45 minutes in Kosovo

Train, military van, Belgian defence plane...we did it all last Tuesday. And even though we ultimately only got to spend 45 minutes in Kosovo itself, the trip was incredibly valuable.

So...why did I got to Kosovo?

I'm taking a class that deals with the European Union and issues of security. My teacher is Mme. Anne-Marie Lizin, President of the Belgian Senate and rapporteur of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. When she found out that Belgian peacekeepers were headed to Kosovo to relieve troops that were finishing their 4 month tour of duty, and since our assignment for the class is to publish a book on European reactions to the war in Kosovo, she jumped on the occasion to bring us along to speak to some of the heads of operations in the country. It was incredibly last-minute, but it was an offer I could not refuse.

The UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) began in 1999, and is to date the largest mission ever attempted. Its mandate at the time was not only to end the conflict and establish security so that the hundreds of thousands of Albanian refugees could return to their homes, but also to rebuild a nation completely destroyed by clashes between Serbs and Albanians and the NATO bombing campaigns. Currently, the European Union, the OSCE, the UN and NATO are all present on the ground, and are all in charge of very specific tasks. The NATO peacekeeping mission, KFOR, includes contributions from 35 nations. KFOR is responsible for establishing and maintaining a secure environment throughout the country.

On the way to Pristina, we were in the plane with about 100 Belgian troops set to start a 4-month tour of duty in and around Mitrovica - generally considered the most difficult area since most of the country's Serbs (who make up less than 10% of Kosovo's population) reside there. The people we talked to, both commanders and soldiers, said that Albanians and Serbs rarely mix anymore, but that any small event could potentially spark new hostilities.

The event in question that could reignite the conflict will likely occur at the beginning of 2007 when the UN envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, is expected to publish his recommendations on the status of Kosovo. He has already delayed publication once out of fear that his suggestion that Serbia lose Kosovo would help extreme nationalists come to power in the Serbian elections scheduled for January 21st. He came to this conclusion after being unable to reach an agreement in talks between the Serbs and the Albanians. This means that the troops we travelled with on our way to Pristina may have a very difficult 4 months ahead of them. Not only do they have to deal with a long winter, but they may find themselves in the middle of new skirmishes, as Albanians start to demand full independence and Serbs forcefully try to maintain control over Kosovo.

Because of security delays in Belgium, our time at the Pristina army base was limited, but we did get to speak to a UN representative on the ground, who laid out the main issues currently on the table in the area. As with anything that happens in its former backyard, Russia is especially interested in Mr. Ahtisaari's recommendations. The Russians aren't favourable to the idea of an independent Kosovo, but they may promise not to veto the UN resolution if they can get what they want in the Caucasus - no doubt related to the separatist movements in South-Ossetia and Abkhazia which they have been supporting on and off since Yeltsin's days.

On our way back, we were in the plane with about 60 Belgian peacekeepers who were heading home. We got a chance to speak to some of them about their impressions of their mission. In general, they are very well received by the population. The situation is calm, but that is because Serbs and Albanians stay away from each other, apart from a few small enclaves. Because we only spoke to members of the Belgian forces, they could only tell us what is going on in the North of Kosovo. They didn't have much to say when we asked them about certain secret American detention centres in the East...

While Kosovo is calm right now, it will be interesting to see what happens when the UN report is finally released. And just because it is calm does not mean that life is much better. Electricity and water is unavailable more often than not, even in the better parts of the capital. Human and arms trafficking are huge problems, and international forces are unable to crack down because it is not in their mandate. And while people don't like to admit it, the presence of large numbers of troops in the country inevitably allow mafia-run prostitution rings to survive. Supply and demand...the only thing I remember from two semesters of Econ.

