PRN-LON-SIN-MEL-SYD-PER-SYD-MEL-SYD

Airport codes for my travels from 28 March 08 to next week... and in July you can add SYD-ADL-MEL-SYD.

Yep, I'm back in Australia and very happy to be home after a year and a half in the WTK, but starting to get a little bit sick of airports, planes, and bag lugging...


Leaving Kosovo. It was sad to say good bye to friends and work mates but exciting to be headed home. My final meal was , somehow appropriately, Swedish Meatballs cooked by the fabulous Chef Daniel of Goteburg.A stopover was had in London on the way home for a final weekend jaunt with great friends,


and some last dash shopping, architecture critiquing at Canary Wharf and quality British tv watching.
Arriving home in Melbourne late at night, this was my morning walk in glorious late summer sunshine the next day.

Later that day, one of my most favourite bands ever happened to be playing in Melbourne!

Rather a lovely welcome home, thanks Melbourne.

Got a little more serious today...

Things got a little more serious in north Mitrovica today, when the UN tried to take control back of the courthouse that was overtaken on Friday.

There have been reports on BBC and CNN of thousands of protesters stepping up the violence with grenades, rifle fire, molotov cocktail and firecrackers.
The pictures are certainly a bit worrying with direct attacks on the courthouse and tanks. Several injuries are reported, around 40 UN Police and 12 Kfor troops.

The UN police have pulled out and NATO-KFOR is now keeping the tense peace.

Today marks an anniversary of serious ethnic violence across Kosovo in 2004 and is the one month anniversary of the declaration of Independence by Kosovo's majority Albanian government.


I've just watched (from my apartment window) a long line of tanks and trucks from the French KFOR camp in south Mitrovica pull out into the street and drive off - perhaps heading north for reinforcement/replacement?

Things in the south are basically quiet and business as usual, and I was glad to be in another town all day in workshops that kept me from most of the news, but I imagine its not just me that is a bit on edge.
I am rather glad to be leaving next week I must say.

Snipers, Protests, Railways

Just days after my first Kosovo train adventure (from Pristina to Skopje) things have gotten a bit complicated with the railways here, with Serbia taking back control of part of the network in the north of Kosovo and stopping trains from travelling north of Mitrovica.

They claim "the move will ensure better quality of transport, and noted that the railway company operating there under UNMIK's jurisdiction since 1999 was unable to perform according to the SŽ standards. "


Protests are underway at the Zvecan railway station, and also continue at the court house in north Mitrovica, with people demanding that both institutions, and their employees jobs, be returned to Serbian jurisdiction.

photo credit: iht.com

"It is in line with the Belgrade government's instructions to the Serbian minority to shun any contact with Kosovo's government after it declared independence two weeks ago, and to work directly with Serbia instead" iht.com

The security situation has been changing each day, but there has been regular restrictions of movement for internationals. After being told movement in north was safe yesterday, I had planned to drive to the office by the east road past the community centre. For various reasons I didn't, and I'm glad as there were reports of sniper fire aimed at the centre.

These events follow several weeks of bubbling unrest, daily protests, small but effective explosions and the expulsion of many international organisations including the new EU mission.

Intimidation by the bridge watchers has continued, with even foreign journalists receiving the nasty 'kosovo kiss'.

It is hard to see any end to this, though the daily protests have been getting smaller there seems to be something new each day to increase the tensions and fuel the anger. It is clear that neither side is willing to change its position, but how long can this go on?

What people are wearing in Mitrovica

Photo Credit - Reuters/Yahoo

We are still being advised not to travel in north Mitrovica, so I can't get close enough to take photos myself.
But apparently what people are wearing are Serbian military hats - at least when attending a rally to protest that is.

The rallies in north Mitrovica have been relatively peaceful and calm, a few thousand people utilising their right to demonstrate.
Every day for six days so far.

Will they have enough outfits to keep it up much longer?

Unrest

The atmosphere in Mitrovica is now tense to say the least:

Reuters reports that NATO steps in as Serbs torch Kosovo border post

"NATO peacekeepers in newly independent Kosovo intervened on Tuesday as Serb mobs opposed to its secession attacked border posts and police fled."

This was apparantly a reaction to a plan to erect Kosovo flags at the border points today.

BBC reported about the protests and small explosions

"As they marched they took up the children's chant: "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia"

B92 reports more about Explosions in northern Kosovo

"A Kosovo police spokesman confirmed that the blasts took place, one at the OSCE mission offices in Kosovska Mitrovica, that caused minor damage to the building and vehicles parked outside.

The second explosion took place in another Serb town in the northern part of the province, Zvečan, when unknown perpetrators set two UN vehicles on fire.

