Snowball update....

This morning when I got up, there was more heavy snow falling. My little car has completely disappeared beneath the snow. It will take some serious effort to free it from it's wintry blanket.

I am thinking a few young men with shovels will get the job.

For now, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

How much snow...?

The last few weeks, Malishevë and Kosova have been in the grips of a major, "no end in sight" winter storm. Temperatures were bitter cold...with highs in the teens, with stiff winds pushing the wind chill factor well below zero. Many of the shop owners have been constantly shoveling, sweeping, raking, and hoeing the snow off of the sidewalks in front of their stores. At times, when there is a break in the weather, they will move the mountain of snow to an empty field, one wheelbarrow at a time.

Yesterday there was heavy snow for most of the day. Underneath the deep snow was a layer of ice from the previous storm. If you didn't have chains on your car...you didn't go anywhere, period.

Today is the first day in nearly 2 weeks that the actual pavement is visible on the roads.

I don't know how much snow Malishevë received in total...probably close to 3 feet. One city about an hour from here, Gjakova, it is reported they had 2 meters of snow, and Pejë had 3 meters. (6.5' and 9.11' respectively) These cities are near the Rugova mountains.

The forecast calls for 7 more inches of snow tonight and tomorrow.

All of this snow is great for the agricultural area of Kosova. The only thing is, when all this snow melts...

MUD...!

Tidy little snowball...

The Balkans, the area of Eastern Europe where Kosova is located, have been pounded with unending snow storms and frigid weather. After the first major snow storm when my car was freed from the field behind my apartment, it has been parked on the street. The shop owners across the street from my apartment, and the brother of my landlord have been helping me the last 2 weeks to clean my car off.

I went out today with a broom to tackle the "snowball". The handle of the broom snapped before I even got started. The owner of the market across the street jokingly told me that it will take a month to dig my car out.

These photos show how much snow we had the last 6 days...

It is a good thing that whatever I need in Malishevë is still within walking distance.

Police stop...twice in 30 minutes....?

I was driving to a city called Gjakova yesterday evening. Along one stretch of road I am very cautious about the speed limit, since I was stopped by the police 3 months ago for going too fast. The roads were wet from the recent snowfall, the temperature was dropping, and it was getting dark. There was no way I was speeding...but a police officer stepped into the road and waved me over to stop.

Oh man...! How could I be getting another speeding ticket when I was being so careful...? The police officer was very nice and asked me in english for my driver's license and my documents, as he was waving his flashlight at my car tires. He didn't even look at my documents. He told me to have a nice evening and waved me to drive on. No speeding ticket...what a relief.

30 minutes later, same road conditions, just before I reached Gjakova, another police officer stepped into the road and waved me over to stop. Again...??? I had just gone through the emotions of possibly getting a speeding ticket...and now it is happening again. This officer spoke to me completely in Albanian, again inspecting my documents and tires...taking a while to inspect my NM driver's license. I am pretty sure he has never seen a NM license before.

So...no speeding tickets, my documents are all in order, and yes I have winter tires on my car.

Have a nice evening...

Still stuck in the field...

My little car is still stuck in the field behind my apartment. I guess it will have to stay there until the snow melts some and I can find some young men to help push and dig. I am not sure where I will park it when I get it out...the edges of the streets are piled high with snow from the sidewalks.

There is more snow forecast for Tue-Thurs this next week. I had wanted to see how my car handled on snowy roads. I know this for certain...it doesn't do well in deep snow.

Winter wonderland...

We finally had a major winter snowfall in Malishevë. We have had flurries all winter long...but this morning there was 10-12 inches of snow. It is so beautiful and early this morning as the sun came up it was so quiet and pristine.

As the shops along the main street in Malishevë began to open, the snow was piled high on the sidewalks. There was some sculpting of the snow, and a few snowmen started showing up.

Unfortunately there was a huge pile of snow put into the area of the street where I usually exit my parking place between two buildings. So...I had to attempt an exit through the field behind my building. My little car pushed snow as I was able to go about 50 yards before becoming stuck. The clearance on my little car is not high enough for this amount of snow. It is currently in the field behind my apartment, and it will stay there until some of the snow melts. I do have to be careful to not wait too long because with the melting of the snow comes the mud.

Camping showers...brrrrr

A new adventure...camping showers in the winter!

In the past there have been times when there was no water, off for several hours or a day. But I have never experienced a time when the water turns off and on every 5-10 minutes. The water had been fluctuating but had been quiet for the last 2 hours. So...I thought it was safe to get into the shower. I was all shampooed and soaped up...water off! Yikes...! It is about 50 degrees in the hallway/shower area. It took about 8 liters of cold water out of a bottle to rinse off. It took about an hour to get warmed up. I had power so that was a help to dry my hair, have hot tea, and snuggle up in the warm living room.

Now, I am so thankful when the water stays on throughout an entire shower.