Hedgehog

Rather, I would say that the construction industry, both in Montenegro and in Bar, has gotten out of control

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Big Beach, Photo: Tanja Vujović
Big Beach, Photo: Tanja Vujović
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

The motto of this blog could be what Hannah Arendt, a German political theorist and philosopher, said: "This constant lying is not aimed at making people believe the lies, but at making them believe nothing. Because such people are not deprived of their capacity for action, but of their capacity to think and judge. You can do whatever you want with such people."

* * *

We were not allowed to park at the former Hotel "Olimpik", on Velika Plaza. A uniformed person kindly but firmly (like Doc Holiday) informed us that the hotel was closed. We continued on, along a rutted road, risky for the vehicle. Somehow we reached that piece of heaven on earth and enjoyed it barefoot on the warm, fine sand, soaking our eyes in the blue infinity. Velika Plaza is the most beautiful thing Montenegro has to offer for me. I always feel free, optimistic, playful, rejuvenated there... Considering that it is 13 kilometers long, there is room for it to remain accessible to ordinary citizens and for part of it to be economically valorized, because it will be eaten up, little by little, by domestic "investors", who are already raking it in.

* * *

We may even save Velika plaža, Kraljičina, near Čanj, but apparently we haven't. It has changed tenants for significantly more money, although you can't find that information officially anywhere. I suspect that it will become a no-go zone for us as early as this summer, just like many other beaches on the Montenegrin coast.

* * *

Regarding Velika Plaza, before he gets completely entangled in "trucks and planes", the Prime Minister could respond like the Crmnica resident in the story "The Hedgehog":

Once upon a time, in a tavern in Crmnica, a "difficult" story began. And as is usually the case, half of the tavern supported one side, half the other. It happened, at least that's what the rumor spread, that a young man from Crmnica, who has recently been living in America, agreed to sit on a hedgehog for $500 with his bare buttocks. They say there are all kinds of miracles in America, so such an offer is possible.

Some criticize him, others justify him, and, of course, everyone speaks in unison.

Only one guest in the tavern is silent. He is not very talkative anyway and now, in a rather charged atmosphere, it does not occur to him to interfere. But not everything in life depends on the man himself. In this case, the matter also depended on his first neighbor who could hardly wait to call him out, to at least express his opinion on something.

And he loudly called on him to judge, rejoicing in advance that his neighbor, dissatisfied with the answer, would pass away just like the one who sat on the hedgehog.

The man blew a puff of smoke to the side, scratched his unshaven beard, looked around the tavern, where silence had settled for a moment, and said in a calm voice:

"Delicate job, good earnings."

* * *

According to some data, between 38 and 40 buildings are currently being built in Bar, large multi-storey buildings with around 2.000 apartments. The scene is brutal concreting and "Budvanization" of this city. I walked through the Ilino settlement. I felt like I was in a metropolis, surrounded by tall buildings, both completed and under construction. I simply do not believe that they were all built with the necessary permits, that they have parking, sewage, access roads, areas for public facilities, electricity, water... I would rather say that construction, both in Montenegro and in Bar, has gotten out of control.

* * *

Some people die too soon, some too late, having outlived everything, even their own merits. Pope Francis died too soon. He could have lived at least a few more years, until this world stabilizes a little. His voice of reason will be missed.

* * *

Humanity is progressing, we are not changing. The robot vacuum cleaner has arrived. Tanja looks at it with distrust, just like my mother once looked at the washing machine...

* * *

As I get older, my parents come to mind more and more. I remember my mother most often in connection with certain songs. She enjoyed original Montenegrin music and sevdalinka. She especially loved "Jedno jutro u svitanje zore", interpreted by Dimitrij Bata Radulović, and among the sevdalinka, "Ne klepeći nanulama" by Nedžad Salković. She could not stand songs with meaningless lyrics such as: "In the valley near Lim, every Vasojevka is fine, every Vasojevka is fine, without powder and lipstick, and the one who wears lipstick is no longer a Vasojevka". And she always frowned at the word "lived" from her, as a native of Podgorica, the beloved song "Šetajući pored Ljubović".

* * *

They stole the lime trees on my street. And it's as if it's not the same street, the same sidewalk where, conspiratorially and superstitiously, I jump the lines... Now I can see the surrounding buildings from which it's as if someone is watching me.

* * *

Arnon Grunberg, in his excellent novel "The Asylum Seeker," says: "Life is a temporary failure, and death is definitive."

Bonus video: