Technical Difficulties

So I started an entry yesterday morning and was including the pictures I took of our flat. Unfortunately, the internet at NSHC went down and never came back, so the only thing saved in my draft of that entry was its title.  Those of you who have been wanting some photos will just have to wait awhile longer, as the pictures are on a computer at work and the internet is still down.  That's the way it goes in Serbia. :)  

It's all good though, because Susie and I have discovered a little internet cafe around the corner from our flat where it costs $1/hour to use the internet.  Yeah buddy!  We also were at work for a whopping 2 hours, tops, today since we couldn't do any research on the internet.  Life is really tough.  Even better, tonight we are heading to the wine festival in the city center.   It will be an international event, with our friends including Serbians, refugees from Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro, and Italians and a band from Croatia that plays Cuban music.  Awesome.

Our flat

I've been meaning to post some pictures of our awesome apartment, but it's been difficult. It takes fifty hours to upload pictures here...but I have managed to work it out. So, here are some pictures of where I am living until August 5.

Weekend in Beograd

This past weekend was a ton of fun. Susie and I went down to Beograd (AKA Belgrade) for the weekend and stayed with our two classmates, Amanda and Amber. We had a blast! After a short bus ride to Beograd, we dropped off our bags at the girls' flat and went down by the river to get some dinner. We decided to be a little daring and went to a Thai restaurant (ethnic restaurants here are all owned, operated, and run by native Serbs). Thankfully, it was good, but it was definitely different than Thai food in the US.

After dinner, we went into the city center and checked out the fortress. The views were beautiful...we were there at a good time and got to see the sunset. Then Amanda and Amber introduced us to dark chocolate Serbian ice cream....HEAVENLY! We ended up at a couple of cafes until the very early hours of Sunday morning and got back to the flat and crashed. French toast and hash browns were on the menu Sunday afternoon (a late brunch) and it was off to the city center again.



Sunday afternoon and evening included a series of random events. We met some Slovenian guys who invited us to stay with them if we visited Slovenia and then listened to a jazz/blues band in the fortress. When we heard the woman singing, I thought it had to be a black singer from the states. I was so wrong! It was a little, white, Serbian girl with a very soulful voice. I seriously felt as though I had been transported to New Orleans if I just listened to the band and didn't look around...it was kind of strange, but fun.

Dinner was at a little Italian restaurant. There was an American at the next table who we thought sounded like a bit of a jerk. Boy, were we wrong! This guy heard we were Americans and paid for our dinner. The waiter told us after the man had left. The four of us were speechless! Maybe he wasn't such a jerk afterall.



After an enjoyable day we headed back to the flat and went to bed. The next morning Susie and I caught a bus back to Novi Sad and got to be lazy for the rest of the day.

Roma kids

Friday we had our first day with the Roma Children's Center. It was an experience. There were at least 50 kids there and only one adult who spoke Serbian at first. Good times. Thankfully, some of the volunteers showed up later on and were able to help with containing the chaos. It was chaotic because they were having a party to celebrate the end of the school session and everyone came. I took a ton of pictures (which I will attempt to post with a very slow connection) and some video of the shows they put on. We got to hear some traditional Roma songs and watch the kids break dance as well. It was a riot!

Nena is the person who is in charge of the Roma Center and she asked us to come up with things we would like to do with the kids. However, we have been informed that they are losing the property that is used for the Center, so I don't know if they will still have that program. Right now I'm looking for funders to try to keep the Center programs open. I think I may have located one, but they'll need a lot more to sustain the programs. It's a good thing I have so much experience with grants!

First night out in Serbia

Saturday Susie and I met Dejan, his girlfriend, and some of his friends in the city center. Poor Susie had to deal with the only single guy that came...he latched onto her within 10 seconds of arriving. It was kind of funny, but I felt bad for her. This guy, Petr, was all up in her space immediately. It was almost unreal...Susie kept moving backward and even ended up putting her hands out in front of her to ward the guy off, but he kept on coming. This continued the entire night, despite repeated refusals and physical avoidance on Susie's part. Petr came up to around Susie's chin, and she is 5'3"...oy...she's also 12 years younger than this guy. We laughed about it later, but Susie was not happy that she had to fend him off all night. Luckily, I was able to help her with this task...I'm kind of big and scary to a little 36 year old fuzzy man. Why can't guys just take a hint?

We did have a good time, though, and made some more friends. Some of our new friends called us up the following night to go out as well. That was more relaxed than Saturday, but still a good time. Unfortunately, Susie had a migraine and wasn't able to go. Mima, one of the girls we met Saturday, helped us locate some pain medication that Susie can have, since she can't take any ibuprofen, which was very nice of her. We are hoping she won't have to use it, but it is nice to have. Other than that, we are just chillin'. I went and bought a couple of books today because I have nothing to read since Iberia still hasn't gotten my lost bag to Katie, and we laid around and read on our lovely balcony. This is the life! As one of our new friends said, "In Serbia, time is pleasure." I like that, it is so much nicer than "time is money", and it is a hell of a lot more fun!

