Friday, October 28, 2011

The Good Life

Study abroad is a truly wonderful life.  Before I left home back in August, I remember my mom telling me about Copenhagen, describing it as an "enchanting city."  I wasn't sure exactly what this would come to mean, but I think I understand now.  She also told me that if I had any thoughts of not coming back home, that I should remember that they don't have Wawa in Copenhagen (a Philadelphia staple that's basically a 7 Eleven but 489302x better and that I crave whenever I'm away.)

Well, she was right.  During the course of this semester, I have been completely enchanted by Denmark and by Copenhagen, and so intrigued by everything I have experienced so far.  I've been waiting awhile to post this on my blog, but now it's officially official...

Wawa will have to wait, because I'll be staying in Copenhagen with DIS for spring semester!!

It was quite a big decision, and I thought about it for a long time.  It had been in the back of my head for a while, then one day I mentioned it to my friend Sarah (also a full year student), who simply said, "Well why don't you just do it?!"

Once it became something I was really considering, I had a lot to think about.  I absolutely love Stonehill College, and being away for another semester will be really challenging, especially since I won't be there to spend spring semester with my friends who are graduating.  I actually made a pro/con list, something that I never do, and I know I will have so many amazing opportunities here, meet so many more people here with a contagious spark for life, and continue to get to know myself.  A large part of it was also like, when ELSE would I have the opportunity to live in Copenhagen's Latin Quarter, study, and casually travel the world on weekends?!  Maybe it also has to do with the fact that I'm awful at saying goodbye to things.. this gives me the chance to prolong my goodbye with Copenhagen a bit longer.  Seriously though, I wasn't ready to leave my perfect window with a view of the yellow house, the cobblestone streets, the bikes, the candles, and maybe even Netto (our lovely local grocery.. expect an "ode to Netto" coming in a post soon..)  The people are alright too I suppose..  ;)  My SRA Anna is wonderful- she's been so welcoming and has become more of a friend than just an SRA.  Also, getting to know my visiting family has been one of the best parts of being in Denmark, and I can't wait to spend even more time with them!

After meeting and talking with some other international students who are away from their home universities for the year.  One friend and I had a decently long conversation just detailing all the ways in which the life of a study abroad student is the best life, and it made me want to experience the world like they do- with a spice for life, a sense of adventure, and fearlessness.   I love the places that I've come from and that have shaped me, but I've also come to realize that I've been sheltered.  Lucky as anything, but sheltered none the less.  When I  mentioned to someone that I was choosing to stay here for the year, they were surprised because they knew how much I love my home university.  And I do, I definitely do.  But my conclusion is that all the experiences in my life have lead me here and given me this opportunity, so I might as well go big, or quite literally go home.  I choose going big.

If I really sit down and think about it, sometimes I still have moments where I'm like, "AH what am I doing?!"  But then I remember that next semester I can fulfill my goal of getting a bike, go study at the Royal Library, take a class at Copenhagen University, travel more, and of course "Smile, breathe, and go slowly."

There really IS so much to feel good about, and I've learned that here.  I'm so excited to make the most out of everything!

Again, it's only the beginning of the adventure... In more ways than one.  ;)

Monday, October 24, 2011

"It's a small world after all.."

Now that you all probably have that song stuck in your heads, allow me to share three stories that illustrate just how small it actually is.

The first story, although not my own, seems to be more common than one would think in the life of your average study abroad student:
A bunch of my friends from Stonehill are studying abroad in Florence, Italy (or StonehITALY, as coined by the one and only DGirv; to the right, catch a glimpse of Dave in touch with his orientation-loving essence!)  A few weeks ago, while they were casually taking a stroll down the Ponte Vecchio, they ran into one of our other friends, also from Stonehill, but who is studying in Perugia, Italy.  She was en route to Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany.  Two points for the spontaneous, unplanned, random encounter!



Another story, also not my own, happened to my friend Sarah during Kulturnatten in Copenhagen:
One of the oldest kollegiums in the city is located almost right across the street from where I live.  On Kulturnatten, they opened the gates to their garden so the public could walk through and take a look at an area that's usually pretty private.  Some of the university students were wandering around down in the garden to answer questions and whatnot.  We walked in completely on a whim to check it out, only because we were waiting for some of our friends to come meet up with us.  As we waited, we started talking to one student.  He asked us all where we were from, and Sarah said that she went to school near Washington, DC.  He then asked where in DC she went.  She replied that she went to University of Maryland, and he said "You look very familiar.  I spent a semester at Maryland.. Did you take a dance class?"  Turns out they were in the very same dance class and lived only a few buildings away from each other and then just happened to run into each other in Copenhagen!  It was crazy, and the whole thing still kind of blows my mind.

