Front Matter - Part 05

There was no indication as to when the break would take place but I assumed it was taking place right then... I waited patiently. Finally the clerk raised the miniature glass on the counter. I bent down and, in a humble voice, said that I needed a receipt and that it was urgent.

She handed me a sheet of paper and said, "Fill out this form." I filled it out, returned it to her and waited.

A moment later she came close to the glass, gave me a piece of paper with a number on it and said, "Come back in a week." I was shocked when I heard her say that so I said, "Please, I need the receipt right away, they will sell my apartment if I don't have it by tomorrow morning!" I continued to plead with her in a humble worried voice.

"I told you to come back in a week!" she said resolutely cutting me off.

I tried hard to explain my situation repeatedly but my pleas didn't help. She moved away from the glass and paid no attention to me.

I paced up and down the corridor in despair. As luck would have it a good friend of mine came along, a man with a big soul. When he asked me what was wrong I told him about my hopeless situation.

"Don't let yourself get upset, I have a friend who will help you.

She'll know what to do. Don't worry about this clerk, she's hopeless..." After my friend said that he told me to wait there.

The man's friend arrived soon after he left.

The moment she arrived we greeted each other. She was a thin woman in her thirties, had long hair braided and twisted around her head. As soon as I explained to her what my situation was she said:

"Let's go and buy 100 grams of coffee." After I bought the coffee I gave it to her. She also took my piece of paper with the number the clerk had given me.

"Wait for me here," she said and walked towards the clerk's counter.

From where I stood I was able to hear what the woman was saying.

She didn't stop at the counter she entered the booth, gave the clerk the coffee and began to hug her. The clerk stood there confused.

I then heard the woman say, "My dear, it's been a long time since we've seen each other. Had I not been in America, I would have come to see you a lot sooner. I was in America with a folklore group for an entire year. But don't you worry I'm here now. Wow, you look great, how have you been? Wait, before I forget, a cousin of mine bought an apartment but got stuck with an appointment so she sent me here to see you. She needs a tax receipt from you urgently.

They will take her apartment if she doesn't produce it right now. I know you have hundreds of receipts to issue each day but please be a dear and issue this one for me now. Here is the number. I know you have a lot of work to do and everyone wants things fast." Unaware of who this woman was and being embarrassed to ask, the clerk immediately issued her the receipt. The woman took it, said goodbye to the clerk promising she would be back to see her again soon and ran across the street. I ran after her and got it from her. I thanked her wholeheartedly and left.

Sometime later I went straight to the Ohrid court. The receptionist told me that the vice president was still very busy and that she didn't know when my documents would be reviewed and be ready for certification. From the expression on her face and from the tone of her voice I sensed a bit of hostility, or maybe it was just me. In any case, I didn't like what she said and how she said it so I stormed right past her, intending to go and see the vice president immediately even though I knew he wasn't receiving people that day. I knew about that because I had previously inquired. I knew his name, how old he was and when he'd graduated from the Faculty of Law in Skopje. We weren't of the same generation, but we must have met sometime while attending university. And since I took a two year break from school, we graduated around the same time.

I quickly found his office. There was no secretary at the door. I listened and heard voices inside. I knocked on the door and walked in. He was sitting in the armchair behind his desk. I immediately addressed him with the words:

"Hello, colleague... I haven't seen you for a long time, maybe since our graduation... but you haven't changed a bit, I recognized you right away. I came here to visit you..." and after that I told him my name.

He got out of his chair and greeted me kindly. It wasn't clear to me whether he recognized me or not so I helped him out a bit. I said:

"We were students together at the Faculty of Law in Skopje, we were much younger then, but I remember you well." "Of course, I remember you," he said and took a shot glass out of the cupboard to pour me a whiskey, which he was already drinking with his two guests. His guests, who were apparently paying him a friendly visit, soon left but we continued our conversation about our university and subsequent days. All the while I tried to figure out if he really remembered me or not... but it didn't matter because I told him that I'd bought a small house and the problems I had experienced with the bureaucracy. Finally I told him the problems I was having here in this court. I said, "I filed my registration papers here in this court almost a month ago and I've heard nothing back." He looked at me strangely and wondered why the clerk hadn't delivered the documents to him yet. I told him that the woman who'd sold me the house lived in Belgrade and she too needed to be here for the certification but she couldn't stay here for more than one day because she worked in Belgrade. I asked him if he could give me a definite date as to when my documents would be signed and ready for pick up.

