Hi everybody!
I am on Psyholidays in Kanada, staying in Toronto at Dan s (www.deepseafish.ca) house, relaxing from some exciting weeks in prishtina and a crazy trip from Kosov@ to Kanada via Napli, Rome Frankfurt. Finally I found some time to write about the Project "Road of Peace" happening on a train in Kosov@ during the last weeks. Before I start just some words upon Toronto. (Sorry that I write in benglish=badenglish but this is how wecommunicate)
Its not so cold in Kanada as I thought and sun is shining most of the time. On Saturday I participated ( and also played) first time of my life at a earthdance party. I really enjoyed the circle we did at 7 pm with Toronto Party people of every colour and the message of the earthdance song. Its so interesting and nice to be in a city where there are so many different communities who seem to live together in a peacefull way. Its funny to watch how christian religion moral (that still rules in german politics and schools and makes integration of foreigners so hard) fades away behind political correctnes discussions, feminism, new Age and new daysand ways of celebration. Its defenitly nicer to have "Halloween" and beeing allowed to dance on your birthday then to have "Allerheiligen" when police in South Germany is closing your club at 00 o clock or putting a symbolic chair on the dancefloor, as its the day to respect the death(s) and dancing is forbidden.

O.k now back towards the main reason why I am writing this letter: Before I left Kosov@ one week ago I played and danced on the party of my life. It was really an experience and I never was so excited and scared before a party. But we survived it!
The project was called the Road of Peace , or just the Lovetrain and Radio Urban FM from Prishtina was organizing it with financial support of the english office.The idea was to use the train that once deported people as refugees from Pristhina to Skopje in a different positive way. The idea was also to show that people from different ethnies, albanians, Roma, Serbians, Mazedonians can do something together in a peacefull way. So Urban FM invited Drumn Bass and House DJs from Belgrad and Zagreb, a LiveAct Mi2Moon from Skopje, they had their own crew of Tekhouse Djs (so ,loveley,sweet and funky!) and they invited me for alive set as I was was still hanging around in Pristhina for the postproduction which means the listening to all our recordings of the crossing bridges festival. First they wanted to make two train at one weekend but they had to split it as it was to dangerous to go to Leshak at 22., because some nationalists had announced a serbian come back to kosov@ at that weekend.

I think this stories sound very strange , sitting here in Toronto it feels so absurd to think and explain about it, like a wildwest movie and it feals already so far away. I also hate to use all this terms like "the albanians" and the "serbians" its making communication and prejudices much more worse, but under the circumstances in Kosova you risk your live if you are not aware of it. Generally it seems to be of more importance within Europe if somebody is german, croatian, turkish or albanian as here in toronto. I met guy here in Toronto who told me about his travelling in germany he was surprisec about the reactions there when he told the people he is turkish. In Toronto nobody cares...

The first train was happening at 20 September ,driving slowly with 25 km per hour from Prishtina to the border to mazedonia (and back) and the second one was at 5thOktober thru the border of serbia (and back) I made the orient express shuttle with my van to pick up my good old friends Milan and Ivanna, DJ Phase and Broka at the busstation in Mitrovice North to bring them to Urban FM in Pristhina. Mitrovice is a separated city and normally you only go to the northern part with international numberplate and passport. Busses from Belgrad make last stop at the Northend of the Bridges which is protected by Kfor and observed by bridgewatchers, who have nothing else to do (then to play war). At this trips I also visited the socialworkers in the "Container "under the bridges. Its a kind of multimedia circus with alot of workshops for kids and youth from both sides of the city. Its really a great idea and they had a hard Job to do there.
At the first trip to Mitrovice on thursday Orest came with me. He has no passport, so I told the french Kfor, he is from Spain and they let us pass the bridge. He talked mostly english in Mitrovice North, but understands serbian quite well,too. It was really exciting as everybody said you cannot bring an Albanian to the northern part of the town. We met Milan and his girlfriend,went out for a Pizza and got completley drunken. Second night I came with Tanja from Gracanica, to pick up the DJs. She has collected several Unmik passports to be able to pass the bridges from both sides.