Finally, yesterday I was doing some Facebook stalking and stumbled upon one of my friends from Stonehill's photo album titled "Kosovo."  I of course was in Kosovo just two weeks ago, so I wrote on her wall, saying hi and asking when exactly she had been there.  We were there the exact same week.  We started talking about it, and she said "Tara, please tell me you did not eat at Pishat Restaurant on October 3rd..."  I consulted my travel program, and it turns out that we ate at the very same restaurant at the exact same time and somehow DIDN'T see each other!!  Her chair was backing into someone's chair from my class, and they even discussed places to hang out that night.  How we didn't see each other baffles me, but I guess even a crazy small world doesn't make up for me being unobservant.  To the right, check out.. uh, the only picture Linds and I have together.  What?!  Oh well, gave me an excuse to reminisce about summer with the lovely Stonehill Peer Mentors!


In conclusion:
"It's a small, small, world."

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Layin' low

I can't say that I have an especially exciting update for you today (I've also been slacking on the picture-taking) but I just wanted to mention a few fun things that have been going on this week, mostly for posterity/so I don't forget.  :)

Anyway, most of this week had been catch-up and recovery from the exciting weekend-o-friends!  (At the ripe old age of 20-and-a-half, it really took a lot out of me!)  It's time for midterms at DIS, which is crazy... 1. because the semester is half way over!!  and 2. because most people are starting to get crazy busy.  But before I could attend to my schoolwork, I had more fun responsibilities to attend to- planning a dinner party.  I'm fancy, huh?

Just kidding.  Not about dinner, but certainly about the fancy part.  On Monday night, Julia and I had our visiting family over to our apartment for dinner.  We've been to their house quite a few times, so we thought it would be fun to have them see where we live and (attempt to) cook for them.  After some debate over the menu, we settled for some delicious options that we both enjoyed, were slightly typical of an American college student, and that would be easy to cook without messing up.  We planned to make mini-hamburger sliders, quesadillas, and Julia's famous mac-n-cheese.  I also threw a salad together for good measure.  We were pretty nervous as it was the first time either of us had hosted anyone for dinner, but it was a success!  The girls had fun seeing where Julia and I live, and Theresa and Christopher got to meet some of our other roommates as well!

Tuesday was midterm time, eek!  I had my midterm in Gang Crime in Scandinavia, which I think went well!  More interestingly, however, was that a famous Danish director was shooting a movie on our street!  It's set to premier in Fall 2012!  I'm not sure of the name of the movie, but I will definitely find out and see it ASAP so I can announce to everyone that I lived there when it was shot.  While I creepily watched outside my window, I feel asleep and took about a 2 hour nap.  (Yup, still recovering.)  Later that night, everyone in our building got together for a progressive party through the apartments- one floor had hot chocolate and cookies, another had cupcakes, and we had chips and guacamole.  With everyone being on such different schedules, it has been hard to get to know people besides my immediate roommates, but this party gave us the opportunity to all sit down and talk and have a nice, hyggeligt night!

Last night, I ventured out to Gentofte, which is a suburb of Copenhagen about a 20 minute train ride away from the city center.  My friend Sarah lives with a host family there, and they're on vacation for a few days.  I went over to keep her company, and we spent the night working on a bit of homework, watching some American TV including my FAVORITE LAW & ORDER SVU ahhhh so excited, eating butternut squash soup, sitting in front of the fire, and playing with the family dog, Ophelia.  It was such a great break from city life, and it definitely gave me a little taste of home.  In the morning, we took the train back into the city for class, and I got my first taste of the morning commute culture in Copenhagen.  It was a nice change from my usual five minute walk- I felt like a real little student/legit business person.  While I love living so close to DIS, I don't think I'd hate taking the train either.

So, like I said, a pretty low-key week.. but I need to rest up, because in just one week I leave to begin my adventures around Europe with Amy!  We're both so so so excited to see lots of our Stonehill friends/sleep on their floors, experience RyanAir for the first time, and take in every second of our whirlwind trip.

Time really does fly..

Monday, October 17, 2011

The most exciting weekend!

