I have had a lot of visitors since the end of October. First my friend and colleague Kevin came from Belarus to help me with work and to enjoy some Balkan hospitality. He got to see several cities in Serbia, and we actually had some common time in Belgrade. He just happened to be here over Halloween and had made a joke about dressing up as Sarah Palin... at my insistence, he donned my red suit, we went split the cost of a wig, a little red lipstick, some black tights and pumps, and we had one hot woman on our hands. I would insert a photo here, but I lost my camera days later...so I am relying on Kevin's generosity and sense of humor to send me the one that he has. Unfortunately, he is also self-centered, and didn't take any photos of me in my Monica Lewinsky costume. We went to a party at the Canadian Embassy which was, well, a little lame, but the two of us managed to have a good time and make some new friends (again, no photos, more about that below).
Then I took off for a trip to Kosovo. I get there regularly, but this was the first time I visited anywhere other than Pristina. While I didn't see a lot of the city (work kept us pretty busy) I enjoyed the travel to and from tremendously. Prizren is in a mountainous area and the drive from Skopje and to Pristina were made via the scenic route. Woods, creeks, romantic views and (relatively) pristine nature. Oh, and tons and tons of KFOR military vehicles. We passed through several ethnic Serbian areas and mixed areas where the presence of the international peace-keeping force was HIGHLY VISABLE. While in Prizren, I left my camera at a restaurant, and when we went back to claim it, it was gone. My colleague suggested I offer a financial reward, but out of principle I refused. Maybe I should have offered a reward for the memory card with the invaluable Halloween pictures?
I returned to Belgrade for a couple of days (not quite enough time to do laundry in the colder months) and took off for Zagreb, Croatia. I had some work to do, and then Kevin met me for the weekend. While I still think Zagreb is on the quiet side, we had a lovely time hanging out with our mutual friend and colleague, Thomas:
Thomas and his amazing girlfriend, Katarina gave up their weekend to entertain us, for which I am very grateful. It was a treat to have such cool tour guides. I look forward to returning the favor and showing them around Belgrade in the near future.Immediately after Zagreb, I went to Vranje, in southern Serbia for work. Sanja's brother's girlfriend's sister lives there, and invited us over for a bit of Serbian hospitality. Natasha is quite a character.. all I knew about her was that she teaches Religious Studies in an elementary school. She picked us up straight from work, and was wearing this:
See how her shirt says "sex, love, money"? Hilarious. When we pointed it out to her, she said that she never even noticed or thought about it. It had been a gift the week before. Who am I to say what is in good taste or not? I went as MONICA LEWINSKY for Halloween.
Back to Belgrade for a few days- including Thanksgiving. Liz, Elizabeth and I had a hard time making plans. I didn't feel up to cooking all day. We weren't sure that we wanted to shell out for/dress up for the fancy traditional dinner at the Hyatt hotel. So, we came up with a plan- Elizabeth and her man would pick up Kentucky Fried Chicken, and we would make the traditional sides. It was awesome.
From L-R: Liz, Jason, Johnny, Elizabeth, Dragan. Please notice that Elizabeth is rocking a "50 Cent" sweatshirt. Please also note the buckets of KFC. We made: stuffing, green bean cassarole, brownies, pumpkin fritters, creamed corn, and pumpkin pudding. Then we watched TEAM AMERICA. Did I mention it was awesome?This weekend, my friend and colleague Alan has been in town. He was in the region helping out for work, and had never been to Serbia before. Liz and I have been showing him around. The weather has sucked- cold and windy with periodic rain, but we have had a great time. Lots of good food, walking around the city, some great rakija, more good food, and general silliness. I should have taken more advantage of my new camera.
We took Alan to the Nikola Tesla museum. I had never been, and had heard that it was cool. It has recently relocated to a lovely old house on one of the most beautiful streets in Belgrade. When we arrived, we were informed that the entrance price for foreigners is TWICE as much as locals. That immediately pissed me off. Then they told us that they were still renovating the space and only 40% of the museum was accessible. Awesome. In addition to our group there was a Serbian family waiting for the tour to start. The tour guide introduces himself and in Serbian says to the family that he has to speak English because of us, but that he will speak Serbian first. I *almost* pointed out the fact that we paid double and should therefor hear English first, but I bit my tongue. There were a few interesting models of some of his most famous inventions and some plans for fountain designs. His urn was very very cool, but I failed to photograph it (shocking, I know). Maybe I would go back and see what it looks like when 100% of the exhibits are open. We'll see.
But I will leave you with this very general warning. My ride to the airport will be here in 15 minutes and I am not wearing any pants... I promise that my Best of Belgrade post will be here soon!
