The “Welcome to the Republic of Kosovo” sign is more than just an airport greeting. It is an indication of just how far this former territory of Yugoslavia has come. Kosovo formally declared its independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008. The United States and nearly 40 other nations around the world have formally recognized Kosovo’s sovereignty. But Russia, Serbia’s ally, refuses to recognize Kosovo’s independence and has blocked all United Nations efforts to give Kosovo what most residents here believe they are entitled to: their own country. With or without Russia and the United Nations, Kosovo is moving forward. Kosovo’s new flag waved in the wind of the airport tower along with those from the United States, the European Union, and Albania.
Gjakove Bound
Once we finally cleared the crush of passengers that had rushed from the plane to passport control and started the long process of collecting our luggage. Thankfully, every last piece of luggage arrived. There are still luggage carts at the airport which made our exit much easier. As we snaked our way outside, we were crushed by the joyful claps, hollers, and tears of Liz Shropshire and a handful of her volunteers who had arrived to greet us. I cried tears of joy as I hugged Liz, just as I had three years ago when we arrived.
Gjakove or Bust…Again!
Liz too had learned a few lessons from our last trip. This time she aided us in renting a full size passenger bus to hold us and all of our stuff. Well almost all of our bags. We still had to load half a dozen or so bags into the Shropshire Music Foundation’s aging blue Volkswagon van.
The trip to Gjakove is usually about 90 minutes. It came as no surprise to those of us who visited in 2005 that the trip took longer. The big bus was great, with one exception. The air conditioning was not working, transforming the vehicle into an oven. The driver stopped 40 minutes into the ride in a vain attempt to fix the air. But as with so many of our experiences here in 2005, any problem here has a quick, if not simple, solution. Everyone purchased a cold drink at a roadside stand and we were back on the road in no time.
Tonight we settled into the place we will call home for the next 14 days. All of the adults (and the two youngest Hartman girls) are living in four separate houses that we’ve rented for this trip. All remaining youths are staying in pairs with host families. Many of the host families include children who have visited and/or studied in Muscatine since our exchange began in 2004.
The road to Gjakove is always an adventure for me, the for most the real journey is just getting underway!
Until next time…..Kristin McHugh-Johnston
