A Novel Creation www.WatersWords.com

  One of the biggest fears people have when asked to move half way around the world centers around eating. “What if I don’t like the food?” I understand. When I visited Italy I knew I would like the food. When I visited India I knew I would eat Indian food. I knew it was spicy. I wasn’t as sure how I would handle it. But those were short trips so any fears I had were short lived. When I moved to Kosovo, I brought a few packages of Ramen noodles and some dried soup mixes with me. Okay, that would last about a week. I was here for ten months minimum so I have no idea what I was thinking. I guess the dried mixes were a stopgap measure until I figured out where the market was located. I’ve shared in earlier posts that my fears were unfounded. There is a market on every street corner filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, and eggs.   Fresh baked bread abounds. And my school cafeteria is above excellent with freshly cooked meals made from scratch. This "casserole" ...

PHS TEACHERS AND STAFF CELEBRATE KOSOVO TOGETHER ON THE SCHOOL BALCONY I teach fourth grade. Ten-year-olds are an interesting lot. They are full of hope and dreams and sure they can do it all! They’re industrious and anxious to learn everything they can about the way the world works. Of course they’re still learning how to get along with others around them, but they keep trying, working out the nuances of communicating with people they didn’t know until coming into this class. I love my students.   I was at a huge birthday party this past weekend with some friends. Actually, it was a huge bash with thousands in attendance. It was in celebration of Kosovo’s Independence Day. Ten years ago, after a war at the turn of the century and eight plus years of NATO peacekeeping forces on the ground, Kosovo officially became a nation. February 17 th was a day of celebration. As some of my teacher friends and I stood together for the big celebration and concert on Mother Tere...

When my daughters were away at camp or in college, I made it a point to send them  packages from home. I sent them cards or letters from time-to-time (this was pre-internet) but a package was a treat. In it I would put a few of their favorite treats along with a small gift. They appreciated it. I didn’t know how much those “little things” meant though until I moved to Kosovo. This past week I received a special package from home. In it were a few of my favorite treats, packets of seasonings I can’t find here, and hot chocolate mixes among other things. It felt like a holiday as I pulled each item from the bag. Books, cards, a small compact and hairbrush were in there as well as a couple of things some of my friends needed…or wanted. The best gift of all though was the one who delivered the package to me…my daughter, Kendall! Talk about a treat! Kendall presented at a conference in Berlin. When the conference was over, she grabbed a plane to Prishtina and spent the weeken...

“Miremengjes.” “Faleminderit” There. You have the extent of what I remembered of Albanian from 2005 when Tom and I were here last. “Good Morning” and “Thank You.” The two phrases were a start, but if I was going to be a part of the community, I decided I needed to learn more. Reason #1-When you live abroad, it is respectful to learn the language of your host country. Albanian is the prominent language in Kosova. Reason #2- Pointing to something will only get you so far. Communication is a valuable asset when you’re traveling. Finding an Albanian teacher is easy... so of course you know I didn’t take that route. I wasn’t as anxious to learn verb tenses and a long vocabulary list as I was to talk with the man at the market or the woman on the bus. I’m a teacher. I’ve studied human development and language acquisition. I see two-year-old children speaking Albanian and they don’t have a clue about letter names and their corresponding sounds. Zeqir and his fam...