Kosova

We arrived in Prishtina, the capital of Kosova, last night, and we are still trying to get our bearings in a city of contradiction. We are staying with Christian workers, but the population at large is almost completely Muslim. Parts of the city still show scars from less peaceful days (e.g. the burned out Greek Orthodox church from the 2004 riots standing like a skeleton down the street. There are no Serbians left here to rebuild it), but there is growth evident everywhere. A shining billboard of Bill Clinton greets visitors as they enter the city, but the trash pick-up services started by the Italian government through the U.N. spills refuse into the street. If you have ever lived in Naples, you know why that's humorous. We are with generous hosts and meeting some of the most interesting people of our lives: The aspiring hairdresser who fled to France for a year with his family during the war, a journalist who went into marketing to stop the death threats against his family while he was reporting on corruption, a young girl who broke her father's heart by becoming a Christian. And this is only the first day.