Kosovo and Albania 18.08.2015 - 27.08.2015

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Day 1 - 18.08.2015

While some of the group arrived in Pristina early, most of us took a flight departing from Basel at 12.40. Some passengers and airport employees seemed to look at us strangely because we were obviously tourists and not locals going home for a holiday – classical tourists are quite rarely seen in Kosovo. We landed at Pristina International airport punctually. While we were waiting for our luggage, a political campaign attracted our attention: Kosovar people are fighting for their freedom of movement, as they need a visa for almost all countries that are not their neighbouring countries, especially the Western European ones. Three taxis were waiting for us to take us to the three-star-hotel in Pristina city centre. There the group was united for the first time. We went to a tour through the city of Pristina, a local student was our guide. Surprisingly an imam allowed us to enter his mosque. We also walked through the pedestrian zone, where there is an almost Mediterranean flair, people are wearing nice clothes, you can buy ice cream, drinks, popcorn, roasted corn on the cob, berries, etc. Unfortunately we also saw some street dogs. Many monuments remind us of important people in Kosovar history, the Kosovar independence, but also the women raped during the war in 1999. In the evening we went to a well-known traditional restaurant where we were served big quantities of salad with cheese, paprika in white sauce and different kinds of meat with vegetables and potatoes. Everybody liked it. While eating we had the opportunity get to know each other. Although we had all eaten more than enough, we enjoyed the typical Kosovar dessert and Baklava that was served to complete our meal. Receiving the bill, we were all surprised by the very low prices. After this interesting first day we were all tired and slept well to prepare for the days to come.
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Day 2 - 19.08.2015

Miremengjesi Kosova! Our first sunrise in the youngest state in Europe. The organisers promise us an intensive day, so we wake up quickly and enjoy an energiser consisted of coffee and egg-pancake. After an inspiring input by Elisabeth we start our walk through the busy streets of Pristina. We are arriving at OSCE headquarter slightly above the city centre, one of the largest international involvements in Kosovo. A bunch of women representatives welcome us while the men are serving us another coffee. It helps to make the discussion more interactive. On many slides we get facts and figures on the current situation in Kosovo. We learn about Vetovendosje (political party) and other phenomena. We rush further to find the Swiss embassy passing a wedding (popular summer activity). We are welcomed by a Ferrari and discuss the relationship between Switzerland and its 27th canton in the Western Balkans. After a lunch-break in Central Pristina we are excited to meet the president of the Parliament. He is welcoming us very warmly in Swiss-German in the shiny halls of the Parliament. The presumed war-criminal talks in charming words about the future of Kosovo. We can glance at the declaration of independence and have the opportunity to speak in the assembly. Last but not least we are heading to our 4th meeting of the day: Exchange with local students. A group of motivated students present us the main issues of the education system of Kosovo, our Flavia continues with providing an overview about the Swiss system. The fruitful exchange we continue with beer and food in a nearby pub. After going through the whole menu we continue chatting in the famous cat bar where a cat is the manager and hipsters are the customers. Till late night we practice intercultural learning before falling happily asleep overwhelmed by tons of new impressions.
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Day 3 - 20.08.2015

Pershendetje nga Kosova/Zdravo iz Kosova. On this beautiful day we were planning other amazing events. We were visiting the Serbian minority in Gracanica. We had a very smart driver from Podujevo, which is used to the streets of Kosovo. When we arrived there the names of the streets were Serbian and there were also Serbian flags and a statue of Milos Kopilic. We went to the Center for Peace and Tolerance, where we talked with a ethnic Serb. He was telling us his view of the whole situation in a not politically correct way as he said. The author of this blog is used to the Serbian language so he could talk with the Serbs in a personal way. The opinions of the Serbs were totally different than the opinions of Kadri Veseli. They also said, that they are seeing themselves still as a part of Serbia. Then we had a meal with them. Afterwards we moved to the north of Kosovo to the divided city of Mitrovica. There we talked two women one of them was Albanian nationality and the other Serbian. Their goal was to connect an ethnically divided city. They also had an interesting opinion on the gender of war. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to go to the northern part of Mitrovica. Last but not least we met the very engaged and courageous journalist Arbana Xharra. She is a pillar for a better future of the youngest European state. She doesn’t fear anything and not even the threats against her and her family. This interesting day was ended by a traditional Albanian dinner and in a cool club of the nightlife of Pristina.
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Day 4 - 21.08.2015

Blog Bloggy Blog
In the mountains there was fog (and nota bene a frog)
In the morning we left Pristina
We ain’t seen no girl named Christina
Selatin and his long vehicle, (t’was white)
drove us to the holy light
In the Serbian patriarchate in Peja
we couldn’t earn no hallelujah
but some pictures and slivovic
in the mountains lots of chicks
hiking hiking up and up
almost reaching Montenegro night club
Now we’re full of delicious pule and fli
the stomach stuffed the spirit free
Cindy’s watching from the wall
oh my wonderous wonderwall.

