Brianna's New Adventure

Where did she head to this time? Kosovo!

This trip defines the very reason Brianna chose the school she did....to have opportunities just like this.  She headed back to school on Tuesday to meet the rest of the group who were departing on an eleven day  Study Seminar to Kosovo, lead by the Dean of her school Ambassdor John Menzies. Ambassador Menzies is the former Chief of Mission at the U.S Office in Kosovo and also served as the US ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina.  In 2006 he traveled to Kosovo to consult on final independence talks taking place in Vienna.  Joining him in leading this Study Seminar is Ambassador Robert Barry. Ambassador Barry is a career member of the United States Foreign Service and has served as Ambassador to Indonesia as well as to Bulgaria.  I'd say she's in pretty good hands for this trip!

The preparation for this trip wasn't quite as intense and the preparation for her trip to China.  No backpack, no hiking boots, no polypropylene clothing!  Packing this time consisted mostly of business attire, as on this trip instead of working in rice fields, she'd be acting as, and being treated as, a Diplomat. Still, shopping was different than our usual shopping trips.  Strange looking at her standing in the dressing room in that black suit...so very grown up! She is so very grown up in some  ways, and I have no doubt she'll be just a little more grown up when she returns home.

Packing was easy this time, the most difficult part of the preparation was actually the 'pre-trip' research she needed to do before leaving (luckily that was all on her!).  Her topic..."Kosovo and International Law: The NATO bombing of Kosovo" and the research was to be presented the morning of departure.  Being the youngest of all the students going, she was a little worried that she didn't have enough diplomacy classes behind her, and enough background knowledge to do as well as she would want to.  Of course, she did just fine.

They departed that evening on a flight that would first take them to Vienna, Austria and then onto Pristina, Kosovo. I spoke to her right before she boarded, knowing it would be at least 12-13 hours before I knew she had landed safely. It was a little easier this time...she's a little more grown up, has the experience of traveling around China behind her, has been managing on her own at school just fine, and was traveling with two U.S Ambassadors...that certainly made it seem a little safer. I tracked her flight until I went to bed that night, watching the plane move ever so slightly across the ocean.  I knew she would be landing in Pristina, Kosovo right around the time I woke up in the morning and expected to hear from her shortly after that.  Didn't realize I would have to wait 10 hours to finally get word from her!  That's were it's not so easy...I knew she landed, I knew she was in good hands, but I just wanted to hear from her.

Finally, at a little after 4 in the afternoon, I got an email.  Amazing the feelings that can be stirred up just seeing her name in my inbox...relief and excitement being the top two!  She had been very busy all day, had no cell phone service and had to wait until she got back to the hotel to send an email.  Her first line, "Just wanted to let you know I'm in Kosovo safe and everything"....(for me the best line of the whole email!)..."we did some cool things today". What 'cool' things did they do?  Well, first they met with the mayor of one of the towns in Kosovo.  Later they met with a Serbian woman who is a Parliament member and then with members of an NGO that is working on encouraging Serbians to vote in local elections.  Pretty cool first day :) Of course, I cried reading her email!  Happy tears and tears of gratitude...I am so grateful she has the opportunity to participate in trip, grateful for the experience she is having, and grateful that she is enjoying it...and of course grateful that she was safe.

By 9:30 this morning I had another email detailing what they had done today.  The first line..."Today was veryyy cool but not over yet".  By the time I got to the end of the sentence, the tears were back! Because it wasn't a 'very cool' day, it was a 'veryyy cool' day!  She had obviously had an amazing day and again I was overwhelmed with excitement for her and feeling so very grateful she was able to do this.  So, what was so veryyy cool? First thing this morning they had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Kosovo. The meeting was held in a conference room of one of the government buildings....very official with speakers set up and a translator on hand.  She said they were served water and expresso and that she felt like she was on some sort of business trip.  Afterwards they had the opportunity to meet with the President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga.  President Jahjaga is the fourth president of Kosovo, and the youngest to be elected. She is also the first female head of state in the modern Balkans. At the end of the meeting, Brianna proudly stood next to President Jahjaga for a group picture.  Later on they had a meeting with the Foreign Minister, and then went to a formal dinner at the U.S Embassy with the Kosovar Ambassadors.  She said in a later email that both were "great"!

Tomorrow's agenda...meeting with several organizations including UNMIK (United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo), and EULEX (European Union Rule of Law Mission). She was also excited about the prospect of having a little shopping time tomorrow!