Well, today was quite a day!
With an early (and on-time) start, parents and participants met our bus in Prishtina and we traveled most of the morning picking up students in Theranda/Suhareka and Prizren. We ended up at the Hotel Sharri, in the Prevallë region of Kosovo.
Following lunch, we jumped right into the start of the Academy with a really energetic and engaged group of young leaders—TOMORROW'S LEADERS TODAY—to borrow a phrase from my old organization Public Allies.
We began with a formal welcoming ceremony, moved into lots of introductions, the crazy name game, and a workshop in which the participants created their own artistic definitions of leadership.
Following a amazing dinner, the mountainous region in which we're working was hit by one of the most powerful storms I've ever seen: gale force winds, golfball size hail, the loss of power, and so much rain and lightning! It was amazing and a bit frightening in its intensity.
The participants responded by breaking out the guitars and hanging out together singing and talking. When the storm ended, we convened again to play all kinds of "Games Without Borders." They were a bit competitive, a little off-the-wall, and a whole lot of fun.
My favorite of course is what Zana (from ISC-K) dubbed "Flour Power." The goal of the game is to blow all of the baking flour out of a glass first. It sounds a lot easier than it is and it makes for awesome pictures!
Curfew is at 23:00. Wish us luck!
