--Saturday, 18 November 00--
Managed to clean up my desk but the piles of paper on the floor persist.


--Sunday, 19 November 00--
Took the No. 4 to the Hospital and started to walk to Smile's house. As it happened he had just visited his home-under-construction with a fellow employee who had a car and they were returning to work. We stopped at a small restaurant outside the Hospital and Smile bought a beer for me and a hamburger for his ride. We chatted and they went back to work. I walked on to Smile's new home and took some pictures and then walked back to the No. 4 and took it to downtown so I could buy the Herald Tribune.

The foundation for the first floor of Smile and Kimeta's home is readied.

Walked to Beauty Point for a tanning session but forgot my eye protection so, half undressed, I had to redress. My grievance was only with myself. Decided to go to Boutique France in Film City for a replenishment of my Grand Marnier. Walked up the long staircase and over to the PXs and got three bottles.


--Monday, 20 November 00--
Smile's watch. He wasn't wearing the digital watch I had given him and I asked why. He said that he had dropped it and the screen was blank but it would still glow when he pressed the buttons. I said that given the pleasure he had in causing the watch to glow, I was surprised that he wasn't still wearing it. He didn't quite get it.

When I got home I found a note in the door. It said:

"Dear Jo

"I'm Ariani, your friend Today I and a my friend Xhemi [Jemi] come to you at your flat for guest you in visity at my flat.

"We have desire come you.

"address: Dardania
SU6/6

"Call me numer phone
/ 038-XX.XXX

"Your frends"

I had met Ariane on Sunday and he had come by my place then and had come back today doubtlessly to practice his English.


--Tuesday, 21 November 00--
Smile came by today but I was in the midst of crises all afternoon. He reminded me that I was supposed to go see his new apartment at 1 PM but I had forgotten. He told me that if he didn't see me at the Kukri he would come by my apartment -- but I didn't believe him and he didn't show up.

This evening I stayed late to process some wires. Thuy had suggested that we try to get a group together for Thanksgiving and, after talking it over, we decided to get Renaissance to cook a turkey dinner for ten people. I stopped by and they were willing but needed some help on the ingredients and recipes. I will have to try to get some cranberry sauce tomorrow.


--Wednesday, 22 November 00--
Rozata told me how to dial Ariane's number on the note I had found in my door and I called. Late in the day I connected. Jemi, who speaks English better than Ariane, said they would come to my apartment at 6:30 and they did.

Ariane presented me with a paperback copy of "The Book of Bible Promises" onto the cover of which he had inked "and Kuran" below the word "Bible". I thought it a touching gift.

It was clear to me that they wanted the advantage of talking to me. I remember the crew in Ashgabat who wanted the same thing. We chatted for an hour, during which time Jemi looked at his watch four or five times. They told me that they wanted me to come to their apartment which is in the Dardania section of Prishtina and I agreed to do it on Friday night. They will meet me at my apt at 6 PM and conduct me thither.

The announced assassination of a close Rugova advisor was disturbing. The problem is that once a group has made a commitment to violence, where does it stop? Once you decide to kill people (Serbians) to gain political objectives, why not kill fellow Albanians to gain the same objectives? Each is standing in the way of your notion of progress.


--Thursday, 23 November 00--
Thanksgiving Day but just another work day in Kosovo. Thuy had inspired me to do something about Thanksgiving and we decided to ask a small restaurant, the Renaissance, if they would prepare a traditional turkey dinner for us. The chef is fifteen years old and looks every month of it. They agreed and I wrote down all the details that I remembered from helping out at Thanksgivings past: turkey with stuffing (with Bell's Turkey seasoning), mashed (not pureed!) potatoes (a lot of butter and only a dash of milk), gravy (made with Gravy Master), cranberry sauce, various veggies and some kind of salad or other (to be supplied by the Renaissance).

We had our instructions translated into Albanian so there would only be the normal human confusion and discussed them with Renaissance staff twice. We tried to describe hummus and tahine (OK, not exactly Thanksgiving but still delicious) but "chickpeas" turned out to be untranslatable. And there was not Bell's Seasoning or cranberry sauce but we worked with what we had. During Thanksgiving day I accidentally found pepper Boursin in a local supermarket and bought two boxes as an appetizer.

About 7:15 PM or so, Thuy, George, and I walked over to the Renaissance. When we got there I asked for some dishes and put out the pepper Boursin cheese and crackers that I had bought earlier at the Ardi. Everyone liked them a lot.

Ultimately nine of us (three Americans and six Aussies) had a wonderful dinner. Tim, Jose, Colin, Glenn, Bob, and John Lodge arrived and various courses followed. I moved around the table to enjoy the conversation at each end.

The staff really put themselves out -- they even rejected the boneless turkey we had seen at the Maxi and went all the way to Poduevo to buy the only two turkeys in Kosovo. To be truthful, they were scrawny but they were juicy and very tasty. So what if we don't have to eat turkey sandwiches for a week! And I can testify that the salad was very colorful and well presented. The stuffing had no chestnuts but was very tasty, the potatoes were mashed chunky, and everything else was delightful. We left a generous tip.

On the downside, turkeys now appear to be extinct in Kosovo.

Someone mentioned having a conversation with someone about utilities in Kosovo. The speaker talked about the EU opinion that how the utilities were natural monopolies and how they would never make a profit. Blah, blah, blah. Such thinking is very dated and extremely shallow but fairly common here nonetheless.


--Friday, 24 November 00--
When I arrived home there was a piece of paper on top of the phone. As I walked to over to it, I could see that it said that the phone was now working. Just then the phone rang but there was no one on the other end of the line. I wondered who was watching me.

Jemi and Ariane arrived to the second on time and off we went to their apartment. We took the elevator to the top floor and then climbed another story to their 2? room penthouse apartment. I didn't see all the rooms but I suspect that they have a kitchen and a living room and I think Jemi sleeps in the kitchen.

There followed two hours of slow conversation. We did the body parts, etc. Finally they asked me to pronounce a long list of "symptoms" that included catarrhs and swooning -- not exactly medically up-to-date.

We agreed to additional English training next Friday at their place. Ariane insisted on walking me to the Kukri Bar and then shook my hand goodbye. I walked into the outside area and Smile met me on the way in.

Smile had been with the power station crew and, as I walked inside to order a draft, Tony called me over to his table. So I sat down with Tony, Mike, Tim, and Jan. Tony said that he would have appreciated being invited to "my" Thanksgiving dinner. I said that we thought he wanted to go the the much fancier USAID bash and that what we had done was a last minute thing. He still said that he would have liked the opportunity to choose. I was flattered although a good part of this must be Thuy crediting me with her part of the effort.

Joe