Fur Babies

Conversation on Saturday night:
Her: "So we have to send our two cats to live with a friend in Vienna regularly so that they get enough stamps in their passports"
Me: "Your cats have passports?"
Her: "Yeah, we had to get them Austrian citizenship"
Me: "And you fly them to Vienna regularly?"
Her: "Yeah, we book those special half-seats at the front row on Austrian flights that they use for kids"
Her: "It was so hard to get the cats to sit with a straight face for the passport photo"

They really love their rescued cats here in expat-land.
Apparently, there are such a thing as EU Pet Passports that make it easier for pets to travel with lesser quarantine restrictions.
It also apparently makes it much easier to then have them 'migrate' to places with strict rules, such as Australia. Which is where these guys already have a few cats that live in their beachside apartment with cat-sitters they employ while they work overseas.

Is this taking the "fur baby" thing too far?

Eurovision Controversy!

It has been claimed that the winning song at Eurovision was, at least partly, a copy of an Albanian song.
"A striking similarity exists between "Molitva" sang by Marija Serifovic in Eurovision 2007 and an albanian song "Ndarja" performed by Soni Malaj in Top Fest 3 in 2006, Albania" esctoday.com

It would be controversial enough just to claim they copied the song, but for it to be Albanian raises the stakes so much higher given the tensions in the region.

So much for Eurovision changing the world and bringing peace to the region!

P.S. Seems we weren't the only ones thinking about possible conspiracies regarding the political influence of winning the contest...

"Probably the most outrageous story concerning the singer appeared on May 9, in the Serbian tabloid Press. It claimed that the Western powers fixed the Eurovision contest in order to ensure Serifovic's victory. "Lulled by a triumph in Helsinki, Serbs are expected to calmly swallow the imminent secession of Kosovo," the paper claimed." time.com

Perhaps Eurovision really can change the world?!

The Eurovision Song Contest, that cheesy, bizarre and addictive event where European countries (plus a few hangers on) compete for musical glory (or infamy) was held on Saturday.

Out of all the bubble-gum pop, dramatic rock, folk-punk and cross-dressing madness, the winner was a love/religious ballad from Serbia called 'Molitva' sung by Marija Serifovic.

As the BBC said this morning, International success is something Serbia has not experienced in some time. Serbia will now be the host of the finals next year, a boon to the country and the region. You cannot begin to understand how exciting and important this is around here.

Our first thoughts of course went to the possibility of Kosovo being a semi-independant state by then, and of the huge desire of locals for Kosovo to have an entry in the contest. I wrote a while back that it would be one of the more important measures of independance for Kosovans - who needs membership in international organisations, as long as you've got a song in Eurovision?! Imagining a Kosovan entry into the Serbian-hosted Eurovision event was almost too freaky to contemplate. But could it be the ultimate reconciliation?

This morning there was news of the nationalist, hardline, speaker of Serbia's parliament, Tomislav Nikolic, stepping down from the job after only 5 days and it somehow felt like Eurovision may have played a part in the decision.

"opposition MP Nenad Canak said Mr Nikolic's nationalist and anti-European stand no longer had a place - especially as Serbia had just won the Eurovision song contest. Mr Canak said Serbia's neighbours had all awarded his country maximum points in the contest. But Russia, described by Mr Nikolic as Serbia's only friend, had only awarded his country five points." bbc.com

Block-voting aside, this victory was pretty astonishing and has the potential to influence far and wide. We asked ourselves at one point if there was some kind of underlying conspiracy leading to the high votes for this song?

Can Eurovision change the world? It certainly has the hearts and minds of millions in its grasp... and therefore great potential to influence.

Back to the old school

After years of sticking with my trusty SLR film camera, last October I went and purchased a snazzy compact digital camera. Up to a few weeks ago it served me very well, as my flickr site can attest.
Helpfully, this camera decided to stop working on the first day of my holiday. Before the holiday even started really - at the airport! Arrghhh.
Luckily John had a brand spanking new one to bring on the trip, and once again I reverted to the old school film camera. I look forward to the delayed satisfaction of seeing my photos developed and printed.

