AREA REFUGEES HAPPY, SKEPTICAL; LITTLE FAITH HELD IN GUARANTEES MADE BY YUGOSLAV REGIME.Byline: Steve Carney Daily News Staff Writer They've seen some of the best Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. has to offer - thrill rides, fresh salads, Pacific surf and sand - but many Kosovar refugees in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. say they just want to go home. Still, news of the peace agreement Tuesday did little to convince them they will be leaving any time soon. ``I don't believe it's really going to happen,'' said Hisman Vlashi, 59. ``I don't trust the Serbian government. We did have autonomy and they took it away from us.'' News of the peace accord came as the group of 30 - all relations of Hajrush and Renee Vlashi of West Hills - spent Tuesday as guests of Universal Studios. They said Yugoslav soldiers near their border town threatened the ethnic Albanian children by making slicing gestures across their throats. Then, the soldiers laid mines and forced the townspeople to abandon their homes March 25. The Vlashis came to Los Angeles in May with the help of the Valley Jewish Federation A Jewish Federation is a confederation of various Jewish social agencies, volunteer programs, educational bodies, and related organizations, found within most cities in North America that host a viable Jewish community. , which secured host families for them. ``Everything I have, I left behind. I brought only the clothes I was wearing,'' Hisman Vlashi said. He even left behind a son, fighting in the Kosovo Liberation Army The Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA (Albanian: Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës or UÇK) was an ethnic Albanian paramilitary extremist group which sought independence for the province of Kosovo from Yugoslavia and Serbia in the late 1990s. . He yearns to go home, but thinks he'll keep his youngest son, 10-year-old Ahmet, in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . ``What can we offer him over there but hardship, working the land or construction? Here he can get an education,'' said Hisman. And in spite of her relatives' pledges to return to their village, Renee Vlashi said she thinks many will remain here. ``Their village is gone and that's what they want back.'' For their day at the park, though, the group set aside their turmoil and surrendered to the pleasures of American pop culture. They laughed and gasped while the Back to the Future ride bounced and buffeted them in its ersatz er·satz adj. Being an imitation or a substitute, usually an inferior one; artificial: ersatz coffee made mostly of chicory. See Synonyms at artificial. DeLoreans - the children had seen the movies before, in Macedonia. They thrilled to the floods, explosions, earthquake, shark and gorilla attacks during the studio tour. And they joked about turning into goats while munching munching - Exploration of security holes of someone else's computer for thrills, notoriety or to annoy the system manager. Compare cracker. See also hacked off. on a fresh salad at lunch - far different from their usual fare of beans, bread and meat pies. Coming to Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, wasn't a dream come true for 16-year-old Bekim Vlashi, 16. He never even imagined it was possible. ``I love it. I love the people. I feel free and not threatened by anybody,'' he said. Nevertheless, he won't stay. ``Even if you're in heaven, you cannot match anything in the world to your native town, your birthplace,'' he said. ``As soon as the border is open and there is peace and freedom, I'll be on a plane to go back there.'' CAPTION(S): photo PHOTO (color) Kosovo refugees Valbona Vlashi, 11, left, and Safet Vlashi, 12, react to Woody Woodpecker woodpecker, common name for members of the Picidae, a large family of climbing birds found in most parts of the world. Woodpeckers typically have sharp, chisellike bills for pecking holes in tree trunks, and long, barbed, extensible tongues with which they impale . Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Daily News |
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