Anita Susuri: Can you, only look at me…
Snežana Milić: (laughs) Yes.
Anita Susuri: To introduce yourself…
Snežana Milić: I…
Anita Susuri: Something about your ancestors, family…
Snežana Milić: Yes, well. I am, well, my name is Snežana Milić. I was born on the 27th of July in the year ‘57. I was born in one village nearby Obilić, Crkvena Vodica. I grew up there. I lived in a family house up until I was 19 years old, like, it wasn’t very rich, to say it that way, it was more like poor because there were eight of us children in the house, and only Dad was working. We went to school. All of us brothers and sisters we finished, so, high school. After 19 years, I married, so, in a village Ugljare, so here nearby Kosovo Polje. I lived together with my husband for ten years. Then he died in an accident, he lost his life. I was left with two children, two sons, father-in-law and mother-in-law in this house here, so, that wasn’t finished. I was dealing with everything which was necessary afterward. Sending the children to school, went, I was dealing with the other duties I had.
Our customs at that time, I can say, they were very hard. So, there should have like, how to say it, you had to pay attention not to offend anyone, to be there to work and be silent. So, it’s not like it is now. And, regarding going out, it was much nicer before. Then we were, like, we were going out for example to those dance parties, parties, it wasn’t like now, coffee bars, mobile phones, and what do I know. It was one childish life, you can say with merak. Now everything is different.
Anita Susuri: I wanted to ask you a bit more about your first memories, as a child, what do you remember?
Snežana Milić: Eh, as a child, I remember, you know what, like, we were doing all the house chores when we were 10-12 years old because this was the way. So, we went to the fields, working, when you should dig, for example, to reap and stuff like that, there were no machines. Then, no, normally, we would help our mother with washing, cooking… Everything that was supposed to be done, as if we were 20 years old. At the age of 10-12, so, that needed to be done because it couldn’t be done otherwise. Dad had, he worked alone, he received one salary of a worker, so that wasn’t much. We even went to others to help them work, in order to earn, normally, in order to eat. Then it was a little different later. Then mom’s [cousins] helped, her sister, brothers, and so on, helping us and such. Then…
Anita Susuri: What was your father doing, what did he do?
Snežana Milić: My father was working with geometers. He worked at… Elektroprivreda [Electric Company], the company Elektroprivreda that existed. He went, worked, he went in the field, so, he didn’t spend much time at home, so we had to do more, there was no one else to do it, and like that.
Anita Susuri: Tell me…
Snežana Milić: Mom, mom was more of weaker health, and she couldn’t, so, everything was left on us, as they say. If we do it, we’ll have, if we don’t do it, nothing.
Anita Susuri: Did you have sisters, brothers?
Snežana Milić: Yes. I had six sisters and two brothers. My brother died in ‘83 at the age of 22. Then one sister of mine also died, she at the age of 59 as well. And recently my brother died also, again, at the age of 64. So, life wasn’t easy for me. I endured many hardships throughout life. I had a lot of stresses, a lot of worries and all of that was like {shakes her head} that. And then my husband, and all of that one after another, but then again we say, life goes on. The children are here. One son got married, he has two children. The other didn’t get married yet, and like that. One son is working, the other one is not working, and so on. We are here, so, for now…
Anita Susuri: In your family, that is, at your father’s, did you have a big household?
Snežana Milić: Well, no, no, no, no. We were, I am saying, like, it wasn’t such a big household because Dad didn’t have a lot of land that needed some work. Because they, you know what, they divided it. Then my sister took something, something [was taken] by the second brother, something like that, so, we were something like very modest, something modest. And so, I am telling you, now there is a house left there. My mother died, Dad died, so no one lives there, and so on. I love to go there of course although it’s all in ruins, it is collapsing, but I was born there and sometimes I go, I go like that because, but that is somewhat, rare, very rare. Because, like, it’s hard for you seeing it in ruins, collapsing, then you recall that earlier childhood of yours where I used to live and all of that, but what can you do?
