pertej vetes

A very happy event to report today. I happened to have, in one of my seminars a leading poetess Vjollca Dibra who presented me with one of her books of poetry, she said as a thank you for the work I had done. It is of course in Albanian and I would like to be able to at least understand one of the poems. But I was really touched by the gesture. I naturally gave her one of my books after this, the one on taking opportunities in life. I find the Kosovars I work with amazing people. A driver picks you up to take you somewhere and you discover that he is studying for a masters degree in Business Administration. Or someone like Vjollca (pronounced Yoltsa) who works in procurement and has had three books of poetry published in the Balkans. And apparently won many awards too. I must make a bigger effort to find out what people really do in life rather than what the limited badge of ‘xyz’ job says they are. We make many of our judgements based on the work people do when so often this is such a misleading reflection of what really makes them tick.

The talk in Kosovo is about the suspension of status determination for Kosovo itself. I find this ridiculous. Everyone knows what is going to happen and all that is being done is to enflame local ethnic Albanian ire. I am convinced that the majority of Serbs in Serbia just want to move on and it is the Serb politicians who are trying to make capital out of the possibility of an element of control over Kosovo. There was a referendum on a new constitution in Serbia that was approved by a majority and a clause that saw Kosovo as an intrinsic part of Serbia was included. But this clause was one of a number and I am sure many people will vote for a constitution in which they agreed with most of the elements in it even if they were indifferent to one of them (the Kosovo point). So again we have politicians distorting realities for their own political ends. Time to move on everyone.

Today was one of those days that no matter what I tried to do I just could not get going. So my gripe is just about the occasional feelings of powerlessness I get over my own emotions. The following day is usually the opposite – top of the world. We shall see.

In the evening an early dinner with my friend Arlind.

Song of the day: The Mazzy Star album is the only thing I am listening too. But perhaps it does account for my rather melancholic mood.