More Petals

Two more petals done on this; I should be able to get more done on the trip, perhaps even complete the flower. This is my last scheduled blog post. I might not be able to post again until the first of June, as I'm off on an adventure. Will share pictures and such when I get back, if not before.

Blue Bubbles

I progressed some more on these bubbles. There are sixteen squares and I'm still on the first. The series ends at the end of the year, too! It's only available in the Marquoir German yahoogroup. I'm liking how it's turning out over one, even if it's going to be tiny.

If Not for the Americans...

He said he'd be dead instead of fixing my wall. I was told I'd hear people tell tales of gratitude to the Americans, but this was the first one I heard since being here. He told me how the Serbs had burned down his house and he went from cousin to cousin and finally Macedonia to get away from the Serb army. He saw the bombs from the NATO planes fall, and he was so relieved to be able to live. He'd received no real education - the Serbs didn't allow Albanians more than the rudiments. No real future, no hope. All that changed with the Americans. He's worked for the mission for over eight years. His house is very near completion - he's been rebuilding it himself with the money and skills he's learned from the Americans.



I felt embarrassed. I wasn't personally responsible for any of the things that happened then, and I'm just here as a guest. We can't understand what they've gone through. It's been a century and a half since there's been a war on American soil. 9-11 is the closest we've ever come. I hope it never gets any closer than that. The whole thing left me proud of my country and embarrassed that I couldn't do more.

Blue and More Blue

I got a partial outline of the last garden bit done this week and even filled some of it in, too. Last night reminded me we were not in a first world country, though. The city has regular blackouts due to not enough electricity. The flat I'm staying at, though, has a generator that provides backup power for the building. It runs an average of three to four hours a day. Unfortunately for us, last night when it switched back to city power, our flat didn't get switched. The breaker flipped. It took a couple of hours to get someone with a tool to get into that particular breaker box out here to fix it. Needless to say, we didn't get as much sleep as usual.

On the other hand, we went out to eat last night because I was tired of cooking. We went down the street to a little place called Chalet Denis. The menu was in a combination English and German and it had a beautiful red brick oven. I had mushroom soup and a proscuittio pizza. My companion had a shop salad and a Chalet Denis pizza. The soup was as good as any soup I've tasted in France. They used real cream and had seasoned it gently. Was wonderful on a chill and wet day. For some reason, the Kosovar don't consider proscuittio a pork product. Beats me why, but it's on the menu at practically every restaurant. The pizza was good too, with ham and mushrooms on it cooked in the aforementioned oven. I only ate half; the rest will be dinner tonight, since we're going to be a bit busy packing for the trip starting tomorrow.

One Color Done

One of the blues is done all the way on both legs. It only lacks a bit on the outside corner top. That means this is coming along pretty well! I also did some more gold on this last corner.

Faced

The Lady's face got done this week, and I did a bit more on the flag. It's beginning to come along some and I'm working on it every day here in Kosovo, too.

Trip to Prizren

We went to Prizren, in southwestern Kosovo, on Sunday. It's a town at least as large as Pristina and looks to be somewhat more prosperous. There were a lot of people enjoying the balmy weather in town and just as many escaping the heat and going into the mountains above it. This picture is of part of the mountain chain we wound around on the way home. Gorgeous, isn't it?

This is another shot from the same place as the first photo. The village at the bottom is only accesible via one road; lots of villages like that in the country. It really makes for picturesque scenery. Up close, there's a lot of trash near and on the road and people do the picnic thing anywhere they can find a clear spot. They bring lawn chairs, some food, and an umbrella, and spend the day. There are also a lot of restaurants with outdoor patios that let you picnic without the stuff.

This Roman Catholic church sits on the edge of Prizren's old town. When we saw it was locked, we were going to just pass it by, but someone local insisted that we knock on the rectory door and ask one of the nuns to let us in. I'm glad he did. It was a surprise. While small, the murals were of the caliber found in cathedrals.

The apostles lined the barrel vault ceiling. As you can see, the colors were vivid and the quality of execution was excellent. The nuns did let us in, very graciously, and even turned on the lights for us.

Here is the focal point of the church - the altar is right in front of the mural. It's of Our Lady of Fatima, and for some reason is much darker than the rest of the paintings.