My last weekend

 24/07/24

Today is Wednesday, last night we arrived back in Pristina at around 1am, after some haggling with the taxi driver at the bus station we got a lift back to the apartment. I was knackered so slept well. It was just myself and Ana in the office today, she had just arrived back from a holiday in Albania too so we traded stories of what we got up to in the different parts of the country. I began working on the transcript of a new interview, by a man called Martin Çuni. He came from a village in Kosovo and a family that considered themselves Albanian, he grew up in a mixed community of Muslims and Catholics, then went on to become involved in the establishment of the Communist Marxist-Leninist Party of Albanians in Yugoslavia. This advocated for the creation of an Albanian republic within Yugoslavia, encompassing not just Kosovo but all Albanian territories in Yugoslavia. I didn't do anything very interesting for the rest of the day apart from have a meal with the others and have a few drinks at a really nice bar.

Everyone was back in the office apart from Anita. It was my first time seeing Jeta since the start of my placement as she has just got a place in Berlin to complete her PhD so has been sorting out everything that comes with it, such as visas etc. I had a good catch up with her as she explained what she'd been getting up to and obviously the work I'd been doing and some of the interesting things I've got up to whilst being here. For the work day I continued with the Martin Çuni interview and discovered he went to prison in 1982, but in 1983 he attempted to escape, however it failed and he was jailed for an extra year. In total he was in prison for 9 years as he was released in 1991. I had another promising conversation with Jeta about coming back to work for them in the future, she seemed keen to have me back! And told me about her plans to try and expand the organisation and begin doing other projects other than interviews. If they can get the grants, she wants to start working in schools, starting in Pristina where they teach and complete activities with younger children. They hope to start this in February and they will need all the help they can get - a brilliant opportunity for me to do more responsible and meaningful work.

29/07/24 - I am now writing from Monday the 29th, my last full day in Pristina. The final weekend was pretty chill, I decided to go and visit the Kosovo Museum. It consisted of two floors, the first was dedicated to more ancient history, including prehistory using archaeological exhibits. Seen below, on the left are terracotta figurines dating back to the Neolithic, around 6000 - 4500 BC all depicting a similar icon. These artefacts can be seen on posters and used as symbols around the city of Pristina, the most famous of these is known as Hyjnesha Në Fron, or Goddess on the Throne. The upstairs of the museum contained much more modern history, mainly showing Kosovo from the years up to and after the 98-99 war of independence. The photos show some of uniforms worn as part of the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army). Other exhibitions showed the guns and other weapons used, there was also a gallery of photos from the years after the war, a lot being of Kosovan children and NATO soldiers. To end the day I went to visit a couple of the mosques with Tom as he missed out last time we went, he hadn't been to a mosque before so was keen to experience it. First we went to the Jashar Pasha's Mosque which is close by to the Great Mosque that I mentioned earlier on in my blog. It is slightly smaller but just as beautiful inside, the hanging ornaments were especially noticeable, although this didn't have the same incense fragrance. We were the only people in there so sat and spent some time relaxing in our own company.

As I sit and write this my emotions are a bit all over the place, it does not feel like I have just finished my last day of work at Oral History and all of a sudden going home tomorrow; saying goodbye to my new colleagues and friends was sad but hopeful. I have gotten so used to being here and yet it has flown by, so although the thought of going home to my own bed is appealing, I still feel apprehensive about leaving. I am quite drained as it has been all go for a month but I can confidently say I have gotten as much out of this opportunity as I possibly could. I did not have a clear role whilst working but have learnt so much about how this type of NGO can function effectively to carry out important work and about Kosovo and this part of the world in a way that I could never know without being here. I feel a connection to the people and city as having the chance to try and assimilate into its culture as an outsider has provided me with the personal growth to continue with these types of adventures, and giving me a better chance to work for organisations around the world that I will find genuinely fulfilling. So no doubt I will also be returning to Kosovo and more of the Balkans. I am already getting the chance to go to Romania in a week and a half so my journey continues. 

Later today we will meet some friends and go for a few drinks to finish the trip properly. I will try and prepare for a long day of travelling tomorrow, just making the whole process of leaving and returning to little old Minehead all the more tiresome. However, it will make the feeling of hitting my pillow all the more satisfying. 

I may make another post when I have arrived in England to express how I am feeling on my return after reflecting on all that I have done and learnt. But for now, goodbye Kosovo, thank you for my time here. And thank you for reading if you managed to get this far!