The third incident took place in northern Kosovska Mitrovica in the neighborhood of Bošnjačka Mahala, when a device exploded in a yard, causing damage to a house, a garage and a private car. "

Pavarësia - Independence

Even Australia's Prime Minister Rudd is backing the declaration of independence by Kosovo.

The ABC news site goes so far as to claim that

"The Federal Government has formally recognised the independence of Kosovo..."

Protests are occurring today in Serbian enclaves in Kosovo, including north Mitrovica, and Belgrade has seen violence directed at embassies and consulates of countries supporting the declaration.

The South East European Times writes that Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica

called on Serbian citizens "to come together and show the whole world that we do not acknowledge the creation of a false state on our territory"

Last night saw explosions in north Mitrovica at property associated with the UN and the incoming EU mission.

But the south part of the city is quiet, and celebrations last night were quite subdued in comparison with the capital, Pristina. Posters urged "Celebrate with dignity for a good beginning"

An historic day

Its a bitterly cold, snowy but sunny day in Mitrovica. Car horns, fireworks and folk music fill the air and traffic jams abound in the south. The north, however, is very quiet.

See these stories:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/the-symbol-of-kosovo-an-eagle-with-two-faces-ndash-each-looking-a-different-way-783396.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/17/2164930.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200802/r224737_889420.asx

An eery unease

It may be just me, but I feel an eery unease here at the moment.

Kosovo is likely on the verge of declaring independence from Serbia this weekend. In south Mitrovica (as through much of the province) there is already preparations for celebrations, two days ahead of the expected announcement. Flags of Albania, USA, EU and France fly in the streets and giant cakes are being baked.

The north is relatively quiet this afternoon, though it is also a kind of holiday for Serbia today which could explain it.

Many internationals here are a bit unsure what to think or believe, rumours are rife and concrete information is scarce.

I am feeling quite nervous with both excitement and fear, a very weird feeling indeed. Alert, not alarmed perhaps...

After so many years of uncertainty, to be on the verge of a defined 'status' must be overwhelmingly emotional for the majority Albanian Kosovars, I wonder if knowing one way or the other and getting some certainty will be any kind of relief for the minority Serbian Kosovars?

Sorry

Another surge of that fluttery heart feeling of a kind of pride today as the new Australian parliament said sorry to the stolen generations of aboriginal children and wishes for reconciliation.

It was a long time coming and says so much about the change we have seen with the new government in power.


But can someone smack Nick Bryant? The BBC World Correspondent gets my goat every time, that snarly face and his attempt at 'balanced reporting' missing the point by a mile. His story just now found some crotchety old farmers saying 'they' should be saying thank you to 'us' for educating them so they don't have to spend their days digging witchety grubs... classy mate.

Status?

"Status" has been imminent ever since I arrived, almost a year and a half ago.
Every few months a new date was rumoured to be the day the UN Security Council would make a decision. But it never happened.
"Status"(that is, the decision on the official status of Kosovo as an entity within or independant of Serbia) has recently fired up again as a topic, and is being talked about in a different way - as a Unilateral Declaration of Independance by the Kosovar Albanian majority Parliament.

February 08 is widely tipped to be the month this will happen... but then again so was December 07.
The latest published information is outlined below:

Pristina media quote unnamed senior Kosovo officials laying out the most likely scenario for the timing of an upcoming independence declaration. They expect the following series of actions to be based on what they say are clear signals allegedly already received from Washington and Brussels:
a declaration on 17 February; an immediate first wave of recognitions led by Slovenia to be followed over time by at least two subsequent waves; an EU Foreign Ministers (GAERC) meeting on Monday 18 February to approve sending the ESDP mission.

Media also cite a Reuter’s article suggesting that the dates may be accelerated in case of
victory by Serbian Radical Party candidate Nikolic in the second round of Serbian
presidential elections on 3 February. “If (Tomislav) Nikolic wins, it's the 9th
or 10th [February],” a senior political source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Austrian diplomat Albert Rohan told Koha Ditore that “Proclamation of
independence will take place in mid-February and Kosovo is ready for it regardless
of problems that may come up”.

According to Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, Kosovo will declare independence within days of this weekend's Serbian presidential elections, he said on Wednesday. “The developments in Serbia
do not have any influence on Kosovo. Kosovo has its own path,” Thaçi told journalists after meeting with senior police officials.
- UNMIK Division of Public Information

Phenomenal Woman

Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

So close, yet so far

Possibly my favourite journalist, Jane Hutcheon, has presented a brief story on Australian tv about the Kosovo situation and the Serbian elections from this here little town.

http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200801/r218072_852290.asx

Quite a good, succinct little piece worth your watching if you want to know a bit about what's going on at the moment and to see a glimpse of where I'm living....

But I can't believe I missed the chance to meet her, here of all places!

Pining for the Pacific

I've just watched a very sweet kid's movie called The Legend of Johnny Lingo.

