"Pristina, Kosovo - Home of OSCE" Kosovo by posejc

Pristina - HQ for OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation of Europe) - Went there as an IT Officer (Commissioned by the State Department) - Bureaucratic nightmare - where anything or anyone that is or belongs to the USA - is not be identified as such - they don't want to have the US influence anywhere (except the expertise and money!) - but I regress!.. work was interesting - even though uneventful - assisted in setting up the LAN/WAN Network and directing Austrian contractors (most from Bulgaria!) on installing the Network Cabling (CATV/VI) to replace the FDDI (Fiber Optics) Network that was damaged during the NATO Strikes (Precision Bombing they call it!) - and tried to finish up the full install of the network - Wrote the Help Desk Manual - and tried to get one of my Albanian employees to translate it into both Serb and Albanian!.. but never did get to see if it ever was done!..

Daily Life of a Serb - Getting Burned Out!.

Well for one - we where to stay in apartments - I ended up having to pay for my own accommodations!. - using Deutch Marks - in a Serb Building where the lights where cut off each evening around 6pm - some Albanian must have had the controls to it - All the other apartment complexes that had Albanians in it - where all having lights!.. so mostly you went out to eat - and tried to take a shower and /or do a Japanese whore bath (using water and a steel pot! and sponge!) to get cleaned up!.. Most facilities, restaurants, pizza places where all filled - smoke everywhere - it gags you as you get in - there was not one place in Pristina - maybe except the restaurant near the HQ - that was smokeless!... Seems to be very prevalent all over Europe - but fortunately they are changing that!.. hopefully!.. I hate to have to smell, breath someone else's smoke!.. I had quit long ago - and I hate to eat my dinner smelling like a cigar or cigarette!..

Many Orthodox Church are slowly disappearing!.

One thing you do not do - is Speak Serbian!.. Anywhere - except maybe in the Northen enclave of Mitrovica! - where I went there with a dear friend of mine (I would have married her - but it was not to be!) Irma Phirtskhalaishvili - who was working with the UNHDIR in OSCE's part of that country - trying to install and setup the Democratization Process and Election Processes!..
Drive around by yourself!.. never never do that!.. always drive in pairs and preferrably in a Armored Vehicle - I remember me and my friends drove to Greece on a weekend in an Armored Jeep - It was great finally relaxing in the home port of Thellasonica in Greece - near the beach - in a 4 star rated hotel - near the beach front - all peaceful - no bullets and firing anywhere - just the sound of traffic jams and people walking around near the beach and the restaurants overlooking the ocean!.. ah!.. relaxing!.. took nearly one hour to get thru the border to Macedonia - only one road - way high - and traffic for miles!.. truckers lined up for miles - and I mean miles - and only one way or nearly one way of traffic!.. and thats on both ends of the tunnel that leads to Macedonnia (Skopje to be exact) - its amazing to see - never have I seen some many trucks lined up to come and go - mostly empty on the way south - and filled to the hilt on the way back up!.. the mountainous road was very very small (only two way traffic! as most of these country roads are!) - and full of curves and high precipices to the right or left!.. going 100 if not even 1000 of feet down - no guard rails!.. except on bridges!.. One site I saw that amazed me was a VW Bus - fully equipped with a cow in the rear!.. the farmer I guess had taken out the whole back of the bus - how he got that cow in there is still an amazement to me!.. should Have had my camera!.. no one would believe me!.. only a picture would do this incident justice!..

• Pros:Its a beautiful country - where it not for the genocide!
• Cons:Its turning into an Albanian Enclave - and soon will be!.
• In a nutshell:Amazing people - most beautiful women I have ever seen - and I have travelled to many places!.