The Lovetrain in Prishtina was consisting of three openair wagons covered and decorated with plastic and paintings like a film and it had an aliens mask and wings on the front . It was starting in FushKosova or KosovoPolje where once was the battle between the serbs and the turks.There a lot of guys of the local roma community joined the train. At the small Prishtina station the people from serbian enclaves came on the train. We(some women from different cities and countries) lightened some candels and laid down some flowers before the train left on its trip. I opened with the Hey Venus No-more-warpigs samples (stolen from Black Sabbath) and the words of Liz Shropshire and played a almost three hour live set, as it took them so long to get the recordplayers going smoothly and not jumping all the time.There were alot of funny crazy girls dancing and performing (I hope to get pictures somewhen) I was happy that my friends Milan and Ivanna from Belgrad have been on the train too. It was like a dream as they could never come with us on the Playground Tour or Crossing Bridges Festival as it seemed too dangerous. They do fireshows and produce music and (whats more important in this context)have been involved in the resistance against Milosevic before and during the war. It was good that they could meet Neta, a good friend of mine, who has lost Mother and sister by a masacre and wants to do nothing to do with serbs anymore. I think it was avery interesting experience for all of them. On the one side that Milan and Ivanna met the people they have been fighting for and got arrested and on the other side that Neta could meet real persons to talk to and not to have all the time these horror images in the head, and prejudices that all serbs have been murders and supported the system.

Playing and dancing on a driving train is really great, the wind blows in your hair, the landscape is passing, its natural animation film, you fly along destroyed burnt out houses and villages, horses and cows looking stupid at you on the fields, dancing children, surprised adults, mountains, rivers.... Orest from Urban FM had brought his mother who had a train paranoia since she was deported on that train to Mazedonia. It was really inspiring to remember that once in 1945 my grandmother came with her little baby which was my father, on arefugee train from Troppau or Opava in todays Czeckrepublic to West Germany. I really had the feeling that I played in the mission of my dead grandmother(s) and that I spend her money well into crossing the bridges to participate on this event. I felt so much sense in making music and about the partyscene in generall. Its a great possibility to cross the borders of language and religion and creates aconnection between the people in a new revolutionary way. Of couse lots of people in kosov@ dont want to have something like this happening, as they are still suffering from their war traumas and are full of depression and hate. It might look too early to do something like this only 3 years after the war. But for a lot of frustrated young people and a frozen political situation, it was necessary to let this train happen. Kosov@ only can get a autonome state (and the people passports) if they can prove to funktion as a multi cultural society, different communities living together and respecting the human rights.

We had Kfor and Unmik protection all along the trip to prevent that people thrown stones or shoot or whatelse.... We finallty did a stop at the last town before the border to Mazedonia. Some people went of the train to drink a coffee and to buy some food. I met a bavarian policemen who was very nervous as the train was a public thing and they were afraid that something could happen. Most watchers in that town looked peacefull and curious only one guy stressed around a little bit. And there were alot of kids who wanted to come on the train...The Unmik Police told us to hurry up and so a longer party at the trainstation wasnt possible.On the way back it got dark, Mi2 Moon got the computers going on for their live act and Ivanna and me played firechains, I started to test the local drugs, which means Raki from Gjakove, and dance with the Gipsies and some farmer boys. I got very drunken and Ivanna and there are a lot of stories but finally I seleep and when i woke up in Fush Kosova I was still too drunken to go to the afterparty in Megaherz .

The second train two weeks later took place in under much more stressed conditions.The Road of Peace got a very public thing on the medias. The innocence was gone..The first train got alot of positive feedback in from belgrad people and B92 radiostation , they even published DJ Phase Diary on the daily internet news. But there were also a lot of threats and mistrust from the albanian community. People at Urban FM got bad mails and were called traitors. A lot of people were afraid to come on the second train as they got into troubles caused by their own community, neighbours,friends... The afterhour couldnt take place anymore at Megaherz as they got inbto problems. Casey and Sophie's and their friends in Peje also had to suffer lots of rumours. They have been shown on TV on "that serbs train" and they are quite public persons in Kosov@, so lots of people know them. So they couldnt show up for the second train and Casey was thinking to make a public statement at Dugajini TV in Peje .Later he decided not to do so, as its making rumours much more real. Some Urban FM DJs got threats via mails that they are going to be beaten if they show up in Gjakove agian to play.... This time Urban FM did no pressconference, but also no statements about the more political side of the whole thing aside of the straight Lets Come together and party philosophy.They said they wanted to talk about it after the second train happened.

