--Sunday, 29 October 00--
The I and the We
One of the things that strikes me about Kosovo is that people here have a strong notion of personal needs/rights but a limited notion of public rights. This is shown in the frequent blocking of the public way by piling cement blocks or dropping a load of sand on the sidewalk or by erecting wire mesh fences to protect their building materials and blocking a public staircase as a result. The immediacy of "my needs" exceeds any value attributed to "public rights".
I admit that people are not thinking in the terms I am using but their actions speak in those terms and the results are not good from the perspective of maximizing the overall good for everyone. Jeremy Bentham, where are you when you are most needed?
Parking fits the picture. For many months, people parked their cars on the sidewalks of Mother Theresa Street to the considerable disadvantage of the tens of thousands of pedestrians who had to weave around the vehicles and queue up at bottle necks or risk walking in the street. The beneficiaries of the system were the one person per car blocking the sidewalk and the losers were the many thousands who needed to use the sidewalk. Only an aggressive towing program by the municipal government remedied the problem (in this one important part of the city).
The lack of staircase lighting in apartment buildings is an other example. Though built by a Socialist government, lighting for staircases and hallways was not included in the design. What hall lights that exist were constructed and maintained exclusively for the residents of particular apartments, not for overall building resident needs. So sometimes when I arrive home, the light on the second floor is on and sometimes it is not. I carry a small flashlight for such moments.
The chaos that results when the traffic lights are out is another example. The cars and buses push into the intersection as if the only important thing was their getting through even though the result is gridlock from which everyone suffers an interminable delay. The idea that giving a little can get a lot isn't commonplace here.
I walked over the Beauty Spot for a tanning session and once again tripped
over the infamous 15th step and then walked on to the KFOR base and bought
the last two bottles of Grand Marnier at the Boutique France. Walked back
the long way and got to my apartment just after Noon.
Smile was late of course so I made myself a cheddar cheese omelet and
fried a package of bacon. Smile came by saying that he was exhausted because
there were three inspections last night and he didn't get any sleep. He
also went to Prizren all day Friday and didn't get any sleep. He showered
and shaved and we had some fun training in English.
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Afterwards he drove me to his rising house and I was impressed at how
much had been accomplished in seven days. A slab with rebar indicating
columns now had complete walls on three and a half sides. The cinder block
walls were receiving a cement coating over which tar paper would be applied.
The second level was also expressed in a concrete foundation and there
was an internal wall dividing the slab into two rooms with one with two
window spaces. In the other side they were pouring cement into a staircase
form.
I walked around and took some pictures. Smile chatted with the workers
one of whom works for his brother's construction company. We had some
beers as I watched a column form being filled in by cement: the cement
was mixed on site and brought to the column in a wheel barrow and it was
then shoveled into a small bucket which was lifted by a second person
to a third person at the open top of the form. Labor intensive -- but
labor is so inexpensive here.
Smile had asked me if Kimeta could use my computer to type her Master's
thesis and I said she could. Today he asked if I could come to his house
tomorrow night to start the typing and I said yes. He will meet me at
the Kukri tomorrow night at 6:30.
--Monday, 30 October 00--
To those of you contemplating a visit to Skopje, Macedonia (that is the
"FYROM" or the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"
which Greece, which has its own province of Macedonia, insists on) I recommend
the following web sites:
http://faq.macedonia.org
http://www.ohrid.org.mk/
http://www.skopjeonline.com.mk/
http://www.big-blue.net/
http://faq.macedonia.org/
http://www.vmacedonia.com/
Several of us had lunch at the Edi where they have a good pepperoni pizza
but use too much cheese. I asked for less cheese on my pizza and Thuy
ordered the same but here that means an ordinary pizza. She noted that
she doesn't like too much cheese because it has too much salt. She finds
too much salt in many things.
I had agreed to meet Smile at the Kukri Bar at 6:30 so that I could go
to his house and let Kimeta use my computer to type her thesis in Latin
alphabet Serbian. Smile arrived with a young cousin of his, Jim. We talked
about things. Kimeta was at the university typing her thesis so I was
off for the evening. I suggested that she should come to my apartment
so that we would not be interrupted by visitors. Smile liked the idea.
Smile asked if he and Jim could see the pictures of his house so I took
my Mac G3 out of its case and showed them the two weeks worth of photos.
Hilary called over from a nearby table to ask what kind of computer I
have. I moved the cover of my G3 toward them and said "You have to
ask?" since they could see the Apple logo glowing in the center of
the cover.
Smile and I agreed to meet at Kukri on Wednesday at 9 PM so we can spend
an hour at Thomas' going away party.
--Tuesday, 31 October 00--
The election results were in and Smile told me that Rugova had won 65
percent. This morning BBC World said 58 percent. Later BBC World announced
the Yankees won the world series 3-1. The media really mess things up.
Went to the Kukri and read the Herald Tribune. Someone asked me where
I got my Herald Tribune. I told him and joined his group. Smile and Kimeta
came by and we we went to my place. Kimeta typed, Smile slept, and I sorted
papers.
One of the nicest features was that I got my small bedroom enlarged into
a very pleasant space by have the bed put in the living room. There is
still a lot of room left over for chairs and a desk. Now I can really
enjoy my living space.
Joe
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