In Malisevo, most of the homes were gutted. But some already have sturdy plastic sheeting stretched over the skeleton of their roofs. Stacks of red bricks abound as people race to rebuild walls before the frigid winter. Watermelons, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, lemons, bananas, flour, soft drinks, cooking oil, mineral water overflow from food stands jostling for roadside space with precarious stacks of contraband cigarettes. Much has been smuggled in from Albania or Macedonia over borders that have softened under a KFOR regime that seeks mainly to intercept weapons or other security threats.
Young men hawk petrol in mineral water bottles perched on their car bonnets.
Merchants say prices started out high but have fallen as competition has bloomed free of official obstruction. We know that every war brings casualties and ruin. But after the liberation of our people, we can do real business and finally become part of Europe and world culture. The Germans have begun joint patrols with newly arrived Russians whose presence is meant to reassure the few remaining Serbs in central Kosovo that they need not flee. Unfriendly stares sweep the Russians as they go by.