A tale of three cities

Apologies for the four months since our last post. No excuses really.

In September we went to Geneva for a week, partly for a holiday and partly for the annual meeting of the International Federation of Standards Users. It may not be the most expensive city on earth but it most be on the shortlist. We are used to paying 50c for a cup of coffee at the university - the going rate in Genega was about six times as much. But we had a great time. As well as seeing something of Geneva, including the very good botanic gardens, we went for a boat trip on the lake (Lac Leman/Lake Geneva), stopping off at the historic town of Nyon - everything you expect in a Swiss town including a castle.Another day we took the train to Montreux. It runs alkong the lake most of the way. Montreux is very attractive but is also the starting point for several mountain railways. We took the one up Rocher du Naye, which now advertises itself at the Marmot Express.
Sure enough, when we got there there were marmots. They breed them there as although this is the natural territory for Swiss marmots some kinds from other parts of the world are threatened with extinction. The views from the top of the mountain are spectacular except when the clouds descend when all you can see is either the tops of the surrounding mountains or nothing at all.

In early December we visited England to see our new grandson, Edward, who was born at

the end of October. We spent our time in Chesterfield (not really a city but that would spoil the title) where our son and his wife live.

The lefthand photo was taken when he was a few hours old, shile in the one on the right he is a day old. By the time we saw him he was MUCH older - six weeks. He charms everyone, sleeps well and is very placid. In the picture below left he is six weeks while the centre and right hand photos were taken a couple of days ago.

While we were in England our daughter-in-law arranged a thanksgiving service at her local church, which was a very happy occasion. Edward was very good (of course).

And so back to Pejë, where we continue teaching English and help with an art club, though the future of the university remains uncertain because of constantly changing requirements for registration.

We have just had Christmas, with Albanian, Kosovar, American and Korean friends, though the main holiday here is at New Year.

Winter has been slow arriving. We have had snow on the mountains but little in the city. But we have had enough rain to satisfy anyone and it has sometimes been very windy. No damage to compare with last year though.

The English patient part 3

Sorry it has been so long. A lot has happened in the last two months.

We ended the university term with exams, and a flurry of marking before we went to England on 8 July. With help from the other teachers we got all the papers marked in four days.
We had just over three weeks in England. Jonathan had been very concerned about Clare’s ability to cope with all the travelling involved, but it turned out not to be a problem. The airline had been told that Clare was using crutches and arranged a wheelchair or other transport at each stage. We can recommend this as a very good way of getting around Gatwick! We flew via Slovenia. Ljubljana is a small, very nice, modern airport even if Adria Airlines takes rather a relaxed view of schedules.
We went first to Watford to stay with Clare’s sister. While there we visited our church in Harpenden for the Sunday morning service. After this we had a few days free before moving on to Grange over Sands to see Jonathan’s sister and mother. We decided it would be sensible to find somewhere roughly en route from Watford to Grange which was flat, with some sea (which is is short supply in Kosova). We opted for Morecambe. We knew it was not the resort it had once been but it met our requirements – except for the weather which was pretty awful. It didn’t matter that we had not taken our bathing things! But we enjoyed exploring the public art on the promenade, a massive scheme called the Tern project. Here are a few photos of sculptures which can be found on the prom.

A lot is being done to rejuvenate Morecambe. Just completed is a major refurbishment of the classic 1930s Midland Hotel which is right in the promenade opposite the former railway station (now tourist information and a pub). We were surprised when we saw the photo to see the blue sky as we don't remember any!

Then just round the corner to Grange over Sands which is more or less at the other end of Morecambe bay but seems to have much nicer weather. Jonathan’s sister has just moved there following retirement, and Jonathan’s mother has moved from Exeter to join her. She seemed to have settled very well. We were some of the younger people in Grange; evidently Jonathan’s sister is not the only person to retire there.
Then our longest journey, four trains and a bus to East Rudham, Norfolk, to see our daughter Bronwen, and the children: Matthew (5), Jamie (3½) and Nia (nearly 2). While there we went with the family by bus to Wells Next the Sea. It is a pretty town but the “next” is an exaggeration as it is over a mile to the beach. There is a miniature railway which runs part of the way, which Clare and the children used one way and we all used on the way back. Here are some photos of the grandchildren plus the family dog, Roo. All the children have Kosova Independence T-shirts but we only managed to catch Jamie in his when we had the camera.

Then we retraced our steps to Chesterfield to see our son Tim, and his wife Ali. They have at last got their house back to normal after last summer’s flood, fortunately mostly courtesy of the insurance company though living upstairs for months has not been easy. They are expecting their first baby in October.

While there we visited the agent who manages the letting of our house in Chesterfield and Jonathan briefly met the tenants. We also went out a few times, once to Barrow Hill railway centre (Jonathan, not Clare!) and once to Sherwood Forest country park – rather busy but easy walking.
Then one night in Harpenden staying with a friend from Christ Church before an extremely early start for Gatwick.

Back in Peje

We arrived back on the Wednesday and a group from Harpenden, Derby and Birmingham arrived on the Saturday. For a week they ran holiday clubs and other meetings for children and adults, and we joined in as much as possible. On the Friday (which happened to be Clare's birthday) they had planned a visit up the Rugova Gorge to visit a camp being built by an American couple. It was a beautiful day, the site was stunning and we ended the day by visiting a restaurant a few miles away and clearing out their stock of trout. Here are two views of the mountains close to the Montenegro border, as seen from the camp.

And finally, as usual, a view from our apartment.

The English patient part 2

Well, Clare never did get her walking plaster. When we went to the hospital three weeks ago they took it off. Since then she has been on crutches, though a week ago she started physiotherapy and is now able to walk some of the time.

The last post said that she had a pin in her ankle. In fact it turns out that she has two 25 mm screws. Here is the most recent X-ray.



Meanwhile, summer has come, complete with some spectacular thunderstorms and some beautiful sunrises. The photo below was taken at about 5 am. 15 minutes later it looked completely different.




And teaching has finished for the term. The university students are taking exams and the schools have broken up. The only activity still in our diary is the art club and Albanian lessons three times a week.
We are now planning our visit to the UK. The first complication was when we tried to book accommodation in the Norfolk village where our daughter lives. One of the two guest houses has shut down and the other was full at weekends. So a rejig of our travel plans. It's a good job living in Kosova ensures that you are flexible in your ideas.
Kosova may have its independence and a new constitution but the message does not seem to have reached all parts of the UK yet. Three months ago a friend sent us a package. It arrived this week, via South Korea, despite being correctly and clearly addressed.

The English patient

We had intended to update this blog a few weeks ago, but we have been rather distracted.
Three weeks ago, as we were crossing the railway lines at the station (right across the middle of the station, but there are very few trains and it is the end of the line) on the way to do an art class at the centre in the suburb that side of town, Clare slipped and fell.
It was quickly obvious that something serious was wrong. Friends took us to a local doctor, then to a radiographer, then to an orthopaedic specialist. Clare had broken her ankle. The specialist tried to set it but was unable to, so asked us to go to the public hospital next day, where he set it under a general anaesthetic. However, it did not stay in position and he decided that he would have to operate. A week later Clare entered the hospital and had a pin put in the bone to hold it. Since the fall she has been on crutches. Yesterday for the first time she got a proper plaster cast, though she cannot put weight on it. We have to go back in four weeks when hopefully they will put on a new cast which she can walk on.
Here for those who can make sense of such things is the original X-ray.



This has rather cramped our activities, as getting Clare in and out of our third floor flat is not something to be undertaken lightly. Fortunately, our friends have been marvellous, also helping with the essential translation when needed.
Meanwhile life has continued. Teaching English continues to be interesting and challenging. Of course currently Jonathan is doing it all, with Clare providing support such as marking tests.
The weather has been interesting - almost as interesting as in the UK from what we hear. The mountains turned, over a few weeks, from white to brown and then gradually to green, but every so often there would be more snow at the top of the gorge. One day they managed snow and a forest fire at the same time. We have now planted our window boxes and hope that the weather will be fine enough for things to grow. It is often warm during the day but still cold at night.
Today is a public holiday, Workers' Day. Monday was also a public holiday, being the Orthodox Easter. So some of the schools are closed all week and many public organisations are closed Monday, Thursday and Friday. The rule here seems to be that if there is any excuse for a public holiday they have one. We gather that today half the population of the city is in the Rugova gorge. This was borne out by the traffic jam on the road to the gorge early this afternoon.
Currently there is a spate of road repairs, not before time as some of the potholes are vast. The road past the supermarket we use was tarmacked a few weeks ago and currently a team is going round the town cutting the tarmac round the potholes so that instead of being rounded they have straight edges! We assume that in a few weeks there will be a big campaign to fill them with tarmac - at least we hope so. The only downside will be that the traffic can go faster so there may be more accidents. Normally the potholes force drivers to go slowly if they want their shock absorbers to survive.
Apart from the green plants appearing everywhere, the other sign of spring is building work. Several old buildings have been demolished and new office/shop/apartment blocks are springing up. Once they get started they work very fast, but some of the things they do would give a British Health and Safety inspector a heart attack. A few days before this photo was taken there was a house here.



