As I am shuffling around the house, every now and then I hear loud singing from across the street. The last construction team working on Željko Vukadinović’s second house in Motovun breaks into song with great ease. There are four or five of them. Except for their boss, who is about fifty, all the others are in their mid-twenties. Quick to smile and laugh, they are Albanians from Macedonia. Jozo Brandić is as enchanted by them as I am. “People don’t understand,” Jozo likes to say while shaking his clinched fist, “life is more than just… Understand?” I nod emphatically, quite sure that I understand exactly what he means to say, but cannot express it to his own satisfaction. Indeed, life is much more than just… Understand?

Addendum I (May 31, 2015)

It is funny talking with Jozo. He rarely completes his sentences, and especially when they threaten to get somewhat involved, but people still understand pretty well what he has in mind. Which is why he rounds many of them off with the same polite question: “Understand?” If not, he explicitly invites people to say so, in which case he is prepared to spell everything out in requisite detail. In general, the more involved the topic of conversation, the more often he resorts to this cunning device. But I have never witnessed anyone challenge Jozo by admitting that he or she actually does not understand what he is about to say. Of course, such an admission would imply that the person in question is just… Understand?

Addendum II (August 27, 2016)

Jozo Brandić had a stroke last Sunday. He was taken to a hospital in Pula, where he is still recovering. Many people from Motovun have visited him the last few days. They say that the hospital staff is amazed by the number of visits and calls from the hilltown, as well. Which only goes to show what sort of man Jozo actually is. But some of the friends who have visited him report that his sentences have become even shorter after the stroke. He completes hardly any of them. I am looking forward to talking with him about his recent experiences, but I can already imagine what he will tell me: “My stay in Pula was just… Understand?” Anyhow, I can only hope that he will recover fast. Without any doubt, Jozo is one of my best friends in these parts. We have coffee together almost every day, and we talk about everything under the sun. After a few days, I am kind of… Understand?