Episode VII - Moving on

Washington, DC
Belgrade, Serbia
Bucharest, Romania
Yerevan, Armenia
Fladungen, Germany
Chisinau, Moldova
Fladungen, Germany
{Ramallah, Palestine}
.
.
.
Pristina, Kosovo.  

Didn't see that one coming, did you?

War, organ theft, mysterious white vans, Blue Helmets, abject poverty, poor air quality... and really not much more is what comes to mind when asked about Pristina.  Maybe the one or other war massacre.  Not exactly a garden spot on this planet.

We are, of course, delighted.  Not about the Kosovo - personally, I'm kind of done with the Balkans.  I'd love a more exotic place, like Nepal, with cool photo ops.  {Insert bout of jealousy for my friend Monique who is moving just there.}  But heh - it's a job, with relative job security, for three years.  With benefits. We are lucky.  (And if you know me well, you can tell from the use of bold typeface how truly excited we are!)

What is there to do in Pristina?  Apparently, very little.  Expats work there... and work some more.  Often, I heard, people put in weekend hours just because there is nothing else to do on the weekends. That may be a remnant of the single-(wo)man posting that Kosovo was for years on end.  These days, more and more families move to Pristina which is also reflected in the presence of serveral so-called "International Schools".  There is an evolving night scene, apparently, but let's be brutally honest - the last time I had a date with my husband, we came back home at 10 pm because we were tired.  Sad, but true.

What is there to say about Kosov?  It's a country.  Of sorts.  Under UN protection, still, and the politics are so complicated, I choose to live there for a while before I comment on that particular can of worms.  Especially after what happened when Doug wrote about Adem Jashari back in 2005.

It's mountainous.  There are a lot of kids - the average age of the population is under 30.  Preparing to feel old.  Apparently, they have a very vegetarian diet which pleases me.  It's almost impossible to get packages by mail (because of customs).  No Amazon deliveries, check.  (Going into panic ordering mode now.)  You can go skiing.  Not that we do.

It's landlocked, of course.  Like Serbia, and Armenia, Moldova, and Palestine.  The kids love the beach so much, it's like a curse to be sent to one landlocked country after another.  However, it sits next to Montenegro which we love (although we don't like the prices) and Montenegro sits smack on the Adriatic, so that may be a positive (let's reserve judgment until we've done that drive, for all I know it'll take 15 hours on potholed serpentine roads). 

But here's the kicker: very likely, we are not actually moving to Pristina, we are probably moving to Skopje, Macedonia.  Yes, that is in another country - Macedonia borders Kosovo and Skopje is about 90 min drive from Pristina. (It also borders Greece. Delightful beaches, here we come.  Kolodkins!  We are not that far away anymore!)

 The dearth of good Middle and High Schools in Pristina  and the tough choice between two excellent ones in Skopje is like a siren song.  Doug would live and work in Pristina and come home on the weekends and maybe once or twice during the week.  Not an ideal solution but so many other Expats live that way once their kids grow past the elementary school stage.  There was the discussion whether we (i.e. the kids and I) stay in Germany but it's just too far away, and we believe the kids will be better served by a private school system with smaller classes and individual attenttion. In English.

What else is there to say? Lots of work ahead. Sorting - what comes, what stays? The vague plan is to empty the house to a degree where we could rent it out to tourists inbetween our stays in the summer and in the winter. If I can manage that is another question.  Because Doug won't be here, Doug starts work on June 3rd in Pristina. Yup, three weeks away.  We get 30 days notice.  That's what it means to be a contractor. 

It's going to be crazy, as always.  I did not believe in a longterm posting anymore, so our house is not exactly in moving condition.  We also get a tiny move, so we need to be very selective about what comes and what stays.  (Now I'm asking myself why I'm sitting here instead of frantically cleaning up...)

Both Kosovo and Macedonia are, by all accounts, very beautiful countries.   We love hiking and being out and about, so the images of Lake Ohrid, the gorgeous mountains, Roman and Greek ruins, Orthodox monasteries, bountiful markets with fresh fruit and vegetables, fill my heart with song.  We can have some fun there. It occurs to me we should have a guest room.  

{All images from www.exploringmacedonia.com}

I need a new lens, of course. And a tripod.  And... and... and...

And I need my kids to be happy.  Doug, after being initially completely weirded out, now seems happy and upbeat about being gainfully employed again.  

It all comes at a price, of course.  Doesn't it always? Our big US vacation in the summer has to be scrapped.  There just isn't enough time - the kids have all of three weeks of summer vacation, and the move has to be sent out.  We'll postpone it to the fall, most likely.  More making up to the kids lies ahead.  But, again.  It's all relative.  The most important thing is this:

We're ready for a new, exciting adventure!

PS: The kids?  The kids were over the moon.  Both Doug and I are a little flabberghasted about that. They think it's cool we're going to drive for two days, they think it's the BEST that they might be going to another QSI school, they looked at the gorgeous images on the internet and can't wait.  I'm sure that there will be problems galore ahead but I'm taking all the positive reactions that I can for now.

Comments

[Lorraine]

Fabulous, wonderful news--and the pics of Macedonia are incredible! No wonder the kids are excited.

[Rachel]

WOOO HOOOO!! Hey... be sure to explore the Real Post Reports for both sites (I'm surprised you haven't written a RPR before (or, maybe you have!)... I find them to be VERY helpful... http://www.talesmag.com/real-post-reports

BTW, we may be going to Kiev for 2 years (more later)... Love to you all... R (&R)

[Christine Forber (@xinef5980)]

As always, I look forward to your blog posts about your reactions and the kids' reactions to the new country. Best wishes for the move.

[Lauri Mennel]

Claudia -- We lived in Skopje right before our move to Bucharest and LOVED it. We were anxiously awaiting a possible project for John that would take us back there after Bucharest but ran out of time. I think y'all will like it a lot!