He seemed glad that he could help out a colleague and immediately offered that we should go and see the clerk. He asked her for the documents, scolding her for holding on to them for so long and not submitting them to him earlier.

She on the other hand, looked surprised that I had suddenly appeared, accompanied by the vice president, looking for my documents. But she didn't look worried.

"I must have misplaced them somewhere," she calmly said sounding like she had already prepared an excuse. Hearing her say that the Vice President got angry and said:

"What do you mean you misplaced them? Didn't this lady remind you many times, even today before she came to see me to give me the documents? Shouldn't you have found them by now?" But even now the clerk said she couldn't find them.

The vice president and I stood there waiting.

A moment later, with a tone of anger, she said, "I'll bring them to you when I find them!" "No, you will find them right now!" replied the vice president raising his voice.

At the same time the vice president sensed that something wasn't right, something dishonest was taking place.

We waited there staring at her. Seeing that she could no longer delay, she took the papers out of a filing cabinet and handed them to him. She was red in the face. The vice president then went over them on the spot and sternly said to me:

"We will have your documents signed and ready for pick up the day after tomorrow at 11 o'clock!" "But you know how many items I have to go over...," said the clerk trying again to delay the process.

"I know that, but these documents have been sitting here for an entire month..." he interrupted.

The vice president and I stepped out into the hallway.

He said, "Feel free to call and tell the woman from Belgrade to come. I'll be waiting for you the day after tomorrow at 11 o'clock in my office." He then cordially said goodbye. I thanked him and quickly left the building. I was happy... he wasn't in the net! "Let's pray that they don't catch him in it until the day after tomorrow!" I thought to myself.

I called Milena in Belgrade and made arrangements for her to come to Ohrid. She immediately accepted. Milena was a wonderful person.

The very next day, one day before the agreed date, she arrived by plane. She wanted to be in Ohrid that night so that we could be sure that we made it to the vice president's office on time. It was best that no one knew she was in Ohrid, at least not until the job with the papers was finished. No one, not even her best friends, knew she was here! She had lost trust in everyone.

The next day we were in the vice president's office at 11 o'clock sharp. He welcomed us warmly and didn't hide his pleasure in being able to help us.

After we had our coffee the three of us went to the clerk's office together. When the vice president asked the clerk for the documents, she rudely replied that they weren't ready yet. In an angry voice the vice president ordered her to finish the job now and told her that we weren't leaving this place until the job was done. He then asked some people in the next office to bring out three chairs and we sat down.

"Okay, the moment I'm done certifying the documents, I will call you. You can go now," said the clerk.

The vice president's face turned red. He didn't like the way she was treating him. The clerk had showed disrespect for his authority as her superior, especially in front of me and Milena, his guest from Belgrade.

"No, we will wait here!" he said in a threatening tone. "This lady here came all the way from Belgrade for these papers and she is scheduled to leave by plane very soon." The three of us sat there for ten minutes while the clerk prepared the documents. We then all signed them, as was required by law. We signed both the documents and the large book. The vice president then applied his seal on them.

Before we left the clerk said:

"The certified contract will be ready for you in a week." At that point the vice president stepped in and said to us, "Come back in an hour and pick up your papers." Then he addressed the clerk in a stern voice, "You prepare those papers now because the parties are coming back in an hour to pick them up in person. As I already told you, they don't live here and they need to go. I hope, you understand!" We said goodbye to the vice president and agreed to meet in his office in an hour.

An hour later we came back and were about to enter his office. The door was open. At that point the clerk, holding our papers in her hand, ran towards us. She looked angry as she handed them to us. I had the feeling she wanted to attack us physically. When I saw that the vice-president was alone in his office, I knocked and went inside. Milena followed. I immediately took out a bottle of whiskey from my bag and asked him for some glasses so that we could celebrate the final step of legalizing our "historic" agreement, for the purchase of that half-demolished sixty square metres house, built a hundred years ago!

