Travels through Albania and Kosovo

One of the other Firefly volunteers, Mark, travelled through Albania and Kosovo a couple of weeks ago. It sounds like an intriguing experience and he has kindly agreed to let me share his insight on this blog!

Here are his comments from a couple of emails:

Greetings from Santorini, Greece. I did pass through Albania, and I managed to do it without getting robbed, shot, stabbed, buggered, carjacked or captured by bandits. So I would consider that a success!

I came over through the Kosovo border. Sarajevo to Prishtina (capital of Kosovo, which is a United Nations-run protectorate, is on the Euro, and is the cheapest place I've ever been to), Prishtina to Tirana. Three night buses in a row with no sleep and no shower. I came out pretty smelly.

Kosovo:
I took the night bus in from Sarajevo. They sold me a ticket to some town in Serbia then sold me another ticket once I got to that town to Pristina- I guess you can't get a direct bus into Kosovo.

So by the time the bus enterred Kosovo the sun was rising. I remember these flats plains with purple mountains off in the distance and some tiny towns and mosques and not much else. It was really surreal. It looked very beautiful and felt very far away and exotic.

I remember I was nervous being an American on that bus. The border guard at the Bosnian border, bless his heart, took it upon himself to announce to everyone that I was an American. So when all the heads around me turned towards me, I smiled my shy, somewhat embarrassed, friendly smile of American Awkwardness. I remember there were these two old mean-looking Muslim Bobushkas and one of them smiled back at me. It felt nice.

This Kosovar guy I met on the bus came with me to the bus station and helped me get a ticket to Tirana, then he left and I was alone in a faraway and supposedly dangerous land. I was sort of freaking out, and then I saw this girl with a big backpack. I talked to her and she chilled me out. She was the only other backpacker I met there.

Anyways, Pristina... It was full of UN personnel and not much else. Kosovo is a UN protectorate. It's called UNMIK - United Nations Mission in Kosovo. It's on the euro, and I guarantee it is the cheapest place you will ever find on the euro. They speak Albanian there. I was using my few Bosnian words, which is also Serbian, and getting dirty looks, then I switched to Albanian and got smiles.

Pristina isn't all blown-up and bullet-pocked like Sarajevo, I guess because the Serbs just marched in unchallenged. There are quite a few big buildings popping up and they're all UN related. There are loads of internationals there, and pretty girls, and I tried to work up the nerve to chat to both but ended up talking to neither.

Anyways, I spent most of the day wandering around back and forth between these cafes frequented by UN personnel and this market. It was really lively, tons of people floating around. Mostly vegetables and really cheap clothes. Lot of old men with white caps, Albanian style.

That night I caught the bus to Tirana. On the way out of Kosovo, I saw a tank driving down the road! Alongside donkey carts and lines of people, a tank rolling down the highway. My first tank.

Some stuff about Albania:

There are no streetlights in Tirana. You stray off the main road at night and it is completely dark. You see these shadowy faces lurking in the darkness. It is super creepy. I wouldn't walk around at night.

I saw passports being sold on a street corner. When you first enter the country, there is a big sign at customs that says "Welcome to Albania". And then a little kid tries to sell you bootleg cigarettes out of a carton. I think that sums up the trip. The water and electricity in Tirana is cut for a few hours several times a day.

Something kid of fun: They took a lot of those bleak, gray, crumbling communist flat buildings and opened them up to artists, so you'll see purple polka dots on a big concrete block of a building, or a DNA double helix running down the front.

Cant we all get along?

A couple of weeks have passed since I have last posted on this blog. I have had a very positive and intriguing experience during my travels through former Yugoslavia. Over the last few days I have been travelling with Derek through Croatia and tonight I will travel to Mostar in the southern Herzegovina province of Bosnia.

I really enjoyed my stay in Brćko although I was unable to explore it sufficiently because of the oppressing heat that would set in around 10 every morning. Fotunately I was able to get to know Gordana, the director of Svitac (Firefly Bosnia), better. We discussed some ideas for future projects and grants for Svitac as well as a potential youth partnership between Svitac and a youth organization in Seattle. Another idea is a grant for better internet connection at the youth center in Brcko (anyone interested in collaborating with this exciting idea when I am back in Seattle, please let me know!). I feel in addition to the amazing experience at the summer camp, this trip has been very worthwhile. Especially if it plants the seeds for future generations of Americans getting to know Bosnia better and vice versa.