Anita Susuri: And how come your family was so big, so…
Snežana Milić: Yes, yes…
Anita Susuri: There are maybe two or three children in Serbian families, I know it used to be like that, but how come your family was so huge?
Snežana Milić: Yes, yes. Well, you know what, at that time, like, usually, the thing was, if you don’t have a male child, then they count it like, “You gave birth to the rest in vain.” And then my mother looked for that, as one would say, a wish was there, and then she gave birth to five daughters, and then she gave birth to one son, and now they are saying that a brother should have a brother, and then she went again and in between came another sister, and then the youngest brother who died in an accident was born.
Anita Susuri: How was it growing up in a family with a lot of children?
Snežana Milić: Unity. So, we had a great, so, like they say, first of all, reverence. So, we had to do, when Mom would look at us, we had to know what should be done. You were never allowed to say, “I can’t,” not to mention “I won’t.” God forbid, like now, like it’s all different now (laughs). But, what can I say, it was nice, nice. When there is unity in the home, then you can say it’s nice.
Today we have something to eat, we have, we don’t have, we don’t have. Dad used to go like that, he was working the second [shift], making money, went to mow, to build, to make, so that he could bring us, for example, those who were rich, who had, so, more than we did, then Dad went to work for them as a servant so to speak, to mow, to build, to do this and that. Then, they give him some food, he brings it, and like that, I am saying, it was hard, but we were all, like they say, healthy, we never went to the doctor’s. So, Mom didn’t have any problems regarding, and Dad as well. Well, when school started, then they had more duties. They had to buy books, clothes and all of that. Then her [family] jumped in to help us, Mother’s, who was living in Serbia then, and then they had more than she did. And then they used to send some clothes, send some food, and so on. So, I am saying…
Anita Susuri: And was your mother from a nearby village…
Snežana Milić: No.
Anita Susuri: Or how?
Snežana Milić: No, no. My mother is from, she was, like, her nationality was Montenegrin, that is. Her family lived in Vojvodina, and then I am saying like… and for the moment when she met my father, they were like refugees. And then they took refuge in one village nearby Drenica. And like, they met like that and ventured into life.
Anita Susuri: And how did they, do you know the story of how they met?
Snežana Milić: Well, Dad, as he was telling us, says that there was a spring where they were taking water. For example, like a faucet. And then she used to come there. And so Dad, when he saw her, he immediately liked her. But since we are Kosovars, they say Kosovars, and they are Montenegrins. Then it was a little bit of that, you can only marry Kosovar women, not Montenegrin or any other nationality. However, she ran away, even though her parents didn’t approve, they were against it, so she ran away, she married my dad, so she didn’t ask her parents at all. And so they started living. They had a happy marriage, I can say, so they lived a very nice life. Then they got to like her, normally. Dad had his mom. That was my mother’s mother-in-law. In the beginning, it wasn’t easy, but when she saw, for example, that, that human is human, it didn’t matter as long as you were human and that.
My mom was really hardworking, she was working, she was working a lot. She even got ill from that work. Then later she de, a brother had that accident, so she was getting more and more ill, and she was alive but as if she wasn’t living. So, life was very hard after the brother’s accident, for all of us, very hard. Very hard life. Because they are saying, even when you have something to eat, you don’t, you don’t, but when something like that happens to you in life, then that pain, it’s very hard to…
Anita Susuri: And how did that accident happen?
Snežana Milić: Well, my brother was in a car, he died in a car at the Lipljanska crossroad. Like, so… It happened, like they say, destiny. Destiny, destiny…
Anita Susuri: When you started school, how was the environment then, the school, was it close?
Snežana Milić: Yes, the school wasn’t far away, I attended school in Obilić. For example, at the time, both Albanians and Serbs were going together. I had many good friends as far as Albanians are concerned, who used to travel with us in the dark, when we would stay for practical work, that, the practical work was normally in the afternoon and all of that. So, there were never problems. So we were like, it was as if we were brother and sister, you understand. So they accompanied us home, like we were f, because it was me, my cousin and the other girlfriend, all females, and they accompanied us because of the dark, how. Come on, you know how, either a dog will scare you this or that. So, yes, even today, when I go there and meet these people, it doesn’t matter that they are Albanians, so, it is important that they are humans, that they remained, so, humans.