All last week, I could hardly contain my excitement for what the weekend would bring!  For one thing, one of my best friends from Stonehill would be visiting.  Also, Kulturnatten, or "Culture Night" was scheduled for Friday, and some of our friends from Århus would be passing through Copenhagen too!  So many fun activities!!  I was seriously like a little kid waiting for Christmas!

Finally, Friday afternoon rolled around, bringing Danielle to Copenhagen!  Danielle is doing an internship in London this semester, and she gets major friend points for waking up at 2:30am to get an early flight to Denmark.  Back at Stonehill, Amy and Danielle are roommates, so all three of us were so so so excited to be reunited for the weekend!

This is Danielle.  (The one who isn't me or Amy.)  Danielle enjoys dancing, Sigmund Freud, chocolate bundt cake, and spending time with her dog, Lucky.  Danielle does not enjoy disorganization of any sort, when the breakfast omelets at Stonehill are soggy, or traveling alone.

After our morning class, Amy went to pick Danielle up from the train station, and they were both waiting for me when I got out of class at 1.  We spent the afternoon catching up, taking a walk to Agnes Cupcake, and introducing Danielle to Netto, our lovely local grocery store.  The three of us cooked dinner, and then got ready for Kulturnatten festivities!

"Kulturnatten" is basically a big fall festival across the whole city of Copenhagen.  For any south eastern Pennsylvania locals (or maybe just my parents) it was kind of like Grand Illuminations at Peddler's Village on a MUCH larger scale.  Everything stays open until around midnight, and you can walk around and see lots of galleries, gardens, take flashlight tours of the castle, and grab some hot chocolate at the Royal Library.  Even DIS got involved, putting together an authentic "American" Halloween celebration, which was conveniently set up right in my courtyard!  They had s'mores, pumpkin carving, and a haunted house.  Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely LOVE autumn activities like this, so I was in heaven.

My roommates Russell, Jamie, and Anna



Over the course of the night, we also went to the Roundtower.  We climbed to the top and got to see the city at night, and as an added Kulturnatten bonus, we got to climb a little bit higher to the observatory!!  We got to look through a super intense telescope and check out Jupiter.

Some casual star-gazing

After the Roundtower, we met up with a few more DIS friends and decided to take a walk down toward the King's Garden.   We ended up wandering into the Film Institute, the Odd Fellow's Mansion, and all the way down to Nyhavn where we purchased ice cream (despite the chilly weather).  From there, we continued down to the Royal Library.  I realize that I probably sound like the world's nerdiest person for having SO much fun running around the library on a Friday night at midnight... but it really was so cool!  I noticed some tiny, off the beaten path rooms full of books (Beauty and the Beast status) and maybe even some future study areas.  Outside the library, we watched some small children twirling fire and playing the bagpipes.

First time (pretending to) drive a car in 2 months!

Stumbled upon the Odd Fellow's Palace

Our footwear inside the palace

We make a cute couple

Being in the library after midnight isn't usually this much fun..

Okay kids..

The energy level in the city was crazy, and I was loving every second of it!  Like I mentioned earlier, we even got to meet up with our friends from Århus who we met way back in September and who were passing through Copenhagen this weekend- yay fellow international students!!

On Saturday, Amy, Danielle and I headed out to do some typical Copenhagen sight seeing!  The weather was perfect, and we took the water taxi down to the Little Mermaid (third visit, by the way) and then walked around that area before checking out Nyhavn.  A little later, we picked up some hotdogs and went to sit in the King's Garden, where we proceeded to find a perfect tree for climbing.  We hung out there for a while, then cooked omelets for dinner.  Strange, you might say; however, all three of us have been sorely missing the omelets from Stonehill's cafeteria that we love so much.  Our goal was to recreate these omelets, and we succeeded!!  (If I do say so myself...)

Third time's a charm

Stonehill takes Copenhagen :)

Yum.

Today we started the day with banana/nutella crepes, then we walked over to Christianshavn.  At three we stopped by an art gallery where my SRA Anna had some paintings.  Then, we took Danielle for a last meal at RizRaz before sending her back off to London!  :(  Definitely wanted to keep her here, but it was so great for Amy and I to be reunited with one of our best friends from school, even if it was only a weekend!  Over our two week travel break, we're going to get to go check out London!

So much fun with so many friends!  :)

Thursday, October 13, 2011

KontemplatingKosovo

For the past few days, I've been meaning to sit down and write one final entry considering my trip to Kosovo- although I tried to capture all the details of our activities, there are just a few things left that I wanted to mention, mostly so I don't forget, and perhaps you'll find them interesting too.

