--Monday, 11 September 00--
Last night I managed to stay up until 9:30 but had a fitful night's rest as my body fell into an exhausted sleep but my mind interrupted by declaring I should really be up and about. Ah, guilt! The result was a series of dreams each of which was so vivid that I started from my sleep but none of which I can remember now.

The breakfast at the Grand was as boring as I remembered it to be, so I drank some orange and some apple juice and went to work early.

After work I met a local who said that there was more danger in Prishtina than I realized and I asked why he thought that. He told me that his 27 year old cousin had been shot dead. When I asked why, he said he didn't know but that his cousin was a liar. Must have been a big time liar to get shot.

Met Smile at Kukri. We walked up and down Mother Theresa street. We had originally decided to go to give Kimeta's my respects for her recently deceased mother but the lack of electricity changed his mind. Smile said he did not want to visit in the dark. We went back to the Kukri Bar and Smile ate, or more accurately wolfed down, a cheeseburger. I enjoyed some of the French fries.


--Tuesday, 12 September 00--
I found out that Kimeta's mother died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage shortly before I arrived. Smile came by and, after walking Mother Teresa street, we went to Kimeta's brother's home so I could express my condolences. We were expected and were shown in to the parlor where all the men crowded in. I had met Kimeta's brother in the Spring when he was dropping off his kids to be babysat by her and also had met Hatband (of Fhatan and Dhatan) last Spring. As usual, I was the important foreign guest and they hung on my every word. Several of the younger men spoke English fairly well. They told me that they all wanted Kosovo to be the next US state so they could vote for Al Gore. Here, Gore's closeness to Clinton is a big plus though I expect the impact on the electoral vote to be negligible.

Before arriving Smile had told me that he would ask me who America favored in the up coming elections and that I was to answer, "Thachi" because Kimeta's brother was a Rugova supporter. (Smile loves shockers of this type.) I partially played his game but quickly said that I was a Rugova supporter. Smile got his joke but no one was very put out.

Smile, Kimeta and I walked to their place and Kimeta prepared a meal and shined Smile's shoes. I inscribed the Unabridged American Heritage Dictionary that I had given her and she was very appreciative, particularly since it would be useful on her new job with the engineering company. I walked Smile to work.

Smile got his interview for his (locally high paying) job at the UN from an expat friend of Kimeta's and he passed the interview partly because of the English skills he had developed in the last six months. In a parallel way, Smile met someone at the Kukri Bar who developed into Kimeta's contact for the job with the engineering firm rehabbing the Kosovo B power plant. Sweet symmetry.

Having been forced to experiment, I would like to report that two candle power lighting turns out to be the minimum needed for me to read the keys on my keyboard when the electricity is out.


--Wednesday, 13 September 00--
What did I do today? Had a late lunch with George and Bruce at Renaissance where the waiter tells you the menu and they don't have potatoes. I don't like the place even though the beer, Pilsner Urquel, is good.

At 3 PM I had a meeting with Netty and Thomas who I had met some months ago at a disco that I went to with Smile and Kimeta. We looked at his place which is almost directly above the Kukri Bar but it is expensive (1,800 DM/mo.) and does not include utilities or cleaning. Location was its principal asset but it was not price competitive for me.

I then went to meet Drita at the Reconstruction Office who was to show me another apartment only to discover that the whole office had moved. The guard showed me a map that indicated that the new office was in the building on the same street beside the partially completed Serbian church near where Smile lives. I walked there but the office was not there and not in the building behind it and not in the building behind that. Fortunately, I met someone inside the third building who who directed me in minimal French to where the Reconstruction Office was. This wasted 30 minutes and Drita had left by the time I arrived so I didn't get to see Drita's apartment. Ah, well.

Smile came by my room at 7:30 and I asked him if he wanted to type. "No, I am too tired," he said and I asked him if he was hungry (with Smile a somewhat superfluous question). We walked over to the OSCE building where the ninth floor restaurant had recently been reopened. Smile now has a magic ID card also and he hangs it around his neck like most expats do so it was easy to slide by the guards. I am not sure if Smile's UN Guard badge is enough to get him in but no one noticed or seemed to care.

When we went into the dining room we discovered Maureen and a bunch of people I knew. I found out later that it was a going away party for Maureen. We did an abbreviated set of intros (Smile had met several of them before) and then he and I went to a table and had pizza and lasagna (both excellent). All in all, Smile cheered me up much more than I expected. Smile had to work so I was home early. Read the Herald Tribune, did the crossword puzzle and went to bed around 10:30 to make up for staying up late last night.


--Thursday, 14 September 00--
Woke up at 4 AM, wide awake. Clearly I was not rid of the jet lag yet.

Returned somewhat late from lunch but Ramadan was still waiting for me with his uncle. We went to see a very nice apartment which I decided to rent.

Smile had said he would come by at six to take me to see an apartment and when he hadn't shown up by 6:30, I left a note on the door saying that I would be at the Kukri Bar and went there to read the Herald Tribune in the fading light and then do the crossword puzzle. While there I noticed a bald headed guy next to me who had an ear piece with a cord that went over his ear and down his back under his shirt. He reminded me of the security guys who travel with important people and who never speak but constantly look at what is going on around them but there were no important people in sight.

Smile showed up around 7:30 and seemed very quiet. He finally told me that the felt "nervous" so I asked him if it was the apartment problem. It was. Smile has decided that he has to build a house.

Smile was disappointed that I had taken an apartment so far away. He derided me gently for trying to save 200 DM (but it was really more like 450 DM).


--Saturday, 16 September 00--
Ramadan told me that George was fulminating against Bill Clinton and Ramadan told George that whatever George thought about Clinton, Clinton is the Kosovar god. "We don't say, "Thank God," we say "Thank Clinton," Ramadan said.

Returning from lunch I met Smile who said that he had come by the Kukri Bar at 10 last night and hadn't seen me. That is the third time he has not found me at Kukri when I was there. Given the small footprint of the place this is pretty amazing. He told me that he would see me tonight at 8 PM.

With Ram's help, I moved into his uncle's apartment. It has two bedrooms, one and a half baths and a large living room with a small patio off it. It is in a relatively new building and it was freshly painted when I saw it. It is a comfortable space.

My apartment is higher than the center of town and offers vistas at sunset.

Met Smile at Kukri Bar and chatted for a while. He spotted Kimeta's friend who had put in a good word for him at the UN and went to speak to her. Then Smile had to go home to get ready for work. He has to be at the UN complex 40 minutes early for inspection and transport to his warehouse location.

Another day in Kosovo.

Joe