Busy 59th St. with Time & Warner buildings in the background
Anyone ready for a ride in Central Park?
Just as relaxing a few minutes of sun bathing at the base of the statue at Grand Army Plaza, right at the entrance of the park.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
New York, New York.....
It's midday in midtown Manhattan. While waiting for the bus I need to take to reach my destination, I'm observing the huge traffic, and have a chat with a couple of tourists from Norway. Meantime, I'm rediscovering this city: the sun is hot, the vehicular movement noisy, and the number of sightseers incredible!
Busy 59th St. with Time & Warner buildings in the background
Anyone ready for a ride in Central Park?
Just as relaxing a few minutes of sun bathing at the base of the statue at Grand Army Plaza, right at the entrance of the park.
Busy 59th St. with Time & Warner buildings in the backgroundAnyone ready for a ride in Central Park?Just as relaxing a few minutes of sun bathing at the base of the statue at Grand Army Plaza, right at the entrance of the park.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Tirana - New York
As I was leaving my apartment in Tirana it started to rain again. As much as I hate carrying additional stuff I decided that an umbrella was a must if I didn’t want to get soaked to the bone, a condition that could not be afforded with a 16 hour trip ahead. The half hour car ride to Rinas (“Mother Theresa”) airport was uneventful, with my usual, careful driver skillfully avoiding the many huge potholes in certain areas that turn into small lakes when it rains.
At the airport I found new pleasant surprises.....
First of all, there is no longer an exit fee, I was informed with a smile. From the new monitor displaying the departure schedule, I can see that in the space of 3 hours there will be over 10 flights to a variety of destinations that I never expected to see.
Austrian Airlines was, as expected, very efficient and prompt for the checking process, with a fully functioning computerized system. The security screening as an outgoing passenger, for the first time, was up to par with the rest of the other world airports: thoroughly and efficiently carried out. Inside the departure area, there are now 3 main gates, a larger number of shops, fully stacked with souvenirs, duty free items, newspapers from all over the world, and a wonderful collection of books, especially about and on Albania, including dictionaries, and language learning courses with cds. The bar was doing a booming business and was also equipped to sell a variety of sandwiches. It was a pleasure to see all these new activities, which include also the ongoing construction of a huge, modern style new terminal right next door to the present building.
The rain magically stopped when I boarded the bus that would take me to the plane, but I noticed that the airline I was taking even had a “covered” staircase!
The Tirana-Vienna leg of the trip is short and food is served only if purchased on board (this is apparently a standard in continental flights). The connection in Vienna for NY was as easy as the one which I experienced in reverse when I went to Tirana. The distance between the transit gates was very short, the checking in for the transatlantic flight extremely efficient, and the departure pretty much on time. The 10 minutes delay was caused by the need to fix a malfunctioning overhead bin, which was promptly handled.
While this was going on and I was watching the seemingly never ending care with which the stewards were accommodating passengers, I again had an extraordinary experience.
I was sitting on an aisle (in a 2 seats row) and the fellow passenger of my left was just as stocky and wide shouldered person as I am. I was resigned to spent the next 10 hours squeezing myself in the space that these days have shrunk on all long distance carriers of 767 type of aircrafts…..when a watchful steward offered me to move a couple of rows back where the 2 seats there had become available. I was extremely pleased to accept such a stroke of luck, especially since I had not asked for anything!
The food on this leg of the flight was of top quality and delicious, and the service on board never stopped! Austrain Airlines gets a A+ from me, and I’ll certainly fly them again whenever possible. Meantime, would you believe that the rain followed me all the way to NY?
At the airport I found new pleasant surprises.....
First of all, there is no longer an exit fee, I was informed with a smile. From the new monitor displaying the departure schedule, I can see that in the space of 3 hours there will be over 10 flights to a variety of destinations that I never expected to see.
Austrian Airlines was, as expected, very efficient and prompt for the checking process, with a fully functioning computerized system. The security screening as an outgoing passenger, for the first time, was up to par with the rest of the other world airports: thoroughly and efficiently carried out. Inside the departure area, there are now 3 main gates, a larger number of shops, fully stacked with souvenirs, duty free items, newspapers from all over the world, and a wonderful collection of books, especially about and on Albania, including dictionaries, and language learning courses with cds. The bar was doing a booming business and was also equipped to sell a variety of sandwiches. It was a pleasure to see all these new activities, which include also the ongoing construction of a huge, modern style new terminal right next door to the present building.
