Flying for Kosovo

I did not like being 07:15 hours over cold water and next to polar bears in a single engine plane, but thankfully we survived. The landscape of Greenland is absolutely breath-taking and this place is by far one of the most fascinating places I’ve visited on earth. Flying over the icebergs, glaciers, cliffs and fjords of this country was absolutely breath-taking! We met some nice German friends here and found out together that prices here are pretty expensive. AVGAS is $17USD a gallon. Though beautiful to fly over, this country is one of the most expensive fueling stop that I’ve made on the entire mission.

Next stop is Iceland and then Europe.

From Detroit, it took 14 hours and five stops to fly to Goose Bay,Canada, the last airport in Canada before heading over the ocean to Greenland. I enjoyed most of the flight though, flying over 1000+ miles of Canadian countryside was beautiful. As we got closer to Goose Bay, the weather began changing and we entered into colder Arctic temperatures where it began snowing. Tomorrow, we are hoping to get an early start to Narsarsuaq,Greenland. I will be traveling with my friend Durim Elezi, who works with Illyria newspaper – it will be nice to have some company.

Ladies and Gentleman,

I would like to announce that I have made it back to the United States.

I can’t tell you how great it was to be back on US soil – and what a greeting we received. I’d like to thank our friends in Florida who gave me the royal treatment upon arriving. Augustin Shqalsi and Arben Mucollari greeted Nail and I with great conversation and fine dinners and Richard Nikezic gave us a tremendous nights sleep in the finest room is his hotel, along with other forms of assistance.

From Florida we flew to New York and had a great flight. It was so good to reunite with our good friends in the city – Arta Rama has been a tremendous help at Kosovo’s Consulate in New York and I was fortunate to meet with RTK New York to do a live interview. And it is always good to see friends in Washington DC at Voice of America as they have been covering our story since the beginning.

On my way to Canada I wanted to stop in Detroit to thank some supporters there. My good friend Mr. Duhani and about 10 other people greeted me at the airport! It feels so good to know that so many people support our mission.

After a great nights sleep at the Duhani house I was off to visit the great land of Canada

On our way to the Bahamas from Jamaica, we had to fly Eastbound to avoid Cuban airspace. Though even then, we were in their airspace for about 10-15 minutes, during which time I was on pins and needles awaiting the Cuban military to come after us. We also struggled with being able to communicate to air traffic controllers in both Haiti and the Bahamas. The reception was horrible and thankfully there was an American Airlines plane flying above us that was able to relay our messages to the airports below.

Our first stop in the Bahamas was the beautiful island of Great Inagua. Believe it or not, this island is known for producing salt and for the over 60,000 flamingos that reside there. Little Inagua, five miles northeast of here is said to be the home of over 35000 wild donkeys, as well as wild pigs and cows.

The local people were very nice and the teal blue waters of the Caribbean made it easy to understand why the Bahamas are such a vacation destination. Since the population of the island is only 1200, we quickly learned that there were no taxi drivers to be found and because of the island being a tourist destination, all the hotels and bed and breakfasts were well over $100US. Thankfully, we were able to meet some great locals who gave us a ride and allowed us to sleep on their couch for a small fee.

The next morning we flew over the rest of the Bahama Islands and landed in Nassau. Again, flying over the aquamarine and sapphire waters was a magnificent experience. Once on the ground, we were well aware that this was a tourist destination as the taxi from the airport to town (a few miles away) was $27.

We were able to do a few media interviews before taking a commercial flight over to Cuba (since we were unable to obtain a permit for our plane, we had no other choice). The Bahamas Tribune did an excellent article, thanks to Noelle Nicolls who was very caring and interested in learning more about our cause. Thank you also to Shenique Miller who took the time to interview us for ZNS Television.

Upon return from Cuba nearly a week later, we were able to meet with Kendeno Knowles from the JCN news (who own The Bahama News, Love97 radio station JC television) before heading to over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet with Permanent Secretary Patricia Rodgers. She was very honest and friendly and mentioned that they had been getting “lots of pressure from all over” to work on the Kosovo issue. She said that they were temporarily waiting on the formal result of the International Court of Justice decision, which is expected some time this year.

