Home » Serbia Montenegro Germany Croatia Bosnia-Herzegovina » Stories about European Trips (2)

These are recent stories - the rest are in my latest book, "Walking Through Adversity."

Stories about European Trips (2)

Rob bryant
2006-01-09 11:30:04

Displayed times (last time: )

Kosovo-Land of Hateful Children - Many of us fear for Kosovo after the UN leaves here because the Serbs are going to come back with a vengeance. The Albanians, who we were sent here to protect, are just as guilty as the Serbs, and are terrorizing Serbs now that they have the upper hand. Albanian and Serb villages are right next to each other with guards in between villages so they won't annihilate each other. Life means little in this part of the world, and we need to keep in mind that these countries have hated each other since the days of Isaac and Ishmael. Every world war in recent history has started right here in this little part of the world. As a matter of fact, I was taken to the bridge that started World War I (in Bosnia a few days later) when a prince was brutally murdered in front of his family. The best description for the Albanians is "hateful children." They also created a whole new meaning for "road rage," and hundreds are killed along the roads every year. Serbs on the other hand are ruthless in the pursuit of killing Albanians who brought the Westerners here to kill them. Armed Greek guards checked our passports at the border, then we drove to Prishtina where I was to work for three days. DynCorp was contracted by the UN, to hire over 600 police officers to keep the peace in Kosovo. They are doing much more than UN troops can because of the politics involved. At noon one day, UN troops found a bomb in the next building and we had to stay indoors for a few hours.

Nights in Kosovo: A typical meal here consists of seafood from the Mediterranean Sea, vegetables and fruit from the desert (this is what I ate most of the time), local assorted meats and unleavened breads. Since there was little to do at night that was safe, I worked 14-hour days, and stayed on the top floor of the offices in a suite with the Program Manager. It was beautiful and had a balcony that overlooked the city. The power in ...