Sporting Observations

Soccer is king in Kosova and all of Europe for that matter. There’s also volleyball and basketball here in Pristina, but they’re a distant second. Karate is another sport that is prominent enough to hold competitions.

Marbles. This is the king of neighborhood sport, kinda like kickball in America. Several kids gather around an unmarked, circular area and flick their marbles toward various targets (other marbles, depressions, rocks) to see who gets closest. The rules evade me, they are probably different depending on whose patch of dirt you’re using. Often matches reduce to shouting…kinda like kickball in America. Outside our kitchen window I’ve actually seen a kid 'take their marbles and go home.'

May Day

We could see nine bon fires from our patio, some within yards, others in the hills several miles away. We could hear the villagers cheering and singing around the fires closest to us. It’s a competition of sorts. A tradition carried out on the eve of May Day, which is Labour Day here in Kosova.

While America doesn’t make much of May Day (May 1), it is a festival with a history predating Christ, and today it is celebrated all across Europe for many different reasons. It’s pagan roots have been Christianized or secularized over the years. May 1st is approximately half-way between the summer equinox and the winter solstice, in Catholic circles it’s a day to celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary, it’s mostly known as International Workers Day and often hosts as many protests for worker’s rights as festivals for youngsters and families.

Wikipedia tells me: Long ago the May Day custom was the setting of new fire. The fire itself was thought to lend life to the burgeoning springtime sun. Cattle were driven through the fire to purify them. Men, with their sweethearts, passed through the smoke for seeing good luck. I don’t think the folks here were thinking of these associations, they were just trying to make the biggest bon fire that gave off the most black smoke and had longlasting embers.

Good luck to you and your sweetheart. Smokey says, “Don’t play with fire”.

Firsts

First Wave
Julia and Daniel will be heading home this week. They’ll both enjoy an extended sleep over with Granny and PaPa starting Wednesday night. They’re heading back a little early so Dan can hook up with his baseball team, the Panthers. He’ll play his first game 24 hours after landing. They are both excited, but we’ll all feel awkward during the six weeks we’re apart. Gary and Melanie head home June 9. Anticipation.

First School Year
Pristina High School has had a wonderful first year. We are a tight-knit group. About 50 of us see each other every day. Students, teachers, staff, administrators. It’s no surprise that we have bonded, probably deeper than any of us really know. From this group PHS will have its first graduating class next year. Rewarding.

First Re-Entry Meal
Well, maybe not the first – Granny and PaPa will take care of that. We’re certainly looking forward to a few meals upon our return to the states. These and others have filled our conversation many times here in Kosova. Gary’s looking forward to a fried fish platter at Mr. Herb’s in Hebron. Melanie would very much like a Steak and Shake hamburger platter. Julia simply wants to eat in a smoke free restaurant. Dan wants to devour a plate of Buffalo Wings with a root beer. Delicious.

First Mission Trip
Moving to Kosova was a tough decision, but hindsight makes us chuckle, “why were we so worried?” This (first) blog is ample evidence of how God has blessed our time here. This is our first assignment, but it shall not be the last. Peace.

First Visitors

Mimi, Aunt Georgia and Baxter! Joy.

First Care Package
Hmmmm? Uncle Greg and Aunt Lauren we think. But we sure thank all of you that sent one (or more). At least three of you had a package sent back. The most infamous was a little booger of a package that traveled about 30,000 miles before reaching our couch - the place where all care packages are peeled open, plucked apart and squeezed for all the excitement they can render. Laughter.

First Visitors :-)

We welcomed our first visitors over the Easter break. It was a pleasure having Julia’s mom (Julia), sister (Georgia) and nephew (Baxter). The treat lasted for nine days and involved a road trip through four countries, a service project at a local school, LOTS of ethnic food, plenty of laughs. They were able to get a taste of our daily routine here in the village and also venture to the big city to visit the high school. They met several of our neighbors, humorously struggled with the language (as we do), endured power outages and weathered snow & rain.

Baxter’s 5th grade class in California (Green Valley Elementary) collected toothbrushes and toothpaste along with money to put together care packages for an elementary school near our village. Berganice is a village school with 65 students spanning eight grades. A trade of smiles and an embrace of friendship – these were really the exchanges that day.

The two daughters and mom sure enjoyed being together. Daniel and Baxter were constantly active. We are thankful for their safe travel and feel energized now that we’ve shared our journey first-hand.

Rubbing Elbows

OK. Raise your hand if you’ve ever met the Prime Minister of a country. During first period yesterday principal Don came in my room to announce that he would be meeting with Prime Minister Hashim Thaqi at 10:00 that morning. “Would you like to join me?” he asked. I thought to myself…that’s during my Geometry class and today is the last day prior to Spring Break…I had some important things to say and mid-terms are right around the corner…do I have time to prepare some notes for whoever covers my class…dang, I’m wearing jeans today…”Sure, I’ll go.”

Four students, two teachers, our facilities supervisor and our principal were sitting in a private conference room at 10:30 talking to Deputy Prime Minister Huci. He chaired the committee of 22 people that authored Kosova’s constitution. Mr. Thaqi came in from his adjoining office, greeted each of us, then sat next to his deputy. Don gave him a letter from Pristina High School offering our congratulations for Kosova’s independence. He explained that our goal was to establish a school with high standards and help equip students to be responsible citizens of Kosova. Our meeting lasted about 10 minutes; I said very little. Thaqi mentioned that education was very important and that they were working on getting a computer lab in every school. He said he was grateful for the American school we were establishing. He seemed a bit preoccupied which is understandable – his government has a buffet of challenges right now. We took a group photo and were on our way – back to school by lunchtime.

Pi Day (3.14159...)

Well, the entire school sang Happy Pi Day (to the tune of Happy Birthday) at 1:59pm yesterday. Yes, no math teacher worth his/her salt would let March 14 pass without working the school children into a formulaic frenzy. My counterpart, Mrs. Dunham, and I did our part to raise the awareness of the ever-famous ratio that has been used in calculations since 2000 BC. Oh, and March 14 is Albert Einstein's birthday too - betcha didn't know that.

The last two periods of the day we had several math/circular related games set up in the cafeteria. The students eagerly (really, they were eager) walked from station to station playing games and collecting round "chips". They eventually put their round chips into one or several cans that sat in front of prizes they could win. Throwing a pie at Mr. Palmer was a popular prize, but not as popular as throwing a pie in principal Don's face......Hey, 50 digits of pi (12 font) stretch 10 cm. How many km does one billion digits stretch? Be careful with your dang decimal point.

Ping Pong

Last semester our PE teacher organized a table tennis tournament for the entire school. Three weeks of play culminated in a double-elimination tournament. All games were played during lunch time (everyone gets a 45 minute lunch). It was quite popular with the students and several staff members entered too. The "old man" (me) held his own. My geezer finesse had the young guns off balance at first - they eventually figured out my weaknesses. I came in a respectable 4th place.