I was also provided some interesting insight into the situation between the different ethnic groups in Brcko. To give you a better understanding of the current political structure in BiH (Bosnia Herzegovina), it was decided in 1995 at the Dayton Peace Accord that the nation BiH would be divided into two administrative entities. The Republic of Srpska administers 49% of the country and is is where a majority of Serbs live; and the Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina administers 51% of the country and is where a good part of the Bosniak (Muslim) and Croat population lives. This may seem extremely confusing and to add to the confusion, Brcko and the Brcko District is a self-governed district that is also administered by international bodies (I won,t say forces because the US military was here to help stablize peace in the district but I believe they pulled out in 2004 and turned it over to a local force made up of the different ethnic groups). Brcko has been its own district since 2000 and I must admit I am still confused as to how and why it became its own entity when it was formally part of the Republic of Srpska between 1995 and 2000 (although don,t qoute me on this). I think it became a district to prevent Serbia (the nation) from annexing the Republic of Srpska and taking territorial claim over the Serbian area of Bosnia and thus leading to another conflict or war. Make sense?

In Brcko, it seems on the outside that the Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks all live peacefully and happily among each other in this sort of experimental, hybrid utopia. Indeed, the schools are integrated (except for religious classes) as well as most work places, particularly in the local government. Brcko is also becoming one of the most economically prosperous areas in BiH.

Looking deeper, I wonder if it isn,t as perfect as it seems. People seem to be civil to one another and live their lives. I wonder if the Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats in Brcko do spend time with each other and socialize with each other after school and work on their own accord at the end of the day. Would the youth who happily spent time with each other at the Firefly Camp in Croatia feel awkward hanging out with each other back home? Gordana mentioned that she hadn,t realized it until an international volunteer pointed out that there are distinctly Bosniak or Serb cafes in Brcko. Probably the strangest thing I discovered while there were the separate post offices for both Serb and Bosniak communities (and perhaps there was a Croat one that I wasn,t aware of as well) only about 75 meters apart from one another!

Although apparently secular, I was offered the insight that many people have become more religious after the war. More mosques as well as Catholic (for the Croat community) and Orthodox churches (for the Serb community) have gone up or been rebuilt (many destroyed during war). People who may not have previously been devoutly religious now show an attachment to their faith and thus their national/ethnic affiliation. Maybe it,s necessary in this day and age so that there is no awkwardness as you try to figure out someone,s ethnicity. May save some awkward moments later!

In the work place in Brcko, there is a system of quotas or affirmative action so that qualified individuals are not discriminated against if they are from a certain ethnic group. This differs say from Republic of Srpska where you may be blocked from employment or a place to live if you are Bosniak or vice versa in the Federation (if you are Serb or Croat). In Brcko you cannot be discriminated against but at the same time the quota system may work against you if you are applying for a position for which many other people from your ethnic group have already applied!! This makes employment and job prospects for certain individuals in some industries a bit tricky.

I,ll conclude this blog though and say that there is no perfect system. In spite of its inperfections and flaws, Brcko is a model for other communities in BiH. Perhaps the younger generation and their children will grow up optimistically and identify themselves as citizens of Brcko or Bosnia rather than as Serbs, Bosniaks or Croats. The enthusiasm, cooperation and carefree attitude I saw demonstrated by youth at the camp certainly gives hope to this!

Brcko Information and Pics

For those of you interested in seeing what Brcko looks like, visit the district's photo gallery.

Almir Dzanovic from Brcko also sent some links to some wonderful and personal pictures with a unique perspective. In addition to Brcko, there are various links to other albums such as memorial pictures from Srebrenica.

• Panoramio- Photos by Almir Dzanovic
• Foto Galerija

Balkans Letter 3/ Brcko

Originally sent July 16, 2007

Hope this finds you all well. I am now writing from Brcko in Bosnia. Before I delve further into this email though, I should let you know that I am struggling with this Bosnian keyboard and can,t figure out how certain letters or punctuation marks are entered so please bear with my sloppiness or if the wording of something may not entirely make sense!

Saturday was the last day of the camp. In the end I made some good connections with some of the kids and have been inspired by the whole experience. Some of my personal highlights have included the personal connections with some of the youth, working on the play performance, and exchanging notes with our . The kids enjoyed also interacting with other kids from other camps from Russia, Italy, France and Croatia. Indeed there were quite a few tears shed when the bus pulled out from the camp site for the long trip back to Brcko.