1.  Whenever anyone asks me how the trip went, the adjective I jump to right away is "interesting."  I then usually mention that only a few people suffered from gastrointestinal disturbances (too much sausage, perhaps), there was only one event of theft, and no one got human trafficked!  After describing my trip like this to a friend, they said "So in other words- it wasn't much fun?"  To this, I had to disagree.  It was much different than most of the other European cities fellow DIS students traveled to on study tours, and there were precautions we all had to take because of this, but I never once felt unsafe, and I had so much fun getting to know my classmates, who included some of the funniest, nicest, and most interesting people.  

2.  Before leaving for the study tour, we had a legal analysis due in our War Crimes/Human Rights class.  A lot of us struggled with this paper because it was so different than anything we were used to.  When we discussed this with our teacher, he simply told us that challenging us and forcing us out of our comfort zone was the point.  He and our other instructor wanted us to struggle, because once we struggled and had to reach beyond what we were used to, our comfort zone would expand and never return to its previous size.  Not only did that paper do that for me, but so did traveling to Kosovo.  It opened my eyes to real life, and once again showed me the importance of being aware of what's going on in the world.  

3.  The opportunity that I have to study abroad is incredible.  Since freshman year of college, I always knew I would study abroad somewhere at some point even if I wasn't sure of details.  That certainty is something that I didn't understand the value of until visiting Kosovo.  Getting a passport/visa there is difficult, so many young people don't have the opportunity to travel for studying or for working.  They want to get out and explore the world, but the lack of means to do so is obviously frustrating.  It made me realize how lucky I am to have come from the US to study in Copenhagen, where I then had the chance to visit Kosovo.  It reminded me that if conditions on the trip weren't ideal or completely comfortable, or if I'm dissatisfied with something, I need to remember to appreciate every moment of the opportunities that I have.  
“ Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. ”

4. Remember how one of my study abroad goals was to become a regular at a coffee shop?  I think I achieved this in Kosovo!!  On the first morning, my roommate Charlotte and I went down to breakfast.  We were the first ones at the buffet, and you had to ask the waiter for coffee because he made it fresh behind the counter.  (And it was delicious, by the way.)  When we got to breakfast the second morning, I sat down at the table and before I knew it, my coffee was delivered to me without having to ask!!  This continued everyday for the rest of the trip.  You win the award for my favorite person ever, Waiter!  Making my dreams come true.
:)

5.  The day before leaving for Kosovo, I skyped with my parents.  Despite the tension in Northern Kosovo, and despite the travel warning issued by the US for Kosovo, what my mom was most worried about was that she thought I had become a vegetarian.  In retrospect, the food I mention on my blog does happen to be meatless, but this is unintentional.  I reassured her that I am, in fact, getting enough protein; however, if I didn't manage to console her, let's remember the enormous plate of meat I consumed:



So, there you have it- not only did I "survive," I also expanded my horizons, stayed caffeinated, and proved once and for all that I am still an omnivore.  No worries, Mom!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

October 6: Long Study Tour, Day 5

Today brought another trip outside of Prishtina out west to Peja, which is the second largest city in Kosovo.  We stopped for a short walk around the city and saw the main town square as well as the many narrow market streets- definitely a smaller feel than Prishtina, but very charming!  Peja is situated at the bottom of the Rugova Gorge, and the mountains surrounding the city are absolutely gorgeous.



After a quick bus ride, we visited the Decani Monastery outside Peja, which is another Serbian Orthodox Monastery.  The area in which its located has had quite a turbulent history, so we had to pass through a military checkpoint and give over a form of identification before entering.  Once inside, one of the 30 monks that currently live there gave us a tour.  Despite its turbulent history, the monastery itself was gorgeous, and it was such a tranquil and quiet place to walk around.  Best of all, there was a dog, cats, and a kitten!!  





After our tour, we got back on the bus to head back to Peja.  All of a sudden, I hear someone say "There's a monk on the bus!"  Sure enough, there was in fact a monk on the bus.  Turns out, Charlotte asked to take a picture with him.  He didn't quite understand English, only that she wanted a picture, so before we left he came on the bus to give her a pamphlet with pictures of him in it!

He had quite the beard..