The rain magically stopped when I boarded the bus that would take me to the plane, but I noticed that the airline I was taking even had a “covered” staircase!
The Tirana-Vienna leg of the trip is short and food is served only if purchased on board (this is apparently a standard in continental flights). The connection in Vienna for NY was as easy as the one which I experienced in reverse when I went to Tirana. The distance between the transit gates was very short, the checking in for the transatlantic flight extremely efficient, and the departure pretty much on time. The 10 minutes delay was caused by the need to fix a malfunctioning overhead bin, which was promptly handled.
While this was going on and I was watching the seemingly never ending care with which the stewards were accommodating passengers, I again had an extraordinary experience.
I was sitting on an aisle (in a 2 seats row) and the fellow passenger of my left was just as stocky and wide shouldered person as I am. I was resigned to spent the next 10 hours squeezing myself in the space that these days have shrunk on all long distance carriers of 767 type of aircrafts…..when a watchful steward offered me to move a couple of rows back where the 2 seats there had become available. I was extremely pleased to accept such a stroke of luck, especially since I had not asked for anything!
The food on this leg of the flight was of top quality and delicious, and the service on board never stopped! Austrain Airlines gets a A+ from me, and I’ll certainly fly them again whenever possible. Meantime, would you believe that the rain followed me all the way to NY?
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Goodbyes
I hate goodbyes and I should be used to them by now, after so many travels abroad, but it's always a sad time for me when I have to leave friends and relatives to hop onto another plane.
For two days now I've received email from the US, Italy, and Albania wishing me a trouble free and safe return to NY. Some of the Tirana friends have squeezed in brief visits at all hours, and now I am ready to move on. They surely enjoy a good conversation, and so do I. For me it's also a continuous learning experience talking with them.
The weather has changed drastically in the past two days with temperature dipping in the teens (C.) and outburst of rain especially at night. Right now, as I am writing, the sky has darkened, and thunder sounds really menacing....I better close this session, otherwise I might loose the connection!
For two days now I've received email from the US, Italy, and Albania wishing me a trouble free and safe return to NY. Some of the Tirana friends have squeezed in brief visits at all hours, and now I am ready to move on. They surely enjoy a good conversation, and so do I. For me it's also a continuous learning experience talking with them.
The weather has changed drastically in the past two days with temperature dipping in the teens (C.) and outburst of rain especially at night. Right now, as I am writing, the sky has darkened, and thunder sounds really menacing....I better close this session, otherwise I might loose the connection!
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Wasteful time....
My stay is Tirana is winding down, and, as usual, the last few days here are always hectic.
All the things that were postponed because .... “oh, there is plenty of time ahead”, as they say here, must be crunched in at the last minute. I am much happier planning ahead, and I always try, although I know that is not always possible to do so here. I am forced to wing it to adapt to this trend of life, but the results frustrate me because I don’t accomplish as much as I want, and I am used to otherwise.
This afternoon I had booked an appointment for a hair cut, and I had the full attention of the hairdresser that gave me also an invigorating head massage while washing my hair. It was an unexpected, but welcome treatment that totally relaxed me, and I certainly needed it. This soothing time was briefly interrupted by two different appearances of other customers, who just dropped in and were expecting to be taken care of immediately. The owner of the shop calmly refused and after they made their exits, she felt obliged to explain, with a smile, that was not unusual here because most people do not make appointments ahead of time.
All the things that were postponed because .... “oh, there is plenty of time ahead”, as they say here, must be crunched in at the last minute. I am much happier planning ahead, and I always try, although I know that is not always possible to do so here. I am forced to wing it to adapt to this trend of life, but the results frustrate me because I don’t accomplish as much as I want, and I am used to otherwise.
