Monday, March 4, 2013

3-4: Ughhhhnnghh or Sam Goes to Valhalla



1.5 hours of sleep in the past 36 make words go not good. Sam make observe.

1.       Kosovo is beautiful. Quite frankly, so is Serbia, particularly when you really get away from the city. It melts into vast, rural sprawl incredibly quickly. Much of the north-central is reminiscent of Ohio or Indiana—miles of cornfields with occasional regular fields to break up the monotony—but the sweeping mountains and miles-long stretches of road right up next to sparkling rivers that pervade the south of the country are much closer to the Blue Ridge Parkway and the surrounding areas, only littered with beautiful little villages. Fantastic bus ride.
2.       Minuses: There are no bakeries to be found and I miss the constant glow of money-changers as well. Also, this place is on the euro, which kind of inherently makes me suspicious.
3.       Plusses: It’s gorgeous, the weather’s fine (not specific to Prishtina, I know, but it can’t help but inform on the overall impression), the people are extraordinarily friendly, and it just seems like a far less rushed atmosphere than does Beograd. Makes sense, considering the place is only 200,000 strong.
4.       Albanian. I do not speak it. Not a word. This is okay, though, as I’ve gone from not being able to speak Serbian to not being able to speak Albanian pretty flawlessly. “Q” is “Ch”. That’s all I’ve got so far.
5.       I had a…seven? Seven-course meal today for dinner. It was like Valhalla. The meat-bringers just kept bringing course after course, rounding it off with a heated glass of cognac and some kind of diabetes-inducing dessert. I’m expecting to give birth to a food-baby any minute now.
6.       I have decided that I need to learn to recognize “watch out!” in as many languages as I can think of.
7.       Bodyweight lifts = results. Don’t let anybody tell ya different.

Albanian word of the day: Furrë (no Cyrilic in this language, punk!): Bakery.

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