The route of the second train was more risky as we were going thru Mitrovice South and North and the serbian parts of Kosov@. So this time we ve lost our innocence and everybody was much more afraid or under pressure. There was also undercover Kfor on the train and TMK (former UCK!) people who liked the idea for our protection. The DJs were playing in the closed train wagons who didnt jump so much on the railways. I was low energy and more afraid about the second train. It was a great motivation for me when already thursday evening Eva and Mitko arrived from Skopje arrived at Urban FM to play again on the train. On Friday I played a live-set at Black Lady in Mitrovice North. The Gig was organized by Ljuba from Luna Park a band who we met on the Crossing Bridges Tour one year before when we played music and made childrens workshops in Mitrovice South and North. ThereI also met with DJ Phase and his wife, DJ Broka, and Zoran to bring them to Prishtina. .

The second train was a real public happening, as Michael Steiner ( the international head or Mr UN Important of Kosov@) showed up at trainstation in Prishtina to inspect the train and speak some positive words in front of the medias. This time Urban Fm didnt let all the TV go on the train like at the first train. Again we lightened the candles and put flowers around before we left, a girlgroup ritual, to respect the victims of the war and to protect the train (and to remember that all wars mens are fighting are about territories and women). We started with less people from Prishtina but the ones who came really wanted to party. The stop in Mitovice South didnt happen because the Kfor judged it for too risky, but two stops in the north Kosov@ ,Leposavic and Leshak, and lot of people came on the train. Some of them I knew from the night before when I was playing a live-set at Black Lady a nice music pub in Mitrovice North. This time Sabina a crazy woman in roll chair was on the train and jumped out of the chair to dance, also we set up a face painting area and painted people with watercolours.
The railways were going along the street so we had direct contact with our Kfor protection troop, driving asideus with cars and vans. It was so funny to watch the pakistan Kfor in blue uniform who was hanging out of their car ,grooving and having a lot of fun! In Leshak I met bavarian police, two very young and nice guys,( they also send me some pictures) and one very drunken men, with paramilitarian Uniform, looking like a real bad guy .He drunk away all my redwine but didnt want to smoke from the spliff (as he was "at work").

On the way back it got dark and thetrain moved faster as we ve been quite late. It was great to dance on a really fastmoving train . One gipsy guy, who never let me dance alone (and always wanted to play on my californian drum) started a funny ritualperformance with a white backdrop when we arrived in Fush Kosova, the old battlefield. He fell down on the floor like dead and we had to awaken him again in kind of Voodoo Show. As it got cold a lot of people has been moved inside the closedtrain waggons to chill or watch the Djs in candle light. (electricity in kosova generally is a kathastrophe!) There was no afterhour, just private hanging around at the radiostation and the the next morning I had to leave to get the fairy from Montenegro to Italy and finally my flight to Toronto.

So I am in Toronto, in a real multicultural city in a multicultural country, and all this stories seem to me so far away so unreal, like in a dream.Its nice to make some holidays in Kanada even if I am somehow not used anymore to make holidays, doing nothing all the day, walking around in the city , visiting crazy shops, having a bathroom and a bed, running warm water and electricity, no generator noise and youncan see what you breath, healthy food and people from allover the world.I found out that Peaches and Chicks on Speed Concert are playing here tomorrow, I want to go there and Thursday I go with Dan playing in London. A lot of cities here have names like european cities also lots of german names and they do Oktoberfest here. Bavarians or better bavarian culture seem to be quite famous here. Maybe next time when I come over the atlantic I should bring some Jodler and Alphorn samples from my fathers' recordcollection. Bavaria Trance...!
so long
Conni
lava303.frankfurt.germany.on.crossingbridges.neverstops.tour