When the vice president saw the bottle he said, "You didn't have to do that, I could have provided the drinks, I have my own bottle here."

"It's more proper if we treat you. What you did for us was no small matter," I said and Milena agreed.

He opened the bottle I gave him and we each had a drink. We then thanked him for his help and for being true to his word and we left.

We left this building where justice was rightly or wrongly served.

Where people were tried and lives were salvaged or ruined depending on whether they were judged justly or their legal rights were trampled. A building where human destinies were decided, sometimes absurdly... A building where people came to claim their rights ended up crying or rejoicing depending on the conscience of their judge. What kind of people should dispense justice? The answer to this question is complicated. For one, they should be fair and impartial... in a positive sense. Perhaps most of all they should be humane... much more than most! But how many of these judges fit that profile?!

When we left the building, Milena and I gave each other a big hug.

A great weight was lifted off our shoulders. We were finally free from the black spider and those in its web.

I was curious what Milena had said to our neighbours when they asked her why she was here now. Of course she usually came to Ohrid during the summer and surely the neighbours would be curious to know why she was here out of season. She, with all her natural humour and cheerful spirit, told them, "The plumber called me..." When we sat down to have our lunch in the nearest restaurant, Milena said:

"My dear friend, after you bought that house from me, everything we did, that was associated with it, was like a military operation the kind we carried out during the 1941 occupation. It was a mission against a secret organization of people no one knew. What kind of people were they? What did they look like? Was there some hidden evil that united them? Were they spirits that conspired to do evil?" "Please Milena let's not spoil this wonderful day. As you saw today there are also good people. If there were no such people, we wouldn't be here today," I replied.

"That's right. You are right. Cheers... " said Milena and we raised our glasses and toasted.

Later I accompanied her to the airport. I was sad because she wasn't here more often so we that could visit more frequently.

I was walking down the street feeling great. I was very happy. I felt like telling everyone that justice had won after all. But I kept quiet because I had no idea how many of them, my neighbours, my acquaintances, would share my happiness with me. I didn't believe it would be a big number. And why should they? Thousands of people built huge houses, whole palaces! I thought people would be jealous of me for having a house by the lake. And maybe they would. For me it was a miracle of beauty to have the lake day and night in front of me, next to me...

That lake was in me, in my soul, both in my dreams and when I was awake...

Finally I didn't have to worry about going to courts, attending trials, having my walls demolished, problems with my water system, drainage system and electricity. Many people of several generations had spent their vacations in that small house. In time even my grandchildren came for visits.

But... unfortunately we weren't immune to becoming sick. My husband wasn't well. He was sick for several years. No doctor or medication could help him.

.1 was left alone with our children and grandchildren for several years. It wasn't easy, and no one was able to change the situation or bring us back to where we had been...

Even though the plan in which our house was included allowed us the option of upgrading it to have two floors, we didn't have the money. With my husband sick we had only one salary that we could depend on. We had also taken out loans that needed to be repaid.

One day I went to town to buy some groceries for home and ran into a friend in the grocery store who knew about the problems I'd had in purchasing my house in Obrid.

He said, "Have you decided to upgrade your house or have you given up? I don't believe that you've given up," he said, answering his own question.

He then asked, "Have you found workers to do the job?" "There is no rush, we still have another six months to think about it and raise some money," I said.

"What another six months? Didn't you know that the Assembly changed the rules? According to the new rules you must start building within six months from the day the plan was approved, not twelve months as it was before, or you will loose your building permit. And as far as I remember your deadline to get started expires soon," he replied.

"Is that true? Are you joking or trying to scare me?!" I said and laughed.

"No, Violeta, I would never joke about something like that," he replied.

I gave up on buying groceries, left the store and got home as soon as I could. I almost forgot to say goodbye to my friend and thank him for the information. My hands were trembling as I opened my papers. He was right! It was happening to me again. But lucky for me I'd met the man before my permit expired! At the same time I was overwhelmed with a sense of hopelessness, just like before. It would be a shame if I had to start building again with borrowed money. But, on the other hand, I wasn't prepared for failure... to lose my ability to upgrade my house, considering how hard I'd had to fight to get this far.

About an hour later I was on my way to see my sister and her husband and ask for advice as to what to do. The construction workers who were building their weekend house hadn't yet left.

