“Urime Pavaresia” (Successful – Happy Independence)

(Kyle and I at Independence celebration the night before declaration)

I want to preface this section by saying that if there's a section you should read on this blog its this one...Kosovo's independence and the experience being there was extraordinary and different than what was seen and portrayed by the eyes of the media. Thank you all for reading!!

The experience of being part of a new nation's independence celebration in their capital and living a new phase of history was simply amazing...words can't describe how inspiring the experience was. We were never in any danger and on the contrary, we were quite loved and thanked for being Americans!!! When we mentioned we were from "the states" people would shake our hands enthusiastically and say "Thank you, thank you." Even if Kyle and I had little to do with US intervention with NATO bombings in Belgrade, Serbia at the end of the 90's, we welcomed the friendliness and joined them for their celebrations, which were both joyful and culturally eye-opening for sure.

After the war in Bosnia and Croatia where hundreds of Muslims had been massacred and millions deported, the Serbian government marched into Kosovo in 1999 and started repeating the procedure (ethnic cleansing, if you will) which is when the US intervened with NATO to force Serbia out of Kosovo (thus the Kosovo love towards the US, which is rare anywhere else in the world...see the picture with banners thanking the U.S.). Having had the amazing opportunity to meet intellectually stimulating Kosovars, we were able to realize the inhumane circumstances in which these people lived during the Serbian occupation. War testimonies are never uplifting, but it certainly provoked a feeling in us to support the Kosovo independence entirely. The night before the Parliament was to declare "Kosove" as a new nation, there was so much excitement and (or course) hot rhetoric in the streets. People were out decorating their cars with flags (see pic on left) and putting them outside their homes or shops. The main boulevard, "Mother Theresa" was packed with people: men enveloped in Albanian (and US!!) flags, but also sporting the UK, European Union and French flags...banners written out in Albanian"Urime Pavaresia, Gezuar Kosove" (Successful Independence, Cheers Kosovo), older men wearing the traditional Albanian attire showing tears in their eyes, of course vendors selling T-shirts and more flags...it was all very moving. There were banners on the streets that thanked different nations and organizations, among some of them the US, UK, NATO, France, Germany and the EU (picture on the right). The day of the independence declaration we were able to celebrate in the home of a very modest Kosovar family (a mother who lost her job due to Kosovo's economical instability during the Serbian intrusion, yet her sons are hard-working and would never abandon her - they lost their father as well). We met them through a colleague of Kyle's former teacher, Janet. She has many colleagues that are locals, so we were able to discuss politics and national identity with them and of course that Sunday of independence, we danced and celebrated with them. On the left there is a picture of Janet, Erwin, Kyle and I with our delightful host on the far left.
We hit the streets in the late afternoon and got to see the big sculpture finally uncovered in the main square, spelling "NEWBORN" (pic on the left). All of the region of Kosovo was there celebrating, chanting nationalistic songs, embracing their loved ones, dancing, jumping and feeling happy. Many chanted "I am finally free," "Kosovo is stateless no more," "A new Republic is born," and of course they all shouted in unison, "I come from the great and newborn Republic of Kosove." Officers were there distributing pens for people to sign the "newborn" letters and Kyle and I were able to write a little something as well. Next we headed to the main boulevard to watch the fireworks (which were distributed in three main areas of the capital of Prishtina. The fireworks went off with the national song playing in the background and boy was it powerful and moving. The show was a complete success with no violence perpetrated whatsoever. People were just happy. Of course, in Serbia, the song was chanted in a less melodious manor...humm! But fortunately for us, we were nowhere near the border, and much less the capital of Serbia where the attack on embassies were conducted, regretfully. On our way back to Croatia to visit the coast we encountered a couple Serbian amateur cinematographers shooting a documentary about the Balkans. They were not mean to us and talked to us normally, evoking sincere disdain for the events occurred in Serbia, regretting that it was harming the international view of Serbians and of Serbia as a whole. They criticized their government and agreed with us that a rally of protest was in their right to do, but that violence was not the answer. All of it was a very educational and life-changing experience we did not expect.

In pictures left to right:

1.The little part that Kyle, Ereblir and I wrote on the "Newborn" letters...see if you can find it...
2.Banners indicating Kosovo's new independence status
3. The "newborn" sculpture uncovered the night before independence
4.Banner of "Urime Pavaresia" which means Successful independence, outside of janet's apartment, along with US, UK, NATO, EU, UN and German flags
5. Kosovars writing on the sculpture
6. Our friend Burim enveloped in his flag making history
7. Social Studies teacher for ASK, Erwin Selimos and I beside the "Newborn" sculpture before it was presented the next night for independence
8. The locals wearing US flags, was a very common sight
9.The mother Theresa boulevard, where the fireworks went off