Kosovo

Make a left!

Crossing the border.

President Bill Clinton welcomes you.

EU Education Initiative.

Yes, NEWBORN.

 

Swedish and Dutch wedding guests.

Tea

Kosovo, we meet again! Just like with Macedonia, I was here eight years ago. Then; grey, beige, barbed wire, white UN vehicles, checkpoints, torn houses, grocery shops with empty shelves, camouflage uniforms... Now; lively, green, happy people, bohemian atmosphere and hardly any war reminders and not least, the NEWBORN monument, which was unveiled on 17 February 2008 when Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. The only thing that was the same, though, was President Bill Clinton's warm smile once you enter Pristina through his own Bill Clinton Boulevard.

So, what brought us to Kosovo then? My good friend, Hana, whom I got to know during my years in Dubai, got married last Saturday, 3 October, in her home town Pristina. 300 guests, 6 course meal, camera team and plenty of Balkan rythm, all night long, in Emerald Hotel. I'm very happy I got to experience it.

On our way back to Skopje, we stopped in the city of Prizren for a cup of tea. An overly sweetened hot beverage, in a shabby street corner where men, without teeth, spent the whole days smoking and watching the Turkish football League, through the smoke, on small screens. Genuine!