Weekend Fun in Serbia

Hi all. I feel just a little bad for neglecting this blog (or to some, the imported Facebook notes) but I’ve been managing to stay so busy that I pretty much forgot the blog even existed. My apologies, and I’m here now! Besides, I have a whole trip to Serbia to talk about and I better do it now before too much time goes by.

Yes, Serbia. I went there, and it was fantastic. During my first week back to Europe Darjana invited me to attend her cousin’s wedding, which I was told by several people who have experienced Serbian weddings that they are insane, exciting, and sometimes dangerous. Toni warned me, “You will not survive.” Despite the crazy explanations, I was very enthused about the trip, and to my pleasant surprise not one single aspect of the weekend was a disappointment. Well, I guess the train rides back and forth weren’t the absolute best in regard to comfort, and the train conductor and boarder patrollers maintained assy attitudes during each encounter we had with them, but I wouldn’t expect any different around here. I remember a couple years ago when my friends and I were on a night train from Budapest to Prague the conductor himself pushed my feet off a seat so that there would be room for someone who would may be getting on during one of the stops coming up. He seriously could have just asked, or pointed, but he chose otherwise.

When we arrived in Belgrade, Darjana and I had to wait for her sister Zvezdana to meet us and drive two hours to their town of (hold on, let me look it up…) Gornji Milanovac, where the wedding was to be held that weekend. Unfortunately on the way to Belgrade Zvezdana’s car was not prepared for the unexpected snowy journey and she slid into the ditch, unable to continue all the way to Belgrade. Fortunately she was okay, although a little shaken, and there was only minimal damage to the car. So, we had to take a bus to the town instead, and while we waited for it Peter (he’s been mentioned in previous blog entries) gave me a mini tour of Belgrade in his car. At first we all walked around trying to locate coffee, and I got to see a little bit of the University of Belgrade. I hate to admit, I was not impressed with the way the Faculty of Philosophy appeared on the outside. I thought the windows were boarded up and that we were actually looking at a condemned building, but it turns out I was very wrong. I have no idea what the wood-looking things on the windows were, maybe storm protection? The little bit that I saw of the inside of the building looked much better, and normal, and I’m sure in better conditions outside the building would look different. But, the conditions were not the greatest, for even this lifetime Alaskan was freezing because of the wet and slightly breezy cold that was penetrating her bones all the way to the marrow.

After coffee Peter took us on the car tour in the short time that was left before having to get on the bus. I liked the city, and it felt like a very good place to be. I loved some of the graffiti on the walls- not so much the “I’m a cool gang wannabe” tags but the ones that looked like they were commissioned as murals. I hope to return to Belgrade in the future, maybe even this spring, because there is so much about it that I’m curious about and the quick little taste definitely wetted my appetite for more.

After a problem of getting on to the bus in Belgrade- I didn’t realize the strange coins handed to me were supposed to get us through a gate to the busses in addition to having regular tickets in my hand as well (pshh who even knows?)- we made it all the way to Milanovac, and it was a pleasant little town indeed! All the buildings were short and close together, like they should be in a small town, and I could guess by seeing the people walking around that everyone knew everyone. Darjana’s parents were extremely kind to me, giving me all the food and drink I could handle. I loved meeting the rest of her family, immediate and extended, and I thought it was great how close to each other they all live. They’re all next door neighbors! Zvezdana was a total sweetheart, and her little 10-month old baby Vladana was just too cute. Immediately I was immersed in helping to make the wedding preparations, which involved picking out gifts to attach to a Serbian flag to sell to the flag bearer, and creating a hat that is meant to be worn by the person who steals the bride away and makes monetary negotiations with the best man to get her back. Everyone was busy running around, and yes, it did seem crazy, especially with the full-blown party at the bride and groom’s house the night before they were to be married. At this party there was a large platter of I would guess roasted pig heads placed in front of me. I saw some smirks so I think someone was going for the shock factor. It worked, ha! The wedding itself was interesting, because there were two separate ceremonies. One was in something like a city hall so that the marriage would be recognized by the state, and the other was in the orthodox church so that there was still the religious (and assumed the most important) aspect involved. A procession was lead to the reception, lead by the overly excited flag bearer, as he is meant to be, with plenty of cars passing by honking to congratulate the new wedded couple. At that point I spent several hours around hundreds (seriously, hundreds) of guests eating, drinking, dancing, and having a great time all around. I even tried my legs out on a traditional Serbian dance, and it was a complete blast as well as a great cardio workout. Good thing there were countless courses of food being served to us! Oh, and let’s not forget the bottomless rakija as well- it burned so good! Luckily no fights broke out and they opted out of the tradition of firing gun shots, but it was still a crazy time that I enjoyed very much.

