So oops.. I’m a bit behind in my blogging (a week to be exact) but I’m going to try my best to outline these past two weeks so far. I can’t believe I arrived in Pristina two weeks ago today!
Here are my first impressions:
MOUNTAINS!! – Living in flat Michigan my whole life, I’ve always found mountains fascinating. The way the mountains surround Pristina from all sides is really beautiful- one of the mountains in the distance even has snow on the top.
Driving is crazy here—Its actually kind of scary and I don’t understand how I have yet to witness an accident. Cars switch lanes without warning, enter roundabouts at full speed regardless if other cars are coming, and barely stop for pedestrians. Cutting people off and driving over curbs all seem to be the norm here. Drivers don’t even get mad at other drivers when they drive crazy.. its all a mutual understanding or something. Also, the roads here can be really narrow and sometimes cars have to pull to the side to let another car pass. At first, its really bizarre how different the driving is here than in the US, but I’m starting to get used to it, and I’m just glad I don’t have to get behind the wheel of a car while I’m here!
Pedestrians are also crazy!—People cross roads regardless of crosswalks and regardless if cars are coming at them. Due to the narrow streets, and cars parking on sidewalks, pedestrians are also often times forced to walk in the middle of the street. When they do, cars zoom past them only centimeters away (I’m not joking). Its crazy to me because no one even flinches when a car almost hits them.
Coffee—The coffee here is incredible, and the coffee culture is so important. My first day at work I went out to an hour-long coffee break with colleagues.. An hour long! Just for coffee!! Kosovars also never hesitate to make sure I know that Kosovo has the best coffee in the world (even better than Italy).. and apparently its true, just look it up! They are known especially for their macchiato, and it really is so delicious. At work, if my colleagues don’t feel like leaving the office for coffee, they make Turkish coffee, which is super different from any type of coffee I’ve ever had. It has this frothy/foamy layer of thinly ground coffee grounds at the top and is super strong. Most people here are surprised I like it because it’s so different, but lets be honest, I’ll drink any kind of coffee. In fact, as an avid coffee drinker back home, the Kosovo coffee culture has definitely been a perk!
People are SO nice—Everyone I have met is so nice here (I know I’m probably over-generalizing but…). I haven’t met someone who hasn’t gone completely out of his or her way to make sure I feel comfortable and am having a good time. For instance at work, my supervisor has not only made me feel so comfortable in the office, but has also shown me around Pristina, has taken me on a day trip to a neighboring city (I’ll get to that later), and has invited me to get coffee or food or just to hang out almost every single day. Also for the first week and a half in Pristina, I stayed with a Kosovar University of Michigan alum and her family. She was the most incredible host, and continues to be even though I have moved to my own apartment. We constantly bond over UofM and Ann Arbor, and even though it’s only been about two weeks, I feel like I’ve known my whole life—people here seem to have that affect. In addition to these two women, multiple colleagues at work have reached out to me about doing things on weekends and have asked me to call them if I need anything. This is all so comforting because before I got here, I was worried that coming to Pristina on my own and not knowing a single soul would lead to feelings of homesickness and loneliness. Honestly, the people I am surrounded with every day here have made those feelings impossible and I am so thankful for their welcoming nature.
Architecture and infrastructure– The infrastructure here is really interesting.. Most homes that are located in the countryside look the same—they all have red-ish orange roofs and adobe siding (unfinished buildings expose red bricks as their structure) and from a distance these homes look like they’re stacked on top of each other, the way they are located on the green hilly mountains. Some buildings look run down when you view them from the outside, and sometimes you’ll see a really run down or abandoned building, and right next to it will be a building in pristine condition. The way the buildings are organized here is all really random. My host explained to me that there are no “good” neighborhoods and no “bad” neighborhoods in Pristina in terms of quality of houses/apartments. For instance, there can be some really nice homes or buildings and right next door there is a crumbling building or shack. She explained that after the war, poor villagers flocked to the city, resulting in homes that are of more poor conditions, and also people starting building anywhere (there were no rules) and that resulted in a lot of abandoned homes that could not be finished. I’ll try to post some pictures of this contrast in architecture soon!
Food– Everything is SO fresh and tastes SO good. I’m going to rant for a second about the onions.. Yes I know, onions. Back home, I like onions. They compliment a burger well, and taste good in various dishes, but I would never think to eat an onion completely raw without anything else. Here.. It’s a different story. The onions are so delicious. They’re super small because they don’t genetically modify them here, and they are so juicy. I love them and eat them raw sometimes and, yes, I know its weird. In addition to the onions, the strawberries, cherries, peaches, cucumbers, and tomatoes are also great. I also love the traditional food here. I’ve tried qebapa, burek, and this dish with peppers and cheese– all delicious.
Work So Far
In addition to my first thoughts about Pristina, I’ll get into work and what I have been doing at FINCA. For those who don’t know what FINCA is, I’ll give a brief overview. FINCA is an international microfinance non-profit that offers financial services (loans) to those who are turned down by traditional banks (most notably, the poor). So FINCA Kosovo is the FINCA subsidiary in Kosovo that provides all of these financial services to people in Kosovo. If you want more info, click here and here.
FINCA Kosovo has a really nice office pretty close to the center of the city. The office consists of a branch down below where clients can inquire about their loans, and the corporate offices are above. If you mention FINCA to most anyone in Pristina, they have heard about it because its financial services are of assistance to many people here.
Within FINCA I’m working as a marketing intern and my main project is to create a booklet that is filled with client success stories, so that it can be used as a marketing tool aimed at investors and donors. It is basically going to consist of multiple stories of clients and how their loans from FINCA have helped them create a better life for themselves. This means that I get to go out in the field multiple times a week to visit the various FINCA Kosovo branches and interview clients (!!!). It is a little difficult since I do not speak Albanian, so FINCA has a local intern come with me and act as a translator. I’m really excited because the project is so hands on and I get to meet the clients directly and see what exactly the loans are being used for. It’s exactly what I wanted to be doing.
The project so far has been extremely interesting. I have visited a client that grows flowers for a living, a client that opened a salon, a client that buys and sells dairy cows, a client that opened a clothing store, and an Iraqi refugee client who used their loan to buy a sewing machine to make and sell clothes. Meeting with these people in their homes and businesses has been a very humbling experience and has made me more aware of my privileges as an American. It has also helped me better understand my position within these types of situations and how to conduct myself. As of now, I have only visited 3 of the 19 FINCA Kosovo branches and have met with 7 clients, so I still have a long way to go in the remaining 6 weeks.
In addition to the booklet project, I am also working on a research analysis project. The group loan service is not doing so well in Kosovo, so my department is conducting surveys and research to figure out why this may be. Hopefully we’ll find some good insight and be able to make a decision about what to do next with the group loan option.
So this concludes a (very brief) summary of my past two weeks in Pristina! I’m going to make sure things are more up-to-date in the next coming weeks, and I’m excited for what experiences are yet to come.