Crowds in the city for springtime. Striking contrast to last weekend, when it was empty -- perhaps because of the protests in another city. Which might seem to indicate that there will be large numbers in the capital next weekend. For some reason, going from city to city here seems easier than in the eastern (Western) Balkans. Just as easy, I suppose, but travelling from the capital there to one of the larger cities in the north is an endeavour, not the work of a morning. Perhaps because of the mountains -- and the cultural lines they created. Local press reports here suggest that the legislature will be in session considering the situation of the political entity to the west. I suppose the genius t'ai chi move would be for a government of national unity to be declared with some sort of alliance, with the ruling party stepping aside, thrilling the hundreds of thousands in the capital who have been on spiritual exercises of political/(ethnic?) unity for the last five months. Ides of March reversed. On the other hand, this is not a part of the world known for adroit acts of political t'ai chi. More the чай tea.
#amateurspeculation #tourist #ridiculouslyuninformed
(It's asserted that the diacritical alphabet here is the only major alphabet in which every sound is associated with its own unique character, and is unique to that character. Which would seem to singularly serve the essential purpose of the diacritical alphabet -- the translation point between alphabets.)
The constitution here explicitly recognizes the governing ethnicity, I think, one of the few in the world to do that, while simultaneously guaranteeing other ethnicities full rights. The national church is a key situs of that identity, which explains the sometimes contradictory politics in the port nation to the southwest. So the entity's situation, which squarely evokes the great historical conflicts of the region, in the local context, is less a distraction with foreign wars than an assertion of endogenous strength. Again, just an ill-informed tourist wiseacring.
Will be heading back to Transylvania after the Lent here, for fifty days in the highlands of Galilee. The mountains to the south were a strong allure, but in addition to keeping connected to the European culture, it seemed ill-advised to stay in a remote mountain village in a country with historical difficulties vis a vis law and order, where a sudden absence wouldn't be necessarily be marked by those immediately around me. In V, in one of Pynchon's anecdotes about the wandering British fellow in the Levant, the protagonist wonders how many more of these pools of city light he would be allowed -- it's important to take the high road, especially given the brigand nature of the times. Safety, light, and work -- and as much mountain air as possible.