It's been a long day, visiting Pristina

All bad Tom Petty references aside, my weekend stay in Pristina has been pretty cool so far. Woke up at the AC of dawn Friday so that we could be in Gjilan at 8 and Pristina by 9. Ate a Bosnia pastry at the aptly named "Bosnia 2" restaurant, then sat in on the conference on NGOs working in this conflict environment. After that, had a bit of a staff meeting, planned out my last couple weeks(!) here in the Balkans pertaining to my report (Draft finished on Thursday, two days ahead of schedule), and made plans to live in Skopje for a few days towards the end of July. They are giving me a week off for good behaviour ;), so I am taking the time to explore Europe, particularly Italy. Since I fly out of Skopje (then back, then out again 36 hours later), it looks as if I'll just crash at my supervisor's spare room in Skopje for a few days before and after trips.

So anyway, after exploring a bit of the city and journaling, I gave Todd a call, as he invited me to chill at his place for the weekend. Wandered around for a bit looking for the alley he lives in down, then get a call to meet him on the main road, as he needed to get supplies ASAP, because his work doesn't want him on the streets really during the protest.

"Protest?" you ask. Yeah, there were protests. I didn't go near them due to the fact I doubt my job, my school, my parents, my sister, my girlfriend or basically anyone who is already worried about me would want me to go near them. Did see lots of cops, though. Anyway, so I got my first glimpse at a hypermarket here in the Balkans... (supermarket for those playing the "at home in the US" game) It makes my lil Simpomarket in Vranje seem.. well, Simple... Got back to his place, unloaded the food and bevereages and coolers, backed down the alleyway (99% successfully), rented "300" from the burned DVD place for ,50Euro, and had some pasta and cheese at the flat.

And what a nice flat it is. Probably about 3x the size of mine, it is increadibly serene. Great views of the city, 3 balconeys, and 2 bathrooms that have yet to smell like ham. Currently we have inflatable swimming pool and pool toys for the beach party tonight, which should be pretty rocking.

Went to the green market early this morning, which was an interesting experience. Bought a T-shirt to replace the one that is nearly worn out (I have a feeling nearly all my clothes are being sacrificed to keep the washermachine gods happy). Did some more exploring, came back, helped set up a bit more for the party including trying to find out where one buys fluid for tiki torches in Kosovo), then ate some various meat-steak sandwhich (I thought i was just ordering meat to cook here until he started putting it on the grill!) . Now just kicking back and waiting until Beach Party:Kosovo begins. I'll be heading back to Vranje tomorrow afternoon, then to Macedonia for an econ event, then moving offices with Davor on Tuesday - the mail will still come to us, as the NGO we share office space with currently will still be there - plus, Davor's sister works for them, so she will make sure it gets to us. Will do the photo thing later on, when my compy is back on the net. Keep the comments coming, and hope everyone is staying safe!