Finally, the Doughnut Hole!

This summer I toured through the Balkans around Kosovo, affectionately dubbed the Doughnut tour.  Well, I'm happy to report that I finally got to that elusive Munchkin itself.  Kosovo was my first stop on my two month trip celebrating my completion of Peace Corps.  I am now officially an RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer), though truthfully I still feel like I'll be going back to Bitola any day now.  Finishing Peace Corps, like any government-related task, involves heaps of paperwork and then boom, I'm free!  No more reporting my whereabouts, although perhaps I got too accustomed to this since I seem to be doing so voluntarily on Facebook anyway.  So, back to Kosovo. 

Wonderfully I was able to begin my travels with another newbie RPCV, Mere.  We took the bus to Pristina, Kosovo's capital, only about 3 hours from Skopje.  The city had a vibe quite similar to Albanian-dominated cities in Macedonia so it didn't strike me as particularly exotic but I was glad to go there and complete my education on the former Yugoslavia.  Good Americans that we are, Mere and I asked around until we found the golden idol, i.e. Bill Clinton statue.  Eleven feet tall and up on a pedestal, Clinton is recognized for his help in separating Kosovo from Serbia through NATO air strikes.  Having a statue of such a recent president is a bit much for me to take in but it was a fun stop nevertheless. 

Giving Bill a thumbs up

Mere & me in front of the Newborn sign landmark

While Mere continued on Sarajevo, I spent the night couch surfing with an American named Ben who is teaching at an American school.  I had a fun time hanging out with him and his teacher friends, comparing their classroom stories to ones from my teacher pals in Macedonia.  Other than a small snafu with the key when Mere and I arrived, I had a great first couch surfing experience that carried over into my next surfing stop, Sofia--more on that in my Bulgaria installment.  Up next though, my last weekend in Macedonia.