Help, please!

So, at the gym Wednesday I was rocking out on the treadmill, listening to my music and occasionally reading the news (you know the headlines that run at the bottom of the screen) and something caught my eye. I wasn't sure that I caught it the first time, so I waited for it to cycle back through. And then read it again. "Former President George W. Bush admits that he has a problem with spelling, asks Dick Cheney to help him with his autobiography." I was cracking up! Here is where I need help. I have googled numerous combination of those words as well as searching several U.S. news sites- not a hint of this gem. Anyone heard anything about this anywhere other than b92? Thanks!

Let's play catch up, shall we? (A post that is light on photos)

It has been hectic since last I shared with you... visitors, travel, holidays, and many ups and downs. I am leaving for a a 10-day trip to Macedonia this evening, which I am looking forward to, but also exhausted just thinking about. But let's get caught up-

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!

Summer in Belgrade

Although most places are better in summer (swampesque Kansas and DC being exceptions to this rule), Belgrade is a great place to be in the summer. Sure, everything shuts down for the month of August... but there is a lot of fun to be had.

Everybody spends as much time as possible as close to the water as possible. Belgrade is famous for its splavovi, floating structures (including many restaurants and clubs) of varying fortitude. Belgrade is located at the confluence on the Sava and Danube rivers, giving ample shoreline for clubs to be, well, clustered in areas right together so that you can often hear the music not just from your splav, but the ones on either side of it.

In addition to the two rivers, Belgraders enjoy flocking to Ada Ciganlja, a lake not far from the center of the city. There is an 8 kilometer path around it which draws joggers, roller bladers (including Svetlana and me on occasion) parents with strollers, people with dogs, and everyone else. There are various water sports for the more adventuresome, and a nude beach for the less inclined to burn within five minutes of seeing the sun types, and cafes and bars all the way around. It is a lovely place to spend a day if you get there early to mark your spot and don't mind fighting the crowds.

Another past time of Belgraders in the summer is talking about going to the sea. This is great for those who actually get to go to the sea, and less pleasant for those of us who will be the among the 5 people in the city working through the month of August.

Then there are the fresh markets. I live close to a couple of markets, and this time of year you can smell the fresh fruits before you can see them. Nothing tastes better than a tomato fresh from the garden, except maybe the melon next to it, or the peaches over there... Sometimes it is hard to remember in the dead of winter, but ripe fruit in season IS worth waiting for.

The temperatures this week are unseasonably low with rain predicted every day. It is a small preview of the fall, and it is making me sad. Hopefully, the sun and heat will return this weekend so I can take advantage of everything that Belgrade has to offer. And I will try not to complain when it is sweltering hot next week.

An unrelated note... as you may have heard, Radovan Karadzic one of the most wanted fugitives in Europe, accused of war crimes in Bosnia during the early nineties, was arrested this week in Belgrade. It seems as though he will be extradited to The Hague in the coming days. I don't want to dwell on the intricacies of the charges, or the mixed reactions of people in Serbia and in Bosnia. I do just want to say that I find it amazing that he was living in Belgrade, and practicing "alternative medicine" for years(English below the Serbian". I may enjoy "alternative feminine hygiene " products, but I will take my medicine the traditional way.

I love Belgrade

It is never boring here- and I am always happy to get back home when I have been on the road. I love the people and there is always something going on (and often many somethings at the same time).

This weekend I was at a press conference which was being held at the same place as the events leading up to Eurovision 2008 (the official site does not illustrate what an amazing cheese fest this is, for better info check out what the guys at Belgrade 2.0 have on it)!! I have been bummed for months that I wasn't able to score tickets to this exciting event. It was fun to see half-naked people and men in make-up and news crews from around the world (well, Europe and Israel anyway).

This weekend was also the 5th annual Belgrade Museum night. I visited several interesting museums and exhibits (along with seemingly the entire population of Belgrade). While I didn't get to see everything on my agenda, I did have a good time. Last year, Museum Night was one of the first events I took part in in Belgrade, and Sanja won second place in the photo contest! She hasn't decided if she has anything to enter this year...

I also visited the town of Topola yesterday. About an hour from Belgrade, and the location of Oplenac (which houses the church and graves of the Serbian royal family), it makes for a lovely day trip especially when the weather is nice (more on that later). The church has amazing mozaics made from an estimated 6 bajillion pieces of tile (ok, I can't remember the exact number quoted, but there was a six and many zeros). There was also a very beautiful crypt which we were told one of the 10 most beautiful in the world (who decides this things?). I have only seen three crypts, and I can say it was the most beautiful (but not necessarily the most impressive) of those (seen here and here).

We got back into town moments after a freak hail storm. I dozed off in the car (don't worry, I wasn't driving) and woke up as we were approaching downtown Belgrade. There was water pouring over the bridges and overpasses and parts of trees were down all over the place. A decent amount of damage was done in less than half an hour. See? Never boring!