no Ohrid, but Laplje Selo
My little trip to Lake Ohrid didn't pan out over the weekend, which is okay. It was good weekend for me to be here because so much has been going on still with regards to the UN project. And, really, I have no doubt that I will find another time to get down there, perhaps, as with everything else, when I have more confidence in good weather. It's been very spring-like here lately, with tulips and dandelions and - amazingly enough - green leaves on the trees, but also complete with spring showers and grey skies. It's getting a little tedious!
I'm enjoying the work we've been doing with the Memory Project play, though. Mostly it has involved intensive discussions with the director about the text and potential revisions. In a way, being out of school and spending so much time on the computer, I find myself really drawn to the intellectual aspect of this project :) But the practical work has been interesting, too. For example, I attended the initial auditions for the Serbian cast on Friday evening. It was a fairly major event for me considering I'd met only one Serb (who is working on the play) during my entire time here, but also in general, because two friends from my office - both Albanians - went as well. For everyone to simply be having a good time, playing theatre games with a group of sixteen-year-old high school kids from the local youth theatre group, was really remarkable.
It was also my first time in a Serbian village, despite the fact that we were a mere seven minutes from Pristina! To me, on the surface, Laplje Selo seemed no different from any other village, with well-dressed and apparently healthy kids, and crumbling, impoverished buildings. However, this impression lasted only until I discovered that the village economy, along with that of all Serbian villages, is based solely on Serbian Dinars; the Euro, the only currency accepted anywhere else in Kosova, is literally worthless. Clearly, there is more difference than meets the eye...
Speaking of differences, I don't think I've yet mentioned the different sense of time here.... I guess most places have a unique time-related quality, and here life runs on "Albanian time." Maybe it's the nearly 70% unemployment, or the coffee-shop mentality, but time just doesn't seem to be considered the valuable commodity it is in North America. I find myself constantly waiting for people, whether it's for a meeting or to get specific things done at work, as though waiting isn’t a waste of my time. For instance, I still haven't managed to get anybody to actually change the English-language materials on the CCTD website. I'm not pointing fingers or anything - it's as much my responsibility as the next person's - but it's a good example as one of the many things that are treated in typical "do it later" fashion. The problem is that today quickly becomes tomorrow, and then the next day, and nothing materializes. It’s nearly funny! I mean, the office doesn't work a normal 9-5 schedule, either. It's almost as if every day requires only part-time effort, and we make up for it by having no clearly delineated weekend. To me, it's bizarre, but also frighteningly addictive :)
That might explain why I've gotten so blasé with writing recently. Hmm...
I'm enjoying the work we've been doing with the Memory Project play, though. Mostly it has involved intensive discussions with the director about the text and potential revisions. In a way, being out of school and spending so much time on the computer, I find myself really drawn to the intellectual aspect of this project :) But the practical work has been interesting, too. For example, I attended the initial auditions for the Serbian cast on Friday evening. It was a fairly major event for me considering I'd met only one Serb (who is working on the play) during my entire time here, but also in general, because two friends from my office - both Albanians - went as well. For everyone to simply be having a good time, playing theatre games with a group of sixteen-year-old high school kids from the local youth theatre group, was really remarkable.
It was also my first time in a Serbian village, despite the fact that we were a mere seven minutes from Pristina! To me, on the surface, Laplje Selo seemed no different from any other village, with well-dressed and apparently healthy kids, and crumbling, impoverished buildings. However, this impression lasted only until I discovered that the village economy, along with that of all Serbian villages, is based solely on Serbian Dinars; the Euro, the only currency accepted anywhere else in Kosova, is literally worthless. Clearly, there is more difference than meets the eye...
Speaking of differences, I don't think I've yet mentioned the different sense of time here.... I guess most places have a unique time-related quality, and here life runs on "Albanian time." Maybe it's the nearly 70% unemployment, or the coffee-shop mentality, but time just doesn't seem to be considered the valuable commodity it is in North America. I find myself constantly waiting for people, whether it's for a meeting or to get specific things done at work, as though waiting isn’t a waste of my time. For instance, I still haven't managed to get anybody to actually change the English-language materials on the CCTD website. I'm not pointing fingers or anything - it's as much my responsibility as the next person's - but it's a good example as one of the many things that are treated in typical "do it later" fashion. The problem is that today quickly becomes tomorrow, and then the next day, and nothing materializes. It’s nearly funny! I mean, the office doesn't work a normal 9-5 schedule, either. It's almost as if every day requires only part-time effort, and we make up for it by having no clearly delineated weekend. To me, it's bizarre, but also frighteningly addictive :)
That might explain why I've gotten so blasé with writing recently. Hmm...
posted by melissa at 4:30 p.m.
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