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27.09.07: Updated with images!
Now I am back in Belgrade after a weekend in Kosovo. It has been a remarkable weekend; I have learned quite a bit and have a different understanding of 'the Kosovo issue' now than before I went. I first went with minibus from Belgrade to Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, then on Saturday I went to Gracanica, a Serbian enclave town about 9km outside Pristina.
Pristina itself is quite dirty and relatively poor-looking. There are lots of people and lots of blocks and houses where people live, but what is striking is that the centre is relatively little in comparison to the number of people living in the city. There's hardly any institutions or businesses where all those people can work. The statistics speak of 50-70% unemployment rate in Kosovo, and to see that in all its contrast was an eye-opener. The only workplaces of some size, save for hospitals, schools and the university, are those of international organizations, and they are mostly staffed by foreigners/expats.
To see how little the city centre was, and how few businesses there were, in comparison to the size of the city and the number of houses was simply puzzling in a way. The architecture is a combination of communist concrete fantasies, remains of the 1980's glass facades, a surreal national library and a few buildings that have physical resemblance to central/west European style such as it is found in e.g. Austria or France. There are lots of cafes and places to spend easy money, but relatively few people who have that money to spend. Picture: The UN building, one of the few large employers in Pristina. And they hire foreigners, for the most part.
As for attractions, Pristina does not have too much to offer. A couple of monuments and statues, some mosques, a museum (that was closed when I came), a most remarkable national library and ... what else?
Oh, the grave of the late Kosovo president Rugova. He died of lung cancer in January 2006, and having seen how many and how much people in the Balkans smoke I can't say I am surprised! But he was a high-class politician, no doubt, and he is sorely missed today. Albania is the most USA-loving country in the world as far as I know, and whether independent or not Kosovo will definitely be # 2 on that list. It has a Bill Clinton boulevard, complete with a massive poster of the man himself. The other main 'star' of Pristina is mother Theresa. 
She was born in Skopje, Macedonia from an Albanian family in what was then Yugoslavia. Her street, Mother Theresa Boulevard, is the main street and pedestrian zone in Pristina and also has a statue of the late nun. Picture left: A big poster of guess who pays tribute to the man after whom this boulevard is named... Picture right: A statue of Mother Theresa, found on Mother Theresa Avenue, the main street in Pristina.
On Saturday I went to Gracanica, a Serbian enclave town about 9 km from Pristina. I visited a woman I have met while being here; she's a Serbian doctor and a director of a medical clinic in Gracanica. I was there together with some Americans, and she showed us around the clinic before taking us to the Gracanica monastery. Or rather: to the church of the Gracanica monastery. The monastery was built from 1313-21, so it was finished before the Ottomans came and established control in this part of the Balkans. It has been an important place in Serbian history and during the medieval times there was a Patriarchate established there. The church is filled with frescoes, most of which were finished at the time when the church was finished, so they are more than 600 years old. The monastery has survived all the wars on the Balkans, including the 1999 NATO bombing campaign, and most of its frescoes and other treasures remain intact.
27.09.07: Updated with images!
Now I am back in Belgrade after a weekend in Kosovo. It has been a remarkable weekend; I have learned quite a bit and have a different understanding of 'the Kosovo issue' now than before I went. I first went with minibus from Belgrade to Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, then on Saturday I went to Gracanica, a Serbian enclave town about 9km outside Pristina.
Pristina itself is quite dirty and relatively poor-looking. There are lots of people and lots of blocks and houses where people live, but what is striking is that the centre is relatively little in comparison to the number of people living in the city. There's hardly any institutions or businesses where all those people can work. The statistics speak of 50-70% unemployment rate in Kosovo, and to see that in all its contrast was an eye-opener. The only workplaces of some size, save for hospitals, schools and the university, are those of international organizations, and they are mostly staffed by foreigners/expats.
To see how little the city centre was, and how few businesses there were, in comparison to the size of the city and the number of houses was simply puzzling in a way. The architecture is a combination of communist concrete fantasies, remains of the 1980's glass facades, a surreal national library and a few buildings that have physical resemblance to central/west European style such as it is found in e.g. Austria or France. There are lots of cafes and places to spend easy money, but relatively few people who have that money to spend. Picture: The UN building, one of the few large employers in Pristina. And they hire foreigners, for the most part.As for attractions, Pristina does not have too much to offer. A couple of monuments and statues, some mosques, a museum (that was closed when I came), a most remarkable national library and ... what else?
Oh, the grave of the late Kosovo president Rugova. He died of lung cancer in January 2006, and having seen how many and how much people in the Balkans smoke I can't say I am surprised! But he was a high-class politician, no doubt, and he is sorely missed today. Albania is the most USA-loving country in the world as far as I know, and whether independent or not Kosovo will definitely be # 2 on that list. It has a Bill Clinton boulevard, complete with a massive poster of the man himself. The other main 'star' of Pristina is mother Theresa. 
She was born in Skopje, Macedonia from an Albanian family in what was then Yugoslavia. Her street, Mother Theresa Boulevard, is the main street and pedestrian zone in Pristina and also has a statue of the late nun. Picture left: A big poster of guess who pays tribute to the man after whom this boulevard is named... Picture right: A statue of Mother Theresa, found on Mother Theresa Avenue, the main street in Pristina.On Saturday I went to Gracanica, a Serbian enclave town about 9 km from Pristina. I visited a woman I have met while being here; she's a Serbian doctor and a director of a medical clinic in Gracanica. I was there together with some Americans, and she showed us around the clinic before taking us to the Gracanica monastery. Or rather: to the church of the Gracanica monastery. The monastery was built from 1313-21, so it was finished before the Ottomans came and established control in this part of the Balkans. It has been an important place in Serbian history and during the medieval times there was a Patriarchate established there. The church is filled with frescoes, most of which were finished at the time when the church was finished, so they are more than 600 years old. The monastery has survived all the wars on the Balkans, including the 1999 NATO bombing campaign, and most of its frescoes and other treasures remain intact.
A nun showed us around and explained much of its history for us, Sister Sarah. She also showed us a 'secret' staircase inside one of the pillars in the main part of the church, leading up to a secret room. In the 1300s, when they heard that the Ottomans were on their way, the church leaders hid many of the church's treasures and possessions in that secret room and then covered the entrance in brick as if it were a regular wall. I asked the nun if we could please be allowed up to see, and she let us! So now I have seen every bit of that church:-) And the frescos in the 'secret' room were amazingly beautiful - even for me, who is very sceptical to the whole Orthodox tradition... Picture: A fresco on the wall inside the 'secret' room. I think it is Elijah, but am not sure.
When returning to Belgrade I got a lift with friends, driving a private car all the way to Belgrade. And I noticed another thing that was a novelty to me, although here it's common 'knowledge'. If your car has Kosovo licence plates in Belgrade, or perhaps the rest of Serbia, it will be rampaged one minute after you leave it in the parking. Guaranteed.
Likewise, if you have a car with Serbian licence plates in Kosovo you are likely to be harassed and have your car vandalized. People solve this by having two sets of licence plates. When we stopped at the border crossing the driver handed our passports to the UNMIK office, then took off the Kosovo licence plates, put on Serbian licence plates he had hidden in the back of the car, and then we got the passports back and could proceed to Belgrade. No one lifted an eyebrow over this. Picture: This might look like a 'mistake shot' but actually shows the driver changing our licence plates while the UNMIK guys look at our passports...I must admit that the weekend offered me a wide range of inputs and increased understanding of the whole 'Kosovo issue'. Although I am not sure I am closer to imagining a solution.
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