Gratitude

By Lina Chambon

8:30 am 

In the chilly room of the Moon hostel, the alarm of our last full day here, in Pristina, rang. It's the 22nd of June, my eyes hesitantly open, and close again several times, but I eventually woke up to the radiant touch of sunlight on my pillow and to the sound of the neighbors commencing their days. However, this day started a bit earlier.

 

back to 2:27 am

For one of our last nights in Kosovo, a few among us decided to conclude the day, or rather, the night, at the Zanzi Bar. As I think back, the Zanzi Bar brings back plenty of great memories, and I could talk about what happened there for hours, but unfortunately for you, what happens in Pristina stays in Pristina. But what I can tell you about those nights is that, instead of coming back tired, you return with laughter, and maybe even a little extra energy.

But, around three in the morning, it was time to join our beds to have a few hours of sleep before our meeting at 9:30. 

 

9:36 am

Like every morning, I was a few minutes late, but this morning was a bit special. It was the first day where we reached this warm temperature, already 26 degrees at 9 am. Instead of NewBorn,  the meeting was planned in front of the government building, and it was also that day that I gave my pre-meeting presentation. With my eyes still feeling the effects of the short night, I was getting ready to briefly introduce the inspiring woman we met in half an hour.

Besa Ismaili is a powerful Albanian Kosovar woman who promotes the voices and leadership of women, while more broadly acting against discrimination, exclusion and marginalization. “Hate is harmful, divisive and killing” and “hate is learned and no one is born a hater and a hated” she shares on her social media. An important part of her work also relates to the emphasis on reconstructing postwar society. She works with survivors of sexual violence, counters violent extremism, and works towards reconciliation and memory. She was also a member of the Kosovo parliament and something I forgot to mention but that we quickly understood when entering the meeting room, is that she was part of the PDK (Democratic Party of Kosovo). 

 

10:03 am

Led by this charismatic woman, she guided us to the meeting room, traversing a corridor that profoundly moved us and caught us off guard, unprepared for the emotions that stirred within us. In the government building, her friend Eliza Hoxha, whom we also met during the meeting, tenderly paid homage to the thousands of people who remain missing. Pictures adorned the black walls, encircled by breathtaking words from desperate families, still yearning for any sign or trace of their loved ones. Eliza had dressed the ceiling with numerous keys, gracefully arranged like drops of rain, inviting us to interpret their meaning.

Although emotionally challenging, witnessing the power of art, chosen as a tool to remember the victims and their families, touched our souls deeply. It highlighted the enduring impact on these families' lives, and the ongoing matter of intense debates and discussions in this regard.

 

10:27 am

As soon as we entered this room, most of us were directly captivated by the portrait of three famous figures of the PDK hanging on the back wall. Adem Jashari, Hashim Thaçi and Kadri Veseli are members of the party we studied in class, so being in their office brought a weird feeling. 

 

We spent a great moment with Eliza Hoxha and Besa Ismaili, leaving us room for questions, during which they shared anecdotes about their lives during the war and afterwards, their motivations and vision to reconcile this society and the role of art in achieving transitional peace, bringing the unheard voices forward and providing a space to heal.  

 

13:30 pm

This meeting was shortly followed by a meeting with Elizabeth Gowing, about which Milan beautifully wrote in a previous post. 

This last meeting brought a beautiful close to this journey. I felt it like a turning point, leaving me with a breath of inspiration and hope. As a student of international relations and conflict studies, I sometimes feel discouraged by the influence of personal and political interests in our society. However, Elizabeth's resilience, honesty, and generosity towards a country that is not hers, but embraced her as its own, reminded me that there are still people fighting every day for a better world.

 

14:08 pm

With this head full of motivation, I walked, with a couple of friends, to the only entirely vegan restaurant in Kosovo! Nora and I shared tasty sandwiches while the others laughed around some stories from last night at the club. 

 

I cherish those moments. Try to carry with me as long as possible the feeling that inhabited my body at those exact moments. I kept thinking, “How crazy is that?”. And you might wonder what can be so crazy. Everything. I felt and will feel for a while, a deep gratitude for discovering the beautiful place that is Kosovo. Its beauty, both in its landscapes and in the hearts of its people. Grateful for the encounters and connections I made with people I now call my friends. And grateful for the indescribable emotion that this journey left in me.

 

As the afternoon came to an end, I poured out, heart open, all this gratitude, at the Cathedral of Saint Mother Teresa, in the heart of Pristina.