This afternoon I had booked an appointment for a hair cut, and I had the full attention of the hairdresser that gave me also an invigorating head massage while washing my hair. It was an unexpected, but welcome treatment that totally relaxed me, and I certainly needed it. This soothing time was briefly interrupted by two different appearances of other customers, who just dropped in and were expecting to be taken care of immediately. The owner of the shop calmly refused and after they made their exits, she felt obliged to explain, with a smile, that was not unusual here because most people do not make appointments ahead of time.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
A refreshing view from a friend's balcony
The Palace of Congress in the background and the President's office on the right
Baffling processes
Spoiled by the American system that I’ve dealt with for over half a century, I always experience frustrating processes in dealing, for one reason or another, with state or governmental offices in Europe.
In Italy, just in the past 3 years, I had to do summersaults and run around a lot from office to office to obtain documents or clarifications about procedures relating to the settling of an estate, payment of taxes, dealing with utility companies, etc. ….and I didn’t have a problem expressing myself since I speak the language fluently! Albania, not officially part of Europe yet, is no exception. In both countries it’s not possible to get precise information by telephone, ahead of time, so that what’s needed can be prepared and then presented for action where appropriate. One has to find out in person and being “ping ponged” from one place to another in the process. The procedures are convoluted (work simplification is unheard of!), the paperwork unnecessarily complex (forms design at times illogical!), and the staff interaction mostly unsatisfactory (inadequate training and laissez-faire in general!). Feeling powerless, the public yields to these situations and instead of fighting them, when and where it can, looks for more devious ways to offset these inadequacies in order to obtain the needed results; thus sustaining a corrupted way of life that tends to perpetuate and expand itself.
This week, in Tirana, I witnessed what a local has to endure in order to obtain the renewal of a passport. While in the first police district office I was impressed to find a modern numbering system to serve the large crowd, and the form filling was rather expeditious, the situation was quite different at Police headquarters (across town), where one has to go a couple of weeks later to pick up the new document. Six various teller windows, opened only for 1 ½ hour every afternoon, were completely mobbed by the waiting public, six lines deep, screaming and trying to juggle their way to be able to talk to the staff that, undeterred, kept on yelling out names of the fortunate ones whose passport was ready. The interchange was incredibly noisy and chaotic. Many were disappointedly turned away and required to come back with additional documentation the next morning to talk to a ”chief” about how to speed the process. A couple of people I talked to while watching all this happening sadly informed me that they had already spent four days going through this repetitive mode of operation.
The following morning the chief, supposedly available for one hour, appeared at the window 40 minutes late. Realizing that the large crowd couldn’t be accommodated within the time limit, asked a police woman to just jot down the names of those who came and retrieve the additional required documentation. The afternoon process of checking whether the passport was finally available was an exact duplicate experience of the day before. And so life goes on…..
In Italy, just in the past 3 years, I had to do summersaults and run around a lot from office to office to obtain documents or clarifications about procedures relating to the settling of an estate, payment of taxes, dealing with utility companies, etc. ….and I didn’t have a problem expressing myself since I speak the language fluently! Albania, not officially part of Europe yet, is no exception. In both countries it’s not possible to get precise information by telephone, ahead of time, so that what’s needed can be prepared and then presented for action where appropriate. One has to find out in person and being “ping ponged” from one place to another in the process. The procedures are convoluted (work simplification is unheard of!), the paperwork unnecessarily complex (forms design at times illogical!), and the staff interaction mostly unsatisfactory (inadequate training and laissez-faire in general!). Feeling powerless, the public yields to these situations and instead of fighting them, when and where it can, looks for more devious ways to offset these inadequacies in order to obtain the needed results; thus sustaining a corrupted way of life that tends to perpetuate and expand itself.
This week, in Tirana, I witnessed what a local has to endure in order to obtain the renewal of a passport. While in the first police district office I was impressed to find a modern numbering system to serve the large crowd, and the form filling was rather expeditious, the situation was quite different at Police headquarters (across town), where one has to go a couple of weeks later to pick up the new document. Six various teller windows, opened only for 1 ½ hour every afternoon, were completely mobbed by the waiting public, six lines deep, screaming and trying to juggle their way to be able to talk to the staff that, undeterred, kept on yelling out names of the fortunate ones whose passport was ready. The interchange was incredibly noisy and chaotic. Many were disappointedly turned away and required to come back with additional documentation the next morning to talk to a ”chief” about how to speed the process. A couple of people I talked to while watching all this happening sadly informed me that they had already spent four days going through this repetitive mode of operation.
