a week of grrrr

Somethings are much easier here. When I needed to be tested for Hepatitis, I just went to a "diagnoza" office and got tested [totally ridiculous to blog about, but trying to give a urine sample with a squatty when the electricity goes out and you can't see what you're doing is...an experience. hooray for soap]. When 5 extra people show up for a quick lunch, I just walked 2 minutes to buy extra bread. When I go on little outings with friends, we just pick up a little can of meat spread and a loaf of bread on our way. When I want to go on a visit, 9 times out of 10 people are home or close by and it works out. If I'm asked to sleep over on a visit, the family just pulls out an extra bed mat and it's cake. When I want to go pretty much anywhere in Kosova, I can bike, get a bus, or more-or-less hitchhike my way there. When I want to take the youth to a picnic spot close by, I can call a van driver the night before and it's simple as pie. When I wanted to buy a bike, I pointed to a used bike frame from Switzerland, asked them to add a kickstand, a seat, handlebars, a light, and a lock, and the thing was ready within an hour. The list goes on and on.

Other stuff, however, is RIDICULOUSLY time-consuming and difficult. Just a sampling from this week:

1. I ordered 85 hamburger buns from the corner bakery. I've done this a couple of times, and it's always been a 2-minute endeavor. This time, I had to draw the thing out, talk with 3 new bakery gals...and the buns we were given were the size of golf balls. I took them back, and 2 gallant colleagues went on a bun search at 8am for who knows how long.
2. I was looking for hamburgers with another patient colleague. We went to 4 different grocery stores and spent an hour and a half looking - for burgers that we've bought several other times. This should have been a 15-minute trip.
3. About 15 people who had signed up did not show up for the outing. It was still a blast, but I was frustrated thinking about others who probably would've come if there had been slots on the sign-up.
4. I was trying to find bus rental price estimates. Rather than the dudes just giving me/us info over the phone, I had to go to their office and then the other peeps came to us. Instead of being a 15-minute ordeal, it took about 2 1/2 hours.
5. I and someone else were to meet someone at 7.15-7.30am for a cost-estimate for a project. It was a very busy day, and it was clearly communicated that this was the only time we had - and the man we were to meet is currently unemployed. Just getting the time set took an hour and a half's worth of phone calls, pre-meetings, and face-to-face conversations. He didn't show up. Now what am I to do?
6. I met a young person (half hour late), and we met with a city official about a service project at a local elementary school. This was after several days of going to the same office and being told to come back half an hour later or the next day because the dude wasn't in. We were then ushered down the hall to 2 different people, and then sent to the school director. The school director was quite unfriendly and unhelpful (probably stressed or proud or something - but it was a bit frustrating...after all, we're the ones doing the project...shouldn't he be excited and helpful and accommodating rather than acting like he's the one doing us the favor??). I then met 2 times with a painter to get information - which was not particularly helpful. I then met with a vice director, a colleague, a national, and I'm downright tired of this whole thing.
7. My Internet has been touch and go for well over a month. The Internet provider dude has come and tried tweaking my computer about 8 times now...which meant waiting, being home, calling, setting up meeting times, etc. A colleague fixed the problem in about 10 minutes.
8. The electricity and water at my apartment has been lousy for several weeks. Sometimes we're on a 3 with/3 without schedule. Sometimes we're on a 4 with/1 without schedule. And sometimes (pretty often, really) we're on a 1 with/5 without schedule.

Eh - I guess I'll adjust and learn to do things more wisely next time. I do realize that I could've done things differently. SO often I feel like I'm learning by trial and error - lots of trials and even more errors. And, to be perfectly honest, it's tiring.