Around Prizren

A few photos from last night:

This photo was taken from my front door looking right. A lot of cars on the side streets are still buried. The side roads are sloppy. When walking, I try to stick to the main roads because the sidewalks have been (mostly) cleared. Even with snow on the roads, drivers drive so fast, I'm leery about being caught up against a wall while a car hurtles/slides in my direction.

Last night was clear and cold. The moon was full, though.

This is from the eastern end of the main downtown district. The Turkish government put up funds to renovate the Sinan Pasha mosque. Currenty, a construction crew is working on some sort of out facade. Maybe it'll be finished before I leave.

When somebody dies, a notice with their name, photo, and surviving relatives is posted. On the boards around town, someone has posted these "Palestina" posters. I can't tell, though, if the posters are pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian. In Kosovo, the support truly could go either way.

This is the courtyard I share with my landlord and his wife. All the cherry trees are surrounded by snow. There used to be a plum tree close to the house, but he had it chopped down in September. I guess it threw too much shade on the house, but it's a shame. It produced good plums.

Photos from this morning:

I had trash to throw out, so here's where my garbage from the last few days ended up. I did manage to get my trash into the dumpster. I don't like to bring my garbage here because often this dumpster is on fire. It was on the way to where I wanted to walk, though. Today it wasn't burning.

Temperatures have been so cold that shopkeepers need to either bring their produce inside or cover them up with blankets. I bought a tomato the day before yesterday that was mushy from being too cold. Now isn't a good time for tomatoes anyway.

After going on my test bus ride before Christmas, I hadn't seen the busses rolling around town. That changed on Wednesday when they miraculously appeared again. I hear that there are 8 lines and it's 60 cents to ride. If you buy a ticket from an approved seller, you can buy tickets for 40 cents. No one knows who the approved sellers are, though. I haven't seen many people in the busses. My guess is that 60 cents is too expensive.