Day 2 marked the start of our academic visits in Kosovo. As I checked our tour program to see what the day would bring, I saw that we would be taking taxis all around the city, as the traffic in Prishtina is often unpredictable. Different from what I was expecting, but I accepted it. Our DIS leader called cabs for all of us, and we set off for the International Civilian Office, or ICO. It was at this point that I learned that traffic is not only unpredictable in Prishtina, but also that things like stop signs, traffic lights, and turn signals are more or less only seen as a suggestion for the local drivers. If the coffee from breakfast hadn't significantly woken me up that morning.. this ride definitely did the trick. Although the ride was a little crazy, I couldn't help but to be impressed that we didn't side swipe anyone, take off any mirrors, or hit any pedestrians. Once we arrived safely at the ICO, they gave us more coffee (yay!) and we got a presentation on how the ICO is working to advise Kosovo's government and community leaders on European integration.
Official conference tables, water, coffee, and microphones. Legit.
After lunch, we visited the European Union Rule of Law Mission to Kosovo, EULEX. They focus on implementation of law in Kosovo, and we learned a lot about the challenges they face, including Kosovo's unclear status in the EU, security threats, lack of financial support, and politcal corruption.
Once our busy afternoon was done, we had some free time to do some shopping and stop for an afternoon cup of coffee!
Sarah & Charlotte & coffee
Next up was our visit to the University of Prishtina, where we got to talk with a professor of Political Science and some of her students about the main challenges/opportunities that Kosovo is dealing with, namely, the fact that building up post-conflict Kosovo is like trying to build a plane while it's in the air- everything must be put together while trying to function at the same time. Afterwards, they joined us for dinner at a restaurant nearby. Unfortunately we didn't find friends from the university like we did on the short study tour in Århus.. but after dinner a lot of DIS kids hung out and bonded at the restaurant across from our hotel- the same place we had coffee earlier that day, which had lovely outdoor sitting and allowed us to enjoy the unusually warm weather!
Our dinner.. what I assume is Kosovo's version of tapas ?
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