Because my father, so, my father hung out with them a lot. He even knew Albanian very well and how to sing a song and during Eid, Dad would go to them, they send us baklava in the pan, I swear to my mother (laughs). And then, and Dad brings it to us, and so they loved him a lot. Dad was somehow he, ju, jumped in just to help someone. So, he didn’t make any hate at all between, “No, he’s not a Serb, so I…” no. So, he is human, and that’s how he was teaching us. So, who is human, is human. We still have Albanians coming, we are friends, so, we are not interested in politics at all. We live here, who’s good, he’s good. Doesn’t matter. I have my own, I say he is a Serb, but he is not good. So it is important that he is human and that we understand each other. He wants to help me, I help him.
I worked in Pristina with Albanians as well in Kosovo Sped. Also, to this day I hear from these people, sometimes they come here to me. Who lives, for example, a colleague of mine lives in Pristina. When she was getting married, I was at that wedding. On Thursday, when the bride is getting ready. So we had a wonderful time. That was a long time ago, sometime in the year ‘76. So, this remained in my memory. And so… Now her brother-in-law, who lives in one village, Plemetina, he comes to us and we see each other so, we used to work together. Then, a lot of them come to see me, my colleagues who were with me. They are Albanians, but that friendship has remained, there is no, it doesn’t matter who he is, what he is, as long as he is human. That is essential.
Anita Susuri: So, you finished high school in Pristina?
Snežana Milić: No, in Obilić.
Anita Susuri: In Obilić.
Snežana Milić: Yes, yes.
Anita Susuri: How was it then?
Snežana Milić: Well… it was, how to put it, that, you know, it’s not like now, Dad and Mom couldn’t afford as much. And like to buy us books like now, but we used to borrow books from each other, like that, exchanged, this and that, we somehow finished it. But we were all good students. The more you struggle through life, the more you are, somehow you understand that you have to, because you have nothing without a school, and somehow you finish some high school. Okay, I was working afterward, I got a job in Balacevac, at Elektroprivreda and I was working there for four years, so there…
Anita Susuri: After high school?
Snežana Milić: After high school. So that we had a secure job at Elektroprivreda since, since my school had an agreement so that, and they had that obligation when we graduate, they had to employ us. And then, I was having a break, I wasn’t working, back then when my husband died. They employed me at his company, Kosovo Sped, that is, freight transportation. I was working there as a barista for 13 years. Then I came back to Elektroprivreda again, I was working a bit before the war. And then I was like, now I am receiving a family pension and I am waiting to be old enough for my own pension. And we’ll see what will come next (smiles).
Anita Susuri: When you were young, how, were there any organizations, activities for youth?
Snežana Milić: Well then it wasn’t much, it wasn’t much, nobody, it’s not like it is now. As they would say, it was a simple life, what do I know, and then you know how, I have, it was a time when, “Not in the dark, oh, how come in the dark.” For example, I went somewhere to go out, but only if my brother is with me, then Mom says, “Yes.” But like this, well, we were like this, we think, we go out somewhere, but that means until it gets dark. When it’s dark, we’re all at home. So there were no such organizations or anything like that. No, no, it’s, there weren’t at that time, I’m telling you, from school to home, from home to school. Sometimes, at those parties, those dances that were then, that was the only thing. There were no cafés. And so…
Anita Susuri: And how was it at those dances?