The following morning the chief, supposedly available for one hour, appeared at the window 40 minutes late. Realizing that the large crowd couldn’t be accommodated within the time limit, asked a police woman to just jot down the names of those who came and retrieve the additional required documentation. The afternoon process of checking whether the passport was finally available was an exact duplicate experience of the day before. And so life goes on…..
Monday, May 22, 2006
Scenes of Albanian life in Tirana
In this capital the new modern structural (steel and glass) high raisers of this millennium are mixed in with a variety of old brick buildings, dating back to almost one hundred years ago. Some are originally Albanian (low 1-2 story) single family homes, while others (with 3-4 stories) were built by the Italians before and during their occupation during WWII (late 1930’s - mid 1940’s), followed by the ones during the Russians (1950-60’s), and Chinese (1965-70’s) influences that conditioned the country at the end of the war. This is the situation in many parts of the city, and also in the very center of it. The once private backyards (with grape vines and mandarin trees) are disappearing and living conditions are now crowded everywhere. Few are the remaining 2 story villas of the old fashioned wealthy families, which are now being renovated and can maintain a private garden area around.
Notwithstanding the clusters of assorted constructions and the incredible congestion of vehicular traffic that permeates the city, one can find astonishing quiet in their own quarters. Away from the main boulevards (4-6 lane wide), the movement of cars in the narrow passage ways in between the buildings has to proceed at a snail pace, parking spots are continually negotiated and inventively created, with the humble pedestrians carefully trying not only to avoid the traffic, but to find a few inches where to squeezing their way through. At night, even with open windows, there is complete silence in my apartment, with not a sound to be heard.
Due to closeness of the buildings, however, during the day, when the shutters are rolled up, I cannot help but observe how life in this city is lived. From the glass enclosed balcony of mine, just sitting down at my desk, I can see women appear and disappear often on their open balconies to hang and reposition their laundry, as it dries. They even talk to each other across the way, and some of them lovingly attend to their planted pots that display a variety of flowers.
As I got up this morning and opened my bedroom window I could see a city sanitation truck quietly picking up the garbage that accumulates fast in the open bins that are strategically positioned in the midst of the buildings. The system is the same as the one in Italy, where the metal bins are called “cassonetti”, but the trucks I see here are not specifically built for such a task. They are regular open vans and the men have no choice but to use bare hands and shovels to collect the stuff and throw it on top of the truck. They work in pairs and one of them, from time to time, walks on top of the collected pile to ‘compact it’ with his feet….
Here I never hear the noise produced when the trucks come rolling by for similar collections such as in NY or in Italy, but I do know that these rounds are faithfully made every 2 days. I also see quite often men and women wearing blue or orange uniforms carrying a sack and a picker and broom; they roam around and sweep away and collect paper or trash discarded in the streets. Such are some facets of Albanian life in Tirana these days.
Notwithstanding the clusters of assorted constructions and the incredible congestion of vehicular traffic that permeates the city, one can find astonishing quiet in their own quarters. Away from the main boulevards (4-6 lane wide), the movement of cars in the narrow passage ways in between the buildings has to proceed at a snail pace, parking spots are continually negotiated and inventively created, with the humble pedestrians carefully trying not only to avoid the traffic, but to find a few inches where to squeezing their way through. At night, even with open windows, there is complete silence in my apartment, with not a sound to be heard.
Due to closeness of the buildings, however, during the day, when the shutters are rolled up, I cannot help but observe how life in this city is lived. From the glass enclosed balcony of mine, just sitting down at my desk, I can see women appear and disappear often on their open balconies to hang and reposition their laundry, as it dries. They even talk to each other across the way, and some of them lovingly attend to their planted pots that display a variety of flowers.
As I got up this morning and opened my bedroom window I could see a city sanitation truck quietly picking up the garbage that accumulates fast in the open bins that are strategically positioned in the midst of the buildings. The system is the same as the one in Italy, where the metal bins are called “cassonetti”, but the trucks I see here are not specifically built for such a task. They are regular open vans and the men have no choice but to use bare hands and shovels to collect the stuff and throw it on top of the truck. They work in pairs and one of them, from time to time, walks on top of the collected pile to ‘compact it’ with his feet….
