Before leaving for this trip in our first blog post we had to describe what we thought it would be like here in Kosovo. I really didn’t know what to expect, and I found as we spent the first week traveling through the Balkans that I imagined Kosovo to me more like the places we went in Albania. I imagined a lot of little markets and shops lining all of the roads. I expected to always see people on the streets walking around and going to shops, but found that where we are staying and where the AUK campus is located, it’s a quieter part of Pristina. There is still activity bustling all around but it doesn’t feel like its very busy or crowded. We’re more separated from the downtown area, which is where it gets busy during the day.
After spending this first week in Pristina and getting to walk around and get acquainted with the area, I feel pretty comfortable walking around by myself to go to the store to get snacks, or to go to the market and bakery for fresh fruits and pastries. It is also a bit more of a walk but going down to Mother Theresa Street is also nice to just walk around all of the shops.
The first week of classes at the RIT AUK campus was pretty good, but very busy. With it only being a five-week program, everything is go go go. It’s interesting taking a second class in Peacekeeping and conflict transformation besides the Documentary class; I’ve never taken a class on this topic before. It’s a very different kind of class than any I’ve taken at RIT for my major, but the content is still very interesting, especially since it is applicable to this region. This upcoming week we are starting our first project for our documentary class called the “Newborns” project. We are interviewing a person to explore what this generation in Kosovo is like and to see what their lives are like as a result of everything that’s happened in their country. With the ball rolling on this project, and our proposals set for our final project already, we are all going to be very busy but I’m so excited to make lots of great work in the process.