KOSOVO HIDDEN GEM OF EUROPE

My very first morning in kosovo i was awoken by an ominous voice that echoed through windows and immediatly i rose to my feet.
it sounded like the dead bellowing aribic worded tones from the grave.i ask my friend what this was and he informed me that is was the
muslim call to prayer and it will happen 5x a day starting at 5am.We had a flat right by the mosq and thats the reason it was so obnoxiously loud and unforgiveing to the ear
.being from america and never haveing left the states befor,the sound was strange and shocking to me but i eventually got used to it.

sense i was staying in kosovo for an extended period of time i eventually was in need of medical care.Ihad a stomach pain that
had been going on for some weeks and had no choice but to go.The thought of going to visit a doctor over seas made me very
nervous.simply because i knew the average salery of a doctor in kosovo and my life was going to be in the hands of a man that was
being pain less than what i make in 2 weeks of working in the US.there was no sign of my stomach pain ending so i went.when i got
there the receptionist took my info and made a copy of my passport.then ask me to pay.i thought for sure i was going to have to pay a
sizeable sum because in the US you'll pay anwhere from 400$ to 1000$ for an emergency room visit.

so when the receptionist ank me to pay just one euro i was stunned.i thought surely it must be a mistake.i discovered also that.surgery
was only just 50 euro and that included brain surgery.i also learned that hospitals in eastern europe have very high numbers of staff
infections.so thin was just another reason to be nervous.the receptionist directed me to the doctors office and i knocked on the door
He told me to enter.as i walked in i noticed he was already examining a women and she was have dressed and i started to walk out and he said no no
come sit.the complete lack of privacy was shocking.In the US your not even allowed to over hear a conversation between a doctor and patient
let alone witness an exame.so always keep in mind in an eastern european hospital you will get no privact by any means.

the dontor began to examine with 2 other patiants waiting right in the room watching.Rather quickly he told me i needed pain killers and steroids
.he didnt say what for .he only handed me a sheet of paper with the name of 2 medications.it was at that time i learned that nearly everything was
over the counter including narcotics in kosovo and what he had given me was a recomendation not a perscription.so i went to the pharmacy and haned
her the paper.she handed me a bottle of pills and a small container of liqued with a seringe.i gave her a puzzled look and asked her what i was suppose
to do with that and then she made hand signales to inject it in my backside.i was again very taken back.I never expected a dontor to ask me to inject my
own medication.so i pushed the seringe and container away and just took the pills.i cant complain to much because the pills worked and the stomach ache
eventually went away.i was just thankful i didnt need more serious treatment because who knows what madness that would intel.They say every great journey begins with a single step.Pristina ,Kosovo this is where my overseas travels frist began nearly 4 years ago.
It is also where i spent the most time and would eventually meet my future wife.ill never forget the sound of thousands and thousands of black birds upon arriving.
it was then i learned the reason for its name (kosovo) is derived from the serbian word Kos meaning black bird.they are every where during the fall season.
it remided me of a scene from Alfred Hitchcock the birds.the second thing that came to me was the scent of firewood burning.whch was strange being a big city
wood burners are useually few and far between.Due to very low income and unemployment rates and in a addition to the winter black outs wood burners began to make
sense.

my first night in kosovo was very somber,with lack of city lights and a large amount of chimmney smoke in the air.i had to watch my step very carefully due to missing
manhole covers that were taken and melted down to be sold for scrap.the third world aspect of the country was finally sinking in.their were a fair amount
of beggers in the city most were children working for certain groups and parents of alchoholics and drug addicts.The adult beggers were much differant than
ones through out the US.they were ashamed .they remained on hands and knees covered with a sheet with only their hands showing to collect the change.i felt
so bad for them but i never gave because this is illeagle and i was instructed not to by law enfourcement.

Also all over the city nearly in every corner or street is a monument of fallen war heros or loved ones lost in the war.one day while walking
i glanced to my left and saw a large statue of bill clinton glareing at me from a distance .then i looked to the right and realized the strret was also named
after him.i became interested in the history and due to clintons involvment in the liberation of kosovo they have great respect forbill clinton and basically
all americans.so when visiting Kosovo you will never meet and unfriendly face.

