My last few months in Belgrade

Oh…so sad! It is my last two months now in Serbia. Actually two months from today! I have been so happy here – I have really come to love it! And I am really sad to have to say goodbye to my life here and especially to my friends.

In my remaining time here I will be teaching two classes, one in Women’s Studies and one in American Studies (on the Civil Rights Movement). I will also be completing two book chapters for publication and continuing my volunteer work. I need to make a trip to Sarajevo still, and hope to get back to Crvenka at least once (preferably twice).

Since I’ve been back (mid-August) I’ve done some traveling, have spent some time with good friends, and have generally been trying to enjoy everything about Belgrade – savoring it bite by bite!

The Serbo-summer was long and lovely, but sometime last week it went from 70 - 80 degrees everyday to barely 40 degrees! I am hoping Fall comes back here next week! It just slipped by in the night!

I’ve been working, of course, but have really also been trying to find time to appreciate my wonderful friends and the last few moments of this amazing experience.

So much has changed! I mean when I got here I was so confused and things were so difficult – my daily life I mean. Now all those little things are so easy! I mean there are still days that suck, and times that things are hard, but my language skills have improved, I have a perfect number of friends that I like very much, I have a routine, and places I like to go…I am settled! I even joined a really beautiful gym recently. I had been walking for exercise on the path near the river, and I had passed this gorgeous gym every day. I finally decided to join and while it was not cheap, it is really cool! The work-out space overlooks the Danube and Sava rivers so you watch the world go by while you do your cardio! GREAT!

It’s funny to me that as the new American Fulbright grantees arrive, their frustrations are so similar to mine when I first arrived, and yet those things seem so far away for me now! I’ve adjusted to and come to love the loose conception of time, the multiple daily coffee breaks, and the culture in general.

Of course I am not blind to all of the things that need to change politically, and I am not blind to the poverty and daily problems people face here. I will continue to write about and work on these issues of course. It’s just that, all those things aside, I have become really happy with my daily life here.

A small example of this – last night me and some friends went to see local pop-star Severina in concert. We met up at my place first, had drinks and snacks and watched hilarious videos of horrible local turbo-folk pop stars. We then went to the show. Severina is like a Balkan Madonna, and her show was a sold-out arena spectacular! I had seen Severina before when I was in Dubrovnik, Croatia, but that was a much smaller venue – maybe 1,000 people at most. This was sooo different!

Sadly our seats were pretty bad. We had bought tickets in the standing section so we could dance, but there was no way to see the stage, and that was a shame b/c she had dancers and glitter cannons and disco balls and video footage behind her and props and special guest stars and all kinds of things! If only she had like 2 video screens mounted on the sides so that those of us in the “cheap seats” could see her, it would have been perfect!

Still, we danced and sang and really had a great time. Most of the audience knew every single song, and there was a group of high school girls in front of us who sang and danced and cried and hugged and really were enthused by every single song. I know a lot of her songs, having purchased her “greatest hits” CD about 7 years ago after seeing her shopping in a music shop in Zagreb. I then used her music to help with language study, and as such I do know a few of her songs by heart. I even translated a few of them for language study, so I actually understand the words! But for most of them, I know many of the words, but don’t fully understand the songs – I guess like when most non-native English speakers learn American pop-songs when they’re young!

Still the concert was fantastic! She played for nearly 3 hours with no intermission, and changed costume like 5 times! It was great!!

The way that people enjoy life here – the way they cherish their relationships more than money – this is something I am really going to miss. Not to idealize it. But just to stress that I have come to a point where I really love it here – the culture, the people and my life here.

I’ll try to write more again when I can. Thanks for reading.