faleminderit...(thank you)
prizren, kosovo
Travel to Kosovo, at least from the United States, is an all day affair—coming and going. Perhaps the most beautiful places in the world require a bit of a filter or barrier to access. A commitment to take whatever the draconian airline industry hurls your way knowing that there is a reward at the end of the final passport review and approval.
Giving a keynote talk at FOSS4G 2023 in Prizren, Kosovo was not only the highlight of my career but also my first international trip since being grounded by Covid 19 travel restrictions a few years ago. I fell into the routine of Zoom calls and evolving remote technology to speak to groups of data scientists and geospatial analysts or simply traveling where I could manage arriving by car.
The conference team put together an exceptional experience and the global attendees are forever in my heart. I was given the most heartfelt gifts from attendees of my talk and the conversations that followed are still being processed and appreciated.
The tech and data focused review will be posted shortly on Open-Source Solutions for Geospatial Analysis.
A few quick observations included the scarcity of Americans in attendance. This provided a unique and sobering perspective on being a rare demographic data point in a whirl of conversations that were diverse and rich with global insights.
Thirty years to the day since NATO victory in 1999 I spied the beautiful tribute in downtown Prizren and enthusiastic Albanians told me the history of their survival and the challenges ahead. I learned of the statue of Bill Clinton in Pristina and the rise of babies named ‘GeorgeBush’.
There is more to say but I am not prepared to say it all yet. A wee bit of jet lag as I prepare a workshop for SciPy and the next trips on my calendar diminish productivity but yield to a thoughtful preoccupation with reflection and new opportunities to consider.
I have been charmed by the people and ancient cities. Walking among ruins of the Ottoman Empire and waking up to a city’s rhythms of history and survival are now part of my DNA.