This week I was struck down with the flu. Everyone in my office has had it, and so I guess it was my turn. On Monday I wasn’t feeling well, but I thought I hadn’t had enough to eat and that it was time to change my contact lenses. Tuesday, my boss told me I didn’t look well and told me to go home. When I finally finished what I was working on, I left around 3pm. I admit that on Wednesday I shouldn’t have gone to work, but for some reason I was determined and I left three hours later. On Thursday I didn’t even attempt. When the alarm went off I tried to stand up and fell back down into bed. Being sick is never fun, but being sick in Montenegro, alone on Thanksgiving in an apartment that is neither well insulated nor well heated is awful. Luckily I slept most of the day. So, Thanksgiving 2005 passed unoticed for this Amerikanka. My family called to wish me well. Hopefully next year there will be turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie aplenty. Yesterday I couldn’t really eat.

Something else that I have been giving a fair amount of thought to is the lack of proper heating in most buildings (my apartment and office included). It snowed here briefly on Wednesday and though the flakes didn’t stick, the mountains are covered and the roads might soon be blocked. Technically, winter is still a month away. As I write this, I am wearing wool tights, sweat pants, three shirts, a sweatshirt, and scarf; not to mention the blanket wrapped around my legs and the heaters going full blast. If I am cold in my nice apartment that has a space heater in every room, what about people who live in decrepit structures that have little or no insulation in the mountains? I also heard that the electricity company is planning on hiking up the rates this winter and that there might be electricity rationing. It is going to be a long cold winter.