Snežana Milić: Nice. Nice. That’s the real thing. That is real friendship. Well, back then there wasn’t this much alcohol, drugs, so, everything [was] pure. We go there, we dance nicely, we have fun and then everyone [goes] to their own home. We had that transport, the train was working the most back then, for example, and then we went by train to that village Plemetina, Priluzje, that is this village where I am living, Ugljare, Gracanica, and so on. So, there were fewer cars back then, not like now. The only transportation was by train and by bus. Rarely did people own cars at that time. And so, but, generally, in a very nice way, I can say, life is more modern now, but that is what you remember. It was somehow, pure l, something pure, I mean like, without hatred, without some, friendships were different, I mean, I don’t know, I don’t know. It was very nice, very nice. That life, that’s the real thing, as they would say. Now, people have become envious somehow and you have fewer and fewer friends, fewer friends. If he will benefit from it, then he will stay by you, if he won’t benefit, then… really hard. And there is less and less, like, hanging out. Now, the telephones are here, those computers, those this and that, he sits there and forgets where he is. But, before no. We couldn’t wait for Saturday or Sunday to come to go out, of course, to have a walk and so on.
Anita Susuri: How did you meet your husband?
Snežana Milić: I met with my husband at one wedding, here, right in this village. Well, I was coming here and like that, when we were dancing, here and there, this and that, as they say, he was looking at me, I didn’t even know, he approached [me] and that’s how it began. We were dating for six months and then we got engaged right away. Like that, he seemed to be afraid that I might go with someone else and… (laughs)
Anita Susuri: What was your wedding like?
Snežana Milić: (breathes out) Well, the wedding…
Anita Susuri: The wedding, tradition, how did it all go?
Snežana Milić: Yes, yes, yes. Well, there were those, I can say it again, our customs. So, I didn’t, they didn’t come for the bride since I escaped like my mom did (laughs). So, I had come to this house and then we were, back then the wedding wasn’t held at the restaurants, instead, a tent would be put up and then under the tent. For example, the guests arrive, music, this and that, but the wedding lasted for three-four days, not like this now. One day, you know, and that’s it. And then we went to the monastery, normally, to get married in the municipality. And so on, I mean…
As far as my husband is concerned, so, life with him, I had a very good life. But short. We lived married for ten years only. And like, he was working in that company, where he also died. He was driving a truck. So… it caught on fire at one gas station. And so I remained to live here. I was 29 years old as a widow. One son was five years old, the other one was seven. Father and mother-in-law normally. And it was difficult, of course. But, I kept saying to myself that I have to move on. Because the children were there, so, that required. They were supposed to get educated, normally. To, to be fed, to dress, to… meaning all of that. And I am here, up until nowadays, I am here.
Anita Susuri: So, since that period you started working in the factory. What were the conditions like?
Snežana Milić: Well, it was tiring. It was tiring, you were supposed to work standing for a whole day, like, there was a lot of work. So, I had a very, very, difficult job, a very difficult job. I worked there for 13 years. Although I finished two schools, I couldn’t get another job because somebody maybe wasn’t okay with that, this and that, but there. Now, famil…, I receive a family pension, that is, from my husband. The pension is like, how to sa…, okay, never mind, it’s not even in euros, 16,000 dinars. It’s hard to get through this and that, but thank God, the children are working a bit and… we manage (smiles).
Anita Susuri: Until which year did you work there?
Snežana Milić: Well, I worked, I will tell you now, so… until around 2004, I think it was like that. There, I cannot remember precisely now. Or 2008. I’ll lie to you. I know it was something like that. And then, of course, I remained, then…
Anita Susuri: During the ‘90s Albanians didn’t work anymore. How did you feel then?
Snežana Milić: Oh, no. No, no. When, when Albanians didn’t work, we didn’t work either. The same. When there was bombing, then we all, every man for himself. So, there were bombs all around, so, the company was already, works and like… Albanians left for some time after us, but that was a small number. After that, I went to the company and there the manager was, well, Musa Binakalj, who was my manager. So, we were really, me and this friend of mine here, she speaks Albanian very well, so, this and that. And the situation was such that you couldn’t move so freely, because, and as they say, the bombs are falling and what do I know. But we went to the company, and we were welcomed with a coffee, of course, and that remained in my memory. So, it doesn’t matter what happened. We, still remained humans.
Eh, I heard that his son died in Germany. I was very sorry to hear it because he was a very good man, a very good man. Like, I was so sorry, really. His son died in Germany. That’s what I’ve heard from other Albanian colleagues. Otherwise, I hear from them now. I talk to one Albanian woman from Pristina who worked with me. So, her name is Naza. I mean, a great friend. Woman, man, I don’t know how to explain it (smiles). And now when we go to Pristina, with this friend, we go. She keeps the boutique, and we visit her of course. And I tell her to come, I like that we hang out, why not. The relationship between us remained. No, we can talk, but, we lived beautifully. Together, we lived well, worked, I really, I am saying like, had great respect.
And I sometimes talk to my Nena. How much did Albanian colleagues respect me. And when I needed to borrow somewhere, I had what they say is some trust. And then I borrow the money. I’ll pay it back. When I have, I pay it back. So it was never that, “I don’t have it,” you know, this and that. Because you needed it for something, as they say, and so. So to say, when, I mean, without any hatred and that, so, we really remained friends. And no, there is nothing for me or for him to be ashamed of, because I don’t think we did anything wrong to be ashamed now, understand? To say, “Oh, I’m running away so he doesn’t meet me or run away…” No, no. So, at any time, I said, when they pass here, “Feel free to drop by whenever you want, I, so…” And even the kids accepted it. And they understand who is human, who is brute. No, also one colleague, he was trying to hire one son of mine even though he is an Albanian, for example, he worked at General Jankovic as a customs officer. He tried, but well, it couldn’t be done, couldn’t, but what is important is that he tried {shakes her head}. Like that. We’ll see what happens next, so far it’s like this (laughs).
Anita Susuri: I wanted to ask you a bit more about when you were young. Did you go out in Pristina and in bigger cities? How was it back then?
Snežana Milić: Well, in Pristina, yes. We went out in Pristina. There was a korzo back then. So, that, all the young people, in the evening for example when it’s, after the sunset, as we would say. We went to the cinema. There were movies back then, cinema… Back then a lot of them were screened, like today we are watching Turkish soap operas, Turkish movies. So, one movie remained in my memory. The Bride, that was the name of the movie. I had to watch it three times. And I got one three times and unexcused absence in school because I skipped class (laughs). But, I think, that remained with me because it was really good, it was a good movie. And, we used to go out in Pristina like that. And I am saying, we had, we had… those who went to school with us, both Albanians and Serbs, we didn’t differentiate who is Albanian, who is Serb. That really wasn’t important. We went out, walked together, we go, we walk, for example, three-four kilometers in order to arrive at the village of Obilić, my village is not close, three kilometers. And then we sing songs there in the evening, like hanging around and like that.
Like that, like that, like that, I want to tell you also when my brother, meaning younger, died (deep breath). And that village where I was born, close to my village there is one more village where, well not to say half of them, but there were Albanians at the funeral. Both Gypsies and Albanians, and all of the possible nationalities. So, we didn’t differentiate at all among who is, what is, like, it’s important that there is a good man under and for us that was… I am saying, today when I pass through that village, and when I meet those people, they greet me. So, it is, even for me, my brother and dad are buried at that cemetery. No one touched it. So, there is the monument, it remained like that to nowadays. Even, when we were to build that for dad, m… , I mean, for brother, the monument, they helped us, they provided us with electricity so that we can plug in and work, water, of course, and so on, doesn’t matter that they are Albanians. But, I am saying, Dad used to hang out a lot with them. Like, very, very much. In Pristina even he had one good friend who worked for the Secretariat of Internal Affairs, Dad hung out with him, they were like blood brothers, as they say. Yes, we also went to their place. They came here to us, made pickled vegetable preserves for winter, when you needed paprika, ajvar, this and that, they came from Pristina, with her wife. Like that, and he lived with his sister. I had a sister in Pristina who lived there until the war, so they were also close friends. And he was also their godfather later on, he cut their son’s hair, does she understand me. Like a godfather, yes, they took him to be their godfather.
