~JOE~

I am currently going to school at a campus by the name of Bronx Community College but for short we call it “BCC”. BCC is a wonderful school filled with various types of people from all different places. Its diversity has given me the advantage in meeting and networking with people who come from all over the world. During my last semester I met a female by the name of Joe. She is a small petite woman with skin like a psoralen doll, and hair like a dark chocolate river. Joe is a very good friend of mine now. She is from Kosovo, a small disputed territory in Southeast Europe between Serbia and Macedonia. Kosovo is made up of Albanian people and Serbian people.

As our friendship has progressed I’ve had the privilege in getting to know about Joe and where she’s originated from. Becoming friends with Joe has taught me that people who come from Kosovo have various similarities and differences as the people in the US. When I first visited her home I found it quite interesting to see that she lived in an extended family just like mine.  I am from the Dominican Republic and Panama. Where we live with what people say “Our entire family” . What I mean by this is she lives with her husband, mother, father, sister, uncle, and kids in a two family home.  While staying at Joe's house there were many things that caught my attention. For example I noticed her mother wearing a “kapise”, a long white dress with embroidered red and brown flower looking designs on it. It looked as if  she were attending a wedding. While her father wore a really long shirt with all different designs as well and silk like pants. On his head sat a “Plis”. Which reminded me of the hats I see on Jews.

But one thing I found very odd was the way they went about marriage. As Joe explained to me that her parents arranged her marriage she tells me “one day my parents took me to a rich dudes house that id never met before and in about 3 weeks he was my husband, and the next three months I was moving to the united states with this man ”. She expressed to me that she is not happy with the guy she lies next to every night but in her country divorce isn't exactly an option and going against her parents choices is a sin. I grasped in disbelief while hearing about this. I could never spend the rest of my life with someone I never intended to marry. But Joe was so Cordial about marrying this guy her parents had chose for her. Having met someone that is from a completely different place then I am allowed me to realize how lucky I am to come from a place where this is not done.  

 

John R.Lamp, John B.Allcock, “Kosovo”, Britannica.com, July14,2016.web, August30,2017

Agnesa Ferizaj, Kosovar-Albanian heritage, traditional clothing of Kosovo, quora.com,August18,2017.web,August30,2017