Our art sessions with the children at a centre on the other side of town continue. Sometimes they do really good work. One week recently the theme was butterflies. They were asked to draw one half of a butterfly in paint and then fold the paper to get a symmetrical design.



As you can see, some of the children preferred to do their own thing! What is impressive is how little mess they make.

Spring is (nearly) here

The snow is melting and the hills are beginning to look greener, but the nights are still pretty cold. Last week we spent an hour basking in the sun on our balcony before the sun went behind the mountains, but a couple of days later there was four inches of snow at the top of the Rugova Gorge - though by Monday this week there was not enough left for skiing, according to friends who hoped to do so. And it has rained a good deal. Rather like an English winter in fact.

The big event of course has been the declaration of Independence by Kosova on 17 February. The photographs included this time were taken by a friend, as we mistakenly took the official advice and stayed indoors. In fact, in Peje the celebrations were pretty muted compared with those in Prishtina. A stage was erected in a central square and there was music and a good deal of dancing but it was all over by the Sunday night, and the public holiday on the Monday saw the city almost deserted.

But of course everyone is very pleased, and there are signs and flags everywhere still, even if most of them are Albanian flags - the double headed eagle on a red ground. The new Kosova flag with a map and six stars on a blue ground does not seem to arouse much enthusiasm.

Otherwise little has changed. There have been no food shortages and the post, internet and telephones still work. It is thought that bread will get more expensive but this is more because of high world flour prices than a specific shortage in Kosova.

In fact since we have been here we have noticed that many prices have crept up. Bread doubled in price last summer but many other staple foods are also more expensive, though compared with the UK meat is not at all expensive even if there is not much variety.

The strongest sign of spring, in fact, is the large number of cars with foreign number plates which are appearing. In the summer the city is always full of big cars, but independence seems to have brought them early this year. And that's before any European peacekeepers arrive to take over from the UN forces.

Anyway, here are some pictures.

Last night was windy

Sorry it's been so long since we posted. Once the snow came, the mountains looked much the same from day to day - when we could see them at all - so we took fewer photos. However, the snow in the town has come and, for the present, gone, and the weather has been milder, even sunny. The days are definitely getting longer.

And it has been windy.

About two weeks ago there were high winds in the night, but no damage that we could see except a few panes of glass blown out or in. However, last night it really blew. Our building is pretty well OK but the block next door is a different matter. Much of its roof blew off and either hit the block of apartments behind or landed on cars below.

As you can see, one car was very badly damaged and at least three others will need some expensive repairs. There are chunks out of the building where the roof sheets and beams hit it. And as well as the tin and timber there are bricks and tiles everywhere. In addition, the building which shed its roof also lost several large windows, some of which had only just been replaced after the previous storm.

We should explain that the building which was damaged most is not yet complete. They have been working on it slowly ever since we have been here but there is no tenant yet so no incentive to finish the job. Probably if they had finished the roof would have stayed on. As it was it lifted off in in large pieces.

Of course, with all the excitement there were plenty of onlookers. Also in attendance was the fire brigade (not much they could do, no-one to rescue), the police and the local newspaper photographer.

Other buildings have also lost panes of glass, but nothing like this. The building the other side of us lost a few panes in each storm but they had been cleared away by the time we went out.

The only thing which happened to us was that we gained a 6 ft (2 m) length of aluminium angle on one balcony. We didn't lose any of the window boxes and we didn't even lose power or broadband for long.

They have been very quick to clean up, and were removing debris by mid morning.

Mind you we can't complain that nothing ever happens here. Only last Saturday we found we coudn't get near the post office to check our mail box because the President of Albania was visiting the city.