The Birds!!! Like living in a Hitchcock movie

It's dusk in Kosovo and one by one they begin to gather. Lining rooftops and fences and filling tree limbs with dots of black. The eerie sounds of their conspiratorial crowing increases in volume exponentially as more and more arrive... hundreds of them... maybe thousands? Then in a moment the sky goes black!

"Ree Ree Ree!" goes the soundtrack in my head.... oh, wait, wrong Hitchcock movie. ;) Seriously, though, having seen the movie "The Birds" it's really creepy to be in Kosovo and to see and HEAR this phenomenon of black birds gathering at dusk and dawn. It's especially creepy after sundown when it's just pitch black and all you hear are hundreds of birds. Probably why I had bad dreams that night! lol.


At 6:15 the next morning I was startled awake by the sound of them gathering again on the rooftops... as I was having a really bad dream and still in a bit of a cloud you can imagine the shiver that went involuntarily down my spine! The sheer creepiness at watching them gather again. lol. Makes for a fun blog, though. Seriously, though, it's a really interesting sight to behold when they take to the sky. :)

Ramadan: Cafe's at Iftar

On Tuesday I went up to Kosovo to give some training in Quickbooks as well as to help set up a Quicken account (eek) for another colleague. The training went really well and the time seemed to fly by.... yet we worked at the details for a good 6 hours! Afterwards I enjoyed a grilled chicken kabab dinner with colleages before heading out with the girls to a cafe around 7pm.

Iftar (the breaking of the days' fast) was after sundown about 6:40, so when we arrived at the cafe it was pretty much deserted. My friends said that normally it's impossible to find a place in the cafes--especially at this time of night. But since everyone was with their families enjoying Iftar, we had our pick of the place.

Now here's something funny. Because it's such a busy place some people will actually call ahead and reserve a table. Well, like I said the place was empty when we got there, however there were several "reserved" signs on the different tables. When one of my friends asked about it they guy responded, "Oh, it's reserved for you!" lol.

As the night got later people began to show and the place did fill up (as the music increased in volume as well, moving from a mello jazz mix to a typical techno beat). What was interesting to me, though, was the cigarrette vendors who'd made the rounds through the cafe a good dozen times while we were there. Smoking is one of the things that people fast from during the daylight hours, so I imagine those vendors had quite the hoppin' business once the sun went down.

It's funny, but I don't go to Kosovo that often, but I always do seem to be there at some point during Ramadan (or Ramazan). This trip was no different. In fact, I'll be going up again right at Bajram (the ending of the months' fast) at the end of the month to help with closing out the books. I'm a little excited to be there at that time as from what I hear it's like a big holiday celebration with lots of baklava. :)

Stopped by the police... a fun experience. Really.

Driving back to Skopje from Kosovo on Friday with CQ and two potential workers in the car I got pulled over by a popcicle. (The police don't tail you here with lights and sirens, they simply hold up a red and yellow popcicle-looking thing and you're expected to immediately pull over.)

I greeted the officer with one of the five Albanian words I know, "Mirdeeta," and then proceeded to look completely lost as he started asking me all sorts of questions in Albanian. At that point I nervously (not scared nervous but "I don't know what you're saying" nervous) said, "Um... I'm sorry, I don't understand" then smiled helplessly.

"Oh!" he said with an equally lost look of "how am I going to get across what I need" before his look changed to quizical and he asked, "Ameriski??"

"Yes, I'm American," I said as I began digging for my papers.

Wide went his smile as he leaned in and pronounced with gusto, "Documents?? No Problem!" and waved for me to be on my way. "Sank you Amerika!" he said. I responded with my best attempt at saying "Guzuar Pavarsine" aka "Happy Independence." My pronunciation was totally pathetic, but he gave a gracious smile and another, "Bush Amerika sank you" and sent me on my way.

As we drove away Rob commented, "Wow, it's one thing to hear about it, but another all together to see it." (Referencing the love for Americans in Kosovo right now.) It's true. I'd heard about it, but this was my first experience with it... and it made getting stopped by the police a fun experience.

Pic from: www.veplast.com.ba/Products.htm

Balkan Field Forum - Day 1: Getting There

Thanks to the wonders of technology and now having wireless capability at our Field Forum destination, I thought it would be fun to bring you along for the ride. :)

Every year my colleages from Kosovo, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Macedonia get together for fun, fellowship and, yes, business. This is the 9th annual Field Forum and I believe it's the 8th year that we've come to the same place: Bashka Voda, Croatia. The short teams who come from the US to minister joke with us that they can't share thier photos back in the States because it's just too beautiful here. But for us on the field it's a very welcomed retreat, and personally, something I look forward to each year as the time spent on this small patch of land on the Dalmation coast and with colleagues is so special.