Here I never hear the noise produced when the trucks come rolling by for similar collections such as in NY or in Italy, but I do know that these rounds are faithfully made every 2 days. I also see quite often men and women wearing blue or orange uniforms carrying a sack and a picker and broom; they roam around and sweep away and collect paper or trash discarded in the streets. Such are some facets of Albanian life in Tirana these days.
Agonizing efforts
Can you imagine having to work with a 45 Kbps dial up connection? This is unfortunately what I have to deal, and put up with while in Tirana. The service that I use while here is one of several available, but I can vouch that it’s a real pain to have this type of connection with Internet (how did we ever live with 28K modems only a few years ago?).
Any click, or command, takes forever to respond; what can one do, but stare at the ceiling meanwhile? When I dared mention my frustration to either other users or even the manager of the providing server I was calmly told that this is what they are supplied with here and they just resign themselves to it! Even all the state offices, which now do try to use email in their daily routines, have the same type of service. Only exception may be some special high-speed lines used only by very large businesses, which can afford the related high costs.
Compared to last year, however, there is some improvement. Now, thanks goodness, there is at least electricity available to keep operating for many hours at a stretch, although it’s interesting to notice that the energy output (totally lacking last year for many - 8 to 10 - hours a day) is quite weak! A simple chore such hair drying takes much longer than we are used to in the States. The same goes for cooking with the stoves being electrically operated since there is no gas city wide distribution yet.
Going back to computing, based on my experience of this week, it’s no wonder that a lot of the software used here is unlicensed. The slow connections may not be the only excuse, but it’s certainly easier to just copy one master package rather than spend days to install software onto several machines.
This week I duly purchased online a noted antivirus package only to discover that I was unable to download it via Internet due to the slowness of the connection and the unforeseen, and frequent dropping of the phone line. It tried 3 times unsuccessfully (even in the middle of the night), and lost more than 4 hours in the process! The ISP provider kindly obliged me when I complained. I had, however, to move myself to their premises, where I finally got hold of my purchase, by using 2 different workstations there: one to download the software, and the second one to burn the CD I provided so that I could carry it at home.
However, my anguish was not over!! It took another 2 hours to install the package and update it, as routinely necessary, online, by downloading the latest additions and the virus definition file. Whew!
What it may take 15 minutes in the US to accomplish, here it took most of one day. Bottom line: how can anyone be efficiently working in such an environment? The locals are used to this slow pace, but for me these and similar undertakings are agonizing and exasperating experiences!
Any click, or command, takes forever to respond; what can one do, but stare at the ceiling meanwhile? When I dared mention my frustration to either other users or even the manager of the providing server I was calmly told that this is what they are supplied with here and they just resign themselves to it! Even all the state offices, which now do try to use email in their daily routines, have the same type of service. Only exception may be some special high-speed lines used only by very large businesses, which can afford the related high costs.
Compared to last year, however, there is some improvement. Now, thanks goodness, there is at least electricity available to keep operating for many hours at a stretch, although it’s interesting to notice that the energy output (totally lacking last year for many - 8 to 10 - hours a day) is quite weak! A simple chore such hair drying takes much longer than we are used to in the States. The same goes for cooking with the stoves being electrically operated since there is no gas city wide distribution yet.
Going back to computing, based on my experience of this week, it’s no wonder that a lot of the software used here is unlicensed. The slow connections may not be the only excuse, but it’s certainly easier to just copy one master package rather than spend days to install software onto several machines.
This week I duly purchased online a noted antivirus package only to discover that I was unable to download it via Internet due to the slowness of the connection and the unforeseen, and frequent dropping of the phone line. It tried 3 times unsuccessfully (even in the middle of the night), and lost more than 4 hours in the process! The ISP provider kindly obliged me when I complained. I had, however, to move myself to their premises, where I finally got hold of my purchase, by using 2 different workstations there: one to download the software, and the second one to burn the CD I provided so that I could carry it at home.
However, my anguish was not over!! It took another 2 hours to install the package and update it, as routinely necessary, online, by downloading the latest additions and the virus definition file. Whew!
What it may take 15 minutes in the US to accomplish, here it took most of one day. Bottom line: how can anyone be efficiently working in such an environment? The locals are used to this slow pace, but for me these and similar undertakings are agonizing and exasperating experiences!
Thursday, May 18, 2006
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