Off the beaten path

 Visiting new places and experiencing new things is my hobby but never have I thought about visiting a local market. So, me and my friend decided to go there just for me to see what it was about, and my friend was a type of a " guide" for me because she's been there before. Instead of taking the bus to go there we decided to walk just for the fun of it. It was a little far but it was fun since I got to chat with my friend along the way and the next thing we knew we were standing in front of the entry.

The local market is located in Prishtina, and it is a really fascinating place. The picture above is a picture of the entry. When we entered the market I noticed different shops where you could buy everything you could think of, from clothes to fresh vegetables and fruits. It was amazing seeing everything in one place and the prices being cheaper than anywhere else.

As I was walking I noticed a lot of shops lined up with Albanian traditional clothes and wedding necessities that are used for the dowry of the bride and also, different Albanian instruments such as  cifteli, def etc. We didn’t have a chance to go inside of every store because it was very cold but we still checked out some of them. It made me feel sad how I never took the chance to go there before, but on the other hand it was a nice feeling after I got to see it for the first time. There were a lot of people walking around with bags full of different items. There were people of all ages walking around but I mostly noticed elders dominating the place, probably because everything is in one place so it is easier to have access to all the things they need. The workers were very friendly and offered to help us on finding where different things are located since the market covers a big land area. But we also met other workers that weren't very friendly and were being rude when we were taking pictures.

Except for fruits and vegetables we also saw nuts, pistachio, peanuts, honey, different types of spices and even watches, suitcases and bags!- something I didn’t plan on seeing there. The market was an open area but also some parts of it were covered in tents probably for saving the items from getting wet and damaged from the rain or bad weather. Inside the tents you could mostly see shops with clothes and electronics. While going inside the tent to explore the rest of the market we heard music blasting from a small CD shop, and the music followed us throughout our whole walk there.

The place was very clean even though it needed some improvement on the cement flooring because it was ruined in some parts due to the fact that the market is very old. I had a really good time there, seeing a different place like that was interesting since it was a new experience for me. My feet hurt a lot from all the walking we did since it was a large area and farther from our university, but, it was fun overall.

                                                                                                     Arta Thaqi