Kosovo: Pristina

Pristina, Kosovo: the (not so) grand hotel prishtina
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Upon my return to Pristina, I met up with the crew from the Kosovo Law Center and we all went to dinner at a lovely upscale (for Pristina) restaurant.  Along with my chicken variation meal, I drank a couple Peja Beers - the local brew and quite good.

On an unrelated note, Kosovo is somehow obsessed with RC Cola.  Yes, RC Cola.  Does it even exist in American anymore?  Every single store in Kosovo carries RC Cola, and it's very tasty.  Apparently, some company in Pristina actually imports the forgotten soft drink.  Crazy, right?

Farewell to Kosovo, a land I will never forget

Pristina, Kosovo: a sick dog with only three legs
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After dinner most of the crowd went home, but Ada and Jeanne stayed out to show me the Pristina weekday nightlife.  To my surprise, it was impressive.  There were numerous outdoor bars, and we hung out at one very large establishment.  Gradually the place became packed.  The place had a great vibe and would hold its own in any major city.

The best part about the Pristina bars are the little kids (some seemed to be 7/8 years old) who come around with large sacks filled with hot roasted peanuts.  Perhaps the best peanuts I've ever had, and they cost next to nothing.  The bars tolerate the young kids (who unfortunately work late into the evening) and let them sell to the patrons without harassment.

Pristina, Kosovo: just like paris
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We closed the bar down and wandered around downtown Pristina until 4:00 a.m.  Common sense would probably tell you that two girls and one American guy strolling through the streets of Kosovo at four in the morning is not a good idea.  However, Kosovo felt completely safe during my entire journey.  I know the fact there were 18,000 peacekeepers present probably assisted my train of thought however.

Our late night wandering took us to the Grand Hotel where I successfully ripped down a sweet Kosovo independence referendum poster which I will soon frame and place in my bedroom.  We looked for some more, but only found numerous "Boycott Serbian Products" posters.  Not exactly a positive, uniting message.

Pristina, Kosovo: another picture of my favorite bill clinton cement factory
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We ventured through the bizarre university library building which features lots of chain-like structures around countless windows beneath 99 domes.   In the middle of an adjacent field stands a destroyed Serb church, surrounded by barbed wire and unkempt grass.

We stupidly walked over to the church on a non-paved path, assuming that all landmines in Pristina had been cleared.  The scene was eerie - the silhouette of the heavily damaged church in the center of a city populated with (not all) vengeful Albanian Muslims made the scene slightly surreal.  Even the pictures I took were creepy.

Pristina, Kosovo: kfor sign urging locals to be tolerant of the serbs
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After some more roaming, we all went home, my journey in Kosovo basically over.  An exhilarating experience and an important place to visit.  By no means is the trouble in Kosovo over, as the move towards independence will prove.  But behind the damaged churches and the destroyed buildings stands a generous people who are overly grateful to America and NATO, who have survived the horrific ravages of ethnic warfare, and who have lived through more tragedy in a short period of time than most people will ever see in their entire lives.