The play performance was especially moving. As I mentioned in my last email, the children wrote a Romeo and Juliet/West Side Story type play about a war between two gangs in the City of Roses. A girl from the Red Rose gang fell in love with a boy from the Black Rose gang and as expected, the girl was killed in a fight between the two gangs. Upon finding his love dead, Antonio (the main male character) killed himself and the gangs came together in the end and ended their years of conflict. I had the great fortune of working with one of the other volunteers and two boys on writing a song for the end of the play. It,s a beautiful song and here is a rough translation.....

War is over
The gangs have disbanded
There is peace
Roses grow again

Their love will live on
they are together now forever

On Friday evening, 24 of the kids as well as some of the volunteers performed the play. We dressed up in black and red and beat drums made of cardboard tubes and shakers made of rice and plastic bottles. I was lucky to also have the chance to play violin for part of the performance when I wasn,t in costume with the Black Rose gang...... I think all of the kids were quite pleased with their perfomance and what they were able to create in roughly 5 days. It was great that they all worked so well together.

I will be here in Brcko until Thursday evening. I am currently staying in a flat with the other British volunteers who will stay here for another two months coordinating and leading various workshops for the kids. I will spend my time exploring Brcko, learning a little Bosnian and may also lead one small poetry activity with some of the kids.

I should mention that today two of the teenagers named Denis and Mascha approached me to inquire whether there would be interest in forming a youth exchange between Brcko and an American city. Would be fantastic to get such a program off the ground possibly between Seattle and Brcko?

Pictured with Denis, Mascha and Mirsa (L to R)

Breifly some first impressions of Brcko....
Brcko is a multi ethnic district that is self governed as well as there being a foreign UN presence. Throughout the city I see different buildings or centers with a sign about funding by the Canadian or Norwegian or German government such as a Rehabilitation Kindergarten funded by the Norwegian government (not quite sure what that may be). There is a catholic chruch for the Croat community, an Orthodox church for the Serbs as well as a mosque. Prayer calls can be heard at different times during the day.

I have noticed that posted on various walls or on buildings thorughout the city there are obituaries for people (rather than in newspapers). So for example, on a place where you would see various flyers for events are also these obituaries in both latin Bosnian (for Bosniaks Muslims) as well as in cyrillic (for Serbs). I was told that sadly there was recently a mass grave found so there are a lot of obits up right now.

People are very helpful and friendly and I think generally people may want to put the past behind and not be known as the country where there was this horrific war. That being said, I think there are still many feelings and problems that are unresolved. I haven,t been able to have personal conversations with people about their experiences as it is a very personal thing.

View of Brcko crossing river from Croatia


Brcko's library sustained a lot of damage during the war.

Balkans Letter 2

Sent originally on July 10, 2007

Well, I arrived safely to Savudrija, Croatia after three days of travel from Seattle to Vancouver, Glasgow, London, Triete, Buije and finally Savudrija. The kids from Brcko and the other volunteers arrived from Bosnia mid-morning last Friday after a long, exhausting, hair pulling overnight journey. They had some trouble crossing the border from Brcko where everyone's bags were searched and finally the bus company was denied crossing. In the end they were able to pass into Croatia at another border crossing.

The last few days at camp (now that the honeymoon is over) have been somewhat emotional for me as I struggle to communicate in my very limited Bosnian (this language is more or less the same as Serbo-Croatian but is denoted as Bosnian to distinguish it as the national language of BiH). I am sharing a make shift metal cabin with 5 adolescent girls and Gordana who is one of Svitac's (Firefly Bosnia) staff. We rise at 7:30 every day for breakfast at 7:45, then have morning activities which is either music or creative camp. Lunch is at 12:30 then we spend the afternoon on the beach and then dinner at 6:30. Also, an interesting side note to the camp- we learned from an Italian that it was a camp for Bosnian refugees during the war.