And there you go, I am telling you… I am saying, like, life was very good. It was difficult in terms of finances and all of that, but for life in general, I mean, what friendship, companionship. It didn’t matter what you are, who you are. It will never be like that again. I think. God willing it will be. God willing. One generation and I would love that to come back because that is the most beautiful [thing]. Now when, when you are in good relations with your neighbors and, and no, that is the most beautiful [thing]. Because there is a saying among us, if a brother lives far away, sister, if a neighbor is not there to help you, until brother or sister shows up, it’s too late. It’s like that…
Anita Susuri: And when you were a girl, you had one slava?
Snežana Milić: Yes…
Anita Susuri: When you get married then…
Snežana Milić: Then, yes…
Anita Susuri: How does that go?
Snežana Milić: Sometimes it happens, like, to [have] the same slava, and when you get married, it’s the same slava. But not with me. I had a slava which was, which was celebrated for example on the 14th of July and the 14th of November, and here I have slava which is celebrated on the 8th of August and the 27th of October. And so, slava as any slava, as they say, as they would say with you when it’s Eid and all of that. Like that, there is the preparation, the feast is being prepared, the guests are being awaited, for example, we go, they come. When they are celebrating slava, we go to them. When we have our slava, like, the youth comes, the older ones come as well, and like that. Somewhere it’s more common nowadays for the youth to come, for example, during one day of slava, and the older ones come the day after that. There you have that, like, different friendships, because they cannot talk about what we are talking about and vice versa. But, in general, it is being celebrated, two days, three days, depends on the person, so there are guests, what do I know.
Anita Susuri: Which saint is that?
Snežana Milić: I celebrate slava Saint Petka, and over there where I was born, where I grew up, Saints Vraci [Saints Cosma and Damia]. So, that is, those are…
Anita Susuri: It’s something, the family thus has some kind of tradition, how is that?
Snežana Milić: Well, yes, yes. That is, like, a knee of some sort, as they would say.
Anita Susuri: Aha.
Snežana Milić: Yes, yes, yes, and then later he inherits it. For example, he got it from his father. Then, my brother got it from my father and like that. The same way my husband here, for example, who passed away, he got it, his father for example, from one grandfather, for example, and this… and it goes like that. Now, for example, my son will get it from his father and it goes in that order.
Anita Susuri: Can you tell us a bit more about the period when you were working in the factory, so, and how was the c, collective?
Snežana Milić: Aha, aha, aha. Well, in that time when I was working, so, I can say, back then it was, there wasn’t as they say, maybe it was in one company, I don’t want to lie, but three-four managers, so. Those were divided like OURs [Organizacija udruženog rada – Organization of United Labor]. So, someone was there, someone here, this and that, but, how to put it, somehow, there was somehow understanding. Back then it was the same, there was some kind of workers’ council or administrative committee that is not like it is now. Now, I think that the manager can do everything by himself, so he… {looks into the camera}
Anita Susuri: It’s only the tape changing.
Snežana Milić: Like, earlier for example, not only the manager was in charge. So, there was the workers’ council or the administrative committee, while now, different. Now the manager and the president can, for example, employ and do it without the support from the workers, so without… I am saying, it was, it was different, different, it was different. Different and better. And better {shrugs her shoulders}.
Anita Susuri: When the war started and the whole situation, how was it for you, how did you feel then, were you here?
Snežana Milić: (breath) Yes, yes, yes, we were here, of course. Well, war as any war, as in any war. It was, there was, as they say, fear and this and that, what do I know. We didn’t have problems, to say like, an attack from someone, some pressure, this and that, what is, as they say mostly the things that, that the others went through, like that, what do I know. There were a lot of things going on, I can’t say, but regarding some sort of pressure from the other side, except, as they say, the bombs falling from above, we had that fear. So, we didn’t have any other problems, really. No one came to, as they say, blackmail us for something, or to throw us out, to say, “Leave” and “You have to go,” no, this wasn’t the case. That wasn’t the case and I can’t say that something happened when it didn’t {shakes her head}. No.
