Sometimes I think I haven't left Wisconsin...

Monday, as I walked into the schoolyard, I saw a group of students from Tuesday's class.  I said good morning to the group of girls and noticed something very familiar.  One of the girls was wearing a Wisconsin sweatshirt.  I almost didn't notice at first as I am so used to seeing the familiar Wisconsin red and white, but then I remembered that I was in Kaçanik, Kosovo, and not Wisconsin.  These aren't that common here.

A Wisonsin Sweatshirt in Kosovo

Yesterday, was a Gjethi event entitled "Dita Pa Makina" or "A day without cars".  This annual event is  bike ride on a route from Kaçanik to the Restaurant Lepenci about 10 km and then back.  A police escort, food, and drinks were provided by Gjethi (with funding from KEP).  In previous years, there were around 100 bikers.  We had a beautiful day for a ride, but there were only around 25 riders.  They all seemed to have a good time and I enjoyed helping to collect trash after their snacks.

The meeting point for the start of the bike ride; it was a beautiful blue sky day

The pre-bike photo

The bike ride begins

Police escort leading the way

Bikers on the main street in Kaçanik

Banana and water break

Photos of Ljuboten while we wait for the bikers

Stops signs in Kosovo look very familiar

We were not able to do the hike with the hiking group this week, as both activities were on Sunday.  We got a couple of good walks in around Kaçanik over the weekend and are enjoying the beautiful fall weather here in Kosovo.   We have also had some rain over the last few weeks and the water has not gone out since it started raining.  This is another advantage of fall weather.

Daisy along the river in Kaçanik

A blue sky day taken from our balcony

Our pet praying mantis which lives on the balcony

Looks like goose for dinner

A couple of students in our dismal classroom

The blackboards that are hard to write on and hard for students to read

The school building with vocational labs for plumbing, electricians, etc.

The hallway by the teacher's lounge

The second building where main subjects such as math, English, and Albanian are taught

The soccer hall and cafe across from the school; teacher's parking area

Here I am, talking with some of our students