Question of the day (month): Fog or Smog?

Oh my goodness, I can't believe how busy I've been!! Since I got here, it's been Ball, and Visit and Move, Oh My!! I want to write about that, and share some pictures, but I think that can wait. What's really been on my mind lately, and what I really want to share, is the crazy environment I'm living in!

The city of Prishtina sits in kind of a bowl, surrounded by mountains. In the non-winter months, I'm told it's really pretty. I saw some of it when I first arrived, and it was neat seeing the mountains and pretty blue skies. Before I got here, I was told "Don't be discouraged by Prishtina in the winter. It does get better." So with that warning, I mentally armed myself for a gray winter. 

As soon as the nights started getting chilly, I noticed the distinct smell of burning. Every night, it started around 4 pm, at dusk. I could smell it coming in my office windows, like a campfire was burning outside. After about a week, I stopped expecting S'mores. One night after work, I walked down the street to a market to grab a few things for dinner, and I struck by how dirty my glasses were. As I looked at the streetlights, there was such a ring of haze, I was amazed I could see anything at work! Of course, cleaning my glasses had no effect, because it was just all the smoke in the air. People here often burn wood in their homes for heat. But another, major source of smoke is the coal-burning power plant located rather close by. 

This was a clear day recently, and you can see the layer of smog lying below the mountains.

Now that the official winter has set in,  the fog is getting worse and worse. Air travel in and out of the city is affected fairly often and the smog doesn't help. It creates a layer that traps the fog in and some days you can barely see in front of your face! Luckily enough, I walk to work, and can get away with walking almost anywhere I need or want to go. So many days I play the game, "Is this fog, or is this smog?" 

Fog (I think. Maybe both) 

Sfog??

Smog. 

Sfog (Fushë Kosovë is more industrial and is downwind of the power plant; it has some of the worst air in the area). 

For those of you wondering how I'm breathing here, what with my allergies and asthma, I will say that it's not exactly a cakewalk. But I'm on extra meds and the Embassy does provide a ton of air purifiers for the houses. I limit my outside air intake on bad days if I have to and even though I'm really close to the power plant, I'm on top of the hill, so the air is slightly better here than it is down in the middle of town. I smell like smoke a lot and I breathe through my scarf. But it's doable. 

I can't wait to take a trip somewhere, because everyone says that's when you truly realize how foggy and dark it is here. The good news is, while the sky may be dark, peoples' spirits are still high, and everyone is still wonderful. We rally in our collective disdain for the gray sky, and find joy in being together. And the Winter Soltice is tomorrow, so it's all uphill from here!!

Kosovo: per mendimin tim

So I've actually been in Kosovo just over a week, and I think I'm starting to figure things out here. There is still so very much to learn, but each day, I feel less overwhelmed. At least, outside of work!

I wanted to take a few minutes a focus on my initial impressions of the country and of Pristina, the city. I'm currently in Temporary housing, so I'm going to be moving again and I'm living half out of boxes and mostly using things that aren't mine (thanks to the Embassy's welcome kit). But there is an end in sight, even if there's no set date!

So. Kosovo. It's such a hard place to describe. The newest country in Europe,  (independence was declared in 2008, although most countries, and even the UN don't recognize it) Kosovo is still trying to establish its own identity. Kosovo struggled through years of war with Serbia, and the overwhelming majority of its citizens are ethnic Albanians. There is still a lot of strife between the Serbs and Kosovars, which affects pretty much every diplomatic move the U.S. makes. From what I've seen so far, there are more Albanian flags and symbols around then there are Kosovar. I'm not sure if that's because the new generation of Kosovars aren't old enough to be representing yet, or if they, too, will claim their rich Albanian roots. 

During the war with Serbia, the U.S., along with many European countries sided with Kosovo and helped them gain independence. Because of that, there are major international footprint here in Pristina. There are quite a few UN-based organizations here (I'm still trying to figure them all out and what they all do), and quite literally people from all over Europe and the States working to improve the quality of life here in Kosovo, and the greater Balkans. And the Kosovars seem to be taking the leads they're given and running with it. To an extent. There's still a lot of work to be done. I notice a strange dichotomy here: for instance, there's a lovely tree-lines street with restaurants and cafés boasting free wifi where people sit and visit for hours. And in the evenings, it's a strip of bars and nightclubs: truly a place to go out and have some fun (not in a NYC kind of, mind you, but still!). But yet, the city doesn't have any real trash service. Power seems to work *most* of the time. There seems to be no real zoning of any sort; construction starts and stops,when ever, wherever....  In a nutshell, I guess, the infrastructure is still in its infancy. And it has growing pains. In the last few weeks, there have been 3 incidents of tear gas being set off in Parliament. The Minister of Justice was hit in the head the other day with eggs. 

BUT, the people are so nice. And its a safe city. Americans are respected and no one bothers us (in general), so although there are some idiosyncrasies, I could be in much, much worse places. Pristina has pretty much everything I need, it's just going to take a while to find it. I stumbled on almond milk at the fancy grocery store my first weekend here (grocery shopping often involves multiple stops at multiple places). And the bread here is better than I want it to be. It may not be the same as it is at home (ok, almost NONE of it is the same), but that doesn't mean it's not doable. There's going to be quite a learning curve involved, but I think I will really like Pristina!

The long Dragadon steps, leading down into the heart of the city. 

Skenderbeu!! Finally, after seeing this picture in text books for 4 months, I see it in person!!

