July 2017 – Page 2 – Kosovo Journal

Week 4 Part 1

Today I started cutting the audio recording and this is the first time I have tried actually create a 3 minute audio slideshow. We have some really great quotes to use and I think it will turn out well but I have been struggling to figure out exactly how to create a good story line.

Today both Meredith and Jeta sat and helped me organize the audio clips and I think it seems to flow really well. I have decided to organize the story line by starting talking about his guitar and then moving to the struggles of making a living in such a small field.

Frustrations With My Final

To be good storytellers, we have to communicate well. Well working on my final project here in Kosovo, I have learned just how important this is.

Throughout this project, I have been at the mercy of my subjects and my connections to them. I have had quite a few contacts ignore me or give me unclear or inaccurate information. Although I do not believe this has been intentional, it has been extremely frustrating to deal with. I have learned to send all of the information to these contacts right from the start to avoid confusion as much as possible. It has also been important to contact people multiple times, probably more times than necessary, in order to make sure plans stick.

Unfortunately, I do not think my final will end up being anything close to what I had hoped for. Right now, the story is somewhere in the Girls Club Program. I think I will either be working to focus on of the girls or I will be working with the Little Teacher’s Program. I am hoping to be able to pull together something I am still proud of.

Week 3 Part 2

So I spent the night at Lorik’s house and it went surprisingly well! His family was unbelievably welcome and didn’t seem to mind me intruding on their lives. They were so attentive to my needs that it became humorous. If I even thought to look around the home or not sit down at the closest chair, someone would immediately ask me what was wrong. At first this was nice but it makes doing my job kinda hard. Eyes seemed to be on me no mater how hard I tried.

Lorik’s lesson was yesterday and I think I took some great photos! I spent a lot of time trying to capture moments that allude to him as a teacher in a variance of ways.

In the evening Lorik decided to show me around the city. This was really fun and I felt like I got to experience Gjakova a lot but I didn’t feel like I could take any photos. I felt like these images would be ethnically wrong because he was only showing me around the city.

Today we went to his high school and I took some images of him while he practiced in his classroom. This room was strangely shaped so it gave me a good variety of ways to take photos of him and I think this variance will be great for what I need.

Week 3 Part 1

Yesterday I was talking to Lorik and he asked me if I wanted to spend the night at his house tonight so that I wouldn’t have to take the bus so many times. Im really happy that he seems to actually enjoy spending time with me. I am on the bus now and I am planning on spending the night. Im really nervous about just showing up and spending the night with these people I have yet to meet. He seems nice and it seems like his family wants me to spend the night.

Im just such an awkward person, I hope I don’t seem that uncomfortable with them.

Week 2 Part 2

So I have been talking with my subject and he informed me that he will becoming up to Pristina on today and that he wants to meet and talk for a while. Im really excited to sit down and talk with him. Even if we don’t have a big in-depth conversation it will be so helpful to build a little bit of a bond with him before I really break out the camera.

We decided to meet at a small restaurant and talk their. It sounds like he is a genuinely nice person and he is actually willing to let me sit in while he practices and while he teaches.

Outskirt of Prishtina

This weekend I visited Prapashtica, a village 20 km from the center of the city. The village is located on the border between Kosovo and Serbia. The prime-minister of Kosovo is from Prapashtica. A village characterized with beautiful mountains and a village worth visiting.

Briefing of the week

I am currently in Tirana leisuring and celebrating. It is the first time I brought my camera on a trip; I have actively used it and, yes, I am proud. Thinking of the prior week, the work due for class has been intense but rewarding. My baby steps towards competense are visible, to me atleast.

Baltic Malady

I’m slowly drifting across my final weekend here. It feels like stasis, but it allows me the time to go out and do what I enjoy. Here are some pictures I’ve taken over the weekend in Pristina.

Youth selling potatoes in the center of traffic.

Beatiful Albania

If you ever plan to visit Albania, this is what you will see most of the times. This is the part of the highway which connects Kosovo and Albania known also as “Rruga e Kombit”. Albania 2017, Drilon B.

Second Eruope Trip!

Everything is wrapping up here in Prishtina. Its all going so fast. By this time next week I will be in Slavonia for a day visit. Today I have been planning out my week in Eruope That will start to when the Kosovo program ends.

I’v been booking hotels, flights, and train ride for the next week. My current plan is to fly to Slavonia and then get a bus down to Croatia. After that not sure. My flight back home is out of Munich, so I need to be there on the 4th. Maybe I’ll go to Vienna for a day, still thinking about it. I really want to do this trip mostly because we made it to 5 out of the 7 republics that were part of Yugoslavia, why not go all the way and say you went to all of them?