--Sunday, 10 December 00--
Woke up to the second Supreme Court intervention in Florida and the seventh foggy morning in a row. The fog here may eventually clear but I fear the Supreme Court will leave a permanent fog behind it.

Walked to the office to a) go for a walk and b) pick up my computer glasses. Walked back. The air is quite cold; for the first time my hands were chilly.

RJ came by with his girl friend Lila at 11 as promised and we went of to Grachanitsa to see the Monastery. I suggested the outing and since he didn't know about the monastery he seemed interested.

So off we went. He told me that we would take the long, nice way there and the short way back, and so we did. The fog had lifted a few hundred meters and we could see fields on either side of the road. RJ drove directly to the Monastery and parked in front of it.

A view of Grachanitsa from the side. The low structure on the left (front) is an addition made during the time of Turkish control.

We walked in and saw an impressive Orthodox structure centered in a large courtyard. Like all Orthodox structures I am aware of, it is of very modest size, not much larger than than a fair-sized Catholic church in America.

The Monastery is widely regarded as one of the greatest cultural achievements of the Balkans. Rebecca West waxes euphoric about it. In her "Black Lamb and Grey Falcon", she writes:

". . . It happens that there stands on the plain of Kosovo, some miles south of the actual battlefield, a building which demonstrates what sort of civilization fell with the Serbs. It proves it as no nationalist rhetoric could hope to do, it leaves no room for differences of opinion, for it is a chunk of the Nemanyan Empire, irrefutable testimony to its quality. . . . "

Prayer candles.

West went on to liken Grachanitsa to "as religious a building as Chartres Cathedral; though it made a simpler and smaller statement." She continues to say that the magnificence of all French civilization could be deduced from the knowledge of Chartres Cathedral alone, so Grachanitsa proves the magnificence of Nemanyan (Serbian) civilization.

As beautiful as Grachanitsa is, I find that a very long reach.

The front door of the church had an icon of a movie film camera with the words "No pictures." We went in and examined the church. After we looked around in the darkness (the windows designed by the architect are a vertical collection of about five coke-bottle-bottom-sized colored glass circles), I went back to the nun at the sales desk and showed her my camera and mimed a request to take photographs. She mimed that she could not care less. And so I took what pictures I could. As small as it is, Grachanitsa is a very vertical building; in its own way it does soar, making pictures of the interior difficult to capture.

Some of the painted images from Grachanitsa.

Afterwards we went to a restaurant across from the Monastery and had some delightful pork chops -- not the bone encumbered, tasteless kind I know from the States but a meaty, juicy fillet that was a wonder of flavor.

When we drove back to the city we had to go to the airport to pick up a friend of RJ's and drive him to the Vehicle Registration offices. Then they drove me home and I invited them upstairs for some some music and Grand Marnier. To my surprise RJ (since he had talked about how he had to go to the office to do some work) accepted. I think Lila was surprised as well.

We sat and talked and RJ and I had some Grand Marnier and I played some music that RJ and I really grooved on. We had a great time as I played my musical favorites. RJ had told me that he had been a member of a music group. He seemed to really like the music I played. Eventually RJ and Lila left.


--Thursday, 14 December 00--
George's party was nice and the speechs were heartfelt. The whole CFA was there and everyone seemed to anticipate the loss that George's departure would represent.

Some of the Treasury staff members that George (third from right) hired and trained.

--Saturday, 16 December 00--
Rain! And a soggy one at that. And later, it mixed with the first snow. Smile came to the office and we had my pepperoni pizza at the Napoli.

The Barents Christmas Party.
Ram offered me a ride and I was grateful since the going could get very sloppy just trying to get to the Blue Fish restaurant. He came by before 7 PM and we listened to some music and had a beer before we went to the party.

Because Ram regarded it as important, I dressed up, something I don't enjoy doing. After all, he had gone out and spent 120 DM on a shirt and shoes. So I wore my blue blazer, gray slacks, a white shirt and my Mickey Mouse silk tie. As usual, my tie was a big hit, especially the Mickey with the open mouth expressing something between astonishment and pain.

I saw someone from the bank that I didn't usually have a chance to talk to so I found an empty seat beside him and told him the steps we were taking to improve our banking services, including opening accounts in other banks and introducing checks.

Then I wished him a Merry Christmas.

Joe