Emotions and government

It's been an emotional week. Last Monday I was surrounded by people deeply worried by their current political situation spouting gloom and doom, making plans of escape, saying the country would regress to the 90s, etc. Then colleagues at another school said I shouldn't worry at all, everything would be fine, I'd see. No need to be down. I find out that my grandfather died somewhat unexpectedly Friday morning and that getting home for the funeral is completely out of the question. Meanwhile Serbia wins Eurovision Saturday night (the birthday party I was at frankly was a bit lame until the final results since most people were just sitting and watching it), Marija Šerifović does have a fantastic voice so that's a great thing. Sunday sees Nikolić stepping down as the Parliament speaker, a new government being formed that's much more to the liking of the people I spend my time with. My students say this Monday that they really weren't worried, they were just worried for my sake. And, of course, the only reason I was worried was because everyone else seemed to be.

Now, anyone who says that the government waited until the last minute to form is exaggerating. They had a whole half hour left before the deadline. I mean, come on, they could have put it off a bit longer. Although 11:30 p.m. on a Tuesday isn't a bad time to make a government if you like that kind of thing. Interestingly enough, during the live broadcast when it's recess time they totally cut the sound. This, perhaps unfortunately, lets silly people like me do running commentary about these political figures that I know actually very little about. Think Mystery Science Theater. Ivan thought it was funny at least. But anything is possible in Serbia. Which is why I'm still here. I love absurdism and it most definitely thrives here in a very rich and developed way.