Last Weeks of Summer, Ramadan On The Way

Qiriazi Center
Last Tuesday we offered a workshop for students on the basics of applying to American colleges. In a sense the workshop was at their request. A recent U.N. survey found that 44% of young Kosovars (we would have guessed a higher) intend to leave Kosovo to live somewhere else. That outlook on life combined with the troubled higher education system here, explains why many students have asked us for help getting into US schools.

Since we're not experts on US student visa policy, we stuck to the topics we understand quite well from recent personal experience. We tried to help the students brace for the multitude of decisions they'll have to make in system made up of nearly 7,000 colleges that are all trying to find good students and also make a buck. Our aim was to enable the students to use key terms like admissions, tuition, financial aid, merit/need-basis, major, int'l student programs, etc. to navigate college websites so that they can begin making these decisions.

Social Time with Locals & Expatriates
This week we had significant social times with both Kosovars and fellow foreigners. We visited the home of one of our students on Wed. morning and spent nearly 3 hours conversing with his parents and eating various treats they prepared for us. We especially enjoyed discussing his father's stories about leading underground education and social welfare programs in the 1990s when Kosovar Albanians were heavily and violently repressed.

On Thur. evening we had a picnic in the mountains at a camp that some friends are building. We spent the night in tents, and the next morning pitched a few hours with the ambitious construction work that was underway.


Ramadan Begins this Week
Sometime late this week (depending on when the waning moon is sighted) the Islamic month of Ramadan begins. Kosovo's many Muslims will join Muslims worldwide in observing this month with fasting during daylight hours, practicing charity toward the poor, and seeking spiritual purification through prayers and and meditation on the Quran. We anticipate that during this month folks may be less active and less patient during the daily fast, and that there will be an indulgent, celebratory atmosphere in the evenings. We will also probably have a lot of conversations about the tenets of Islam and how these compare with the tenets of Christianity.

Everyday Life
We made two noteworthy purchases this week: last Sun. we got houseplants, four of them, at a nursery outside of town. We're very proud to report that they are all alive and well 7 days later! The second surprising purchase was a pair of great hiking/snow boots for Landon for €5. They were on display in a shop in one of Peja's old Ottomon-feeling neighborhoods, but the shopkeeper told us he actually imported used/overstocked clothes from Germany. As they say, "the world is flat" even over here!