BEING A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD

Last summer we took a big trip to the Balkans, and during our journey we were constantly reminded of the war-torn history of the former Yugoslavia. Our cameras were often turned on bombed-out buildings, and we marveled at the history, resilience, and beauty of the countries we visited that had been so recently destroying each other.

Belgrade, Serbia

Prizren, Kosovo

Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Traveling in this former war zone made the reports of the conflict we read so casually in the 1990s suddenly engage our interest and touch our hearts.

KOSOVO, LITTLE MIRACLES Part 2

I've had a six-week hiatus from posting about our trip to the Balkans while Life Happened (e.g., school started, I had a major publishing deadline, I had some church assignments, we took a trip to Colorado, etc. etc.) It's time to go back to Kosovo and finish up.  

As I discussed in my first post about Kosovo, we had a truly outstanding guide named Inan who spoke beautiful English and spent the day with us in Prizren. One of the many highlights of the day was a short hike he took us on to visit the medieval fortress that overlooks the city. 

On our way up, up, up!

Although it is now largely in ruins, a few sections of the fortress constructed much later than the original Byzantine walls are still intact.  

KOSOVO, LITTLE MIRACLES Part 1

When we rented our car for our trip to the Balkans, the car rental company told us we could take it everywhere we wanted to go--except Kosovo, which is still considered a war zone. However, a few years ago when my brother-in-law Chris was on a work assignment for several months in Kosovo's capital city of Pristina, a native Kosovar named Inan translated for him and they became friends.  Chris contacted Inan and the two of them arranged a way for us to travel in Kosovo. What are the chances of all those pieces falling into place? It is a series of little miracles.

Inan and Chris