The Last Events

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What an interesting day. The events that transpired included:
-sleeping in until breakfast wasn't available anymore

-getting stuck in the elevator when it ground to a halt between floors 5 and 6 (shortly to be followed by Dave also getting trapped in the elevator between floors 5 and 6)

-getting lost on my run

-visiting the Nikola Tesla museum and being (literally) shocked

-Meeting the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, who also happens to be a paratrooper

-Riding on a boat on the Danube

-Taking tequila shots for a friend's 21st birthday at midnight

-trying to stay awake after staying up until 4 last night



All in all, I would call it a successful day. The trapped in the elevator part was maybe not the coolest thing that's ever happened to me, but it's a good story. The Tesla museum was tiny, but really neat and surprisingly comprehensive. The Patriarch was a fascinating man who had considerable input on the issues in Serbia and Kosovo that we hadn't discussed much, such as the presence of religion in Kosovo (Serbia is mostly Orthodox; Kosovo Muslim). The Danube cruise was awesome and for celebrating the end of an awesome Dialogue.



We also completed our Peer Evaluations as we start to close out on the end of the Dialogue.On Monday morning, the bus heads out from the hotel, and I hang around Belgrade for a couple hours before I head to Milan.



There are a few things I want to note about Belgrade while I'm still here. For example, dogs are not as common as in Boston, but they exist. However, the sizes are different: dogs in Boston tend to be lab-sized. The dogs here are almost invariably small: yorkies, shelties, and the like. Approximately every 4th dog is a pug, for you pug-lovers out there. Also, even after two weeks, I'm still surprised at how cheap everything is. I bought a sub and burek at the bakery today for a total of about $3. It's spectacular, and definitely something I'll miss. The city still shows some evidence of war, but it's clear they're going for a more progressive look moving forward: lots of parks and green space, and minimizing the number of skyscrapers (they have maybe 3 or 4, despite being twice the size of Boston). I'm excited yet apprehensive to leave: apprehensive because I have another month of barely speaking the local language (although it'll be better -- I speak Spanish, which will be at least partly useful in Barcelona, Rome, and Paris), but excited because I have so many cool cities to visit.

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