| April 20 - Posle | ||||
| Posle - one of the most interesting words in the Macedonian language. It means �later�, or �after�. The translation isn�t so interesting in and of itself. I enjoy this word more and more as I fulfill my service here because it is indicative of so much in Macedonian culture. It seems to indicate that there will always be more time to do something, and if there�s not, hey, it wasn�t that important in the first place. For example, you may find yourself a few denari short at the market. The shopkeeper will most certainly tell you to pay him posle. He may take out a handwritten debt log and note your name, or he might just smile at you and wave his hand for you to take your purchases. But posle will most definitely be in there somewhere. You may attend a meeting, where the objectives themselves that the meeting was called to discuss are brought up, mulled over, and then dismissed for the time being with a coffee and a posle. You may be at a bus station and inquire as to when a bus to a certain destination will be arriving, and be told, posle. You may have children banging on your door to ask if you would like to come outside with them, and posle would be an entirely acceptable and understandable answer for you to give them. I have even heard of someone getting stopped by the police for speeding, and when the man replied that he was in a hurry, the police acknowledged this with a posle, and waved him on! If you ask your landlord to inquire about your phone bill, because of course, being a resident alien it must be in your landlord�s name, and they might tell you the machine that prints the bills is broken, and when will it be fixed? You guessed it...posle. Sometimes it amuses me, sometimes it frustrates me, sometimes it just downright ticks me off. But there is no denying it - posle can come in handy sometimes. |
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