........Back in Peja, we had lunch at a restaurant whose specialty, apparently, was meat.  Meat of all colors, shapes, and sizes.  While it was a bit intimidating, we were hungry and didn't have much of a choice, so I chose to enjoy it.  It turned out better than expected!

Did it for the story.

After lunch, it was once again baaack onto the bus.  Our next activity was a bus/hiking tour of Rugova Gorge.  My expectations for the whole thing were pretty low..  But it turned out to be one of the most beautiful places I have seen in my entire life.  We drove for a while on some incredibly narrow and winding roads, then we got out and walked a little bit further up to a cheese factory that was nestled in the hills.  After grabbing some samples of their signature "white cheese," (which I unfortunately passed on due to my life-long aversion to most cheese products) we continued up the hill to a small village where we were greeted by a precious little old man, his wife, and their daughter-in-law.  They gave us fresh cornbread, milk, and honey and let us explore their farm.  It was so much fun, and again- one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.  They are trying to start an agro-tourism business, allowing guests to come and stay with them and help on the farm.  Before leaving, he encouraged us to come back someday with our parents, or husbands and wives, promising to always be there, since eating fresh food from the farm was his secret to a long, long life!


Sampling their cheese.. Some enjoying it more than others!

The factory.



Ben, Truc, and me



After a perfect visit to Rugova, it was back to Peja.  We got a chance to do some shopping before our final group dinner of the trip!  Ended the trip on a beautiful, delicious, wonderful note!  On Friday, we had one final academic visit before flying back home to Copenhagen.  

Home sweet hygge!  :)

October 5: Long Study Tour, Day 4

HAPPY HALF-BIRTHDAY TO ME!  Today marked six months until I reach the ripe old age of 21... whoa.

And what better way to celebrate than with a visit to the Center for Gender and Equality in Prishtina?!  In the morning, our class split up into groups of five and went to a bunch of different NGOs in the city.  At our meeting, we had the opportunity to learn so much about what the organization is doing in Kosovo, and since there were only five of us there, we got to ask a lot of questions in a setting that was much more informal than our usual meetings around a conference table.

After our visit at all our separate NGOs, we met back up, had lunch as a class, and took the bus to the KFOR (Kosovo Force) base, which assists local security forces and deals with current security issues.  KFOR was actually sent out to the bridge in Mitrovica that we saw the day before, so it was interesting to go and visit their headquarters.

On the way back, we stopped in Garcanica, which is a Serbian municipality.  We talked with a political leader in the town about the current situation, and then went for a guided tour of the Garcanica Monastery, which is an orthodox monastery that was built in 1321.  It's on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and it was gorgeous!



Back in Prishtina, we had some free time to grab dinner before we met back at the hotel for our suprise evening activity.  Our guide Eleanor got us tickets to a play at the local theater and ordered us fancy "London cabs" to take us there.  We were a bit skeptical considering the play was entirely in Albanian (with the exception of strategically placed Adele and Beyonce songs), but it turned out to be really fun!  Throughout the whole play, I tried to figure out what was going on, assigning a lot of deep, metaphorical meanings to what was going on.. only to find out that the premise of the play was two girls fighting over a boy.  Oh well, my ideas about a coming of age tale and/or a symbolic battle of a man's two muses were a good effort, but overall completely incorrect.  After the play, a few of us once again gathered at the restaurant across the street for a few drinks and snacks.  Highlight of the evening was definitely the restaurant manager getting rid of the birds in the trees above our table using this cool firework wand thing, after which he compared himself to Harry Potter.  Coolest thing I've ever seen.

Rachel & Ben on our way to the theater!

October 4: Long Study Tour, Day 3

Today we drove an hour northwest to the city of Mitrovica, which is about as far north as we could travel without entering into a high tension area.  A few days before leaving for the study tour, we found out that tensions between the Serbian/Albanian populations in northern Kosovo were mounting and that some of the borders were being blockaded.  Fortunately, the rest of the country was safe (and both of our instructors used to be in the Danish military, having been stationed in Kosovo during the conflict, so we were definitely in good hands!!), but we just had to take precautions when traveling to Mitrovica in particular because it is further north and because it is a city that's divided on Serbian/Albanian lines.

On the way, we stopped at Gazimestan, which is the site of a medieval battlefield known as "Field of Blackbirds."  We climbed to the top of the monument there and had time for a few quality DIS photo-ops.
I swear there are boys in our class too..

Embracing all opportunities for the solo shot..


