switched language lessons to morning, at my house. this seems to remedy the inconvenience of meeting in the middle of the day and the noise problem of meeting at NA—all in one fell swoop. at the end of it, tijana told me about her previous student, an Angolan girl, who had nearly driven her (tijana) to defenestration. apparently the girl could not for the life of her comprehend the singular/plural distinction: obviously a problem of mathematics rather than linguistics (oh, gottlieb, my gottlieb)....

during the afternoon, after arriving at NA, pouring myself an entire glass of vinegar and taking a thirsty gulp, i worked hard at further solidifying myself as the Bane of E's Existence. actually, this took no effort whatsoever. the fact that i can understand him is for him a momentary relief—and then a consternation of untold magnitude. this, of course, mostly because combined with my being able to understand and speak to him understandably (he would not say "reasonably"), in equal measure, is my absolute unwillingness to tolerate any of the malarky that has gone unchecked for who knows how long, swept under the carpet of language barriers. his scorn clearly stems from being unable to communicate, but it also functions as a crutch which actually makes understanding something undesirable. for example: if he can't understand (at least "officially," beggingly) directions, then he is not obligated to follow them. (there are all sorts of first-principles about society and language—its almost contractual nature and why it has been, historically, so very important to define society linguistically—functioning microcosmically here.) in the end, because of the state of affairs that has accrued for these months, even with our ostensibly shared language, i get through to E about as much as the others—and have the battle scars to prove it. i'm not sure about my inclination (to hold the lashing-out hands and not let go until they are no longer lashing), whether it's kosher these days (in pedagogical circles)—besides the fact that it's somewhat dangerous.

in any case, directly following this little show of force, we were in the kitchen, where E was having a snack after everyone had already finished (because he was, shall we say, previously occupied). he asked me if i knew what Jesus said and i replied with a question about when. "if someone hits me on the left cheek, i have to let him hit me on the right," says E. oh, the brilliant interplay of dubious hermeneutics, stream-of-consciousness psychotherapy, and sheer diverted guilt....

met askanije, aka aki (as in the "aaaaaaaaakiiii!" uttered while jumping into his arms), the other assistant teacher. he's a theology/psychology student, finishing his fakultet while working at NA.

at the end of the day, i have blisters on my fingers from my newly-instituted and highly-supported-by-small-and-willing-workers pencil sharpening campaign.

i was quite tired after work. managed to stop downtown for a while to get online, but headed straight home afterwards. was just reading in my room, following the fantastic display of fireworks over the Sava river (northeast of here) and so *visible* from this height (almost as if we were looking down upon them), when daniela knocked and said there was someone here to meet me. i quickly shuffled through my brain as to the usual suspects of showing-uppage, then the ones that could possibly be in the area. thus, arrived at the conclusion that it must be someone i don't know. turned out that the neighbors were having a party and samuel, the son of maggie (woman next door), had somehow dredged up some americans to bring. they're from montana, looking to move here for some sort of mission work. can't place it, exactly, but had this profoundly bad feeling about the whole situation. perhaps it was only related to the fact that i was being associated with them on purely arbitrary terms; that never goes very far with me, especially when the categories are "american" and "unspecified christian." it's the fact that, because those with whom i'm immediately being lumped are (by circumstantial definition: i'm being *introduced* to them) unknown to me, i have no grounds for actually discussing these categories with the specificity that is, i believe, necessary—but often comes across as brutal. instead, we talk in generalities as though we understand each other perfectly, and i'm left feeling bound and gagged (primarily the latter).