They were still working. They had already laid the first floor and were preparing to raise the columns for the second floor. Hundreds of houses had already been built in the Lagadin neighbourhood where my sister was building her weekend house. This was one of the most beautiful neighbourhoods in the immediate vicinity of the city.

From the moment my sister saw me she knew that I was worried about something so she immediately asked me what was wrong.

Soon my brother-in-law came over looking concerned. I told them what I had found out from my friend... The both looked worried.

I knew that they had barely enough money to cover their own construction costs, and they were looking forward to at least putting a roof on their building.

But my sister said, "Don't worry, we'll think of something. Too bad we didn't know about this earlier!" We had lunch and took the local bus to Ohrid. I couldn't believe that, after all the trouble I'd been through to get this far, I'd come so close to losing my right to upgrade my house. Now there was a danger that if I lost my right I would never be able to get it back again. I was stressed out. I went home feeling depressed and with that I went to asleep.

The next day I woke up very early in the morning with a severe headache. Even before I was completely awake, I heard a vehicle stop in front of my house. I looked out the window. Three people in work clothes got out of a white van. They looked like the workers who were building my sister's house. Immediately after that, my sister and brother-in-law got out of their car that had stopped behind the van.

"Violeta, open the door and make five cups of coffee," I heard my brother-in-law yell out loud.

I wasn't sure if I was awake or dreaming. But after they came into the house, I said:

"What's all this about?" "Don't ask too many questions. Your sister and I decided to loan you our workers for a while. Let them work here for now and then we'll see what happens. We can't allow your permit to expire. And here is some money to start with." He then put the money in my hand.

Tears filled my eyes. I hugged them both.

Soon a big truck arrived. It had been sent here by my brother-in-law to pick up the things that I had in my house so that construction could start immediately. My things had to be loaded onto the truck in the next couple of hours.

After we loaded everything onto the truck my sister said, "We'll take your stuff to Lagadin and store it in our garage," and then she got in her car and drove off, following the truck. My brother-in-law stayed behind to manage the workers. They started working immediately.

And this was how we started upgrading my house.

I couldn't believe it. It was a miracle... I got a loan from my sister and brother-in-law. Even though they were building their summer house in Lagadin and didn't have enough money for themselves, they gave me what they had to help me. On top of being a doctor, my brother-in-law was also a humane person. My sister too was humane and would give her soul to help anyone, let alone me. Even if we were twins we couldn't have been so close. My brother-in-law was overjoyed when I bought my, albeit small house. Next to it there was a big two-story house. Not too long ago it had been a boarding school. My brother-in-law and his older brother used to live there when they were students. My house served as a kitchen and storage area for the boarding school, where food products were stored and food was prepared for the students and staff. This was during the Second World War, Bulgarian fascist occupation.

My children went home, each having their own work responsibilities. I was just about to retire from my job. My household goods were loaded onto a big truck and moved to my sister's garage in Lagadin. The house was empty.

After the truck with my household goods left, curious to find out what had happened, my neighbours started asking questions. Some were wondering if I'd sold the house. Some couldn't understand why I'd fought so hard to buy this house and then could sell it just like that! Some wondered why I would abandon a house with a view of the lake... Some even came to my door to ask me personally...

I wanted to say, "Yes, I did sell my house," just to see their reaction, but of course now wasn't the time to do that. Nor did I tell them that I was upgrading it. Ijust said, "We'll be renovating it." A few days later the workers began to work on the roof, removing the new tiles for which I had paid a lot of money.

The workers also began digging the foundations for the columns that would hold the slabs for the upper floors. The concrete columns, according to the building code, had to be 55 cm thick and imbedded inside the existing walls.

I assumed that this plan had been drawn up by the same spiteful woman engineer employed by the construction service in Ohrid, about whom everyone complained. She was the same engineer who had done everything in her power to prevent us from getting our upgrade permit. She couldn't come to terms with the fact that the head of construction in the Municipality, in order to support his decision, had to call a commission of four other engineers from nearby towns to evaluate the possibility of the upgrade. The commission of course unanimously gave its support, which angered the engineer.

