The Night The Lights Went Out In Belgrade

DISCLAIMER: for all my friends around the world who deal with power outages all the time please know this post is not a complaint about no power just observing the way the culture works. 

The apartment below us is doing a complete renovation.  I mean they have removed walls, all the floors, new everything.  Well it has been quite disturbing with all the noise and racket, but Monday night was crazy.  About 6:00 I heard a huge rukus then Jen say "the stove stopped working".  I flipped a few breakers and nothing happened.  I noticed it was not just the stove but all the power was out.   I opened the door to check the main breaker box a floor below us, only to be greeted by a hall full of smoke.  A small panic set in, but I played it cool and told Jen I should check to see if the building is on fire and we need to evacuate.  When I got downstairs, there was no danger but there was one large charred breaker box and all the men in the building investigating.  I did not understand much but quickly figured out the remodel crew had knocked out the power and caused a small fire.  When the men noticed I was standing there they told me it was a small problem but someone would have it fixed in a short time.  Now this was a big deal for our building the men stayed by the box for like two hours, all the women were on the balconies watching for the electric company.  I was told stories of disaster, how this always happens, how it will never be fixed etc.  About 2 hours later the electric company had come and we were good.  I was surprised how quickly it was fixed.  The incident really gave us insight into the people and how they think.  The kids loved it they read by flashlight and I got to meet some more neighbors.