Here, I am saying, even now, usually, we go to a shop, for example, we go to Kosovo Polje, we go to Pristina, we don’t have problems. We are served in the same way as the other nations, as they say. Who knows Serbian, speaks Serbian. Or English. But, again, we understand each other. So, they are really attentive towards us and I really can’t say anything bad. Because rea… , you can’t say it when something is not bad. We go to Kosovo Polje, for example, it happens that you don’t have, for example, something that has a price on it, you don’t have one dinar, wh, they, for example say, “No, there is no nee… It doesn’t matter {raises left hand up}. Either you’ll bring it or it doesn’t matter.” And they have never told us, “Well, leave it, you can’t take it because you don’t have enough money.” So, as far as shopping is concerned, we go to the market as well and all of that, we buy in a normal way…
Anita Susuri: And after the war, there was one difficult period. How did you, then, how was it for you?
Snežana Milić: Well, yes, after the war, with no job…
Anita Susuri: You stayed here…
Snežana Milić: A lot without a job, like, I am saying, it was hard. Hard. Since you are staying at home, you don’t work. The companies are being closed, sold. It wasn’t easy. But, again as they say, somehow, as they would say, you are managing and live as you must. Otherwise, like now, the state companies don’t exist. Even now it’s difficult for a job, not only in that period. And now only few companies function and then you don’t have it, even if you want it. It’s all overcrowded. A lot of workers, so it’s very hard to find a job, very hard to find a job, here, when for that. I am saying, my son worked as a translator for 16-18 years, there, he stayed here, he is at home for two years. He can’t find a job anywhere. So, there is no place. Because what used to exist in Pristina is either sold or went into the private hands. Normally, as soon as it’s sold, it goes into the private hands. And that one who is in the private practice who, he takes as many workers as he needs and then he doesn’t need more. And so…
Anita Susuri: After the war, you told me that it was for the job, but for, so, for going around Pristina, how was it back then, did you feel threatened or?
Snežana Milić: Well, you know what, at the beginning, for some time it wasn’t simple, as they say, as everyone, as they say, war is war, a lot of things happened. But later, even now, so, there are no problems. You can go to every shop, to go to them, to go by bus with them or with a taxi or how, so, there are no problems. But, of course, as they say, when there is war, it’s not good for either of the sides. But, now everything is different. Everything is different. Everything got, as they would say, stabilized and… Because there is no, you know how, as they would say like, at the beginning you don’t know whose fault is it and whose is not. And whether you did something to me and I to you, this and that.
Of course, if someone lost a family member or someone lost a house, this and that, these are those moments, you are not thinking, I mean, like, “Oh God…” but now, really everything is different. Everything is different. There, now our people, for example, are still working with them. So, everything is normal, as it used to be before. And I think that will be one day, I think it will. Because {shakes her head} you achieve nothing from fighting and from war and this and that, there is nothing, there is no use, as they say. The most beautiful thing is when they are united and working together and all of that. I think it will be good, better than it is now.
Anita Susuri: Yes. Now, tell me about, about, about what do you do, what do you do now?
Snežana Milić: Well, now, as they say, I receive that pension, I am sitting at home. Something like that, a little bit of garden, a little bit of flowers (laughs), eh. So, I am doing something, I am not doing, regarding this, I don’t work at any company. I receive a family pension as I said and that is it.
Anita Susuri: So, you live normally now and…
Snežana Milić: Normally.
Anita Susuri: You don’t have any problems?
Snežana Milić: No, no, no, there are no problems, if only God will give health and that we are healthy (laughs) and like that. Regarding, like everyone, everyone has some hardships, so a problem, because life is such. And a situation, regarding the situation and that, we are here. We are not considering leaving here, we are going to live here. And I am saying, I am counting on it, there will be jobs. I guess there will be.
Anita Susuri: If you have something else for the end, if you forgot or you want to add something more…
Snežana Milić: Well… I don’t have something more like that to say. I have told my story (laughs).
Anita Susuri: Then, thank you very much.
Snežana Milić: It was nothing, thank you as well.