The woman engineer, who by the way had unusually black hair, was probably hoping that when we started our construction and tried to embed the concrete columns into the existing walls, the walls would fall down. But her wish didn't come true. The walls were more than fifty centimetres thick, and at the same time unusually strong, regardless of the kind of material which was used to build them a long time ago.

We first dug up the footings on which the concrete pillars would rest. Then we dug up the walls where the connecting beams would be placed.

I was told that we needed one more worker to continue the job. I was also told that I could find such a worker in the market in Ohrid where unemployed workers often came looking for work. I asked one of the older people I ran into if he knew any of the few workers standing around who could handle mixing plaster for long periods of time. I didn't ask him because I figured he was too old for that kind of work. The old man discreetly pointed at one particular person by moving his head so that the others wouldn't notice. I told the man what I needed from him and he immediately followed me. He told me that his name was Boris. On the way to my house we negotiated the amount I was going to pay him per day and he immediately began to work, the moment we arrived. I was happy with him; he was a hard worker and an honest person.

Boris, my newly hired worker quickly fit quite well with the other construction workers. After I explained to him what he had to do next I said:

"You know cats dig with their claws. Your next job is to dig openings in the four walls, by any means possible, according to the measurements you will be given, no less and no more. Also you must do it gently and make sure the walls don't move. If all goes well you will receive a special reward..." And that is exactly what he did. He dug the openings at the exact measurements without disturbing the walls. No wall moved, not even a centimetre.

The moulds for the concrete pillars were then carefully fitted into the openings that Boris had dug, to accommodate the iron bars and concrete in accordance with prescribed construction standards. The iron bars were bound in bundles and fitted into the moulds extending above the roof as prescribed. When the first four pillar moulds with iron bars were raised a semi-liquid mixture of concrete and sand, mixed at a prescribed ratio, was poured from the roof into the moulds and left undisturbed for several days to harden. After this was done it became clear to our neighbours what we were doing so they stopped asking questions.

Since the construction engineer hired to supervise the workers, to make sure they followed standards, wasn't there all the time I had to step in and do that myself. On top of that I also had to procure the necessary building materials for the job.

The most difficult task about raising the pillars was placing a pillar on the part of my wall that bordered Milena's wall. This pillar had to be placed outside my wall because there was a washroom built of stone that couldn't be disturbed. Here we again faced resistance from my neighbours. When one of my workers began to dig the footing for this pillar, three of my neighbours related to my next door neighbour began to threaten him with violence. He managed to finish digging but with great difficulty. We then had to lower the mould from the roof into the excavated hole for the footing, pour the concrete mixture into the footing and fill the mould up to the roof, the same as the others.

We didn't have many problems raising the concrete pillar on the right side of my house that ran parallel to my next door neighbour's house because this wall was the same as the other walls. It was dug from the inside of the house. Soon after that we inserted the connecting beams.

Even after the house was upgraded and Violeta and her family lived in it for several years, the same woman engineer who had tried to remove it from the first urban plan, tried to remove it from the second urban plan which was being drafted by a company in Gostivar! "Imagine that, working on a plan for the Ohrid coastline in Gostivar?! Why there?!

But despite being drafted in Gostivar, Violeta knew that the Ohrid Municipality would have to review the plan in public as well as have public hearings which Ohrid residents could attend.

So, as a precautionary measure, Violeta took a few pictures of her house and all the documentation she had associated with its construction and she and one of her neighbours went to the public hearing. As she entered the hallway where the plans were open for viewing she was in disbelief. Her house was not included in the new plan. Then, when they went inside the room where the debate was being held, she saw the same woman engineer sitting on a chair behind the head table. The woman opened the debate, and beside her, as my neighbour pointed out, stood the authorized engineer from Gostivar, who was supposed to explain changes to the plan and answer questions.

Violeta was the first person from the attendees to speak. She went up to the head table with the photographs of her house in her hand and, in front of everyone, showed them to the engineers. She then said that her house was included in the previous plan but it wasn't included in the proposed plan displayed in the hallway, and added that she didn't believe this was done by accident.

She said, "I built this house with proper documents and a construction permit issued to me in accordance with the municipal building plan and paid for all the necessary utilities. I have the documentation here in my hand." The Gostivar engineer turned around and tried to find her three story house on the wall behind the table where the new draft plan was displayed. When he saw that it wasn't there he turned to the woman engineer and asked her what had happened.

