DJAKOVA, KOSOVO — An icy wind whips by as Cindy McCain tramps across hillsides still slick from snow on the Albanian border, wearing well-worn hiking boots and carrying her Prada purse. She's looking out at minefields and visiting schools where children must thread their way around leftover munitions.
One headmaster told her he had uncovered a cluster bomb when he went out to plant a tree. At another school, the principal said work on a new sports field was halted when workers found more than a dozen unexploded bombs.
McCain's trip to Kosovo last month with Halo Trust, an international group that removes land mines from post-conflict countries, was a little more comfortable than her typical overseas trips. She has camped out in rural Angola, and was once left stranded when an overbearing African minister of education commandeered her charter plane. She has seen a boy get blown up by a mine in Kuwait.
Those images are a studied contrast to the stylish, perfectly coiffed 53-year-old McCain seen on the presidential campaign trail. She's a constant presence with her husband, John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. She likes to say, "I'll be brief," and she is -- preferring to cede the spotlight quickly.
The portrait of Cindy McCain is a complex one. While her husband is talking daily about the situation in Iraq, she's worrying about her sons in the military, making sure her adopted Bangladeshi daughter is doing her homework in Phoenix and trying to stay healthy four years after a stroke.
Then there is her philanthropic work in some of the world's most miserable reaches. On her to-do list: a visit to Darfur to try to aid the refugees and bring attention to the genocide and rapes.
"It's not about being a cowboy," she said during a series of interviews over the course of her four-day trip to Kosovo. "It's just these types of things don't necessarily happen in Phoenix, Ariz., and you have to go where it is."
In between, she's helping her husband make a second run at the White House.
The Arizona senator first approached his wife in mid-2006 about another presidential bid. She ignored it, half hoping the idea would go away. But after opening presents that Christmas, the McCains held a family meeting.
That session included Meghan, 23, a blogger on the campaign; Jack, 21, a junior at the U.S. Naval Academy; Jimmy, 19, an enlisted Marine who has served in Iraq; and Bridget, 16, the McCains' adopted daughter.
