Travel Diary: Kosovo

This month’s column was serendipitous, as it lined up with a trip to Kosovo. So this time, something a little different: a travel diary!!

One of the reasons I wanted to become a singer, besides a way to express my angsty teenage love feelings, was to travel. Being an artist affords you come great opportunities to meet new people and travel to places you might never go otherwise.

My trip to Kosovo was actually kind of a happy accident. My friend Elbenita is from Kosovo and had talked so much about how cool it would be if I visited her home. She told me that she was invited to go home to be a part of a big music festival in Pristina. I said that I should come with her because I had no shows during that time. She got so excited and said that I should and sing at the festival. I must admit, I just wanted to visit as a tourist, not to sing. But, as events progressed it was clear that I would sing and I was really excited to be able to make music with my friend in her country and to visit a place that I’d only heard of through the news and stories she told me.

Day 1: Arrival in Pristina

Arrival in Pristina!

As we received the announcement that we would be landing in approximately 30 minutes, I was struck by how beautiful the mountains were in the region surrounding Kosovo and how gorgeous, quiet, and well organized the new Pristina airport was; a far, far cry from a lot of other international airports. From the airport, we were taken into downtown Pristina to meet the organizers of the festival for coffee. During the drive to the city, it’s easy to see how the infrastructure has suffered as a result of the war and also amazing to see how it’s recovering step by step. It is also surprising to see a statue and city square dedicated to Bill Clinton. He is seen as a hero in Kosovo for launching the campaign against Yugoslavia that helped to end the war against ethnic Albanians.

After our coffee meeting with Donika and Viktor, we drove to Mitrovica, Elbenita’s home town. She warned me before I came to visit that people here would stare. I was okay with that because I knew that, unlike the German Stare, people would stare out of curiosity, friendliness, and the simple fact that most of them have never seen a black person up close. In fact, while we were waiting at a stop light, some people in a car two lanes over were staring and waving so much that the woman who was driving almost crashed into the car in front of her. It was sweet and hilarious. We arrived in Mitrovica to meet Elbenita’s family and they made us a gorgeous dinner, complete with a traditional dish called Flija.

Flija, made the traditional way!!

They told us the story of how their house was completely burned out, with only the skeleton and foundation remaining. They were curious about what I thought of the country so far and did I like being here. It felt like home and so welcoming. How can you not feel at home with a delicious, home-cooked dinner?! It was so wonderful and lovely to meet the people I had only talked with through FaceTime! So far, Kosovo had already made a spot in my heart.

Day 2: Rehearsal, Q&A, TV Interview

The second day was, I admit, a very tiring day. Do you know the feeling of when you’ve returned home after a long while and you must see everyone as soon as you get there? This was that day, but instead of family visits, it was sessions of music, sharing, and promotion.

Q & A Session

We started off with rehearsal in the space where the concert would be, the Kisha Katolika Shën Ndou, a gorgeous church in the heart of the city, followed by a quick snack of Burek, one of the best foods in the world! Then it was off to the Pristina Filharmonie for a Q&A session sponsored by the festival for the students of the music school. This was probably my favorite part of the day. Although I don’t speak Albanian, I find it a very expressive language and actually quite easy to to work out what people are saying. I also loved the sharing of ideas across cultures and exchange of knowledge and experiences. This, to me, is one of the best things that happen when people come together with open hearts and minds. Subjects covered were differences between the American and European system of music education, how opera houses function, vocal technique, repertoire choices, and care of the voice.

After the Q&A was over, we were taken to the TV station to do a promotional appearance for the festival and to talk a bit about where we’re from and what projects were coming up for us in the future. Being a somewhat extroverted introvert, this kind of thing is absolutely terrifying for me and I honestly have no idea how people do it. I barely like having my photograph taken! Thankfully after it was over, it was back to the hotel for some much needed rest, as I kept falling asleep in the car.

Burek! Yummy!

Day 3: Recital Performance

The morning of concert day was really relaxing and uneventful, as most performance days are. Most artists have a pre-performance ritual. What they eat, what they wear, what they do right before the show. For me, it usually consists of the very boring activities of waking up, eating breakfast, studying a bit of other music, exercising, taking a nap, showering, and rushing to the theater on my bike.

Today was no different, minus the bike.

On the night of the concert, there was a mass concluding just as we were arriving to the church to dress. Some people had stayed from the mass for the concert and were present as the church was being set-up and we were doing sound checks, final interviews, and more last-minute craziness. Only then did I realize how big a deal this was when I saw cameras and microphones, and news people present! Again, all my introvert alarms went off!!

However, all the disappeared when it was clear that I had the honor of being a guest on Elbenita’s recital which, in a way, was really a homecoming for her. It was completely heartwarming to see and feel the audience welcoming her with such open arms from her musical successes abroad. The church was completely packed, with some even standing. I was later told that there weren’t very many performances of this type done in the city and that the festival was more focused on bringing newer works and modern music to life. So this was something a little bit different. The atmosphere was excited as Elbenita started with a traditional song, Për mu paska ken kismet, with Elda Laro on piano (also from Deutsche Oper). The mood was set and the audience was ready. It was such an incredible night of music making and communication between performers and audience. What an amazing thing to watch music on the faces of a diverse audience, from many nations,both old and young, seeing and blind, strangers and families. It was one of the most precious experiences of my life.

The performance!!

Day 4, Last Day: Drenicë and Prizren

The day after the concert, we drove to the city of Drenicë and toured the area where one of the massacres during the war happened. The series of attacks are what started the Kosovo War in 1998 which only last for a year, but devastated the region. We visited the house of Adem Jashari, where most of his family was killed, including 18 women and 10 children, and where some his descendants still live. There were also many others in the village killed as forces hunted for Jashari. The family homeIt is just across the street from where the victims of the massacre are buried on a beautiful, grassy hill, memorialized in beautiful white graves. Jashari is a national hero of Kosovo.

Site of the Jashari massacre.

After this somber visit to a place of very recent history and pain, we said goodbye to Elbenita’s family and the rest of our party drove to the city of Prizren, about an hour’s drive south of Drenicë, for a short walking tour and dinner. Although we only spent about an hour in the city, it is worth noting that it is Kosovo’s second largest city. It didn’t suffer as much as other cities during the recent war and it is chock full of so many sites, with the city’s history dating back as far as the 5^th century…maybe even farther.

Prizren.

Elbenita and me.

This trip was truly eye-opening for me, seeing as how I had only ever heard about Kosovo on television reports about the war. As a modern-day American, it is almost impossible to grasp what war does to a country, as most of us have never experienced it on our own soil. It was also the first time that I felt that I didn’t have to play down the fact that I am from the US, as there was no animosity here. The people of Kosovo were truly welcoming and warm and I am definitely looking forward to another visit…hopefully next time speaking more Albanian.