However, she denied any knowledge of what had gone wrong.

The only thing she said was that someone must have made a mistake. The Gostivar engineer tried to calm Violeta down by saying that a mistake had been made and that it would be corrected. He then apologized. If the woman engineer's face wasn't so naturally dark everyone would have noticed that it wasn't red. This was because she had no conscience and no shame.

Violeta was convinced that her house would be put back in the new plan but to make sure it was she contacted the Gostivar engineer personally. For some time Violeta was considering investigating to find out who had removed her house from the new plan and if bribes were involved, but eventually she gave up. This was Violeta's last contact with this woman full of malice.

• . .It was no longer possible for me to stay overnight in my house, so after the workers left I stayed with my friends. Their hospitality and, above all, their friendship kept me happy and encouraged to comfortably continue with my work. During the colder days my friends put me up in a warm room and sometimes invited me for dinner.

We were all excited when we reached the point in the construction when we could install the concrete slab for the next floor up. The lead worker in my crew hired a rebar expert from a nearby village to install the rebar for the slab. He was a skilled worker and fitted the floor with what looked like a carpet of metal rods weaved with a loom. I couldn't help but marvel at this man's skilful hands.

My lead worker hired a few more workers to expedite the pouring of the concrete for the slab. The concrete was mixed into a semi-fluid mixture, loaded into wheelbarrows and carried along planks laid diagonally to the ground to where the slab would be placed. It was then poured over the framework of nailed planks upon which the rebar grid was arranged. After the concrete was poured it was levelled with a straight plank by two workers. The job was finished in a few hours. We then ate lunch together, as was customary in the Macedonian tradition, serving the workers first. My son's long-time friends who lived in Ohrid prepared the feast and served us during this special celebration. They were always there and willing to help out not with just the food, but also offering practical advice and help.

In order for the plate to be strong, the concrete and rebar had to be left undisturbed for a couple of weeks and water had to be sprinkled on top to cure the concrete properly so that it wouldn't crack. During this period of time the workers were not needed here so they left to work elsewhere but agreed to return in two weeks.

Fifteen days passed and there was no word from them. They didn't even report to the construction site in Lagadin at my sister and brother-in-law's house. All attempts to reach them by telephone were unsuccessful.

Then a friend of ours told my brother-in-law that he had seen them working on the house of an expatriate from Australia in one of the nearby villages. We drove there and found the house. When the workers saw us they quickly got off the building and tried to run away. We could see that they were visibly embarrassed. The oldest of them, in an attempt to justify their absence, told my brother-in-law that the owner of the house they were working on had begged them to help him because he would soon be leaving for Australia and wanted to finish building his house before he left.

"We also have to admit that he offered to pay us a lot of money," explained the older man.

My brother-in-law got a little angry and said:

"The least you could have done was tell us that you were going to do this. We would have had no problem letting you go. Well, I would have given you my consent. And you wouldn't have left us hanging at the door every day, waiting for you to come... You didn't even call us on the telephone." "Well for that, we are to blame boss," replied the older man.

"How many more days do you need to work here to finish the job?" asked my brother-in-law.

"One more week," replied the older man.

"We'll wait for you. After that we will expect you to be there, right?" said my brother-in-law.

"We will be there for sure," replied the older worker.

A week later they arrived at my house to collect the money that I owed them and to remove the boards and supports that held the concrete slab. After that they said they were going to work at my sister's house in Lagadin until the roof was put on, but couldn't promise me that they would come back to work on my house. They said the group was splitting up and three of the younger men, the sons, were leaving to work abroad.

The most important thing for me was to start the construction to upgrade my house. We did that but we had no viable plan on what to do next. . .how to continue...

Should we have suspended the construction?! Unfortunately a house in itself is a big liability. When you start building it takes you under its power, binds you and doesn't let you go until you finish it. That's how it was. Building a house with borrowed money would incur huge interest costs, especially if you had many and long delays, but we didn't give up. Fortunately the house was covered. It had a roof on it as well as doors and windows. Thanks to the help I'd received from my family I had exceeded all realistic expectations. In addition to working at their regular jobs, my son and daughter painstakingly worked day and night to help me out.