So there you have it, my relatively short and concise recap of a very complicated situation: if you made it to the end of this huge post, you get a treat next time I see you!

madness

To all my loyal readers (all 7 of you), I apologize for the serious lack of posts in the past week. Between Kosovo and a weekend spent in London, it' s been a pretty busy couple of days. I got back from London this morning, unpacked quickly, headed to class until 9pm and then went out with the girls for a little dancing session at Le Paris Paris. The music was amazing...care of DJ Mehdi and Dave1 of Chromeo. This must have been the first time I'd been to a completely packed club on a monday night. Love this city...

So I'm still alive - which is pretty surprising given the workload I had last week, and the partying that I did this weekend - but it's a little late to dive into a long post about my trips to Pristina and London. Pictures and stories to come, real soon!

yaaaawn

Today, for the first time in my life, I had to set two alarms in order to wake up.

I've never had problems waking up. That is not to say that i'm a morning person. Just ask my mother what it's like trying to have a conversation with me within the first hour of my being awake. And nothing annoys me more that those perky people who spring out of bed at 8am and are out of the door within 30 minutes. I'm terribly slow and cranky in the AM. But I can get up.

Not so anymore. For the past two weeks it has taken me a solid hour to mentally prepare for the task of getting out of bed. I don't even need to make use of the snooze button anymore...i just roll over and go back to sleep with the news blaring in my ear. And forget about staying awake in class. I drank 3 coffees and a Diet Coke today and I was still nodding off in my lectures. So last night, I not only set my radio clock, but I also set my cell phone to the most grating ringtone available, and placed it on the other side of my studio. This is what it has come down to. I'm getting a little concerned.

Speaking of concerned, the international community should probably start openly voicing consternation over the steady Russian decline (read: nosedive) into corruption, bullying and blatant criminality. Can you believe this? What next, Bulgarian umbrellas?

monster

The meaning behind behind the title of this post is three-fold:

Monster - as in the size of this post. A lot of stuff has happened since I last wrote. Thursday night I went to check out my guilty pleasure The Stills. They played a free show at La Fleche d'Or. My feelings towards this band are pretty ambiguous. While I find their lyrics completely unremarkable (although progress has been made since the first album), I just can't get enough of their music in general and I will always go see them if they come through town, especially when it's free. Here are some pictures:

We decided to stick around to check out the last act on the bill because we were intrigued by the laptop setup. It turned out to be the highlight of the night. Vitamins for You, aka: Bryce. Isn't it ironic that I had to come all the way to Paris to discover my new favourite canadian live act? Think Final Fantasy's adorable stage presence, MSTRKRFT's heavy beats and hand claps and Postal Service minus Ben Gibbard's annoying voice. Does that make sense? This guy was amazing and had the sparse crowd dancing like crazy...AND he was high on cold medicine but managed to get through most of his on-stage banter in French. He finished his set off with two covers, one of a Dough Boys song, and the other, Arcade Fire's No Cars Go. I bought a CD off of him after the show and have been dancing to it ever since. Unfortunately, the tunes on his myspace are not at all indicative of what this guy does live. And I was not able to capture on film the energy he exudes on stage.

Monster - as in monster news: next Tuesday I'm going to Kosovo via military aircraft with a couple of my classmates and my professor. She managed to secure us some free spots in a Belgian plane. We are landing in Pristina, and meeting the head of UN operations for an hour and a half, and then heading back to Belgium. I am so excited I can hardly contain myself.

Other monster news: As part of my degree I have to do a group project. I applied for a project directly related to the French presidential elections happening in Spring 2007. After what I was told was a very arduous selection process, I made the cut! This is pretty amazing, in a nerdy kind of way.

Monster - as in what school has become. Because of my being selected for this project, I have seen my workload double in the span of 24 hours. And because I'm going to London next weekend, I do not forsee stepping out of my appartment for any other reason than to go to the library for the next 6 days. Ain't life grand.

merde!

So I logged onto my blog today to find out that i'm required to switch to a new version of Blogger. OK fine. Except that when I did that, I lost my last post!! There were some sweet links on that one!

