A lot of my American friends over here experienced the same thing we did. Everyone was worried about the protests, building burnings, and police confrontations they heard about on the news. A slew of e-mails were urgently sent wondering if all of us were safe.
While it's kind of cool to be thought of in this adventurous way, I must report that everything is, well, sort of festive. I've gotten a lot of free espresso, macchiato, and burek just because I'm an American. All of the folks are happy and excited. The video you saw with all the violence is limited to a city near the Serbian border and in Serbia itself. The only out of the ordinary thing that happened to Enise and I was that our bus was stopped on the way to Prizren and everyone's ID was looked at. The NATO troops in charge were Swiss, and I played the role of an impatient American to perfection.
Our a
partment is about two miles from Parliament, so if anything happens I'll be the first to know. I realize the Russians have used some strong language, and the Serbian government is an expert in veiled threats, but it's been very nice here. Even the electric and water companies have been at peak efficiency. It's been downright comfortable. This picture was taken on Independence Day. Enise is posing with a young lady dressed in traditional Husian garb.
If nothing else, all this has illustrated that good news is no news. The news agencies know that covering a celebration doesn't generate interest like protestors getting arrested or buildings being burned. It sort of makes me wonder if the news I'm getting about the USA is accurate or tainted.
There is danger. There is always the possibility of something going awry, but for the present, everything's OK. Really!
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