Helga in Kosovo

Përshëndetje nga Gjakova (Greetings from Gjakova)! I am writing my last entry from Kosovo my internship is ended yesterday. I left Gjakova yesterday and will leave Kosovo today. I will go to Albania for two weeks. We will also travel to Montenegro and perhaps Croatia which both would be new countries for me.

This week has been quite quiet because half of the staff have their summer holidays now. We have only been three women at the office. However, I have had fun with my boss who has taken me for lunch in several new places around Gjakova. Even though this internship will end now, I will still come back here every now and then. First of all my mother works in Prishtina so I will visit her, but also, I will keep contact with SHE-ERA and work with them in the future. We have a newly started project which we are applying a grant for. If we get the grant I will come here every now and then.

I never ever thought I would come to Kosovo, least of all to work here. I still remember when families from here fled to my country, so I have been aware of Kosovo for a long time. However, because of the recent war I just did not see myself here. Even though I’ve only been here for 10 weeks, I have got lots of valuable experience that will be useful for me in the future. I feel lucky to gain this experience at this stage of my life when I still have my working life ahead of me.

Since this is my last entry I decided to make a list of ten things that I have learned about Kosovo. These ten points are only from my point of you, and I am sure not everybody agrees with me. Anyhow, here we go:

1. So far I have not had any bad food here. The food is absolutely great both in restaurants and at home.
2. When you go to a supermarket you will be surprised of how many shelves are full of candy, cookies, cakes and other sweets.
3. Pavements are not always meant for pedestrians. Especially in Prishtina the cars have taken over the pavements.
4. People are super nice and they appreciate it very much if you say at least something in Albanian…
5. …however, many young people tend to laugh, a lot, when foreigners try to speak their language…Apparently it is a sign of appreciation, but I still have not got used to it.
6. The nature is absolutely gorgeous, but there are still quite many land mines in some areas after the war so it is not possible to hike everywhere.
7. There are more NGO’s  in Kosovo than in any other country. Or at least it seems like it, I don’t know the reality. 😉
8. People like USA. This should not be a major surprise though…
9. It is usual that people will be very straightforward and say pretty much everything they think about you. For example, I dyed my hair darker and pretty much everybody has said straight to my face that they liked me more in blonde hair. I try to think of that as they just like to see blond people, because it is so rare here.
10. Family is very important, and not just here but in other Balkan countries too that I have visited I have noticed the same.

Here were my 10 points, but there are thousands of more points. These just happen to be the most common once that I have been thinking about when being here.

I want to thank you all for reading my blog. We’ll see if I will write some more some other time when I’m back here again. But for now bye!

Faleminderit shumë!