My "roommates"


I still am working on finding that special connection with some of the youth. I find it quite interesting that kids the world over hate eating school or camp lunch or dinner. It reminds me of my experiences working with "my kids" at Meany Middle School in Seattle who frequently skipped lunch because they hated the food. Same thing here- many of the kids seem to begrudge the dinner here and prefer the snacks they brought from home. :)

In our music camp, the youth are writing a play about two gangs where a boy and girl from each gang fall in love with each other (similar to Romeo and Juliet). The play ends with both lovers dying and the two gangs coming together in the end to make peace. I've been impressed with the beautiful song the children have composed and hopefully I will be able to get a recording for all of you. :)

The lovers from the Black and Red Rose Gangs meet.

I had an interesting experience of trying to throw together a kickball game yesterday. I assumed it would be very easy to teach and that it would be a big hit if I promoted it as a combination between baseball and football (soccer). The other British volunteers and I tried our best to explain it but everyone was left very confused in the end. I thought one boy named Nemanja was just getting the hang of it as he came in for a home run but then he continued to keep running towards first base the second time a round! :) Mainly the kids didn't want to waste their energy since they had a camp wide football match going on later against the other camps on the site.

The football match was a very moving experience. Since "our kids" are from Bosnia, we had two teams playing known as BiH 1 (Bosnia Herzegovnia) and 2. A group from Russia was the Russian team as well as there being an Italian team. Needless to say, both our teams defeated both the Russian and Italian teams effortlessly. They kids kids came together to support their teams and were proudly waving the Bosnian flag. I do think it's incredible that they identify themselves as Bosnians- whether they are Serb or Bosniak (Muslim) or Croat. They made a strong force together.

Cheering on the girl's football team and showing plenty of Bosnian spirit!

Today is my afternoon "off". I have come into Umag with a couple of the other volunteers (who are fantatic) to run some errands and catch up on internet. I hope to catch up with you all later this week or when I am in Brcko.

Jam session

Trip to the Balkans

Today I will depart for my trip to the Balkans. First of all, I want to share with you all how successful my/our fundraising drive was for this trip. Initially my goal was to raise $2,400 so that I could cover the $1,400 costs for myself and 3 youth to attend the camp as well as my travel costs. However, thanks to all of your resourcefulness and generosity, I was able to raise (either directly or indirectly) $3,500! Therefore, I was able to donate $1,800 to Firefly directly as well as pay for my airfare and any other related travel costs as well as any other costs I incurred to fund raise for this cause. It just goes to show how powerful a community we are and I have been truly inspired by this entire endeavor.

Yesterday, Gordana- the Firefly Bosnia Coordinator, sent me a list of participants at the Firefly International camp. Looking at the list made it all very real. There will be 48 youth participating; 4 young volunteers (former campers); 6 staff; and 6 staff from Brcko; as well as 11 staff from the UK and US (of which I am one). Many of the camp participants are in fact teenagers and the age range is 9 to 18. This will mean that some of the camp participants may be old enough to remember what happened during the war or were born during that sad time. Next to the name of a participant on the list it says whether she or he is a Serb, Bosniak (Muslim) or Croat. Hopefully the camp will help play a role in the youth eventually not seeing each other as Serbs, Bosniaks or Croats but as people who share a common community. I know that that will not be easy but it's a huge and admirable step for all of them to come to the camp where they are willing to set aside their differences and find common ground.

The camp will be held in Savudrija, Croatia an idyllic seaide resort town on the Northwest Istran coast very close to Croatia's border with Slovenia. I will be meeting the group and camp participants there this Friday. Following the camp's end on July 15, I will travel back with the camp coordinators and youth to Brcko in Bosnia. Brcko has a complex status. In 1995 at the Dayton Peace Accord, the Republic of Bosnia Herzegovina was divided into two administrative entitities- the Republic of Srpska which is primarily inhabited by ethnic Serbs and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina which is primarily inhabited by Bosniaks (Muslims) and Croats. The Brcko District, however, was created in 2000 out of land from both entities, is multiethnic and is not governed by either entity. It is self governed and also remains under international supervision.

I will also have the opportunity to travel in early August to Mostar and Sarajevo. Mostar is in Southern Bosnia in the Herzegovina region. It is famous for Stari Most (Old Bridge), a 14th century structure built by the Ottoman Turks and destroyed during the Bosnian War in 1993. It has since been rebuilt and become a symbol for hope and new cooperation between the different ethnic groups in the city. I also look forward to visiting Sarajevo which I understand has again become quite hip and lively.

This will be my last entry on this blog before I leave for Europe. Hopefully I will have the chance to visit internet cafes to keep you all updated!