Since I’ve been back in Budapest time hasn’t taken it upon itself to stand still very long. This upcoming week marks the halfway point of the semester, so there won’t be much time left before I’m back in Alaska. I look forward to going home, but in the meantime I am finding ways to really enjoy myself here. Having four day weekends and meeting random new people and making unsuccessful attempts to go inside museums stuffed with other visitors helps that out a lot. It’s all about the experience. In a couple weeks once I get a presentation for Philosophy of Mind out of the way, I plan on taking another weekend trip somewhere. Stay tuned!

I left my heart in Alaska, but I'll be back soon to get it

It looks like it’s been a while since I’ve been around these parts. I apologize, but I have been a little busy with things- finishing up the first semester of school, enjoying the holidays with friends and family, spending more time in airports and airplanes than what I want to think about, and starting up a whole new semester at CEU. No matter how much opportunity I’ve had to get used to it, I’m constantly impressed at how fast time goes by. Is it really mid-January already?


Before I get going with this I just want to say that I do not hate Hungary. I know sometimes I show off my countdown until I go home a little too much, and I pause an extra moment when someone asks “How’s Budapest?” but that’s all because I don’t like having to give up one thing in order to get another. I really hate not being at home right now, but if I stayed home all the time then I wouldn’t get to go to school in Hungary. It’s more of a struggle for me to deal with this than I ever thought possible, but I am doing my best to count my blessings, to realize certain things only happen once in a lifetime, and to enjoy what I do when I do it without wishing I could be doing something else. So here I am, back in the regular swing of things in Budapest trying to see if I really can benefit in the little corner of Academia I decided to hang out in.

I will say this though: going back to Alaska for winter break made me appreciate everything about home more than ever. There have been countless occurrences where I have taken things for granted- the love and support of my family, the thick bonds in friendship, the comfort of my tiny little room, snow… Yeah, I didn’t realize just how hard it was to go away from it all. I mean I’ve traveled quite a bit since I was a preteen and have seen many beautiful places and have met many wonderful people, but nothing compares to home. Plus nowhere else in the world has the Whipsaws, Sweating Honey, or Wet Thunder, so obviously Alaska is the place to be. :) Seriously though, on certain days during my break at home I would run outside to start dad’s car (I was borrowing his since mine was under a tarp and snow, and his auto start was unfortunately not working) and despite only wearing a robe and having drenched hair, my quick runs turned into stalled moments where I could look up at the snow-covered trees in the blue twilight and appreciate every inch of it. I liked driving around town and recognizing everything around me, including the people. Speaking of the people of Fairbanks, it was great to be around a population that for the most part is friendly, and doesn’t have to think twice about being courteous. Of course this doesn’t count for all Hungarians, but I get the impression that people here, at least in Budapest, have to go out of their way to be nice. It’s not like they’re cruel, but there is a lack of warmth being emitted, especially to strangers. And yes, this is an observation coming from a girl who was smashed in the shoulder with a snowball by some random punk kid trying to be cool around his friends after leaving class the other day. I’m just glad there weren’t rocks on the ground instead.

So by now it’s obvious that I loved being home and everything about it was wonderful. Even the *ah-hem* hangovers I had every once in a while were worth the fun I had the nights prior. I’m really happy I was able to spend a lot of time just hanging out with my folks. I’m sure there are aspects of retirement they hate, but I like how much more accessible they are, and I love how willing they are to try new things. They even came to ACRC with Cassandra and me as first-timers. It might not seem like a big deal, but for most of my life there was a huge social gap between my parents and me, and I’m so happy to finally be bridging it. I’m really excited to go home in April for my birthday- I know I could be using the time to explore more of Europe, but I have all sorts of other time to be using for that, such as this weekend. :)

I’m going to close this by announcing that I’m going to Serbia for the first time ever. My friend Darjana has invited me to attend her cousin’s wedding, which is an opportunity I would be an idiot to pass up. We’ll take the train to Belgrade tonight, and when we get there in the morning her sister is going to drive us to the village they grew up in. Unfortunately I have no idea what the name of the village is- I’ve heard it maybe ten times but I can never make sense of what is actually being said, haha! Hopefully when I’m there I’ll get it figured out. Wish me luck- Toni informed me that it’s possible to not survive a Serbian wedding. Should I be scared?