Miscommunication: Part 148

One of the subtle but constant difficulties of living in a country without truly fluent English speakers is the misunderstandings or uncertainties that arise from using English. Last Wednesday I found out that the Bashkia (city hall) was going to Macedonia for the weekend. I was invited and it was going to cost me nothing, nada, zilch.

I said I wanted to go. I got permission from PC office. Thursday comes and I am talking with my counterpart about the price. We go to check with the finance lady to see if the trip was in fact free for me. The finance lady didn’t know. The head finance lady was out sick. The mayor was gone. No problem, we would get to the bottom of this Friday morning before the bus left at 10:00. Along the way my supervisor got involved in the discussion as well. The whole thing became a bit of production.

After work on Thursday, I decided that I wanted to stay in Berat and spend some getting settled into my new house. Going to Macedonia would have been a good bonding experience but I just wasn’t up to it. I hadn’t stayed in Berat for weeks.

Thursday evening I sent a text message to Emiljano, my supervisor, telling him not to bother people about whether I had to pay. I was going to stay in town. Problem solved.
Or so I thought. I got to work and found out Mirela, my counterpart, was upstairs talking to the mayor and the finance lady. Noooo. I dart up the stairs only to find Mirela coming down. But wait, the mayor was out. She hadn’t talked to him yet. Whew. I told Mirela that I didn’t want to go, even if it was free (I had told her that if I had to pay $90 I wouldn’t go). It was no problem. I wanted to stay in Berat. Problem solved.

An hour later, I am walking with Katie and Ryan and my phone rang. Mirela had talked to the mayor and the vice-mayor. They agreed that I should be able to go for free. I said I didn’t want to come. She told me, “Yes, James you must come.” Argh. She had gone out on a limb for me. It would be rude for me not to go. It was a free trip to Macedonia I should’ve been happy. Ah the joys of miscommunication. I relented and went home to quickly pack my bag.
I returned to the Bashkia to scan and send the permission form to PC office. At this point everybody is ready and getting settled in the bus. I knew that I was not going to enjoy the trip. I told them that I couldn’t get the internet to work, which is partly true. The power went out for a minute or two so I thought I wouldn’t be able to send the form. Therefore I couldn’t go out of the country without permission. Finally problem solved.