I bet Sir Bob Geldof wished he could do this....

Picture the scene, it's Friday afternoon, you need to gain some popularity for next weeks general election and you don't like Mondays....
'What to do.....what to do......I know let's have a Public Holiday on Monday to celebrate Albanian National Day!!!!'
'It doesn't matter that we are a different country and there are zero working days between now and the new Public Holiday - Let's just do it'!!!
So today is a Public Holiday and it was announced on TV on Friday night !
Great, I hear you cry, well contractors don't get paid on Public Holidays :-(
Fortunately due to the 'exceptional circumstances' we will - phew.
Here's a photo of a junction decked out in Albanian flags for last nights party, the flags are every where in the town.

Pristina restaurant announces their new mascot !

Mickey D's have Ronald McDonald now Fati's have unveiled their new mascot..............

Pete from Liverpool !!

Poppies - the post script

My brother Derek, who is the secretary of the Armed Forces Veterans Association was reading the blog and pointed it out to a couple of his members. They were so pleased that the message the poppy sends was being recognised in a corner of the Balkans that they wanted the photo on the wall !
My brother Derek on the left and Jim Hume the chairman on the right.

EU Citizen? Sleep well sir.

Not much action on the blog front due to my 'surprise' visit home at the weekend. However my cunning plan to get back in time for a new course to start today were left in tatters with the blanket of fog over Heathrow. We left 4 hours late and missed our connection in Vienna by 3 hours. So I had to spend the night in Vienna - well I say Vienna - a very nice hotel at the airport. So I didn't get back until lunchtime not great when the course starts at 1000.
So anyway, the title. A young guy from Kosovo was also on the same flight to Pristina via Vienna, he went to the airline counter just before me and I wondered why his complimentary overnight pack included a blanket and pillow, turns out he needed a visa to leave the terminal building and walk over to the 4 star hotel. So he had to sleep in the airport. Another good reason to be in the EU!

Rememberance & Poppies - The Last Post

Hope you don't mind the pun. We had a touching 2 minute silence today. Having told our Kosovar friends last week about poppies and their meaning we mentioned the 2 minute silence - just once as part of the explanation. So today at 1055 we said we were having a coffee break as Pete and I were observing the 2 minute silence. The group said that they had set reminders on their phones to ensure they were ready for it also! So on the stroke of 11 they all stood up, bowed their heads and stood in silence.
I did well to say 'thank you very much' without my voice breaking.
Here we are the week before.

Comedy Shop Signs Pristina Style

Something for the weekend sir?

I didn't think their phones were that bad.........
(You might have to look a bit closer)

An honest estate agent?

You thought the weather was unpredictable in the UK?

Here we are, 6th of November and everyone is sitting outside still. One week after snow we get day after day of blue skies and 20c. Just a pity I have got too much work to do to enjoy it. Cafe on the left is one of our new favourite haunts, sitting in the sun watching the world go by at lunchtime.....

Why do you wear that flower? part 2

Our students were asking where we got our poppies so we decided to buy them one, they were delighted and honoured (their words) to wear them!

Why do you wear that flower?

Our translators and students were asking why were Pete and I wearing poppies. So we told them.
A little later one of our translators was telling us what it was like here in Pristina during the war when the Serbs were attempting genocide.
'It was terrible' she said 'we were so frightened, many killings had happened we really thought the Serbs were going to kill us next, we hoped we would get a bullet, we were terrified we would get raped and left to die slowly, we had no hope for the future. The Russians came and we thought oh no this is no better. Shortly after that the British Army came and we were unbelievably happy, we were safe, we couldn't believe a country like the UK & the US would come to save us. It was the most amazing feeling, to think that the UK would send an army to save us - I thank you'
This was 11 years ago in Europe, this is why Clinton & Blair are heroes here and another reason we should be proud of our armed forces.