Its almost like a travelogue for the pacific islands, showing many aspects of traditional culture, landscapes and livelihoods at the turn of the century mixed up in a sort of fable of family, tradition and lost love.
I loved to see them harvesting noni fruit and squeezing the juice for a health tonic (and knowing how awful it is to drink!), swim under waterfalls, or open a young coconut to drink. If you wanted to learn a lot about life in the pacific, and can stand some rather cheesy scenes, check it out.

While certainly never in danger of winning an Oscar, (and with some sketchy links to the Mormons of Utah and some serious 'product placement' for noni juice) this film now has me pining even more for the South Pacific, and more specifically my home for a year (2005-6), Samoa - tropical paradise.

Something tells me I'm unlikely to pine in the same way (or at all) for my current home once I leave it...

Food in Kosovo part 1

It's the Balkans, so you have to expect pastry, meat, cheese, oil and pickled (or relish) vegetables...
But its also Kosovo, where very large numbers of cashed up internationals have been living over the past 8 years therefore bringing (or demanding) a range of cuisines, at least in the capital, Pristina. This extends from passable Japanese and Thai to very good 'international' fare.

Mitrovica and surrounds finds its niche cuisine mostly hidden within the compounds of the KFOR camps - particularly the Danish Sunday Brunch (think of the best hotel buffet spread you've seen and its better!) and the French camp's restaurant (see part 2).

Lets begin with some photos of more traditional food, from restaurants in north and south Mitrovica:

Stuffed peppers can be hit and miss, but when they are good, they are very good! Usually stuffed with a mix of minced meat, rice and some herbs and spices and served with the obligatory dousing of oil.

When too much meat is not enough... the mixed grill at No. 1 restaurant.

'Leskovačka' mućkalica - pork with tomato and onion, my pick at No. 1.

The classic 'Shop /Shopska' salad with all that grated Sirene cheese on the right, the left shows a 'tave' or baked dish, this one is veges and the ever present cheese I think.

'Veal' Skewer. A lot of meat is advertised as 'veal', I'm rarely convinced however... but tasty all the same.


A delicious steak or 'Biftek' at Liburnia restaurant. Be sure to get Biftek or Bifsteak instead of Ramsteak...


In case of (rather desperate) homesickness one could order a 'Skenderbeg' as it is sometimes known. A fairly wrong combination of meat, cabbage and thick batter not unlike the Classic Chiko Roll in Australia.

Desperate times...

... call for desperate measures.

I ran out of Vegemite. I forgot to pick some up on my recent trip home.
How I could do this, I'm not sure - I even had the bubble wrap ready for the journey!

Yesterday, needing my yeast extract fix, I resorted to eating Marmite.

The gooier, runnier, British version of the yeast extract spread. It hits a spot, but could never replace the superior Aussie version for me. It's too hard to get out of the jar for a start, it spills over the edge unless you twirl your knife a few hundred times and it just doesn't blend with the butter at all, just sits on top like a gelatinous gloop.

It does, however, seem fitting to be eating Marmite while I am in Kosovo:

During World War II, Marmite became a dietary supplement in prisoner-of-war camps, and in 1999, it was sent to British peacekeeping forces in Kosovo after we received morale boosting requests from the field.

I await my boost in morale with baited (or yeasty) breath.

YAY

I stumbled across this little tid-bit on The Age website:

One of Melbourne's most loved roots venues, Fitzroy's Rainbow Hotel, is set to re-open this month — with live bands — after the lease of former publican Chick Ratten expired last month. Incoming publican brothers Chris and Cameron Strachan say they intend to restore the venue to its former glory.

YAY!
It shouldn't take too much to restore to its 'former glory' given it only shut down in December... hope they have better luck with the authorities and whinging newby residents.

Should we start the campaign to restore the Paul Williamson Hammond Combo residency?

Hottest 100

'Tis voting time in the Hottest 100 for Australian ' yoof' radio station, triplej....

I like to take the chance to support Australian acts, but couldn't help picking some faves from the wider world too...perhaps partly due to my distance from Aus the past year?
While I don't usually listen to the station (given the general brilliance of public radio in Melbourne), the chance to win a double pass to every event supported by the j's for a year is hard to pass up - it would certainly ease the return to Aus....
Anyway, here be my votes whittled down from the large shortlist and I'm sure there some I've forgotten....

Art Of Fighting - Free You
Biffy Clyro - Saturday Superhouse
Clare Bowditch & The Feeding Set - You Looked So Good
CSS - Let's Make Love & Listen To Death From Above
Love Of Diagrams - Form & Function
Regina Spektor - Better
White Stripes - Icky Thump
Yelle - A Cause Des Garcons
Young And Restless - Police Police
Queens Of The Stone Age - 3's & 7's

What did/will/would you vote for?