Whirlwind Holiday

Its been a whirlwind week and half, with no less than 4 countries and 5 cities in two continents so far....
Posts will come, as will photos, but adventure has the priority right now...
Highlights so far:
*The weather - its been perfect, sunny, not too hot, gorgeous
*Almost free city bikes in Vienna
*The hole in the wall wine and snack bar in Florence
*The cava bar in Barcelona
*The insane night market in Marrakech

Getting to Meteora Greece

So the plan for the Easter weekend was to get to Meteora, Greece. A place with amazing rock formations and even more amazing monasteries perched atop them.

First we were distracted by Thessaloniki, the second city of Greece, and its wonderful calamari.

Then we got stuck at a random railway station in the middle of nowhere (Paleofarsalos) and waited hours for a train connection that was meant to be minutes... at least there was spring sunshine to enjoy.

We eventually arrived in Kalabaka, at the foothills of the Meteora mountains, hiked up a steep, tall mountain for an hour or so, then found ourselves running from busfuls of Japanese tourists.


But it was all worth the effort as this was indeed a spectacular place.

(I'm squinting, not winking)

Greek Orthodox Easter

Its the biggest event on the Greek Orthodox calendar so we arranged to attend a midnight service to witness the candle lighting ceremony. The hotel provided us with candles and red-dyed eggs, so we couldn't not go really.

The church was an old, quite small church that was rather spectacular inside, but the majority of people were outside for the service.
I wish I had a photo of the outside and the amazing effect the candle lighting part of the ceremony had. Suffice to say it was something to experience the spread of light from the centre all around the grounds from person to person. Combined with the traditional singing of the priests, the group of armed soldiers and the military band (that seemed to be there to play only when the General was walking past), it was quite an event.

Heritage gets crowded

Last weekend I went to Thessaloniki in Greece. Quite a cool city, though it was pretty dead due to the Easter weekend....
Anyway, there is lots to see even if nothing is going on, and just hanging by the water in the sunshine was a great feeling after winter in land locked Kosovo.

All over town there are relics of former empires and traditions, it was fascinating to see so much heritage on almost every street... however I got the feeling that with so much of it, it was in danger of losing its appeal, especially to locals.

This was evidenced by the general feeling of crowding around many of these objects, development encroaching on churches and ruins all over town.





At what point do you simply have to stop providing appropriate space around historical buildings and allow a modern city to develop and flourish?

Eurovision as good as independence?

The Status of Kosovo is still somewhat up in the air, but I came across this article that shows what is REALLY important here. Its getting into Eurovision of course....
"Next year, predicts Selimi, Kosovo would see 'mass hysteria' if Flakareshat got to go to Eurovision. 'Even if we don't get a flag in front of the United Nations,' as a result of the current talks, he says, 'as long as we get that song in the Eurovision Song Contest, I think we will be pretty happy with it.'" kosovareport.blogspot.com

Public Transport system incites violence

There have been a few months of protests over the new public transport system in Santiago, Chile and yesterday an annual 'Day of the Young Combatant' demonstration turned violent.

"The Transantiago plan, designed to improve the city's chaotic system of buses and reduce pollution from the transit vehicles' exhaust, has instead stranded passengers, generated marathon waits and overtaxed the city subway." latimes.com

While the violence is a terrible shame, what fascinates me is that people are so passionate and interested in the quality of their public transport system. Granted there is little choice for the hundreds of thousands of poor in Santiago, so their interest in effective public transport is not surprising. But that they believe that the system can work, that it can be better, and are demanding it and want to use it, is a very positive thing in this world of ever increasing freeways.

