dear denis...
Just for you, since you asked, I have yet to experience cookies in Kosovo, but rest assured that when I do, you will hear all about them. However, I did try "burek" yesterday, which is a cheese-filled rolled pastry that is long and narrow. It wasn't fabulous, but okay. And there is a new hoppin' cake shop around the corner from the office, with fancy european pastries and lovely looking white cakes with white icing. Instead of another smoke-filled bar, that it where I can take everyone for my birthday :)
Yesterday, too, I met with the Canadian I mentioned who works for the Department of Justice and is involved in the penal management division. Oy. In general, he seems like a good guy, and especially a good guy to know here in the "in case of emergency" sense. Perhaps it is only because he is so involved in security here, but he seemed overly paranoid about what will happen when the elected Prime Minister of Kosovo gets indicted with war crimes and sent to the Hague, a move that expected within the month. I took all his advice, but only with a grain of salt. In general, I found him to be quite jaded about the local population, and disappointed. He thinks they are greedy, hateful, dirty, etc... And these were all words that came out of his mouth! I think from my reaction, he know that it was offensive, and managed to moderate his comments slightly. He believes that the UN and the OSCE have actually been poor role models, getting people so accustomed to handouts that they continually expect a lot without taking initiative themselves. I'm certain that his opinions are based on the particular people he works with (all police officers), and likely, there are many more people like him to an extreme in the UN. Who knows? But it made me very glad to be working with a local organization rather than an international one.
Anyway, I thought he might be helpful on the subject of housing, but I have yet to hear back about any leads. I did go to the UN accommodations office yesterday -- think real estate office for short term only -- and was told there are no openings for roommates. Moreover, the lady who heads the office was a very insistent Albanian mother who thought it was preposerous to want to live with anyone else! In the end, I went to look at a flat that happens to be less than two blocks away from the office, but is only for one person. We're not talking anything fancy, but the heating works well, it is fully furnished, has a tv (with satellite) and is convenient. At the moment it is overpriced because everything here works on a false economy, based on the international money flowing into Kosovo. But if I can get them to agree to a lower price, maybe I should just take it? I don't want to live alone, but it has been a full week already and it would be good to feel settled.
What do you kids think? What should I do?
Yesterday, too, I met with the Canadian I mentioned who works for the Department of Justice and is involved in the penal management division. Oy. In general, he seems like a good guy, and especially a good guy to know here in the "in case of emergency" sense. Perhaps it is only because he is so involved in security here, but he seemed overly paranoid about what will happen when the elected Prime Minister of Kosovo gets indicted with war crimes and sent to the Hague, a move that expected within the month. I took all his advice, but only with a grain of salt. In general, I found him to be quite jaded about the local population, and disappointed. He thinks they are greedy, hateful, dirty, etc... And these were all words that came out of his mouth! I think from my reaction, he know that it was offensive, and managed to moderate his comments slightly. He believes that the UN and the OSCE have actually been poor role models, getting people so accustomed to handouts that they continually expect a lot without taking initiative themselves. I'm certain that his opinions are based on the particular people he works with (all police officers), and likely, there are many more people like him to an extreme in the UN. Who knows? But it made me very glad to be working with a local organization rather than an international one.
Anyway, I thought he might be helpful on the subject of housing, but I have yet to hear back about any leads. I did go to the UN accommodations office yesterday -- think real estate office for short term only -- and was told there are no openings for roommates. Moreover, the lady who heads the office was a very insistent Albanian mother who thought it was preposerous to want to live with anyone else! In the end, I went to look at a flat that happens to be less than two blocks away from the office, but is only for one person. We're not talking anything fancy, but the heating works well, it is fully furnished, has a tv (with satellite) and is convenient. At the moment it is overpriced because everything here works on a false economy, based on the international money flowing into Kosovo. But if I can get them to agree to a lower price, maybe I should just take it? I don't want to live alone, but it has been a full week already and it would be good to feel settled.
What do you kids think? What should I do?
posted by melissa at 12:25 p.m.
1 Comments:
Hi Melissa!
it's Sheila. Can the apartment hold two people? maybe you could get it and hope that you meet someone that you could invite to live with you? or if you end up living alone you can make lots of plans to hang out with people you know in the evenings.
take care and hope you continue to sleep well
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