A poem goes exceptionally well with some pictures.

Day 5 - 22.08.2015

While heading to Pristina from the Rugova mountains on our 5th day, we are impressed by the way how locals become creative with regard to traffic work. A group of strong men find an unconventional method to let us pass without damaging the wire, which has to be installed for the new cable car. They make use of an old dead three so that we can pass with our small bus under the wire. Afterwards, the bunch of men run to the second end of the wire, in order to repeat the procedure. On the other side a long line of cars is patiently waiting to receive the same service. With a smile on our face, imaging which kind of reactions this unconventional building measure would elicit in the Swiss traffic, we arrive in Prizren.

We immediately notice how this vibrating, multicultural and vivid city at the food of an old fort, attracts people from all around the Balkan. Prizren, with around 178.112 inhabitants, is the second largest city in Kosovo and most popular for the Dokufest. With regard to the interesting city tour of Dafina , a young volunteer of the Dokufest, Prizren with its mosques and old buildings along the Bistrica, appears to me as the cultural jewellery case of Kosovo. In the Albanian League of Prizren museum we learn about the invasion of Kosovo by the Ottomans in 1454, but also about the traditional clothes style that changes with each époque.

After our guided tour, we have a talk with the organizer of the DokuFest Eroll Bilibani. He greets us with a Turkish tea and explains us how their organization faces the problems in Kosovo by giving young people with potential a chance, creating and transferring knowledge and touching even sensitive issues by their films. Moreover, we discuss future goals of the organization, their engagement in schools and rural areas and their biggest problems, e.g. independent funding. Their engagement and hope to change the country by the help of films will stay in my mind. We end up enjoying a beer in the atmosphere of an old charming open-air cinema, which the organizers of the Dokufest have thankfully protected from being abridged.
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Day 6 - 23.08.2015

Welcome to Albania! After a ride trough the impressive landscapes of this mountainous country, we arrived in a traditional hotel in Shkodër, where we discovered our rooms decorated in an ancient style, depicting the traditions of the Albanian culture.

After a first insight of the main streets of the city, we had to get quickly used to the currency of our new hosting country: the Lek. The 200, 500, 1000 and 5000 banknotes in our wallets gave us the feeling of being rich! However, 600 Leks are, in fact, less than five Swiss Francs. Our pockets full of this new currency, we went to an NGO which is working to help women, that are victims of domestic violence. Their daily routine is mainly to provide some legal, psychological and legal help and to try to raise awareness of this societal problem in Albania. Our hosts explained us that in some regions of Albania, especially in the mountains, women have to face the rules of the Kanun: the unwritten law. This is an issue the NGO is trying to deal with.

With the hot climate of Albania, we decided the skip (not Shqip) one of the planned cultural visit to go to the beach of Velipojë. After a 45 minute ride, we could enjoy our first bath in the sea since we arrived in the region. The surrounding mountains and the volcanic sand gave us the feeling to have travelled way further than we actually did. After having enjoyed the warm water, we delighted us with some fresh fruits and some grilled corn, sold by a man on the beach for the modest amount of 100 Lek! (0.77 Swiss Franc). Last but not least, we met a bear (yes no lies!) walking on the beach, attached with a chain to his owner with a ring in his nose.

On the way back, we were stuck in a traffic jam, caused by a flock of sheep (yes you read it correctly!). Finally, to end this most appreciated day in our newly discovered country, we had a traditional dinner at our hotel. Our stomachs delighted with some delicious food, our souls were pleased with emotional songs. Some men dressed in traditional Albanian outfits, with their “egg hat” (called a Plis in the north of Albania), played some çifteli (a two strings instrument played in Kosovo and Albania) and sang together for the biggest pleasure to our ears. We couldn't expect more from our first day in the country of the double-headed eagle!
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Day 7 - 24.08.2015

Today the destination of our bus was Tirana, the capital of Albania, which welcomed us with hot weather and a lot of traffic. The meeting of the day was with the young advisor to the mayor of Tirana, who has only been in office for a few weeks. He gave us an overview of the challenges that Albania faces today which are closely interlinked with its past. Widespread corruption and tax evasion are problems that can be linked to the perception of the state as an outsider originating from the long experience under ottoman occupation. The communist regime or rather its end has lead to severe problems with regard to property rights; often more than two camps claim the same plot of land. However our interlocutor was generally optimistic, proud of a successful recent pension reform and convinced that the way ahead is about changing the bad image of Albania as a country of criminals, as portrayed in Hollywood films such as “Taken”. In the afternoon we had the chance to get to better know Tirana, a very lively city. Rama, the current prime minister and former mayor, had a lasting impact on the city, colouring many communist-style buildings. He kept up with his rather unconventional style by lightening up the entrance of his residence in the style of a cinema or club entrance. As it was Tuesday and the major clubs were closed we ended the day with some ice cream, leaving the dancing for another day.
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Day 8 - 25.08.2015

