Day 5 (18 July): teary goodbyes amidst balkan heatwave

It is hard to realise that Talk for tomorrow has been together now for five days. The group as as a whole has become a familiar sight at many of the city's coffee shops and bistros. We're the rag tag group seen parading in uniform, frantically trying to make it to the next meeting. Today our brave group takes to the streets of Prishtina amidst a choking 43 degree heat wave. First call of business is the long awaited street action; an activity in which the group swarms downtown Prishtina to confront passers-by about their project and engage them about their feelings about youth cooperation between Serbs and Kosovan Albanians. Responses are mixed. Some heartedly support the project others seem shocked or jaded, and yet many stop to chat and help adorn the prishtina sidewalk with messages of peace and reconcilliation.


Those of the group still standing and sufficiently hydrated retreat back to Dardania to the relative comfort and shade of the appartment. After a brief bite to eat and some naps most head out to Prishtina's government building to meet, once again with Hajredin Kuci, Kosovan opposition leader with a prominent role not only in the drafting off Kosova's constitution but also in selecting a new Kosovan flag that will distinguish "a" new Kosova from the traditional double-headed black eagle of Albania. With final status looming, the term and identity "kosovar" seems to take on more and more meaning with every day. Kuci was so impressed with the groups earlier meeting that we were all invited to sit in on a government session. Unfortunately, no meetings were in session when we arrived but an informal conversation in a luxurious, AIR CONDITIONED government building was a satisfactory consolation. What was left of the day was spent in pairs, planning future activities that will help to promote dialogue across the balkans. Although "Beyond differences" draws to a close, the umbrella of "Talk for Tomorrow" promises to yield many more events including a series of scheduled teleconferences on such topics as 'inherited prejudice'.


Before some of our group dissapear back to Belgrade or begin Prishtina's "Summer University" we go out in a gluttinous bang. The "Pishat" restaurant is a meat lovers paradise, and the group gorges on platter after platter of barbequed meats, grilled vegatables, cheeses, and flatbreads. The rest of the evening fades into a Rakija enduced blur full of teary goodbyes and hearty Albanian sing alongs courtesy of group favorite, Cafe "Tirana".