Now serbia on the other hand is a totally different story.while traveling from kosovo to austria by bus i learned this.Iwas makeing my way through kosovo
to the serbian border on a bus of about 60 people.We i arrived at the border check point.they began to stamp everyones passport to resume transit.when they
got to me they had seen the last stamp on my passport was kosovo.they hate them so bad they will not even let a person with a passport kosovo stamp pass.
they then pulled me off the bus and began searching me and all my belonging,i suppose looking for a reason to detain me.simply be cause i was an american
and they considered me indirectly resposeable for Nato fources bombing the day lights out of them in 1999.so i was held and questioned for hours by several
different agents.it was then i said ive had enough and threatend to call the US embassy if they didnt let me go.so they instead released me and instructed
me to go back through kosovo to macedonia to get a stamp there then come back through serbia.most serbians are petty and rude.so a word of advice.dont go
to serbia...

as you will see in this chapter kosovo has many beautiful places that are unseen by most due to its lack of popularity or even knowledge of it
for that matter.befor comeing to kosovo i didnt even know it exisited.there are many old streets and walk ways and ruins left by war and a peice of history
on nearly every corner.make no mistake this is a third world country with rampant poverty and lack of any kind of economy.the people are humble and respectful
and are always willing to give a helping hand.it helps also that nearly everyone can speak english.places like this remind me that their is a world outside my own
that is bigger than you can imagine.I expierianced a great amount of food culture with in kosovo was something very unique and unforgetable.they have many traditional dishes such
as spaitza wich is pepers and cheeze sauce.simple to make but very good.the other is called chorba wich is potatoes boiled with special spices that
can only be bought in eastern europe.the other is called crayona wich is basically just fried bread,cheeze and yogart but their yogart is not what
it is in the US.it is basically likened to our sour cream but more liquid form like milk.i put it on nearly everything i ate.

these are the 3 main dishes served at gatherings ,religious event and celebrations.another great food in kosovo is called mish vici wich translated is
veal which is not so common in the US due to the inhumane nature of which veal is made.kosovo has the best i have ever eatan.it is served with mushrooms
and a special flour based sauce that is unlike anything i have ever tasted.needless to say i ate it atleast once a day my entire stay along with 2 other
main dishes seved throughout europe called donar and the other paprica goulash.

The most common food sever souly in the albainian community is called burek.this was by far my favorite culinary discovery in kosova.burek is made 2 ways
with meat or cheeze.it is bread layered out very thin and washed in yogurt packed in each layer is cheeze or meat and ends up being the texture of pasta.
basically our equivalant of cheezy bread but obviously much better.all of my favorite foreign foods reside mainly in eastern europe.keep in mind when
makeing future travel plans that kosovo is worth the trip for the food alone.

I have also spent many holidays in kosovo.their indipenance day ,the muslim holiday bahram and easter.although easter
is not widele selebrated in kosovo because its nearly 98% muslim.i wanted to attend church easter sunday.so i found
a church not far from my flat.one of 3 remaining christian churches in all of kosovo.so i decided to go.i arrived early
morning.befor entering the church i noticed 4 police officers that looked as if they were standing gaurd at the gate of the church.
as i walked pasted them the gave me a very concerned look but said nothing.when i entered the sactuary i got very strange looks and
could tell i made peopele extreamly nervous.at the time i had a very large beard that im sure pegged me as a muslim.not that they wernt
used to muslims frequently attending their church from time to time.it was only later i learned the true reason for their troubleing looks

I learned that the year befor on easter sunday the church had been attacked by a radical group of muslims.the pastor was hog tied and beaten
and the church was vandleized with anti christian arabic graffiti and windows shashed along with worship instruments and various belongings of the
church.now i understood the concerning looks from the police and the church goers.i found it very interesting and encourageing that altough the police
where most likely muslim themselfes and most christians and muslims are always in confrontation with each other.the kosovo police were able to
put there differances aside to do their job and protect the church even if it went against everything they believe.

