Lori Merrill's Sabbatical
May 27th:
My time in Mitrovica was cut short by a week and a half due to the serious illness of Libby’s grandma. Leaving Mitrovica early was not an easy task. We were faced with having to change our travel plans from within a country with limited resources. The electricity going out became more than a minor inconvenience when we had to alter our airline reservations. Changing our tickets with no accessible phone and no Internet access seemed impossible. I had purchased a local SIM card for my cell phone to use during my stay in Mitrovica, but it turned out that the SIM had been hacked. As soon as I activated the SIM, my minutes began to disappear, so I had no choice but to take it out of my phone. Replacement SIMS could only be purchased in Pristina, which was an hour’s drive away, and transportation from Mitrovica to Pristina was hard to arrange. To make matters even more difficult, we had to get from the north side of the river to the south. When we finally got in touch with Milos, a young Serbian man who was working with the Cities in Transition Team, he said he would drive us back to the south side apartment. He picked us up at the hotel and we started to drive. I soon realized we were taking the long way across the river. Milos avoided the main bridge by a good five miles, and before crossing the lesser-known bridge he pulled to the side of the road and changed the license plates to meet the requirement on Albanian south side. Although I knew that crossing the bridge was an issue for both sides in Mitrovica, this was the first time I realized just how difficult transportation between the two actually is. I was grateful to Milos for going out of his way to help us, especially knowing that this was emotionally difficult for him.
Once we reached the south side apartment I managed to Skype the airlines and arrange a flight out the next morning at 5:30 AM. This meant we had to get to the airport in Pristina by 3:30 AM, which was the next hurdle I had to cross. There are no viable freeways in Kosovo, and the roads are mostly under construction. I didn’t know where to begin to find a taxi in the middle of the night to take us from Mitrovica to the airport. I thought about booking a hotel in Pristina for the last night, but after checking with three that were completely booked, I figured this was not going to be the solution to our problem. I have to admit I was more than a little bit frustrated at this point, and I felt trapped and out of control… And then my luck changed because of the generosity of Ardiana. She happened to stop by to see if I was working at the apartment. When she saw me she knew something was wrong, and I told her that Libby and I had to leave to get home to Libby’s sick grandma. When she found out that I had a flight out the next morning she told me that her sister’s fiancé drove taxi, and that she would arrange for him to pick us up at 2AM to take us to the airport. For the first time that day I smiled, and began to feel in control again.
That evening Libby and I went out to dinner with Ardiana, and the team I worked with in Mitrovica. Padraig O’Malley, our fearless leader (not pictured), and Allan Leonard, Nancy Riordan, Cassidy Evans, Tara DeSisto (Not Pictured), Katie Adams (Not Pictured), Pat Peterson (Not Pictured) and Jeffrey Range (Not Pictured) are people I will not soon forget. After dinner I reflected on how much we had accomplished, yet I knew how much work was left before the first delegates arrive. I knew I could work on the program details from home, but it wouldn’t be the same, and I definitely regretted that.
At 2AM my taxi arrived at the apartment, and I was surprised to see that Ardiana and her younger sister had come along to keep us company on our drive to the airport. The roads were bumpy and the night was dark, but the company was wonderful, and I began missing Mitrovica before I ever got off the ground.
I could mention that the Pristina Airport looks bleak in the middle of the night, but it certainly looked safe when filled with approximately 50 NATO Troops waiting to fly home. New Troops had already arrived to replace them, since Kosovo is not yet ready to go it alone. The international presence of the EU, UN, and NATO personnel is something welcomed by some in Kosovo, and hated by others. One thing that most would agree on is that they look forward to the day when Kosovo no longer needs international assistance. I, too, will look forward to that day, for I have grown quite fond of this little corner of the world!
My time in Mitrovica was cut short by a week and a half due to the serious illness of Libby’s grandma. Leaving Mitrovica early was not an easy task. We were faced with having to change our travel plans from within a country with limited resources. The electricity going out became more than a minor inconvenience when we had to alter our airline reservations. Changing our tickets with no accessible phone and no Internet access seemed impossible. I had purchased a local SIM card for my cell phone to use during my stay in Mitrovica, but it turned out that the SIM had been hacked. As soon as I activated the SIM, my minutes began to disappear, so I had no choice but to take it out of my phone. Replacement SIMS could only be purchased in Pristina, which was an hour’s drive away, and transportation from Mitrovica to Pristina was hard to arrange. To make matters even more difficult, we had to get from the north side of the river to the south. When we finally got in touch with Milos, a young Serbian man who was working with the Cities in Transition Team, he said he would drive us back to the south side apartment. He picked us up at the hotel and we started to drive. I soon realized we were taking the long way across the river. Milos avoided the main bridge by a good five miles, and before crossing the lesser-known bridge he pulled to the side of the road and changed the license plates to meet the requirement on Albanian south side. Although I knew that crossing the bridge was an issue for both sides in Mitrovica, this was the first time I realized just how difficult transportation between the two actually is. I was grateful to Milos for going out of his way to help us, especially knowing that this was emotionally difficult for him.
Once we reached the south side apartment I managed to Skype the airlines and arrange a flight out the next morning at 5:30 AM. This meant we had to get to the airport in Pristina by 3:30 AM, which was the next hurdle I had to cross. There are no viable freeways in Kosovo, and the roads are mostly under construction. I didn’t know where to begin to find a taxi in the middle of the night to take us from Mitrovica to the airport. I thought about booking a hotel in Pristina for the last night, but after checking with three that were completely booked, I figured this was not going to be the solution to our problem. I have to admit I was more than a little bit frustrated at this point, and I felt trapped and out of control… And then my luck changed because of the generosity of Ardiana. She happened to stop by to see if I was working at the apartment. When she saw me she knew something was wrong, and I told her that Libby and I had to leave to get home to Libby’s sick grandma. When she found out that I had a flight out the next morning she told me that her sister’s fiancé drove taxi, and that she would arrange for him to pick us up at 2AM to take us to the airport. For the first time that day I smiled, and began to feel in control again.
That evening Libby and I went out to dinner with Ardiana, and the team I worked with in Mitrovica. Padraig O’Malley, our fearless leader (not pictured), and Allan Leonard, Nancy Riordan, Cassidy Evans, Tara DeSisto (Not Pictured), Katie Adams (Not Pictured), Pat Peterson (Not Pictured) and Jeffrey Range (Not Pictured) are people I will not soon forget. After dinner I reflected on how much we had accomplished, yet I knew how much work was left before the first delegates arrive. I knew I could work on the program details from home, but it wouldn’t be the same, and I definitely regretted that.
At 2AM my taxi arrived at the apartment, and I was surprised to see that Ardiana and her younger sister had come along to keep us company on our drive to the airport. The roads were bumpy and the night was dark, but the company was wonderful, and I began missing Mitrovica before I ever got off the ground.
I could mention that the Pristina Airport looks bleak in the middle of the night, but it certainly looked safe when filled with approximately 50 NATO Troops waiting to fly home. New Troops had already arrived to replace them, since Kosovo is not yet ready to go it alone. The international presence of the EU, UN, and NATO personnel is something welcomed by some in Kosovo, and hated by others. One thing that most would agree on is that they look forward to the day when Kosovo no longer needs international assistance. I, too, will look forward to that day, for I have grown quite fond of this little corner of the world!
Comments