Mexican restaurant in Pristina

Mexican restaurant in Pristina

Life in Rahovec 

In Rahovec 

Kosovar girl in Vushtrri

Kosovar Family in Vushtrri

Bakim and Dave at Hotel Kalaja in Vushtrri

Bakim :) Takes care of everyone at Hotel Kalaja in Vushtrri

7 September School students in Rahovec 

Meeting at the 7 September School in Rahovec. Dave (center left)and Jerry (center right) 

While speaking to a gentleman at the school in his office everyone was served grapes and watermelon. Rahovec is known for it's winery. 

7 September School in Rahovec 

Pics from the "7 September" school in Rahovec. Sept. 7
is Kosovo independence day, at least for now.

 

Kosovar Police Services in Rahovec

These are a couple of pics of Jerry working the crowd
Jerry speaking at the Rohovec/Orahovec KPS station.
 

Blog from Dave ~ The flight

This trip is big for me. Really big. I'm an Oregon boy
and have been all of my life. I've travelled little by
air, and have ventured no further east than Boise,
Idaho.

So it comes naturally that flying 7,000 miles to
another war torn country might be a bit unsettling,
and it certainly was.

I left Medford Airport predawn on a very small United
Airlines craft, bound for San Francisco. Riding in my
Ford F-150 is much more comfortable and affords far
more room. My carry on weighed nearly as much as my
two other bags that contained enough clothing, give
away items, and other neccessities. The carry on also
proved to be somewhat large, but I heard no complaints
all the way over.

The weather was clear and even in the early morning, I
could see the horizon. I have to say it was eerie and
scary to watch the lights of Medford and home, go away
behind us as the plane rose and turned south. In a
very real sense, I was leaving all I knew behind. I
had no idea how prophetic those thoughts would prove
to be now.

As the sun began to make itself know to the west
coast, it caused the sky to turn deep reddish orange.
I knew there would be smoke in the air, but at 32,000
feet, you can see it as in no other way. We need to do
something about that.

We landed at San Francisco as day was breaking full.
My ears equalized nicely, though I had not taken the
gum Rin and Dan had recommended. As we dropped
altitude I was scurrying about, trying to get my
tickets and boarding passes relocated. It was not that
I had misplaced them but rather, reminding myself I
had not misplaced them. I was pretty nervous about
getting myself lost or delayed by mistake. My team was
waiting and I was late.

I made the transition from the Oregon plane to the one
bound for Washington/Dulles without incident. I was
able to call Rin and let her know the flight was OK,
and even made it to my gate on time. I boarded a
United Airlines airbus. This one was much larger. The
problem was that as I walked down the aisle to my
seat, checking and rechecking my boarding pass, I ran
into a slight problem.

The row numbers weren't working out. I was placed in
seat 11A. I rechecked the ticket, found 11B, C, and D,
but no A. I walked back, thinking I certainly had to
have missed the count somehow. I was fairly tired
already and it would be just like me to miss it. 9A,
10A,......12A. There was a door where my seat should
have been. I began to panic. How could I be booked on
a seat that did not exist? Would this compromise my
entire mission?

I went to a flight attendant, told her the problem.
She gave me one of those patient looks. Not nasty mind
you, but a look that told me she had seen my type
before.

She took my boarding pass and walked ahead of me.
9A,...10A,....12A....
She looked at the ticket. She looked at the seating.
She said, "There is no 11A".

Some people might have been a bit put off. I was
happy, actually nearly giddy, relieved that my ability
to read was validated. I felt as though I still had
some sort of control over my surroundings. I was only
2 hours into this flight and already I very badly
needed a nap in my own bed.

The attendant handed me the boarding pass without any
cerimony and told me, "Just take anything open". I
looked around,...nearly everything was open. I grabbed
a window seat and stuffed my carry on into the
compartment above, grinning as though I had secretly
won the lottery. I had just beaten international
flight death. My mission would continue. God was
smiling on me.

More to follow....

Home Sweet Home. Hotel Kalaja in Vushtrri

Our first blog :) Sorry it took so long for me to get this up here, still learning the ropes.

Good morning-Today is Wednsday Sept. 15, at 7am. We are heading to the acdemy for several meetings with the program manager and the interpreters. We have met most of the people we will be working with, and they are all friendly and helpfull. The academy is the garden spot of the town we are staying in. Steve Bennett, formerly from the Oregon Police Academy, came here just after the war and rebuilt the academy. The French used the academy, and when they left after the war they destroyed everything. They even dumped concrete in all of the sewer lines so none of the plumbing worked. Steve has done a fantastic job of not only rebuilding the academy, but setting up the police training program. In four years they have trained close to 6,000 officers. At any given time there ave over 1,000 officers in training.
There is still unrest between the Serbs and Albanians, but they are civil to each other during the day. I had an interesting stare from a gentleman in the restaurant the other day. I mentioned it to an american from the academy, and he stated I looked a little Serbian because of my tan, and they way my eyes are set. Serbs do not eat in the same restaurants as the Albanians, hence the interesting look. It was in the evening, so I was not wearing my uniform or my identification. We were told to always wear the academy identification that sports the American flag, and there would never be a problem. Sounds like good advice. Gottta go for now- Ron.

Pictures on the way!!

Ok.. just got some pictures in and I should have them up in the next day or two. We should have a few blogs to add as well. The team has been very busy getting acclimated, starting the classes and they have some incredibly wonderful stories and pictures to share!

Finally, comments have been enabled :)

So much to do, so little time. I did finally manage to get the comments enabled though, yay!