Emmanuel and Kyle of 2600 are experienced world travelers who specialize in going where other people never want or think to. Last year they set off to travel though ALL the former Yugoslav states (and Albania). From trains to buses to taxi’s in the middle of nowhere, their trip was full of unpredictable moments of joy and confusion, much of which could be heard on their radio program.
During the latest edition of the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin, Emmanuel and Kyle joined me to record this extended podcast to retail the story of their travels and the lessons learned.
The region of Kosovo seems to have fallen out of the international media conversation. It has lost the sexiness it had in the 90’s. Yet thousands of troops and international workers are there, not to mention the Kosovars themselves. But what can the future hold for them?
To discuss this and related themes, I went to visit Vlidi at his home in Belgrade. He has been to Kosovo several times for different reasons, and has much to say about what is going on there.
We discuss:
– His visits to Kosovo in 04 and 05
– The interviews he conducted there.
– Background, why has all this happenned in Kosovo
– The territory during Yugoslavia
– Population, politics, and quality of life
– The economic significance of Kosovo
– Dependency
– Lessons not learned
– Drawing Borders to Remove Borders
– Meaning for Serbia
My cousin was just on the skypes telling me all about his recent work-trip to Tirana, Albania. Now I’m convinced I should have gone there and I need to go there.
Richard kept mentioning during our recent journey, that we should head to Albania because no one is there yet and there’s probably still this feeling of chaos and rebuilding. Seems alot of that is true. I’ve been reading up (wikipedia unfortunately); Albania was in a very unique kind of catatonic isolation til the late eighties, early nineties. The history is amazing, dating back to prehistory in fact. If I didn’t feel sick I might have more to say about it.. but maybe you’ll look it up yourself sometime.. or visit there, like I will! (whenever that will be, I have no idea)
