Word: dani
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Burying the past "Welcome to Kosovo," Dani said, once we were in his rickety red 1997 Volkswagen, heading toward Ferizaj. An early dusting of snow covered the foothills near Pristina, and Kosovo stood on the verge both of important elections and a potential declaration of nationhood. Since 1999, some of the best hopes of this 4,203 sq. mi. (10,887 sq km) territory have been on hold, as it remains legally a part of Serbia, while being administered by the U.N. The same ethnic divisions and territorial disputes that fueled the 1999 war still linger, as do the international...
...through all of this, Dani maintained his keen awareness of what's at stake in his troubled homeland. Between his shoulder blades is a large tattoo of a snake and the initials E.I.S., for the words "Ethnic Identity Sucks." Though the entire Serb minority fled Ferizaj after the war, Dani has met many Serbs at youth conferences elsewhere in the Balkans. He'd also traveled in Serb villages in Kosovo right after the war while interpreting for U.S. troops, and he saw one old woman who'd just been badly beaten by local Albanians. "This land we have fought over...
...speech in Ferizaj, Clinton famously told the Albanian crowd: "No one can force you to forgive what was done to you. But you must try." Dani traces his own tolerance to his mother, who always taught him to have basic respect for others. Even during the war, Dani recalls, he did not have the feeling of "hate that others had." Then again, he adds, "I don't know how I'd feel if they'd killed my father. I want to think my ideas wouldn't be different, but I don't know...
...oldest and only male child in his family, Dani bears much responsibility. His father, Bashkin, now 57, has been unemployed for the past two years. It is Dani who supports the family on the $1,070 a month he makes as a translator for Irish peacekeeping troops, while studying sociology at the local university...
...When Dani was 14, I must already have had an inkling that he was one of those rare people who transcend age and place - and ethnicity and religion, too. I couldn't know to what extent: a year after the war, Dani converted from Islam to Protestantism after reading a New Testament given to him by American missionaries. "It matched with my philosophy," he says. "Jesus' message is love, to turn the other cheek." Dani keeps his faith close to his chest. "I don't think God wants to be as popular as he is right now," he says...