In order to get insight into the situation of minorities we met two representatives of the NGO Roma Active Albania (RAA). Active since 2006 they try to raise self-esteem and enable and create relations between Roma people and the rest of the population. They work with a community perspective, which means creating initiative groups in the community with a goal to create partnership with the authorities. The prejudices and discrimination of Roma happen everyday, are widespread and visible. By public and by radio campaigns the organisation tries to combat the stereotypes of Albanians about the Roma people. How many Roma people live in Albania today is unclear as the figures are not reliable. They vary between 8000 and 120 000 and most are settled and not moving anymore.

We spoke to an impressive young Roma woman. She works also for OSCE and is a student at the University of Tirana. She gave us touching examples of stereotypes and of discrimination: “Roma stink, are less intelligent, are not educated, behave not normal etc”. The discrimination is mostly hidden, not open. Also their economic situation is often difficult and at work very few have a normal contract. Often the Roma internalize the prejudices against them, for instance they think and feel inferior to Albanians. The NGO RAA works with a multidisciplinary approach. Such an approach is necessary in order to improve the social and economic situation of Roma, as their poverty has many interconnected reasons. For instance one has not only to target the children, also the parents.

The Roma have the right to get an Albanian passport but very often they are not registered. This registration is an important precondition to get access to health care and to schools. Roma who have been successful in school and who have a demanding working position are often anxious to lose the job, if it is known that they have a Roma background. The young Roma woman told us, during the time when she lived in the student home first nobody knew her origin. After she told that she is Roma, most of her colleagues avoided her and did not want to continue to talk to her.

In the afternoon we had a meeting with Aleanca LGBT. This Organisation works since 2009, they receive money from embassies and from special foundations. In the constitution the rights of LGBT people are guaranteed but in the daily life they are not protected and they often experience hidden discrimination. Sometimes they are beaten by the police or chased away by their families, often endangered and intimidated. The NGO gives legal and psychosocial support, tries to find them jobs and also has a shelter for 8 persons. Usually gay men experience more discrimination than lesbian women. The NGO tries to reduce segregation, discrimination and prejudices by art projects and information campaigns. The discussion with the two women representatives was very lively and inspirational.

As the BunkArt museum was closed we took a bus to a wonderful lake. There we enjoyed in the evening a light refreshing breeze. It was an inspiring day and also touching to listen to all of these stories of racism and of discrimination. All the representatives had an admirable enthusiasm for their indeed important work.
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Day 9 - 26.08.2015

Our last day in Tirana started with good news. A missing member of our group was returning. Some hours before we had lost him to the night.

After a short internal presentation about urban development in Tirana, we took some taxis in direction to the think tank „European Movement Albania“. How the name says, their target is to bring Albania into the European Union. In the discussion they told us that for them, the focus lays on starting and then working on the process to get there. It was interesting to hear that they want to show to their fellow Albanians what the impact of such a process really is: the positive and negative sides. It also seems that the EU has clear and concrete demands what has to be done to develop the country. This gives them a good orientation for their work.

Before we left Tirana, we walked through the bazar. People with a shoe or sneaker fetish should definitively go there. In addition to tons of cheap shoes you can also get clothes, food and antiques.

On the way back to Pristina, Julina, one of our fantastic tour guides and her boyfriend, Philu, left us to visit Julinas parents, who live in Tirana. We heard in Albania several times that you have to marry your girlfriend once you have been presented to her parents. So, good luck Philu! After a long ride, we saw Artan and Samir again, the local students from day 2. They accompanied us for dinner and clubbing on our last night in Kosovo.
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Day 10 - 27.08.2015

After a long but exciting night out, we started slowly. The sun had already reached its highest point in the sky, when we approached the Pazari te RTK-ja. With fruits in our bags, we strolled along the Nënë Tereza to the Mother Theresa Cathedral. The church was currently under construction and a lot of work was invested into the mosaicked windows. Notably, one showed the portrait of Pope Benedict XVI and Francis. The most up-to-date church I have seen so far! A Schindler elevator brought us to the top of its tower, where a stunning view took our breaths away. Once again, we obtained a new perspective of Kosovo's capital Pristina. After a relaxing afternoon in the City Park and the Minimax Shopping Center, the end of the trip was here.

And so is the end of this blog.

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