The Tribune

After my own very emotional stop in Haiti, I took a quick flight back to Santo Domingo to pick up my dear friend and colleague Nail Spahiu (whom you may remember has been doing some filming throughout the trip for our upcoming documentary).  Since we had to fly back over Haiti airspace, Nail was filming as much as possible from the plane.  He could not believe his eyes when he looked down at the devastation in the beautiful city of Port-Au-Prince.  You get a much clearer picture of this from above. Overall, it was a great flight, except that Nail starts to get antsy after more than two hours airborne.

After landing, we had a hard time trying to find a reasonably priced hotel. With the help of a local taxi driver (who also charged us an arm and a leg for the ride), we were able to find a place. The next day, we are able to meet with two different newspapers and the state television station TVJ. Kimmo Matthews with the Jamaican Observer was wonderful and had lots of knowledge about Kosovo’s history. We were also able to speak with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was receptive, but did mentioned that all recommendations come from their UN ambassador in New York.

From Jamaica, we tried to get a flight permit for our baby plane to fly into Cuban airspace. Their embassy in Kingston was being difficult and, because of the US registration of our plane, we learned that they would not allow us to fly over their country. We also had no luck with the Cuban Civil Aviation Authority (who already knew about our US markings), despite a week’s worth of efforts. Welcome to the bureaucracy of some of the countries of our planet!

On a positive note, Nail and I were able to experience the delightful cuisine of Kingston. With the diverse influence of Spain, Britain, Africa, India and the local indigenous population, you can imagine that the food here is rich in both history and flavor. In the evenings, we would enjoy dinner and exciting conversations with the locals, which allowed us to share the latest news of our beautiful country Kosovo.

From Jamaica, we went directly to the Bahamas, which added another three hours of flying to our journey, as we had to fly around the Cuban airspace. As you can imagine, this detour was frustrating to myself and, of course, Nail as it was over a two hour flight experience.

My flight from Santo Domingo to Port Au Prince went very well until I approached the capital city of this wonderful nation.  A few miles before landing, while flying at minimal altitude, I thought that I was seeing that this nation’s people had lots of swimming pools alongside their houses.  Shortly after, I realized that  those were not swimming pools at all.

What I was looking at was the devastating news that millions of people were living in tents made with blue plastic covers – tarps that were donated from countries around the world.  Up until this point of the mission, I could not and did not imagine the magnitude of devastation that the Haitian people have had to endure.

While I was flying, I kept taking picture after picture – thousands.  The reality here began to hit me hard and uncontrollable tears started flowing from my eyes.  Flashbacks kept coming, reminding me of the suffering of my own people in the refugee camps of Albania.  That was over ten years ago.  The reason that I started this mission.  And it haunts me here today as I look out over Haiti.

As I land on the ground the humid air is both thick and smothering.  Upon opening the aircraft door and stepping on the soil of this great nation, tears continued to flow.  They came down as I walked to the ramp agents.  They came down as I looked into their eyes and finally saw the reality that the people here have gone through.  The indescribable  power of the deceased souls could be felt through my entire body – chill’s felt everywhere. Everywhere I turned in the airport – you could see and feel the devastation.  Cracks and holes were seen in the walls – but this was nothing compared to the pain that I felt surrounding the individuals working there.

Shortly after clearing customs and parking the airplane, I met with Besnik Demolli (whom you’ll remember I met up with in the Dominican Republic) and many others, like Armendi, whom gave me a home while in Haiti, and Arsim Shala, who showed great respect for our mission.  I tell you, it was such a comfort to find these great friends who are here working for the UN in Haiti and Dominican Republican.  After a satisfying lunch at the UN cafeteria, I took a bus toward town trying to accomplish the duties of our mission, despite the reality of my surroundings.