From Skopje it's a very Loooooonnnnnnggggg drive to Bashka Voda, but it's through some amazingly diverse and gorgeous landscape (truely, I have yet to go to a place in the Balkans that didn't take my breath away in one way or another). The trip this year began at O-dark-thirty (aka 5am) for my colleagues who two hours later picked me up in Skopje. From there we headed to Prishtina, Kosovo and the Route 66 Diner to meet up with the second car in our caravan (it's always more fun to travel together). This year we also had walkie-talkies, so that made it even more fun.

On every trip there are moments and images that stand out. The first one for us was this group of goats, seemingly without a shepherd (is that was goat-herders are called too???). We'd just rounded a bend in the twisty-windy-hair-pinned road heading up the mountain above Pec/Peja towards Montenegro and saw this group. They saw us (a big Kia aka really big goat) and stopped dead in their tracks, looking hopelessly confused! Finally, after my colleague honked a few times they got it in gear and moved past us. We were laughing so hard... you can't see it in the picture, but the looks on their faces were hysterical.

The bulk of yesterday's driving was through the windy mountains of Montenegro.... some of the most beautiful mountians I've ever seen (and I'm from Northern California, so that's saying a lot). What's amazing to me are the homes and farms on seemingly uninhabitable land high up on the sides of those mountians. "Wild Beauty" is the tourism tagline for Montenegro and I think it truly fits. There are some years where we've seen this "wild beauty" up close and personal as landslides have at times covered the road, resulting in either hours waiting in long lines to be guided through in a narrow-harrowing one-lane... or other times where we had the detour of all detours: a police guided 4-hour 15MPH detour on a harrowing narrow windy pot-holed road through some very old villages.

Once out of the mountains we come to Podgoritsa fairly quickly and if we're too tired to continue we find a place to stay the night. This trip we arrived into Podgoritsa around 4pm and were still up for traveling more. So on we pressed, boarding ferry (pictured), crossing into Croatia, then Bosnia, and then back to Croatia (look at a map, it's confusing) and continuing further until about 8:30pm and just south of Dubrovnik. We found this amazing little place run by the sweetest couple ever and it only cost us 15Euro a person, had a view of the Adriatic and included breakfast.

This morning began a bit leisurely as we chatted with the couple and our colleagues over breakfast, then come 10am we were on the road again. There was a detour not too far past Dubrovnik that took us close to the Bosnian border (again) before heading back north. One of the highlights here were the fresh produce stands. After passing several we couldn't resist stopping. 4 hours later we pulled into our destination at Baska Voda. ahh.

One of the things I enjoy most about these annual road trips to Field Forum is the extended time of fellowship with colleagues. We discuss many things, laugh a lot, and encourage one another. It's really neat to see how in the five and a half years that I've been on the field how relationships have grown, strengthened and deepened. My colleagues have become like family to me. On this trip we talked about so many things, some funny, but others deeply serious. Because of the relationship of trust, built over time with lots of grace, we talked with much candor from topics of field business and the major transition ahead of us to the importance of spiritual/emotional/mental and physical health for life but also for longevity on the field. We fleshed out some application to our lives of spiritual truths or things that God was teaching us.

The time in the car was not only quantity time, but so much quality. I'm so grateful to the Lord for this group of men and women that I have the priviledge to labor with. I look forward to the days ahead where we will continue to solidify our relationships as a team as well as with our Lord. Please do be in prayer for us in these coming days especially as we will be having some serious business discussions that will affect our future. Thank you.

Last note: Todays opening was just a fun night welcoming everyone and then playing "Are you as smart as an MK" covering topics like "Kosovo Imports", "Country Flags" and "Bosnian Child-rearing." I'll try to get some of the questions and include them in a later blog as they were all pretty funny.

Serbia Recognizes Kosovo

Imagine my shock when scrolling through the days headlines for the Balkans I came across an article entitled, "Serbia Recognizes Kosovo's Independence."

I immediately clicked on the link to read the full article http://balkaninsight.com/en/main/blogs/9038/ while simultaneously Skyping to a colleague the news. As I began to read the article I even called my boss to share the news of this amazing turn of events!

"01 April 2008 Authorities in Belgrade decided to end the last conflict in Balkans by recognising Kosovo as an independent and sovereign state... Serbia’s government agreed to recognise independence of Kosovo, in its regular annual meeting on Tuesday, government officials confirmed."

Only as I was repeating this news outloud did it occur to me that it was April Fool's Day, yet I pressed on, despite my bosses chuckles, saying, "And no, this is not an April Fool's joke." "I'm serious! It's a real news article," I protested, even reading some of the prose aloud, only to be answered by more amuzed chuckles.

Then I came to the last paragraph:

"And if for some strange reason, you haven’t start laughing until now, you better check the date on your calendar again. And yes, this can probably be a real news story on April 1st."

Doh! I completely and totally fell for it!! But it sounded so real! Apparently in the desire to see stability and peace in the Balkans I checked my brain at the door and fell for this... this completely unbelievable news considering the tensions, riots, protests and such since Kosovo declared independence.

