A Novel Creation www.WatersWords.com

I don’t care where you live, if you are breathing, you have moments of stress. When those moments mount up on you it’s time to take action. Living abroad has it’s own measure of stress, I’m sure. I haven’t experienced much of it though. Of course there are inconveniences from time-to-time. Like when the bus recently changed its route. They decided one day they were no longer coming to my neighborhood. I got on the bus fully expecting to travel up the hill to the stop in front of my apartment. The kind ticket taker said something to me and I showed him my bus pass and sat down. Another woman got on as well. Others were standing on the sidewalk arguing with the bus driver. Hmm…that’s strange. I sat there wondering what was going on. The ticket taker said something else to me and the other woman, shrugged his shoulders and closed the doors. We did a U-turn in the street, came to a stop on the other side of the road, and the doors opened for us to exit. That could be an inconveni...

Now this is a decent snow...just not in Prishtina.   I’ve been waiting for this. SNOW. When I moved to Kosovo, I brought my two warmest coats, my snow boots and Smart-Wool socks, my long johns and flannel nighties. I was convinced I was moving to a place that would be dark and cold from November to March. I came prepared. When I woke up one morning in October to a smattering of snow on my balcony I was convinced I had landed in the land of Dr. Zhivago. I envisioned horse drawn sleighs and people cross-country skiing to school. Even though that particular snow didn’t last past breakfast, I was sure I was facing months of the white stuff. I got my coats, gloves, and boots out and ready. The snowy mist lasted for hours! I was hopeful. In Ohio, we usually experienced our first light snow or at least flurries around Thanksgiving. From my home in Kosovo I could see snow on the mountains bordering Montenegro, but the fields of my neighborhood still offered the passin...

Kosovo is a coffee culture. In fact, I had my first taste of a macchiato in 2005 when my husband and I brought five of my teacher education students to Kosovo to work with Albanian teens learning English. The country was still reeling from the war. Restaurants were few and far between. Bakeries were starting up again but only sold bread. But coffee? You could find small cafés serving coffee dotted across the land. Coffee shops in today’s Kosovo are abundant. People gather before work, during work, and after work for coffee. Business is conducted over coffee. Deals are made and alliances formed with a macchiato or Turkish coffee in hand. But having someone "over for coffee" or "going for a coffee" has other subtle meanings.   On Saturday, some of my friends gathered for coffee.  First, most often when someone suggests you come over for coffee , they are opening their home to you in a gesture of friendship. Coffee in this case may mean coffee, tea, swe...

I am enjoying my life in Kosovo. I love teaching fourth grade at Prishtina High School. I was surprised to discover as school started back after the winter break, I was as happy as my students for the start of our second semester. Not that my break was bad. Several of us got together for meals and games. I went to the mall with friends to watch three movies over the break: Wonder, Jumanji , and The Greatest Showman . The movies are released here the same time they are released in the states. Another plus was the weather. We had a dusting of snow one morning, but most of the time the weather was great. In fact, one of our math problems on the first day back was to find the average temperature for Prishtina during December. Actually, from December 5-31. We’re tracking Kosovo’s meteorological winter (December 5 through March 5). These are supposed to be the ninety coldest days of winter. Our average in December? Forty-two degrees Fahrenheit.   I kid you not. I’ve been told th...