After the first group of workers abandoned me I found another group; a father and three sons. But it wasn't easy. It was difficult to find well-trained craftsmen because these people inherited their construction skills from their predecessors, passing the trade from generation to generation, learning as much as possible. Most of them were people from the villages. I made a deal with the lead worker to continue the construction and we signed an agreement on how much money I would pay them to build the next floor, extend the concrete pillars and add a second slab. The lead worker suggested that we raise all pillars simultaneously and told me how much material to purchase and how much it was going to cost. Since I was already familiar with most of the building warehouses, it wasn't difficult for me to get the material. All purchases I made were delivered to my house and unloaded.

The first wall was eleven metres long. After several rows of bricks were laid along the entire length, I often came outside to see how it looked. I was happy with the work.

Unfortunately most of the work was done by the father and the younger son, who was very young for this kind of work. The boy had to carry the heavy bricks on his shoulders from the ground up to the top of the floor, climbing up a makeshift wooden ladder. One time I complained to his father that this job was way too hard for a boy of his age. His father said:

"Let him learn. Let him find out how bread is earned." I bought good quality bricks from a warehouse where I used to get almost all my building materials. The owner had gained my trust so much so that he often sold me the highest quality materials for the regular price. Perhaps he felt sorry for me, being a woman and having undertaken such a laborious task alone.

Building the pillars was easier this time because they were added on top of the previous ones and the neighbours couldn't get in the way.

When they were built and the concrete was cured the workers started working on the front wall facing the lake. This job was a bit more complicated because of the many windows. Most of the wall was designed to have windows with wooden frames and glass facing the lake. The wall on the side also had a window facing the small street.

After everything was finished the lead worker told me that they were going to start building the next slab in three days. When they raised the supports and hammered the planks for the next slab, I told him that I was going to hire the same rebar expert I had hired to reinforce the previous slab. Unfortunately the man wasn't happy and preferred to do the job himself. I didn't agree with him and told him that I was going to pay for the reinforcement myself and he didn't have to worry about it.

I went to the village where the rebar expert lived and persuaded him to come and prepare the next slab for me. At first he was hesitant but then accepted my offer. I was again happy with the good job he did.

When the rebar was in place, it was time to pour the concrete. I wasn't experienced enough to know if the new work crew was capable of doing this difficult job. But since this plate was the same as the previous one, built by the other crew, I suggested to my new crew that they use same technique the old crew had used to carry the concrete from the ground to the slab. I suggested they set up a pulley system with a rope and a wheelbarrow and pull the concrete up from the ground to the slab. They would mix the concrete at ground level, load it onto the wheelbarrow, pull it up to the slab and unload it. It was my understanding that the pulley system would be motorized and the wheelbarrow would be raised and lowered by an electric motor.

My plan was acceptable to the crew so they set up the pulley system as I suggested. The lead man's son and another worker worked at ground level mixing the concrete with the electrically operated mixer and loading it onto the wheelbarrow, one of them rolled the wheelbarrow to the pulley platform and then tied it with a rope. The other one raised it up to the slab. The lead man then poured it on the slab. The technique worked for a while until something in the apparatus broke and the work had to stop. A couple of the workers took the broken part away and had it repaired. After it was put back they resumed their work.

In the meantime clouds began to form above and it began to rain;

before all the concrete had been poured.

Soon after it began to thunder and the rain intensified. And as the storm came closer lightening bolts began to strike in the immediate vicinity. The workers were soaked from head to toe. I began to panic, worrying for their health and safety, so I ran to one of my neighbours who had a shop nearby looking to get some plastic covers.

"Cveta," I yelled, "we're building the next slab on my house and my workers are soaked from head to toe by the pouring rain, do you have any large, empty plastic bags the workers can use to cover themselves? They can't stop the job and need to finish it. We can cut holes in the bags for their head and arms so that they can continue to work. Please, I beg you, see what you can find. I feel sorry for them." Cveta my good-natured friend and neighbour shrugged her shoulders and said:

"I don't have any empty plastic bags, not one..." I ran back to my house drenched and because of the heavy rain, but mostly because of the dangerous lightning strikes, I tried to persuade the workers to stop working and go inside, but they wouldn't listen.