one things for sure i wasnt in america anymore where we are free to worship without fear of attack or condemnation.the expieriance made
me appriciate the freedoms we do have in america.police dont have to patrol churches and citizens dont have to be worried or nervous.i
can honestly say befor this expieriance i took all those things for granted.that is something that will never happen again.if there is one thing
i learned to do from all my travels is to hold the freedoms i have close to my heart because no everyone has them.Much like most countries in eastern europe everyone acts as though they are neibors.They live in such a small place that theres more
of a sense of community much like a small town in the US.Everyone knows everyone in some shape or fashion.The only problem with this is
everyone is also in everyones buisness.Being an outsider looking in i also noticed that their attitude towards sick people and people
with diabilities is extreamly judgemental.my first trip to kosovo i was living with a friend who had burns on his face and in addition
was an amputy.

They stared at him and laghfed behind his back.i thought this was terrible but he is a possitive person and doesnt let it bother him.
Many european people also do not know about americas past reguarding slavery.europeans watch alot of american tv and listen to american
music especually rap music so it wasnt unusual for them to call an african american a nigger.Their are very few people of color in
eastern europe.They are so few of them they are pretty much non existant.

They are not culturally diverse really the only presence of foreiners is maily at the K4 base in pristina.Kosovo has the youngest population
in europe and is also the poorest country in europe.They are the youngest country manly because of the war.Many of the older people of men
of kosovo were killed during the war and left their wives with child and to fend for them selves.In kosovo on every corner you will find
coffee shops full of people age 20-30 sipping coffee and mochioto.This is their main source of entertainment.That and getting together for
soccor games ,especually when serbia faces off against the albainian soccor team.Every victory against serbia is considered a personal one.
The roots of hate between serbians and albaiians run deep from the atrosities commited by serbians during the war.So its not uncommon for
large fits to break out when either side is winning or loseing.I must say i cant blame them.Imagine being neigbors with someone that had
raped your mother and sister and killed your father and brother.The tention is always and will always be there between these 2 races.

Being an american its hard to conceive that people of my age have suffered as they have and that makes them vastly differant then us.
When i was 8 years old i had no cares and no worries.When they where 8 they where in the midst of war and fourced out of their home
to refugee camps through out macedonia.They were taken to a section of land and stayed in tents.They where not trated with dignity or
respect but where considered intruders seeing as the european union fourced them to take in the refugees.Kosovar spent the majority of
their childhood hungry and scared for their life.
Their are many diverse believes and practices in kosovo especually between a husband and wife.A wife is to walk 10 feet behind the husband so he
can see everyone that enters her path and maintains a position of athority and domminance over her at times.This is largely in regards to the muslim
religion.Although the are not a sharia court ,they are 98% muslim in kosovo.When the major muslim holidays are celebrated the entire city shuts down.
For holidays such as ramazan and bayram the 3 day holiday that follows the end of the month of ramazan.Gifts are exchanged between friends and family
members and a large feast to mark the end of the holiday.

Their are many diferant sects of islam.perhaps the most bizzare is something called sufism.Sufism is a mystical religion with influances from the
buddist and hidu religion ans well as strong roots in the islamic religion.It originated in the middle east in the 8th century. It has made its way throughout asia and
eastern europe.They have many unusual practices such as a believe in Psychokinesis ability and self atained transendental extacy as well as group
orgy's and pain endurance.pain endurance is something that is practiced once a year during bayram.The sufi minister then hypnotizes the congragation
and subjects them to pain endurance to prove the stregth of their individual faith.

They first peirce the skin in several differant places with a large metal prong ,then they fource the prong through certain parts of the body manuvering
around major organs.Then they burn each other with open flames hot pockers and final test of endurance is the fire walk across a bed of hot coals.This is
supposedly all done in a hypnotic state and claim they feel nothing.This is more extream compared to a similar ritual done by the buddist religion with the
exclusion of guided hypnosis,sufims is the only religion world wide that does guided hypnosis.