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The trip to Bitola
Nov. 18th, 2010 09:20 amWe didn't leave at 8.15, as planned, but at 8.45, so I was able to have some more coffee at the Embassy and go through my mail while waiting for boss. That was really fortunate, because I was almost back to human when we got into the car.
The appointment with the mayor of Bitola had been scheduled for 12, and the drive doesn't usually take more than 2,5 hours, but the weather forecast wasn't good (and correct, as it turned out). Besides, only the first third of the way is motorway; the rest is a rather narrow, 2-lane country road with lots of curves -- if you have a lorry ahead of you, there are few possibilities for overtaking it, and you're slowed down considerably.
Also, boss was terminally excited about stopping on the way and looking for a small cemetery from WW1, and we had no idea how long that was going to take.
The weather was still ok when we left, boss was relaxed and in a good mood, and so we spent the hour or so before we had to actively look for the cemetery chatting, which was unsurprisingly nice. *squishes boss*
Then I actually spotted the landmark -- a sign indicating a small road branching off the main road to the right -- and we part-drove, part-walked down towards the place. Part-drove, because it was a field path, washed out by rain and with deep grooves made by tractors, and the embassy car is a limousine, i.e. there was the danger of us getting stuck like Noah's arc on mount Ararat.
Since we'd all suited up for the trip, we couldn't get off the path and into the underbrush, so we only saw one headstone and a small commemorative monument that had been put there. But boss took pictures and was happy. (There are lots and lots of such places in Macedonia, BTW, because the WW1 Thessaloniki front ran right through its southern part)
During the remaining hour we ate apples and chatted -- poor Blerim had to concentrate on the road, though, because it had started to rain something awful. In spite of our graveyard adventure we arrived in Bitola with 30 minutes to spare, so we all had coffee (and a very, very urgently needed pee).
Then, meeting with the mayor. OMG. Boss had been fretting slightly, re. whether we had enough topics for discussion, but he wouldn't have needed to fret. The mayor used to be an actor before he was elected, and that's exactly what it was like. Almost 1,5 hrs of almost uninterrupted monologue, which contained some rather interesting points of view, like e.g. that China is trying to conquer Europe (economically) by sneaking in through the Balkans. Or endless tirades about Greece -- what seemed to cause him the most indignation was the fact that they're now squandering the money the EU gave them in order to bail them out of the looming bankruptcy. This may be partly true, but when you have to listen to about ten repetitions, it gets rather bothersome. And now I understand every word, i.e. just switching off becomes almost impossible.
Boss was quite happy after the meeting. I was completely wrung-out, so I was allowed a cigarette before we went to the next meeting with the director of the university library. That one was much more pleasant. The main purpose was for us to have a look at the books we'd donated to them in September (long and twisted story). They'd promised to catalogue and incorporate them into the library, and that's exactly what they're doing, if rather slowly, but that's not really their fault since they don't have dedicated staff, so everybody does a bit of cataloguing whenever they have time. So that was positive.
Then we went to have a quick lunch before driving back.
We'd just ordered, and boss was fumbling with his cell phone, and suddenly he uttered a heartfelt -- and for him quite unusual -- "Oh shite!"
He'd punched in the wrong PIN three times, and so the phone had blocked itself. Not good, because it was switched off, i.e. he was incomunicado.
So I called Irene and told her to call me, if there was anything important/urgent, because the battery of boss's phone was empty and we'd forgotten the charger. That got me a very grateful smile from boss, and a "Thanks for not mentioning I screwed it up myself!" As if I would.
Being the practical (and rather ruthless) person I am, I dragged the two men to a t-mobile shop after lunch, where boss showed his ID card and gave his PIN (he'd been using the ATM PIN for the phone by mistake), and they unblocked it immediately.
The sky had cleared up completely in the meantime, and so we even went for a short stroll -- it's a very charming, small city, which used to be the Macedonia's "secret capital" and most important city until WW1. The Greeks and Turks used tocall it Manastir, and many countries used to have consulates there, so there is an aura of past glory about the place. Lots of mosques, partly very old and some of them quite decrepit, and lots of Art Nouveau buildings. Also, the city hall and a few other buildings date from the 1930's, i.e. the style is somewhere between Art Nouveau and Bauhaus.
The drive back was uneventful, mostly because boss and I both went to sleep maybe 15 minutes after we'd started.
I arrived at home at 7 p.m. and didn't do much for the rest of the evening except indulge a sudden craving for instant mashed potatoes with a lethal amount of butter and cheese. Yum.
And I finally succeeded in worming information out of boss: he's not going to Istanbul (YAYYYYY!) but seems to have a decent chance at becoming the next ambassador to Estonia or Latvia -- not the most interesting of postings, but certainly way better than Istanbul. And he won't leave before next summer. Squeeeee!