Hottie vs Love of your life

What is the blog etiquette about copy/pasting a particularly excellent comment left on someone else's blog?
Well, this was too ace to leave languishing in RYMHM's comment section, so I hope 'ruby' and Ms Fits don't mind:

ruby said...

sydney's the hottie who blows your mind a few nights, making shiny memories, but you have nothing to talk about with her at 3am. fit, fun, energetic and ultimately forgettable. low cal, light, fluffy and bright.

melbourne's the love of your life. melbourne writes sweet dedications on the flyleaf of your books, and graffiti about you out the front of your house after she crawls out the bedroom window, hair tousled. rough around the edges, but full of strong flavour and calories. the one.

A further walk in Mitrovica south

The groovy old Lux building, now houses a library and business support centre...

On the Lux theme, this is inside the Majestic restaurant... rather swish! Quite a good restaurant (great steaks) but each time we go, we have been the only ones eating there (others just have coffee). In fact, I am fairly certain that once we make our order, someone then runs out to get ingredients!


This is a view of the City Park along the river. The buildings in the background are on the north side of the river and known as the 'three towers' housing mostly Kosovar-Albanians, who utilise a special footbridge erected for them to walk to the south to carry out their day to day life.


A side street mural - one of the most photographed parts of Mitrovica. After the famous bridge of course!

A Frosty Welcome Back to WTK

"Oh this is not cold, it was -15 degrees last week!" a colleague insists as my teeth chatter and fingers numb in the -5 degree morning...

A picture on my walk home from work and the view from the front door of our building...

What happened to my transport zen?

Sometime back in June of last year, I had a shock end to what had been, at least in recent times, a pretty smooth and organised travel and transportation experience in Europe. My London trip ended a touch disastrously as outlined below... (in case you are wondering - I drafted this at the time and never got around to finishing it. After my recently horrific long haul travel, soon to be blogged about, I was inspired to revisit this).

So I get up at a fairly evil time of the morning, after some stuffing around and final packing, manage to catch a bus, a tube train and an airport train all in good time, with little or no waiting around. So far so good.
I get to airport, walk to check-in machines, smoothly check-in, wait in line for the bag-drop and head to the departure area.
I had no problems with the security check, even getting chosen for a special new security check (where you have to stand like a mongoloid and put your hands in the air while a low level x-ray is beamed at you in four positions) was actually a bonus as I was moved to the head of the queue for the bag x-ray.
I check the screens for my gate, but of course it is too early for them to tell us, so I look around the shops, get something to eat etc.
I keep checking the screens every 5 or 10 minutes for my gate.
Eventually I check the screen and it tells me the gate and says 'now boarding'.
I walk towards my gate.
I get there, but there is no line of people, no staff at the desk. One staff member off to the side doodling about. Lots of people sitting on the chairs at the gate. So I check the screen again - yes it is the right gate. So I go to the loo.
Come back from the loo, check the screens, it says 'last call', but there is still no-one lining up at the gate, nor any staff at the desk. I have heard no announcements, so I assume there has been some delay and I sit at a chair close to the gate to wait.
The screens still say 'last call' when it is about 5 minutes before the plane is due to leave. Panic begins to rise as I look around for anyone who could possibly be considered a staff member... no one.
I walk for what seems like an age, past about 8 other gates, until I finally track down a BA staff member, and enquire about my flight. He types it in and says, "oh it was on time, it has left already".... WHAT?! But I was there, I was at the gate! Panic sets in and I get a feeling I have never felt before, a mixture of stress, confusion, dumbfoundedness (is that a feeling?), dread, loss and hopelessness.
Next saw me begin a series of discussions with various BA and airport staff, mostly of the unhelpful variety and eventually I had to buy a new ticket on another airline (the salubrious JAT) at my own expense, after collecting my rejected baggage of course. But it was the series of inconsistencies in these discussions that really got my goat. Each person had a different story about the flight, particularly regarding the time it actually left.

A while later, after walking through several different terminals at Heathrow, I spoke with a customer service officer of BA, who informed me that the fight actually left several hours late. In fact it left AFTER I had been told to buy a new ticket!
They suggested I should therefore be compensated for the cost of my new ticket and sent to me another desk to arrange such. Of course nothing is that easy, and I was then told to write a letter to a certain adress with copies of the tickets and the story.... needless to say after a courtesy reply letter, I have yet to hear any more about this compensation.

Lesson learnt: Never assume anything at airports and departure gates, ask and confirm if in any doubt! Oh - and avoid Heathrow at all costs!

The disastrous travel day didn't end there - with a dodgy JAT flight, followed by a ridiculously and unnecessarily long bus ride of around 8 hours through deepest back country Serbia, I arrived 'home' at around 2am absolutely shattered...