I haven't fallen so hard for an April Fool's joke since my former boss had me convinced that our regional boss and wife were having a baby in thier, uh, advanced years. And thus the strains to an old familiar tune ring out again in my foolish honor, "'Cause I'm a blonde, ya ya ya..."

Drinkable SPAM in a can

SPAM and eggs may be the breakfast of champions in Hawaii, but in Kosovo they have a SPAM energy drink! mmMMMmmmm! It comes packaged in a black and yellow can that conjured images of bug-killer in my head. Oh, and the fly pictured at the top lends to that misconception as well. This is a lesson in how NOT to market something... though I confess to buying one just because it was called "SPAM." So I suppose it worked in some manner. In the end I did venture to try it and contrary to my fears it didn't taste like liquid meat pate'. Instead it tasted very similar to a Red Bull, kinda fruity.

So there you go! SPAM: the energy drink for "Living on the Edge" here in the Balkans! ;)

Road Trip to Kosovo: "Flags"

Last week I got to travel to Kosovo to visit some colleagues and friends for a couple of days. This was my first visit since they'd declared their independance one month ago and I was looking forward to it.

The border to Kosovo is only about 20 minutes away and the drive easy. Most borders over here have two sides (one to leave the country and one to enter the next country) separated by what's called "no-mans-land" (also happens to be the name of a great Balkan movie... but I digress). Anyways, all went without note-worthy narrative until I got to the customs dude on the Kosovo side.

I handed him my passport and when he turned it over and saw what country I was from his demeanor brightened up and he leaned on my car, "Oh! United States! How are you? Where are you from?" He asked while he fingering through the pages of my passport. "Oh! California! Such a nice place! Do you work on Bondsteel?" [Bondsteel is the American base here... really? did I look military? lol] Anyways, he gave me the star treatment just because I was American and I got the idea that if I were willing he'd sit and chat with me all day long!

Well, once past the border and into Kosovo, I was greeted with a huge red sign with black letters saying "Happy Independence" in Albanian. Then I began to see them: American flags... everywhere! In some places there were so many I had to remind myself that I wasn't in America on the 4th of July and that I was actually in Kosovo! I also saw the flags of Germany, Britain, Switzerland and other counties who've formally recognized Kosovo flying as well. What a truly strange experience it was to be in another country and see your own country's flag flown just as proudly as the new nations flag.

Kosovo Declares Independence

As I type this, the PM of Kosovo just finished reading the official "Declaration of Independence" for Kosovo. The CNN live news-feed is now showing the streets of Prishtina packed with people, waving flags, dancing, setting off firecrackers, whistling and cheering their Independence Day, February 17, 2008.

The excitement of this day has many celebrating... it even has my heart pounding. Earlier I was on the phone to a colleage in another town of Kosovo and I could barely hear her over the noise outside her apartment on the streets. The loud honking of car horns were ringing out over the cheers of the thousands of people crowding the streets, waving flags (including American flags) as they celebrated the day they've been waiting for for a long time.

She also described the new flag to me that was being placed all over town. It's navy blue with the shape of Kosovo in yellow in the middle with 6 white stars on top. Hopefully this new flag and it's departure from all previous colors associated with Kosovo will be a symbol of a breaking free of past tensions and perhaps the start of healing between the difference ethnicities. A new beginning.

It's now 3:53 and they've begun the official signing the Declaration of Independence. A historic moment in the history. The birth of a nation is not something you see every day! (Actually I'm a bit envious of my colleagues who are living there and get to celebrate with their friends.)

Ironically, just as I typed that I received an email from the US Consulate warning US citizens to avoid such gatherings:

"Following Kosovo’s February 17 declaration of independence, the U.S. Office in Prishtina reiterates its longstanding guidance to American Citizens to avoid large crowds or demonstrations. Local celebrations, both official and unofficial, are expected to be large, and could pose security risks for on-lookers and participants."

Oh the joys of living in the Balkans....

On another note, to be honest, this day, while totally exciting for many, carries mixed feelings for me. I am personally aquainted with several people in one of the Serbian enclaves, especially with one dear family that I spend a lot of time with. I remember the mom sharing with me her concern in tears about her family and fear about the future. I imagine today is not a happy day for her or her family. I imagine that the mood, in contract to the jubulence in Prishtina, is markedly somber and perhaps a bit apprehensive in those Serbian enclaves today.

The PM expressed quite elloquently, though, that independent Kosovo will be multi-ethnic with equal rights for all groups. Perhaps that this sentiment will make it past the leaders and on to the streets, among the locals. May all parties now be able to move beyond the tragedy and bitterness of the past, to bring healing and reconciliation to an area of the world that has seen so much hurt over generations--on all sides. Some may call me naive, but that is my desire for the people of Kosova, the country. My personal prayer for them, though, goes quite a bit deeper: that they come to know the One who can make them truly free and be reconciled to Him.

In the meantime: Congratulations - Gëzuar pavarësia.