The older man said that they couldn't do that because, as a rule, once work began on a slab it had to be finished, rain or shine... The work must not be interrupted.

Not even fifteen minutes passed when Cveta showed up carrying three big, empty plastic bags with holes cut out to fit heads and arms, as I had asked her. I immediately gave them to the workers and they put them on.

Cveta then said, "I was worried about you after you came to see me.

I thought to myself, 'where was this poor woman going to find plastic bags in the rain?' so I looked through some empty boxes I had laying around and found these bags as well as some smaller bags for the workers to put on their heads." I grabbed Cveta and gave her a big hug, thinking to myself, "A person could never feel abandoned as long as there were good people like her... " After Cveta left it began to rain even harder, this time with stronger lightning bolts and louder thunder, at least that's how it seemed to me. Fearing for their safety, I again pleaded with the workers to stop working but again they wouldn't listen. I even suggested that this couldn't possibly be good for the concrete in the slab, but still they refused to stop. Not only was I afraid, but there was a real danger to those people's lives.

It was still raining after the workers left. I got soaked again in the short time it took me to lock my front door and run to a nearby restaurant. I walked inside literally dripping wet. My coat and hair were soaked and I was dripping water all over the floor. It was like I had just fallen into the lake with my clothes and shoes on. When Rada, the owner of the restaurant, saw me she loudly said:

"You poor woman you're going to get sick. Take off your coat and throw it on the radiator. Take off your shoes and socks and go in front of the radiator, I'll turn it on.

Rada then grabbed two large towels, wiped my hair and rubbed my head with one to warm me up. She then wrapped my head with the other one. That felt good. Branko, her husband, also came over and scolded me for working in the rain. But he too was once a builder and knew how unpredictable things could get when building a house. When he was done lecturing me he asked the waiter to make some tea for me... I had one cup and then another. I stayed in the restaurant almost until they closed. By then my clothes and shoes were dry so I took a taxi and went to my friends for the night. And, even though I was late arriving, they had waited for me and put me up in a warm room.

I could never forget the kindness my friends showed me. They were truly good people. They treated me like I was part of their family.

Not only did they help me dry my clothes and keep warm, but they welcomed me into their place like a very good friend. But more than anything I was warmed by their kindness and humanity. I had met them not long ago but I was quickly drawn to them by their nobility, which radiated from their eyes and from every part of their face.

Their diligence, their tireless work, their love for the work they did, filled me with respect for them.

Branko and Rada had bought a very old house by the lake that had originally belonged to a Turkish family. It was made of durable wood but unfortunately it hadn't been occupied for the last forty years. Its latest owners were three sisters who inherited the house from their parents but after they got married they moved abroad.

And so the house wasn't maintained and it began to fall apart. The sisters weren't confident that they could sell the house themselves, not under its current condition, so they left it to a local relative to look after. Unfortunately their relative wasn't that interested in their house and allowed it to further deteriorate. Their relative, however, was authorized to sell the house if such an occasion arose.

Because of the poor economic conditions in their native village, Branko and Rada had to move abroad at a young age looking to improve their lives. However, life wasn't easy anywhere and they had to work hard in painstaking, often physically difficult jobs. But eventually they managed to save enough money to buy a restaurant in a coastal tourist spot where they attracted quite a few customers.

They did well but felt this wasn't a good place to educate their three children. There was also the constant homesickness and wish to return to their birthplace, which drove them to start looking for a place in Macedonia. During one of their visits to their parents, they found out that an old house by the lake in Ohrid was for sale. A friend advised them not to contact the local relative, who was desperately looking to sell the house, but to get in touch with the three sisters who owned the house. They did that and found them.

Then they hired a lawyer who negotiated the sale price and they paid for it through a bank. The lawyer then took care of the paperwork and the house was theirs. The local relative gave them the keys.

Initially he didn't believe that Branko and Rada had bought the house. He thought they were fraudsters, but after they showed him the paperwork he relinquished the keys and let them in.

The old wooden house was even older than my house. But I didn't know it had a big backyard in addition to the big front yard.

The house was close to the lake and only a few hundred metres away from my house.