It’s absolutely impossible to describe to you, in one short paragraph, the suffering and devastation that I’ve seen in Haiti.  My heart feels for and entirely supports these wonderful people.  The depth of strength and resilience that I have seen will no doubt spur recovery in the future.  However, from personal experience, I know that this chapter of their lives will never cease to exist for centuries to come.  The vanished souls of Haiti will never be forgotten and this chapter will always exist.

The unspeakable shock that I have seen in the last few days have left an great scar on my soul.  The fallen city of Port Au Prince, the devastation that I have seen will be with me forever.  But I need to also express my admiration and humbleness to the Haitians – despite all the destruction that they have seen, there is still a sense of hope here.  The feeling is faint, but familiar.

Amos Cincir from ‘Le Nouvellist’, and a great friend, wrote the most amazing article about Kosovo and our mission.  Despite their atmosphere being turned upside down, it is amazing that the media showed our mission interest.  La Matin, and the great people there, were also receptive.  To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – I am honored for the time that you took, despite everything that your country is going through, to meet with me and show your attention to our cause.

God Bless Haiti.

Le Nouvelliste en Haiti

After a refreshing and brief stop in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic is calling. As the second largest Caribbean nation (behind Cuba), the country takes up over two-thirds of the island Hispaniola. Though the country’s economy struggled during the 80′s and the 90′s, tourism is now helping them get back on track. During my stop in this country, I was amazed to meet up and old friend from back home. Through word of mouth and a fantastic hotel owner, I was able to find Besnik Demolli in Santo Domingo. Besnik works for the United Nations and is scheduled to fly to Haiti. I make arrangements to follow him there tomorrow. Eric from the hotel and his family made me feel very much at home during my short stay.

This beautiful country made me feel like I I was in heaven again.  My quick weakness in these tropical countries is the lushious, wonderful tropical fruits that are available.  So many tastes – ah, heaven!  The hospitality and welcome that I’ve received in the Caribbean has also been a blessing.

The media here showed great interest in publishing articles about Kosovo – especially knowing that somewhere on the planet (as far away as Kosovo) has deep respect and admiration for their beautiful nation.  Listin Diaro and Hoy newspapers did excellent interviews and I am grateful to Andrea Luna and Carmen Matos.

The Dominican Republic’s decision to recognize our independence has touched many people’s hearts and has played a major role in the world.  I hope to return here someday.

Listin Diario

After leaving St. Kitts, I flew to Puerto Rico. The airplane needed an annual maintenance review and I must admit, it was good to be on US soil for a brief stop. I’ve never been so happy to see Wal-greens, Wal-mart and the Western World. Though I love the opportunities that I’ve had, the people that I’ve met and the incredible awareness that the trip has brought to my country, you can imagine how taxing a year of traveling and financial struggle can be. It feels good to know that there are only five countries left.

Despite the fact that it is now the rainy season in the Caribbean (raining cats and dogs day and night), my flight to Antigua was fantastic!  I was able to complete two interviews on the first day, with the Antigua Sun and the Daily Observer.  The next day I did a radio interview with the Observer and also met with the local television station, ABS, who interviewed me live.

My stay on this island was very brief, yet through the rain I was able to see some of its beauty and wish to return here in the future.  These islands are believed to be formed by volcanoes and inhabited as early as 2400 B.C.  However, it was only recently, in 1981, that they became independent of the British Commonwealth.

Antigua Sun

Off to St. Kitts and Nevis. As with many other Caribbean Islands, this country was associated with the British until recently (1983). In 1998, Nevis attempted to pass a referendum to separate itself from St. Kitts, but did not gain enough votes for it to pass. Hon. Sam Terence Condor and Ms. Kaye Bass (the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Senior Foreign Service Officer) were kind enough to offer me their time for a meeting. Ms. Bass was extremely knowledgeable about our independence and she actually showed me the governments file on Kosovo and it’s contents. She suggested that, since Belize already recognizes our independence, it would be beneficial for them to bring it up as an agenda item at the upcoming meeting of the CARICOM Foreign Ministers. Next stop, a brief stop in the U.S. Territory of Puerto Rico and then five countries left to visit until the mission will be complete!

The St. Kitts-Nevis Observer

SKNVibes.com