The Calm Between Two Storms

By Vojtech Brezik

Saturday, June 17

As soon as midnight hit, a group of semi-drunk AUC students was finally allowed in their natural habitat - the beautiful Zone nightclub, the only club I've seen where dozens of waiters in white shirts serve your drinks. Classy. Note to future self: Gin & Tonic drastically increases the number of crazy dance moves you never knew existed (and the chances of hating yourself the next morning). 

9:00am: The alarm disrupts our precious moments of much-needed sleep. Thank god this wasn't one of the early-bird days. Anyway, I knew that the next several hours weren't going to be the most productive time of my life. Somehow, we all managed to get ready and soon, we were off to The Ideas Partnership, the most amazing organisation that provides unprivileged children (and their parents) from Roma communities with education in Reading, Maths, and even English. Unexpectedly, we all got to show off our English teaching skills, when the teachers handed us crayons and instructed us to give a lecture on body parts. The kids seemed excited to spend time with us and learn, but soon it was over and it was time to leave. 

Prior to continuing on our journey, we squeezed in a little lunch intermezzo at one of the most bizarre locations we've seen so far. The place was a combination of fake stone structures, an Eiffel Tower, and a restaurant on a boat. (And no, I'm not talking about Paris.) I think we all wondered how, why, and by whom this place was built. 

After lunch, we were on our way to the Gračanica (Грачаница) Monastery, a 14th century pride of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and one of the reasons why Serbia doesn't want to let go of Kosovo. As soon as you go inside, you can almost see why. The illuminated interior offers a combination of unique architecture, frescoes of saints, and mountains of history. Our lovely eccentric guide told us about the place's history and even showed us the secret staircase that goes through one of the pillars holding the structure. 

Our last stop before heading back to Pristina was the "Missing" sign and statue, a symbol of Kosovo's gloomy and clashing history. Once you see the multitude of names and photos of missing persons, you realise just how much harm has been done in the places we visit daily and how much time it will take Kosovo to heal.

Thankfully, we got the rest of the afternoon off to recover from the night before (and for some of us, to write a blog post). Did I mention tomorrow is Chiara's birthday? I guess it's time for round two...