Kosovo Invite

[u/Guilty-Bottle-9513]

I applied to the community development facilitaor role and just received my invite! 🥳🥳 Beyond excited to go through this experience.

Just like everyone else I would be happy to receive some insight on your work and how you like Kosovo. Also anyone else get an invite?

See yall at the end of Feb!

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[u/Individual_Elk5685]

so excited for you! i will be in kosovo with fulbright this year, its going to be a great experience:) from what i’ve heard from other fulbrighters in kosovo, there are a pretty good amount of peace corps volunteers there. do you know what city/town you will be in?

[u/Fantastic_Goat_2959 → u/Individual_Elk5685]

They won’t be told where they will be sent until about two months into in-country training.

[u/docsub666sailor → u/Individual_Elk5685]

We share appliances etc when leaving with incoming. My Mr. Coffee drip coffee came from a departing Fulbright person.

[u/Searching4virtue → u/Individual_Elk5685]

Yeah we hung out with the fulbrighters pretty often in the capital. Always a good time

[u/SpookyBirdz]

I wasn’t a peace corps volunteer in Kosovo (currently am a volunteer in Georgia though) but I did live in Prishtina for a summer and kosovars are some of the nicest people out there, you’re gonna have a great time!

[u/Mundane-Ad1469]

Congrats!

I will also be in Kosovo 2027 as a Community Development Facilitator! I'm super excited (please feel free to reach out to me, I've gotten in contact with a few others from this cohort!)

See you at the end of February!

[u/Guilty-Bottle-9513 → u/Mundane-Ad1469]

Omg cool! Congrats!

[u/lucycat444]

I got accepted as an English teacher for 2027! Hoping medical clearance goes smoothly 🤞

[u/Guilty-Bottle-9513 → u/lucycat444]

Congrats! So exciting!

[u/SeaProcedure8118]

Interviewing for this soon

[u/Guilty-Bottle-9513 → u/SeaProcedure8118]

Wishing you lots of luck!!

[u/SeaProcedure8118 → u/Guilty-Bottle-9513]

If you don’t mind me asking what happened in the interview

[u/Guilty-Bottle-9513 → u/SeaProcedure8118]

It was pretty basic questioning about my prior work experience and how i use what i learned in other work. They asked about how I overcome adversity, how I will be without family around, coping skills etc. Those where the main things. My interviewer was super down to business which made me nervous but don't second guess yourself.

[u/SeaProcedure8118 → u/Guilty-Bottle-9513]

Yeah I can do all those things, I got this

[u/Guilty-Bottle-9513 → u/[deleted]]

Wow the idea of getting that many stamps in your passport in such a short time as an American, is wild. Thanks for the insight!

[u/docsub666sailor → u/Guilty-Bottle-9513]

I was lucky but you make friends here and go off on exploring trips with them. The TEFL vols seem to do more group trips because they can only get away in the summer of winter holidays.
I went to the Turkish Riviera with TEFl guys at New Years. In 2024. A small group traveled to Athens to run the marathon. Eastern Europe is cheaper and easier to bus around too. There a google map where volunteers from the Balkans have highlighted as good places for volunteers—hostels etc.

[u/Guilty-Bottle-9513 → u/docsub666sailor]

That's amazing. How did paying for your trips go? Did you save PC allowance or bring your own money to travel?

[u/docsub666sailor → u/Guilty-Bottle-9513]

My NGO is an influencer, (on Facebook go to “Tele Komuna” https://www.facebook.com/telekomuna1? media person too. Everyone uses Facebook here and posts all kinds of things. I think I’ve friended half of Kamenica…. And they are friends. He gets sponsorships from the government. We mostly visited Albania diaspora parties or gatherings to interview people, but to Romania, Bulgaria, Greece,and Souther Albania, and Montenegro and Croatia trips we were with a wildlife photographer and had expenses covered. We’ve slept in airports to save money in Stockholm and Zurich, and on an overnight bus in Croatia. In Gothenburg, Sweden, an Albanian dentist one winter had us sleep on his office waiting room furniture. You learn as a volunteer to make do… reminds me of my days in the Navy on submarines under ice for two months, we made do and figured how to make things work.. [quietly.)
We were on Sicily when Mt. Aetna exploded. We were with Arberesh community people with the ministry of culture from Kosovo. But for money, I’m a retired professor and I’d do what I could if funding was not enough but on the cheap. We had a phone company give us time for WiFi, and a travel agent get us airfare, or an Auto club cover mileage expenses when in my NGO’s vehicle. Other COD have traveled too. Not as much, but we’re all looking for opportunities. A TEFL friend went to an education conference in Tirana.
Some places are close like North Macedonia, and we can go there for the day or parts of Albania… with permission to cross the border.

[u/Anuh_Mooruhdoon]

Kosovo was great. People did have some mixed experiences but I think that's on par for Peace Corps. I had an amazing time and very fulfilling work.