A Tingly Feeling of Clarity

Day 4

I’ve been neglecting my duties as Matthew, the blog keeping Michigander, and been swallowed up by Mateo leaving me days behind in my many experiences. So I’m going to be quite brief in describing the next few days…

Monday brought 100 degree weather and more excitement. Met with Gea and Arbri for a quick coffee (of course) then headed to the bus going back into Kosova. The bus was hot, crammed with people, children, and the elderly, and was completely chaotic. I made instant friends with the toddler in front of me by showing off my many contorted facial expressions. This made the fact that Boiken was literally on top of me for the 4 hour ride somewhat bearable…somewhat. 

There seems to be a common theme among buses (at least the two I’ve ridden so far) to conserve gas by shutting off the air.  This led to a massive outcry by the people, namely Boiken. He stood up after about 15 minutes of sweat and complaining and said “adsjgojirnhksldjfsdfs!!” (Albanian) or “Turn the f***ing air on!”

We learned along the way that the family of the toddler had had their car stolen while on the beach in Durres (a Beach Dweller), hence the bus ride back to Kosova. Apparently, theft is quite common among both the poverty stricken and the politicians…

Once inside Kosova after a pretty relaxed ride through customs and border control, we stopped at a small place to eat inside of a deteriorating building. When I say deteriorating, remember I live in Detroit. The structure was barely holding up the ceiling tiles, let alone accommodating for dead and live loads exerted on the building. It was here, however, I learned of the Kosovar hamburger. A patty made of some non-descript animal and a side of bread. Despite my aversion to such a product, I put on my Mateo face, now covered in whiskers, and dove in. Delicious. It tasted somewhere in between pork and beef with many spices accenting the flavor…the best meal I’ve had so far.

After we strolled into Prishtina, I got a taste of where I’d be spending most of my evenings; The Tingle Tangle. This hole-in-the-wall bar is exactly what you’d expect to see in Detroit. Hipsters, artists, musicians all find solace in the hand painted walls, hip American music, and wonderful, wonderful Raki. Djona, my new boss and house mate, came to meet us and we began devising a plan for me. As I am still known as the ‘film maker’ I had to assert my newly found love of architecture and urban design. We argued about the concept of the circle and slowly moved our way to Joni, another hipster bar. More Raki, and a few beers later, everything seemed so clear. There would be a video and it would contain an exploration of the social (political) and physical (urban design) fabric that had become Prishtina after the fall of communism genocide of ’99. So clear…