OLD MAN WINTER CAME KNOCKING

The old, abandoned Serbian church

A few birds trying to get some food from a plant poking out of the snow

Pro-Credit Bank in downtown Prishtina

In front of our school, American School of Kosova

This past Saturday I awoke to a heavy snow falling. I remember wondering why it looked so light outside in the middle of the night when I had briefly awoken, but I shrugged it off to my imagination. Finally, around 6am when I got up for good I looked out the window and saw a blanket of white snow covering as far as I could see in the city. Immediately I felt the buzz that a snow storm gives me. It was as if the city was transformed into an entirely new environment. I knew from the swelling feeling inside me that I needed to submerge myself in the new environment. I also had this trip planned with my Outdoor Club from school in which we were suppose to meet at 7:30 am and go on a day hike in Matka Canyon, Macedonia. As I walked to school I realized that the chances of most of the kids showing up was slim, and even slimmer chance of getting the buses to do the 2 hr drive to Matka.

When I arrived at school only 1 student, Krenare, was there. She had the same buzz as I and was ready to make the most of this new environment. Within a few minutes another student arrived, Sami. He too was one of us. As a group of 3 we waited around for awhile for any other students but none came. We took one look at the bus which was running and ready to go, but decided that the rear tires were so bald, and the roads were to bad to risk the drive to Matka. So, we did the next best thing and walked through the city and made our way to Germia Park where we could get into the woods and hike the snowed in trails. Krenare wanted to take photos of the snowed in city so she went her separate way. Sami and I spent the next 7 hours or so hiking, helping stuck cars get out, and talking about life. It was great to connect on a different level with one of my students. Sami is an extremely bright kid with a great perspective on things. It was great to share with him and learn from him throughout the day. He hopes one day to design cars. I have no doubt that if that's the path he continues on, that sure enough, one day he will be the one shaping the future look of automobiles. Here are a few pictures that I took from the day.