January 19

The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo
By Paula Huntley

The war in Bosnia, and later in Kosovo, seems like ancient history, preceded as it was by 9/11 and subsequent wars in the Middle East.  In the fall of 2000, however, the war was fresh news and Paula Huntley accompanies her lawyer husband Ed on a mission to create a new legal system for Kosovo.  Paula quit her job in marketing and sought certification as a TESL instructor in the hope she can do something useful for the Kosovars, who have suffered so much during the period of "ethnic cleansing" of ethnic Albanians by Kosovar Serbs.  Arriving in the capital city of Prishtina, Paula notes in her diary that many of the houses and buildings still lie in ruins, the result of Serb attacks that were only quelled by NATO bombs in the spring of 1999.  Occasional shots and explosions still ring out.  Paula finds a position as an ESL teacher in the Cambridge School, one of many privately owned English language schools.  Her class starts with 9 students, nearly doubling in the next few weeks.  High School students, students in their 20s and 30s, and even a middle-aged physics professor, round out the class.  During the next 8 months, Paula would learn their stories, and record them in her diary: many experiencing the loss of loved ones, homes, and jobs - but all eager to learn.  Early on Paula finds a copy of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, possibly the only copy in the country.  She determines that the language, the book's length, and the story will resonate with her students.  She makes copies for her students and invites them to the first gathering of The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo.  Discussions over Hemingway draw the students even closer together and Paula's life is changed forever.  In her notes, she expresses the hope that her book will somehow help "this poor, struggling non-country".  She adds

It is also my hope that more of us Americans will become involved with the rest of the world.  We need to learn about other people, learn what they think of us, try to understand, even if we don't agree with, their points of view.  Everywhere in the world, I believe, from our own backyards to the middle of the Balkans, there exist people whose needs, and whose generous, responsive hearts, offer even the most ordinary Americans - like me - an opportunity to serve, to connect, to expand our capacity for love.

This book is written entirely in diary entries.  Ms Huntley is neither an author nor a journalist, and her accounts really ring with authenticity and emotion.

That war seems so long ago now, but its aftermath was the subject of a recent Sunday NY Times article.  See World's Eyes on Kosovo Amid Push to Halt War Crimes Court, 1/14/18.