I had my first class in North Mitrovica today. This is a Serb enclave about 45 minutes from Prishtina. A (Albanian) driver from the embassy drives me to the edge of North Mitrovica, and I walk across the bridge to the Serb section of town. Albanians simply do not go into North Mitrovica and Americans are not very welcome, either. The embassy security officer strongly advised me to teach my class and high-tail it back across the bridge. I was very surprised then, to find 12 delightful, warm students waiting for their new English teacher.

I mentioned to my driver on the way to Mitrovica that I wanted to learn the history of Kosovo by studying Prishtina street names. I had a city map with me, and I started to call out some names. What followed was a sad litany of the 1999 war: The important warriors, visionaries, and rebels who were martyred during the war now have a piece of street named after them. Hours later, as I left my class escorted by two sweet (Serb) high school students, I asked them about a monument at the top of the hill. They weren’t sure, but they thought it was a tribute to some fallen Serb heroes.