TV in Serbia

Susie and I have cable in our flat. It is actually very entertaining. Today I was extremely lazy and slept in and then watched random TV shows and some volleyball and soccer. Susie and I were highly entertained by some very hot men in some terrible shows (firefighters...need I say more?). There are some majorly campy movies and shows. Most of the movies are in English with Serbian subtitles, although there are some German and Russian movies with subtitles as well. The majority of the English movies are completely unknown to Susie and I, even though they were obviously made in the US. It is silly fun. There are also a ton of Spanish soaps on, so it is good times flipping through the channels to see what's on. Commercials are awesome as well! We were cracking up at some random commercial for exercise equipment this afternoon. Now I'm at an internet cafe and about to puke because someone is smoking like a chimney in a very enclosed space. Blech. Oh well...I figure being lazy is fine since we plan on going out tonight...we have to rest up. :)

First Day of work?

So yesterday (Thursday) was our first day of work...if you could really call it that. We got in to work at 10am and met with Dejan about the projects we may be working on and what we could contribute. That meeting lasted a few hours and then we got a tour of the offices and were shown our desk. After checking email we went home because there wasn't anything for us to do (They actually sent us home). :) We ate lunch, watched some TV, and then went back over to NSHC to meet Dejan. He was working at Srce ("heart" in Serbian) and wanted to show us the office. Srce is an NGO that provides support by email and over the phone for people in crisis, including suicide. It is all volunteer run and does some really good work.

Another coworker, Nana, came there as well and took us around after our introduction to Srce. We got to go to a couple of the local bars that are not so easy to find and Nana helped us to figure out what foods Susie could actually order. (I am so glad I'm not a vegetarian!) It was a lot of fun. Nana introduced us to some Serbian beers we had not yet tried and we were able to learn about some hidden bars we can frequent.

Today we arrived at work at 10am again and did some research on the internet about the different programs at NSHC. Then we got to go on a little field trip and went with Mira and Dejan to a town not too far away to sit in on a focus group with Roma girls about Reproductive Health services...what they know, what services are available, and what they need and would like to see. It was really great. I am looking forward to sharing the knowledge I have in this area with NSHC to help enhance the services they will provide. Now it is 2:30 in the afternoon and Susie and I have been told to check our emails and relax. I don't know if I will be able to just hang out much longer...I feel bad not doing anything, but I think I may get over it.

This weekend looks as though it will be fun. We are going to meet a bunch of new people tomorrow and crash a birthday party that Nana is going to. Good times. It will be our first weekend in Novi Sad.

Vacation

So I have decided that my internship in Serbia will probably be more of a vacation. I will only be working three days a week, leaving plenty of time for my roommate, Susie, and I to travel and explore. Our placement seems intent on us enjoying our time in Serbia and wants us to have a positive experience. All of our coworkers are very friendly and excited about practicing their English. That's great for them, but I need some serious work on my Serbian! Blank stares, handgestures, and the like will only get me so far. I get so frustrated not understanding ANYTHING. I hope I'll pick something up.

Yesterday and today Susie and I slept in and walked around. We found some great restaurants and cafes and an Irish Pub...so funny. There is also a Chinese restaurant here. Wild. Today we went to the market and fumbled around with understanding how much things cost. People were very nice about it and I'm sure it was funny to watch us. At least I have an umbrella now since it likes to rain at random times and can come down fairly hard.

TV is hilarious and most of the channels are in English and have Serbian subtitles...to funny. We have cable, but haven't really watched TV, just flipped through channels to see what there was. I still can't believe how nice our apartment is! Susie and I have gotten a good deal here in Novi Sad.

Arrival in Serbia

I got to Serbia Saturday night after a very long trip by train. 27 hours after leaving Paris I arrived in Novi Sad and was met at the train station by Dejan, our mentor at NSHC. I had to sign contracts for our apartment, which is fabulous, and ended up being given a cell phone by our landlady because she liked me. Susie got in Sunday morning and we were able to explore a little before crashing again. Today we are meeting the staff and visiting the two centers that NSHC runs. I will try to post pictures when I have time. Just wanted to let everyone know that I am alive and well. :)

Paris

My classmate, Savi, and I arrived in Paris this evening after an eventful trip. It all started when we checked in and the woman at the ticket counter at JFK failed to actually look at our itineraries. (Savi was ending up at Orly and I at Charles de Gaulle.) She put all of our luggage under my name and sent it off, only to figure out we didn't have the same destination airport after the luggage was on its way and after both of us had said something about our luggage. (Idiot.) Oh well.

Katie was picking us up at Charles de Gaulle, so Savi had to figure a way to get there and meet us (and get her bag). Poor kid. Luckily, she had a much earlier flight and had plenty of time to get across Paris to the other airport. Savi actually beat me to the airport by quite some time because my flight out of Madrid was delayed. I waited for our bags (including one for Katie for this summer) and discovered that Katie's bag was still in Madrid and I didn't have her address to fill out the form to have it delivered. (We have to call again in the morning to give the airline the info.) I don't understand how that works when I had an almost 6 hour layover. Whatever.

Katie picked us up around 8:45pm and proceeded to get lost multiple times throughout the city (rerouted, as she says). When we got to the house at 10pm we ate some food (STARVING!) and took a shower (finally). Now I'm going to bed. I highly doubt any of my future postings will be this long...sheesh.