Living in a place like Kosovo provides a reminder of just how privileged a life westerners live. We take sports for granted, but here that is certainly not the case.
I have already mentioned that there is no rowing here, and I don't expect there to be in the foreseeable future. But it goes beyond something so specialized. For example, I normally like to commute by bike, and asked about this when I had my (phone) interview. The interviewers laughed and told me they had never seen a bike here - although I got an e-mail from one a few days after I took the job in which she said she laughed again because she had just seen her first bicyclists since she got to Kosovo. On the ride in from the airport when I arrived here in September, I saw some bikes, and I have seen some since, but I have to admit that I wouldn't feel comfortable biking on these streets - too many big holes and crazy drivers and mud. It would probably be a lot like biking in Boston on the Big Dig site if they decided to halt construction and open the roads unfinished, and then added to it the amount of mud they have in England (honestly, I haven't been covered in this much mud since I lived in England, which probably says more about England than about Kosovo).
Long walks are possible, but in winter the ice (frozen mud or re-frozen former snow) makes this sometime treacherous and not always a reliable option. The days are getting longer, and there are some routes without as much ice, so walks can be possible. There are some interesting routes in the city worth exploring, and a national park is within walking distance of Pristina with its own trails. But these are not really options on weekdays.
There are gyms. I am not much of a gym person - too stale - but there is an extra issue with the ones here. With electricity being irregular, electrical equipment is unsafe (who wants to be on a treadmill when the power goes out?). I gather that weights are the thing to do. Given the number of soldiers and policemen (I saw a stat this week that there are still about 60,000 stationed in Kosovo currently, and that number has been dropping), and the peculiar military/police culture, this is not a bad option. But that is hardly aerobic training - when I have weight-trained in my life, it has always been in conjunction with proper aerobic training and not as a stand-alone. So this is not a route for me either.
As for swimming, which I personally hate, this is also not an option as there are no pools. I suppose I could dust off my jump shot and join a basketball club (there are some), but I don't suspect anyone would want me to do that. So there are my options.
On my recent vacation at the end of January, I headed north to the old Danube Monarchy (a favorite part of the world, where I can eat well, take in culture, wear Tracht, and think in German - even if the Austrians do think I am Swiss), and it really sunk in there. No rowing was involved, but I did get outdoors. I intended to ski in the Steiermark, but found the snow conditions not great. Trails were open, but the snow was not as fluffy as I prefer it (I'm not a great skier, so if I do it I like the conditions to be right), so instead I went for walks in the trails near Graz. When a country has resources, such routes can be maintained - and Kosovo does not have resources, which is why even a walk in the woods and hills can be difficult here. I also logged some mileage in the cities I visited, profiting from not having to watch out for man-eating holes, slick icy patches (particularly on slopes), and cars parked on sidewalks forcing pedestrians to jump out onto the street in front of maniacal drivers. Was it real "exercise?" No, but it felt that way in comparison.
Sitting in Vienna, a friend remarked on all of this. Various things many of us take for granted should not be. It would seem that something as simple as exercise would not be so difficult to arrange. Certainly, rowers are well aware of financial constraints on equipment and training possibilities. But going for a run requires a pair of shoes, and at least that shouldn't be so hard. But for some people it is.
Moving to Kosovo from Switzerland has been a bit of a reverse. Switzerland is an expensive country, but on the other hand people are well compensated and the money just flows around and around. If it is not cheap, at least you get what you pay for (which can't always be said about England, for example). Going to a regatta in Switzerland was astounding - just looking at all of the equipment gave an idea how rich the place was. There were top-of-the-line boats, many rather new, piled high on trailers and for use by rowers of all ages and abilities. It was not unusual to see mediocre Junior B crews (15-16 year-olds) splashing down the course in relatively recent Empachers. All of the racing boats in my club, for example, were either purchased new or had been remolded in the factory during the time I was in Switzerland (31 months). In that time we also got a new trailer (without selling the old one) a minibus, new oars, and new ergs. Club dues were not especially high. I don't know where the money comes from. But it was Switzerland, so it was better not to ask (yes, we had generous donors, but why do those donors appear in Switzerland in ways they do not elsewhere?). I could walk out the door of my apartment and pick one of numerous walks in the woods on the mountain chain (it helped that I lived in the last house in the city and on the side of a mountain, but in how many cities does even that guarantee good trails - and if I had lived more centrally, I could still have easily gone somewhere for my hikes by efficient public transport or by bike). The only thing similar between Kosovo and Switzerland regarding public transport is that many of the public busses were donated by Swiss, Austrian, or German cities from their old retired stock (it's fun trying to guess the city a particular bus came from based on colors and stray markings they never painted over).
So, another few months have gone by and I do not have anything rowing-related to report. I look forward to some day getting back involved in rowing, and when I do I will be even more thankful of the opportunity.