In the city, we visited the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) as well as the office of Community Building in Mitrovica, but I think the most striking part of the visit was walking to the Mitrovica Bridge, which divides the North (Serbian) part of the city from the Albanian section in the south.  As I said, just days before we arrived tension had been mounting, and the bridge itself was blocked with piles of sand and wood.  Standing around the bridge, there was a very eerie, strained energy, and there was both police and military presence.  One of our instructors went to ask if it would be possible for us to walk onto the bridge, and we were told that we couldn't all go as a group because it might be seen as a threat, but we could go in small groups of four.  Also, we couldn't take any pictures that included any of the military vehicles or the guards who were there.  We all took turns walking out onto the bridge up to the blockade.  It was definitely a memorable experience for me, because as much as I have learned about the conflict in Kosovo, nothing compares to actually being there to experience effects of that conflict.  It's something I don't think I'll ever really forget.

From our spot a little bit away from the bridge

On the bridge; Northern Mitrovica in the distance

After our day in Mitrovica, we headed back to Prishtina and had the rest of our evening free!  A few of us decided to go out for a nice "girls night" dinner- something that is quite an expensive venture in Copenhagen but pleasantly affordable in Kosovo!  Everything was delicious, our waiter was awesome, and afterwards, we met up with some other friends from our class and explored the city a bit.  It was a great way to unwind from a long, eventful day.

Miriam, Charlotte, Sarah, and me at dinner

Saturday, October 8, 2011

October 3: Long Study Tour, Day 2

"Do as the locals do... jump in!"


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 ?

October 2: Long Study Tour, Day 1

Hej!  I apologize for being MIA, as I'm sure everyone has missed my blog updates so much, but I've been a little busy traveling to Kosovo!!  This past week was the week of long study tours with DIS, so on Sunday morning the rest of Justice & Human Rights and I left to spend the week in Prishtina, Kosovo's capital, as well as a few other cities/villages in the area.  I can honestly say that it was one of the most interesting places I have ever been-- very different from anywhere else I have ever been, that's for sure, but definitely one of the greatest learning experiences.  Also, it was quite an adventure from the very beginning.....

Sunday morning I left the apartment bright and early to meet Sarah and Charlotte at Nørreport Station so we could catch the Metro to the airport.  Since I live about five minutes away from the station, I took a nice, leisurely walk through the quiet, hazy, cobblestone streets with my suitcase in tow only to arrive at the station and have a horrifying epiphany- I had forgotten all of my toiletries.  Shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, everything.  With about 7 minutes to spare before I was supposed catch the Metro, I was faced with the decision to either 1) forget about it and just replace everything once we arrived in Kosovo, or 2) to take off running back to my room and grab everything.  I chose the second option, making quite a scene as a tore down the cobblestones dragging my suitcase.  On the way back, I was within sight of the station and Sarah called me to tell me the next train would arrive in literally 2 minutes.  I continued sprinting to the station, literally ran down 4 flights of escalators, and missed the Metro by 10 seconds.  Because of a misunderstanding reading the train schedules, we thought that the next train wouldn't come for 20 minutes, so we didn't quite know what to do.  Fortunately, we soon found out that another Metro would come in 2.5 minutes.  Crisis averted.  Fifteen minutes after that, we joined the rest of our class at the airport.

Charlotte and me on the Metro


After a layover in Budapest, we landed in Prishtina in the early afternoon, stopped to drop our things off at the hotel, and went out for a guided walking tour of the city.  As I said before, the city was so different from anywhere else I have ever been, which is understandable considering Kosovo itself is still post-conflict and still developing.  Driving outside the city especially, there were a lot of buildings whose construction hadn't been completed, so they just kind of looked like empty shells dotting the landscape.  As we walked through the city, I wasn't sure what to expect.  The people of Kosovo are predominantly Muslim, but we were told that they were on the more liberal side- religion was part of life for most people, but it wasn't obvious from their dress or anything like that.  Still, we saw a mosque on the tour and got to go inside and look around.  We ended the tour with dinner, and we soon found out that we had arrived in Prishtina just in time for the last night of their annual Beer Festival!  Our guide encouraged us to go, so after dinner we went over to check it out.  After sampling a local beer, enjoying the music that can be described as polka with a middle eastern flare, and chatting with some of the locals, we went back to the hotel to get some sleep after an exhausting day of traveling.

Prishtina, Kosovo

Inside the mosque

Sidestreet in Prishtina

Beer Festival!

View from my hotel room!