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Published: March 20th 2006
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Day 3:
This time I woke up at 5 am on the train. And this time, I had the whole room to myself. During the night I was awakened by the border patrol for passport checks going into Hungary, leaving Hungary, and entering Serbia.
Ivan met me at the train station and we took a taxi to his apartment in Belgrade. The taxi driver knew right away that I was a foreigner and that Ivan was Serb. After saying something, he correctly guessed that I am from the U.S. He then asks if I am there for Slobodan Milosevic's funeral. Well... I knew he had died, but when I left the U.S. the decision had not been made where to bury him. At that moment, I think an expletive was my first thought.
In brief, there is a lot of tension in Serbia over politics and especially Milosevic. Some consider him a hero (mainly people over 50 years old) and others consider him to be one of the worst things to ever happen to Serbia (mainly people 50 years old). For instance, during the funeral, one crowd gathered to mourn his death, and another crowed gathered to celebrate it
(not just give thanks, but balloons and everything).
I was concerned that there might be ill will on the part of Milosevic supporters towards foreigners (especially since most blame the U.N. for his death). So, I was more observant than normal and said plenty of prayers.
After watching parts of the funeral on TV and talking for a few hours, Ivan and I decided to take a bus to Valjevo (about 1.5 hours away) to see his family (which has gained three since I was last here -- Vlade (Natasa's husband), Nevana (Vlada & Natasa's daughter), and Nemanja (Vlada & Natasa's son).
As we entered Valjevo, Ivan pointed out a factory that was bombed by NATO five years ago and explained some of the damage, as well as the economic situation in Valjevo.
Zika (Ivan's dad) met as at the bus station and took us to their apartment. We then had lunch and caught up a bit. It was great to see Zika and Dragica. And the sights, smells, sounds, and tastes (Ivan graciously bought me some burek shortly after I arrived in Belgrade), brought back so many memories. The emotions were very strong, though, I'm
Valjevo
View from Bozic's apartment. not sure how to explain it... maybe to take 10 strong emotions and mix them together at once.
Later, we went to see Natasa, Vlada, Nevana, and Nemanja. We sat down in the kitchen and talke, drank some wine, and ate numerous snacks. Nevana (6) and Nemanja (3), for the first 15 minutes would creep slowly out of the living room into the hallway, until they saw me, and as soon as I would look at them they would smile, yell, and run back into the living room (this cycle repeated probably 20 times). All throughout the night they were constantly playing, laughing, and just generally hyper. Nemanja must have played with a pile of cigarette lighters for at least 30 minutes.
As far as Natasa, I don't think I've ever seen her this happy and content. Her and Vlada are both enjoying parenthood and marriage.
After that Ivan and I met up with Mira and headed to town to a cafe (sort of, Mira called it something else, like "caforana" or something... but the gist is that this "cafe" had alcohol and live music in addition to coffee). We stayed there for a few hours listening
to the folk music, having a few drinks, and talking in the small, smoke-filled cafe. Old and young filled it up... some danced, some clapped. The cafe had brick, concrete, and stone walls with nice wood beams... all natural and old (the real thing). From there we walked back through the quiet (except for the noise of a crowded, music filled cafe here and there) foggy, and cold night to Zika and Dragica's apartment and called it a day.
Day 4:
Dragica prepared burek with cheese for brunch along with soup, yogurt, bread, and cake. We then talked for awhile and watched some TV.
Their neighbors, Miki and Milka, were celbrating one of their two daughter's (Sara) birthdays. So, we went there and had soup, a cole-slaw like dish (actually three... one with egg, one with tuna, and one with green onions, pork, dessert, and some more wine. I also tried a kind of herbal alcoholic drink that is supposed to be good for health and some rakiya (Serbian national drink).
During all of this, probably about eight children were playing around us and upstairs. It was tough to communicate, but Ivan was there to translate most
of it. Though, I still understand and can speak a little Serbian.
Also, I went with Miki and Ivan to take some pictures of him with his dog (he didn't have any). After going back to the apartment and talking for awhile, Ivan and I (and Mira met us at the tain station) traveled back to Belgrade. There I met Dejan (Ivan's roomated and Mira's boyfriend) and we talked for a bit. So much else happened. Yesterday and today have been amazing and internally dramatic as memories and emotions flood in, catching up with Ivan, his family, and everyone else, being concerned about my safety (with Milosevic's funeral happening), and being surrounded by Serb culture. It has been great, and now, drained, I'm ready to get some sleep. 😊
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Celeste Justice
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Travelblog
It's a good thing that you are keeping a travel blog, because with all of the drinking you are doing you might not remember your trip :)