Anyways, I've been neglecting the blogging lately because I had an insane week. School gave us a week off because they clued into the fact that we're all slowly drowning under the loads of work. I used the first half of the week to get all my work done, and the last half to decompress. I jumped on the train and headed to the land of fries, raspberry beer and waffles.

This was my first time in Brussels and I really loved it. I never knew it had such a burgeoning art scene - of all kinds. I was in a cafe having lunch on friday and I had a feeling I was sitting beside a famous artist just from the way he was talking and the names he was dropping (ie: Jeff Koons). Sure enough, it was Jim Dine. And I spent most of the day just walking through the centre and taking pictures of the graffiti and stencil art.

Thursday night was a bit of a bust, unfortunately. We showed up at the Agnes B. party a bit too late...all the free champagne was gone and our friends were beyond drunk. Being the only sober ones in the whole place, we quickly decided to get some sleep so as to be in shape for friday night. Very wise decision on our part because friday turned out to be ridiculous.

We crammed into two cars and drove to Liege to see Birdy Nam Nam. We got there just in time to help ourselves to their rider and secure front-and-centre spots for the show. I love listening to this group when i'm studying because it's nice and chill and I don't get distracted by lyrics. Seeing them live is completely different, because these guys are pretty incredible musicians. The concept is a band of turntables. Each guy has his deck, on which he plays an "instrument". What makes seeing them live so great is that you're always trying to figure out who is playing what. And also how they are able to manage listening to each other while switching records and finding the right spot. No laptops. I'm a sucker for the old school.

After their set was over, the debauchery began. Thankfully I took lots of pictures to remind me of what happened. Stellar dance moves, heart-to-hearts, hugs and kisses, Olivier saving Bitsy from one of his friends...all the makings of a wonderful night.

Bitsy and I didn't have the strength to do anything on saturday except sit in a movie theatre so we went to see Borat. I don't know why I didn't have huge expectations for this film, so to say that I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. Comedic genius.

In true Anne fashion, I nearly missed my train on the way back. The transition back to studying and going to school was incredibly painful. Which means that it's time to decompress again...with the first Sciences-Po club night. What do you get when you put a bunch of over-worked, over-intelligent, over-ambitious political science students in a club with 2 euro drinks? A catastrophe. And I will be sure to bring my camera to document it. The future leaders of France, all drunk and belligerent?? Who knows when these pictures might come in handy!

et juste comme ca...

...c'est l'hiver.

Winter showed up in the span of 3 days. Last week I was still sleeping with my window open, this week I'm at risk of freezing to death in my appartment. It's 7pm and my extremities are starting to get numb.

The only solution when you rely on central heating that won't get turned on for another couple of weeks is to drink more wine and go to sweaty clubs...obvi.

So tonight we might go to the Triptyque for Diamond Grilling night, where Institubes' new kid on the block is spinning, among others.

Also, I suggest you get yourself to DJ Mehdi's myspace and check out the video for "I am somebody". It's ace.

cucoo for coco puffs

What does a girl do when she needs a study break? She spends two hours tasting some of the best chocolate in the world:

Every year, all the best chocolatiers from France, Belgium, even Japan descend on Paris' convention centre. You pay a small entrance fee and then are let loose among hundreds of stands of companies showing off and selling their products. In order to sell, they must let you taste. And it. is. heaven.

I was smart and I went on a weekday morning, so it was pretty empty and the chocolatiers were being very generous with their samples. I also managed to get a little tipsy off of chocolate liqueur and a Grand Marnier crepe. And let me tell you, you haven't lived until you've tasted foie gras with onion and chocolate spread, all washed down with a little glass of chocolate wine.

Too bad I completely forgot to bring my camera because they also have a fashion show with beautiful dresses made by top designers, all somehow incorporating chocolate in the design.

I could have stayed in there all day. Although I might have overdosed on chocolate...