Typical Kosovar street (they have 2 or 3 names, but none you can ever find, so directions here are always fun!)

Hobbes approves of his temporary home. 

So....Much....Stuff.....

Wow. I mean, wow, there's a lot of stuff in this apartment. Anyone who knows me knows I like to be prepared (never a Girl Scout, I think I've overcompensated as an adult), so my attempts to purge have been met with a great deal of resistance and stress. But I'm trying.

The last few weeks have been extremely busy; I was in Winchester, VA for training for two weeks (where I acquired EVEN MORE STUFF). But finally, training has come to an end!! And now, I'm on an official countdown to departure. Things are falling into place. Even if I may have a different housing assignment (still up in the air), I don't actually have tickets yet (end of the fiscal year/waiting to avoid the impending shutdown), my social sponsors have been dropping like flies (I haven't even met them yet!!)..... OK, maybe not exactly into place, but close enough for Government work (see what I did there??)

My departure is tentatively set for Oct. 29. But have no fear, somehow, that will get screwed up, too :)

Now I just need to purchase, sort and pack stuff for a house that I haven't seen, buy food and toiletries for a set amount of time, and ship out all the stuff ahead of time that I can (thank goodness I can send all my work stuff ahead!). I'm making arrangements to ship my car out ahead of time and trying to figure out when to get Hobbes in for his pre-flight checkup (yes, that's a thing). So if I'm a little stressed, that's why!

Until next time....  :)

I HAVE A HOME!!!

Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to get wrapped up in the details of things....I think that's part of what makes me a decent investigator! I like to know every little thing as soon as I possibly can. Unfortunately, now that I work for the Big Government, I've had to relinquish a lot of that control and "semper gumby" as I was taught early on. But this transfer, this PCS (or Permanent Change of Station), this whole moving across an ocean, while routine and normal for many people, is new to me. And whoa, scary!!!

But, in theory, it's easy. Right? Someone tells the post I'm going to (Pristina, Kosovo), that I'm coming. At some point in time, the Community Liaison Officer (CLO) reaches out to me and sends me a warm, welcoming email telling me everything I need to know about my new city and country. They assign a social sponsor, someone who will help me get things set up ahead of my arrival so my transition will be as smooth as possible. Luckily, I met my boss during language training, so I've been in contact with him pretty regularly. And at some point, a set group of people called the Housing Board meets to decide which Embassy-leased or -owned residence I will occupy for my 2 year stay. They make the decision based on a few factors; what position in the embassy I will fill (some positions have a lot of social responsibilities and do a lot of entertaining), how big my family is, what pay grade I am, and if there are any requirements as to how close to the embassy I need to be. All the residences in Pristina are furnished, so my big furniture will go into storage, but I can bring whatever I like, whatever will fit into the space.

So here I am, less than two months before I leave, and I haven't heard anything from ANYONE listed above. Except my boss. For anyone else in the Foreign Service, this is par for the course. No big deal. This is just how it works. For Katie, this means I will be living in a cardboard box under a bridge somewhere. And I'll try to bring a second one, because Hobbes likes to take up as much space as possible in boxes. Oh yeah, he's totally coming with me. So when I got my housing assignment this week, I got REALLY excited!!! It even came with pictures!!! So I've been planning things in my head all week.

I will be living in the bottom half of a house; a 2 bedroom apartment, essentially. It's a short walk to the Embassy and I think I'll be pretty much surrounded by other employees. The place looks really cute, and my living space is listed as bigger even than the house I owned in Caroline! The name of the house is Orange because the exterior is, well, orange. Luckily, the interior is not. It is filled with FS-typical Drexel Heritage furniture (a long-fought battle by Foreign Service members due to its outdated and somewhat ugly style, and truthfully, if it's all I ever lived it, I'd hate it too), but for 2 years, I can't really complain. I will be bringing plenty of my own decorations to add my personal touches, for sure!

As I get closer to departure, I will add my address here so you guys acn send me pounds of peanut butter, because I fear that's going to be my ultimate weakness.

How Time Flies

I never was very good at keeping a diary....

Here I am, another 2 years later, preparing for another move, and deciding, again, to try this blog thing. This time, though, I think I may have more interesting things to write about.

Herein starts my first "real" move. Overseas. To Kosovo. Pristina, to be precise.  The reactions I get vary:

"That's AWESOME!!!"
"Cool!! Where exactly is that?"
"Oooh, you got a good post!!"
"Is that in Africa?"
"Why?"

You can tell who the other Foreign Service people are from the reactions :)   Kosovo is a small land-locked country in East Europe. It also has the distinction of being Europe's newest country, declaring it's independence from Serbia in 2008 (on my birthday, no less!)  It's still an area of dispute, as not many UN member states recognize it, but the relations with the US are extremely good. So I think it will be a great first tour! Plus, geographically, it really can't be beat! Although it's a small country, Kosovo is within a stone's throw to Albania, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy, Macedonia.... I can't wait to start exploring!

I spent a few months learning Albanian, the prevailing language in Kosovo, and now I have some work-specific training that I will finish the first week of October. Then, a few days of wrapping things up, a quick vacation with Mom, and off I go! Luckily, I will have a furry travel companion with me, so the trip will be anything but boring.

I promise I will try to keep this up during my adventures; this format is easier than Facebook or Instagram, and allows me to babble a bit more. In the meantime, if anyone wants to help me sort, purge and pack, let me know!