It is great that the Chilean government has made such a bold move to completely overhaul and improve the system and reduce polluting emissions, however it seems the implementation of this new system has been poorly managed. Fingers crossed they can get the bus companies to provide the necessary buses and routes that were envisaged in the plan as soon as possible.

To maintain or increase the percentage of the city's journeys made by public transport (a whopping 59% in 2001) will take a very effective and responsive system and to build it effectively from scratch is a mighty ambitious move. Particularly in a place where more informal transport has developed organically over time to provide the necessary services...

"The overwhelmingly comprehensive transportation reform is trying to replace the chaotic private system characterized by its unruly drivers, poorly maintained and visually unappealing yellow buses and high speeds. It was also known for being fun, especially near Barrio Suecia
at closing time around 4 am, slightly dangerous, relatively effective and an incredible study in anthropology." nowpublic.com

This film sounds like an excellent portrayal of the chaos of the former system...

Brezovica

Brezovica is said to have the potential to be one of the best ski resorts in southeastern europe, right here in Kosovo!
The spooky fog might be a problem however.... it was like ascending into the clouds, quite surreal.

Reburials

Last week I read of the movement of killed Kosovar Albanians to be reburied in mass unmarked graves in Serbia. I felt deeply saddened for the victims, sickened to know there are such people that decide to do this and arrange it and physically ill that I am in such a place that this could happen.
"When NATO launched air strikes to stop the carnage, hundreds of bodies of Kosovars were dug up and transported over 320 kilometer (200 miles) to three locations in central Serbia and reburied in mass graves to cover up the killings from the invading alliance troops."

Now there are more exhumations in Kosovo, but this time it is families moving their loved ones remains to new homes in Serbia for fear of the graves being desecrated should independance be granted.
"Dozens of Serb families are exhuming their dead, reflecting the deep mistrust and unhealed scars of war that bedevil Western efforts to forge a multiethnic society in Kosovo."

"Most of Kosovo's Serbs fled after NATO bombing stopped Slobodan Milosevic's brutal 1998-99 crackdown on separatists. An estimated 10,000 ethnic Albanians were killed, more than 1 million lost their homes, and 2,000 are still missing.

When the war ended, some Albanians sought to avenge their dead by targeting Serbs. About 200,000 Serbs and other minorities fled, and only about 100,000 remain, most in small, isolated enclaves." iht.com

There are days when you read so much sad and depressing news about a place you are working in, and come up against such difficult political situations that set back your program over and over again, that its hard to find a reason to continue, hard to continue thinking that things can get better, and if so whether you can actually be a part of that improvement. But we have to think it or why else are we here? Right?

Language of play

On a team site visit recently to an informal settlement* I met these kids who were having a great afternoon mucking around the neighbourhood. Initially I was pretending to pay attention to the talk about the development of the settlement, but actually playing a bit of a game with these kids from afar, copying each others dance moves across the yard. Eventually I went over to speak to them, of course we couldn't understand each other very well when using words but an attempt at sign language had them laughing and playing along. Of course, they all know about cameras and posing!

*an 'informal settlement' is a reasonably misunderstood and contested description for a neighbourhood that is most likely illegally constructed, with a lack of services, lack of secure tenure and usually the domain of the urban poor. I used to think it related only to shanty or squatter towns of self made housing using scrap materials such as those seen in Asia, Africa or South America. However in Kosovo, they can often look like any other neighbourhood with standard houses and electricity and water connected, some even have large brick buildings of several levels, grand fences and gates and expensive cars parked in them!
What defines them as informal here is more likely to be the illegal aspects of the development on land owned by the government or other people and in areas not planned for development.

Spring false start

A false start on spring, with a few weeks of warm sunny weather rudely interrupted with a sudden cold snap and one of the few decent snow falls of the winter... Its still a novelty for me given the mild winter so I went out to take some photos and experience snow falling on my head!

Where are all the insects?