The appointment with the mayor of Bitola had been scheduled for 12, and the drive doesn't usually take more than 2,5 hours, but the weather forecast wasn't good (and correct, as it turned out). Besides, only the first third of the way is motorway; the rest is a rather narrow, 2-lane country road with lots of curves -- if you have a lorry ahead of you, there are few possibilities for overtaking it, and you're slowed down considerably.
Also, boss was terminally excited about stopping on the way and looking for a small cemetery from WW1, and we had no idea how long that was going to take.
The weather was still ok when we left, boss was relaxed and in a good mood, and so we spent the hour or so before we had to actively look for the cemetery chatting, which was unsurprisingly nice. *squishes boss*
Then I actually spotted the landmark -- a sign indicating a small road branching off the main road to the right -- and we part-drove, part-walked down towards the place. Part-drove, because it was a field path, washed out by rain and with deep grooves made by tractors, and the embassy car is a limousine, i.e. there was the danger of us getting stuck like Noah's arc on mount Ararat.
Since we'd all suited up for the trip, we couldn't get off the path and into the underbrush, so we only saw one headstone and a small commemorative monument that had been put there. But boss took pictures and was happy. (There are lots and lots of such places in Macedonia, BTW, because the WW1 Thessaloniki front ran right through its southern part)
During the remaining hour we ate apples and chatted -- poor Blerim had to concentrate on the road, though, because it had started to rain something awful. In spite of our graveyard adventure we arrived in Bitola with 30 minutes to spare, so we all had coffee (and a very, very urgently needed pee).
Then, meeting with the mayor. OMG. Boss had been fretting slightly, re. whether we had enough topics for discussion, but he wouldn't have needed to fret. The mayor used to be an actor before he was elected, and that's exactly what it was like. Almost 1,5 hrs of almost uninterrupted monologue, which contained some rather interesting points of view, like e.g. that China is trying to conquer Europe (economically) by sneaking in through the Balkans. Or endless tirades about Greece -- what seemed to cause him the most indignation was the fact that they're now squandering the money the EU gave them in order to bail them out of the looming bankruptcy. This may be partly true, but when you have to listen to about ten repetitions, it gets rather bothersome. And now I understand every word, i.e. just switching off becomes almost impossible.
Boss was quite happy after the meeting. I was completely wrung-out, so I was allowed a cigarette before we went to the next meeting with the director of the university library. That one was much more pleasant. The main purpose was for us to have a look at the books we'd donated to them in September (long and twisted story). They'd promised to catalogue and incorporate them into the library, and that's exactly what they're doing, if rather slowly, but that's not really their fault since they don't have dedicated staff, so everybody does a bit of cataloguing whenever they have time. So that was positive.
Then we went to have a quick lunch before driving back.
We'd just ordered, and boss was fumbling with his cell phone, and suddenly he uttered a heartfelt -- and for him quite unusual -- "Oh shite!"
He'd punched in the wrong PIN three times, and so the phone had blocked itself. Not good, because it was switched off, i.e. he was incomunicado.
So I called Irene and told her to call me, if there was anything important/urgent, because the battery of boss's phone was empty and we'd forgotten the charger. That got me a very grateful smile from boss, and a "Thanks for not mentioning I screwed it up myself!" As if I would.
Being the practical (and rather ruthless) person I am, I dragged the two men to a t-mobile shop after lunch, where boss showed his ID card and gave his PIN (he'd been using the ATM PIN for the phone by mistake), and they unblocked it immediately.
The sky had cleared up completely in the meantime, and so we even went for a short stroll -- it's a very charming, small city, which used to be the Macedonia's "secret capital" and most important city until WW1. The Greeks and Turks used tocall it Manastir, and many countries used to have consulates there, so there is an aura of past glory about the place. Lots of mosques, partly very old and some of them quite decrepit, and lots of Art Nouveau buildings. Also, the city hall and a few other buildings date from the 1930's, i.e. the style is somewhere between Art Nouveau and Bauhaus.
The drive back was uneventful, mostly because boss and I both went to sleep maybe 15 minutes after we'd started.
I arrived at home at 7 p.m. and didn't do much for the rest of the evening except indulge a sudden craving for instant mashed potatoes with a lethal amount of butter and cheese. Yum.
And I finally succeeded in worming information out of boss: he's not going to Istanbul (YAYYYYY!) but seems to have a decent chance at becoming the next ambassador to Estonia or Latvia -- not the most interesting of postings, but certainly way better than Istanbul. And he won't leave before next summer. Squeeeee!
