Today was a day from Hell. It was go, go, go, with no respite and a seemingly endless succession of tasks that need to be completed before the day was over. Expenditure processing, a UNDP request for documentation on a transfer, wire transfers, coding questions, and on, and on. It was hard to figure out what was the most important next thing to do.
George asked me to open the office in Prizren on Monday because he would be flat out busy and I agreed, but what are the specifics things I must do? Something tells me, I will find out when I am there.
At the end of the day, it being TGIF time, I went to the OSCE building and climbed the nine stories to the bar/restaurant on the top. It is a statement about the excitement of life here that 200 or more expats will climb nine stories on foot to have some beer.
I meet the tax people there and they were as pleasant as ever. As we chatted, the corvins were in spectacular form and we watched as they soared and swooped and cawed. From the roof of the OSCE building we had a privileged view that allowed us to observe the movement of the large flocks. At one point the flock flew down from above the roof behind us so closely that they blocked our view.
Afterward I went to the more "funky" TGIF party at the UN Headquarters building. Between each venue I think I saw everyone I knew in the country.
--Saturday, 08 April 00--
Today at work was somewhat better than yesterday. I tried to write up the Commerzbank procedures immediately but George had things he needed me to do. The tasks were relatively minor but they came in a series so by the end of the day I had only about five paragraphs written. Another day in Prishtina.
I've noticed that when Kosovar men greet each other they often lean the tops of their bodies forward and touch cheek-to-cheek. Sometimes, they just lean forward and put their heads near each other. It looks like a little like that Hollywood kiss that women will do in the States when they are perfectly made up and want to be friendly but definitely don't wont to mess their makeup.
Kosovar men who are friends also walk with one person's hand holding the arm of the other. Sometimes they will hold hands as they stroll down the street. The fact that men can show simple affection here strikes me as charming. We could learn from the Kosovars.
--Sunday, 09 April 00--
The Lobby of the Grand
As you enter the registration desk is on the left. In front of it is a series of 3 large dingy carpets, each edged by eight brown Chesterfield "hide of the nauga" armless chairs and 4 marble-topped end tables.
Further back on the right, is the long bar. The lobby narrows at the bar and expands again behind it. The bar has a large space and the overall lobby has a huge one. The convenience of the bar to my room is less that it might seem because it is hard to get a really cold beer there. And it closes early. After 10:30, the staff start putting things away -- something of a hint.
Smile came by for some pleasant conversation. Though I was tired, his interest aroused me to enthusiasm as we had some intensive language training. Smile's speaking skills are definitely improving although we do not deal much with grammar (most of which I have forgotten) but with speaking. We talk and I explain words he doesn't understand and then I coach him on how to say colloquially what he means. It is a great pleasure to have an avid pupil though it is a question which of us learns the most.
--Monday, 10 April 00--
This morning I went to open a CFA Treasury office in Prizren, a city located
near the
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southern-most part of Kosovo, close to a high mountain range, covered in snow. Nothing in Kosovo is actually far from any other part but the condition of the roads makes nearby places much further apart.
The overall setting is rather pretty. Green farms set against mountains in the distance and the plants are beginning to respond to Spring. It will be a beautiful Spring here.
Ramadan, Shkumbin and Yacob, our driver, were all prompt and we left
at 8 AM. Two hours and twenty pot-holed-filled minutes later we arrived
in Prizren and went to the UNMIK building. The staff there seemed exceptionally
on top of things. We were expected, welcomed and shown to our office in
an efficient and uncomplicated manner. (There was "Room Acceptance
Form" listing all room contents and their condition in a plastic
sleeve on the back of the office door.)
"Opening" the office consisted of installing a computer we brought
with us and connecting it to the Internet (Shkumbin did that), making
some copies of forms we brought, and a series of protocol meetings to
introduce ourselves to the powers-that-be and learn about how they do
things there (efficiently). We also did a review of Treasury procedures:
what is acceptable documentation for a transaction, who signs here on
the forms, etc.
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Prizrin is a pleasant, almost beautiful, city with a river/creek running
through it. It is mostly low scale without the pretension of the tall
structures of Prishtina and thus has an older "feel".
I commented on how clean it was and I was told that the KFOR troops in
the region were German and when they arrived, the general toured the city
before bringing his troops in and was horrified as the mess he saw. He
called some kind of public meeting and announced that the city was disgusting
and unless it was cleaned up immediately, he would not bring his troops
in to protect them. He gave them two days to respond and they did. So
a pretty city became a clean pretty city.
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I was so entranced with the city and the setting -- snow capped peaks
soaring like a high, grand medieval city wall -- that I said, "They
should make this the capital." Then staff told me that it WAS the
former capital! Apparently, in 1947-48 Tito moved the capital to Prishtina
because Prizren was too close to Albania which was hewing to a Stalinist
line while Tito was pursuing a more independent course. Go figure.
On the way back, we took a somewhat different route but the roads were
just as pot-holed. We did see roadside areas taped off with the warning
of "MINES!". There is a lot of work to do here to clean this
place up. There are at least two (three?) mine clearing agencies that
are active.
And I love to walk.
Joe
A Virtual Tour of Kosovo |
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