After growing up in Australia, and especially after spending a year in Samoa, I have particularly noticed the distinct lack of insects here in Kosovo.
It's a bit spooky. There are almost no small flying bugs, I can't remember seeing any ants and apparantly last summer there were next to no mosquitos. I haven't seen many spiders either come to think of it.

A quick net search provided one possible explanation - the origin of Pyrethrum flowers is Yugoslavia and its "insecticidal efficacy" was known here since the 14th century. However, it seems this flower is a coastal flower, a long way from Kosovo.

Maybe its the thousands of black birds? The thick air pollution? or some kind of result of war?
Were there ever many insects in the past?

Any insect nerds out there? Please explain..

Flowers

So I received three single flowers for International Women's Day!
2 roses and a chysanthemum... lovely.

"Well-behaved women seldom make history" -- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

International Women's Day is something of a big deal here in Kosovo. Already there are hundreds of flowers on sale all over town, and many women carrying single flowers and posies. I was just offered some food cooked by the security guard here at work too.

More seriously this year the UN focus for Women's day is “Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls". Apparently violence against women remains the most common but least punished crime in the world.

There will also be a campaign launched to improve the detection, prevention and treatment of breast cancer in Kosovo as currently there is no Oncology Institute or appropriately qualified personnel or necessary equipment. It represents the most common random cause of mortality among women and while there is no reliable data for Kosovo, the region averages 1 in 9 or 10 women affected.

Generally this is a day to remember to appreciate and respect the role of women in society and history, though seems to me that should happen everyday!

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

Driving around Kosovo, usually a challenge depending on road and weather conditions, you notice many strange signs and billboards, a different language, a different road system - as is expected.
But I was particularly intrigued to see small yellow signs with pictures of animals on them accompanied by direction arrows during my first few weeks in the territory.
What could they be? A warning about some feral cat, rat or snake population ahead? But what of the penguin? Surely there are no penguins in Kosovo?
Was it a clever (and weird) marketing campaign for a zoo or new product? Or some kind of animal shelter network? (Again, penguins?).




A rapidly developing, war-torn country could expect to see the development or renewal of leisure and entertainment facilities, I supposed a zoo was not completely out of the question. And the number of abandoned and stray animals certainly increases when there is conflict and increased poverty and require the need for shelters.
The possible explanations ran through my head for several weeks, but each time I came up with one, I would travel on a new road, see a new sign, a new animal and be forced to re-think.

As it turns out, and interesting for a spatial planner working on transport issues (among others), these signs were in fact a kind of universal road naming system created by KFOR (The NATO Kosovo Force) and particularly utilised during emergencies. The main road to the town I am living and working in is Route Fish, after travelling Route Dog from the Airport through the city. To make things even more interesting, or confusing, the local UN mission names some emergency relocation routes after famous composers. I like the idea of soothing classical music playing as I drive down what would be known as Passage Mozart should there be an emergency situation!

The issue with road names in Kosovo is an interesting one, as most road names have been changed several times in the recent past. Most people do not know the current, official names of roads and are more likely to describe a road as “the road to…” or use landmarks or business names to indicate which road they are talking about. For instance, ‘Police St’ in central Pristina is not the name of the street, now or ever, but it contains the main police station and one long section of it is restricted to the parking of police cars only….

Yeah yeah I'm here

yes, yes, there are more blogs on the way
in the meantime, for those dying to know - i did get out in December. A mad last minute dash in a taxi to Skopje, some wrangling to get on the flight to vienna the day before from a different airport for no extra money, and voila - I made it to Aus... magic.

Only to find myself experiencing 35 degree heat followed 3 days later by the coldest ever December day and "snow on the alps at Christmas.

Crikey! There was so much hail on christmas morning at mum's that it looked like snow.

Bloody Fog

What a ridiculous place to put your international airport - in the part of the province with the worst weather and regular thick fog!
The last few days have seen most flights cancelled due to the fog.
Why is it so hard to get out of this place?!
grrrr