortunately and he suggested "italiano", I shook my head and suggested "espanol", he shook his head, I suggested "bulgarski"...obviously that didn't work either. We "chatted" as much as two people can chat who don't speak each other's language, but the common words in Italian and Spanish plus his knowledge of a few words of English had us talking for about 15 minutes. I bid him farewell (didn't think to use alveetersain that time) and went on up.

The views from the ruins of the castle were amazing and that's when I really understood why they call Prizren the cultural capital. From what I could see, in the center of town there were seven Serbian Orthodox Churches and 17 Mosques. That's insane. Even in Istanbul I don't recall there being so many. Unfortunately, when I descended the mountain and began really exploring the town I was disappointed to find that nearly all of the churches and mosques were completely closed. During the war in Kosovo, the Serbs bombed many of the mosques and the Albanians bombed many of the churches. Some are completely ruined and others are empty shells or have walls that are falling down that make them dangerous to enter. So I admired many of them from the outside.

Quickly about my bus ride...in Bulgaria I took buses everywhere and they were generally comfortable (not always, but mostly). Sometimes they had air conditioning, sometimes not. Sometimes they had heat, sometimes not. The buses I took to and from Prizren were not super fancy, but they were 1) air conditioned - since it was about 90 today, that was important, 2) cheap - 3 Euros or about 5 bucks each way, and 3) had good service - they served little snacks and drinks at no extra charge - on the way there I got a piece of chocolate and on the way back I got a little cookie and a coke. Tell you what, that's much better than the service on most airlines these days.