Balkanethnoexp. Part V. KosovoMap
June Almost no traces remain of the recent war. Perhaps only the occasional traffic signs for tanks and military trucks (with an indication of the NATO Military Load Classification, or MLC).  And some kind of heroic-looking captionless photographs of bearded guerilla fighters.  It looks like your average European country.  Like in Albania, letters which represent one sound are kept together on the same line on vertical signs.  On the one hand, the country is predominantly Muslim and some women wear headscarves.  On the other hand, there’s absolute freedom and you can just as easily wear a low-cut top.  Obituaries, unlike in neighboring countries, are posted in random locations: on posts, shop windows, trees.  A local peculiarity: the stoves in all the kebab houses are built into the front window and jut out into the street.  A pedestrian on a crosswalk.  Children on a crosswalk.  Children breaking the rules.  A bus stop sign.  A Kosovo license plate.  PristinaMapA wonderful city.  Which rather quickly transitions into residential neighborhoods.  Pristina architecture.  Dumpsters.  The post boxes are still the old Yugoslavian ones, but with new metal nameplates.  There are lots of post boxes all over the city. They can often be found at the entrances to commercial buildings.  A few of the old big boxes still exist in a couple of places (similar, only new ones can be seen in Belgrade). They’re no longer in operation.  Almost all the manhole covers are on hinges. These won’t roll away or go missing.  A trash can in the capital.  Payphones are set up in pairs.  A bus stop.  Traffic lights.  A traffic light in the service of propaganda—the red light says “boycott Serbian products,” and the green one says something like “buy Kosovar.”  Kosovars love their newly gained independence.  And are grateful to the USA.  One of the main streets here was even renamed to Bill Clinton Boulevard (and a statue of him erected on it), another—to George W. Bush Street.  The people are quite cheery. They don’t punch you in the face when they learn you’re from Moscow, although you can tell by their faces that they keep smiling only out of politeness after that point.  The taxis come in two varieties. Old Mercedes-Benzes with a big yellow sign on the roof.  And cabs like the ones in London, only made in China.  Every utility pole is adorned with a complex intertwinement of wires and one lamp.  An interesting way to protect a car that’s parked long-term: the windows and wheels are covered with cardboard. I was convinced that this was the wild invention of a sole individual until I encountered the same thing a few days later in Macedonia, from which I can infer that this must be the custom in these parts.  MitrovicaMapA cute little town.  It used to be called Kosovska Mitrovica, but has now been renamed to simply Mitrovica.  The payphones are pill-shaped here.  The elaborately arranged packs of cigarettes in tobacco kiosks testify to a somewhat excessive amount of free time.  Exotic-looking recycling bins for cans and bottles stand in the streets.  Firewood is sold at the market.  Mitrovica’s sole contribution to world culture is balusters shaped like legs bent at the knee.  |
