Day 301: an extra day in Belgrade

We decided to stay an extra day in Belgrade because we were slightly rained out the day before, and well, we loved our hosts. We probably could have done a lot more with an extra day in the city, but we enjoyed walking around and people watching, and then looked forward to dinner with Marija and Vladimir and then, bonus: Vladimir’s adorable brother. Andrew asked about what life was like during the war, a bit hesitant if it would be a touchy subject. Vladimir kinda laughed at us and said it was a bit of the elephant in the room and that they expected most couchsurfer guests to ask about it. It was interesting to hear how mostly, in Marija’s case, she remembered being bored at her Grandmother’s house outside of the city.The bombings were mostly spot on their government building targets that school would be canceled and… well in a very broad sense, that was it. They asked us what we thought about it, and didn’t judge me when I basically said I was preoccupied with high school,  learning how to drive, and didn’t know much about the situation. Sometimes I feel a bit silly, at how much of a bubble I have lived in (in America). I also continually wish I had paid more attention to my History classes and wish I had made it a point of keeping up on my current events more. Learning so much everyday on this trip is great, as long as you can ignore how much of an idiot you are for not already knowing (or remembering) it.

One of my favorite parts of our conversation was when we mentioned our plan to travel until Thanksgiving. Andrew asked if they knew about American Thanksgiving. Our new favorite Serbian friends promptly made fun of him for asking, insisting that they’ve seen Friends. I assured them that it’s tradition that someone must get the turkey stuck on their head every year. (wink wink) Vladimir’s brother thought for a minute and then agreed, he had seen it on Grey’s Anatomy.

As a former English teacher, and somewhat lazy language learner myself, it continues to amaze me how much English (and culture in some cases) others are able to pick up from American television shows. Then Andrew and I both admitted that so many Americans can be too lazy to watch foreign language films.

We were laughed at again.

“But, that’s how you watch a movie!” Marija or Vladimir exclaimed.

“Not in America… We remake the entire movie!” Andrew shook his head.

Day 300: Travel Angels in Belgrade

I’m not sure if Marija and Vladimir really exist. Because I’m pretty sure they were angels sent down by the travel gods to remind us why we are doing this epic trip around the world. I mean, obviously they are real people. They are real, wonderful, lovely, hospitable Serbians that were a breath (of very much needed) fresh air. We woke up to a home-cooked Serbian breakfast and more enjoyable conversation. So enjoyable in fact, that they lit’rally had to remind us that we were there to see their city, not to hang out in their apartment the entire time! And off we went, to walk around town and see the Belgrade Fortress.

We walked through the main street in town, enjoying the relaxed nature of the city. Granted, it was a Sunday, but it was so calm and enjoyable! People were out and about walking their dogs, playing with their kids, having coffee (or beer) with friends. It was lovely. Andrew and I agreed that it was the city (so far) in the Balkans that we would pick to live in. Nothing against the others, there was just a more gentle, relaxed vibe here that we both noticed immediately.

We headed to the Fortress and sat people watching most of the time. The weather was beautiful right up until we timed it perfectly to sit down and have a coffee. And, then it rained. We used the weather as a good excuse to look for new shorts for Andrew (ok, I’ll admit it, and to look at the sale prices in Zara for me) and then, when we couldn’t figure out where the movie theater was in town (to see if Despicable Me 2 was playing), we headed back to Marija and Vladimir’s.

If you missed Day 299, you should know that it was a rough day, nearing the end of a bit of a difficult month of travel. Not the month specifically, nor the wonderful places we visited, but more like the length of this trip hitting me hard. Staying with Marija and Vladimir could not have come at a better time. Whenever we tell people (especially Americans) unfamiliar with this network, they usually gape and question our level of crazy for showing up to a STRANGER’S(!) house in a foreign country to spend the night. We’re familiar with this response. Pretty much everyone who is on couchsurfing is also familiar with this response, and we all laugh about it together. But the truth is, we’ve had a really wonderful experience with it and staying with Marija and Vladimir is no different. We went out for dinner, and again, stayed up later than we (at least Andrew and myself) usually do chatting. We tried to express how grateful we were to have met them, but they shrugged it off, not taking us seriously at all. Later, I had to restrain myself from giving them a big (huge) hug goodnight.

I went to bed thinking not of how hard Month 10 has been, but how wonderful this opportunity (and MANY opportunities along the way) to meet them has been. Sometimes on this trip, our emotions get crazy. They swing back and forth from one extreme to the other, and I have to remind myself of that before I inform Andrew that I’m ready to jump ship. Or maybe, I have to remind myself to thank him for not taking me too seriously.

Day 146: Casablanca’s Black Market

As if our couchsurfer hosts weren’t already awesome enough (making us french toast for breakfast and then Russian vegetable pie for dinner), Bryan let us tag along with him for a trip to Casablanca’s Black Market. He needed an external harddrive and a tagine (Moroccan cooking pot). I wanted a replacement lens and possibly some replacement shoes. Off we went.

Can I just point out how awesome the dude above looks? A grey jalaba (Hello, Star Wars) with bright yellow glasses. He was awesome. He also gave me a super great deal on a new camera lens. I dropped mine an uncountable amount of times (or accidentally knocked it against a rock while trekking, or it fell off of my backpack while I used Andrew’s camera to take video of him, or maybe it has a grain of sand stuck in it from when I took it to the beach…) For the past month, I haven’t been able to adjust the focal length and recently, it hasn’t been focusing unless I use the LCD screen to shoot a picture. It’s been frustrating. Bryan helped save the day taking me to the dude above.

He then took us to this awesome store (or booth or whatever it’s called in the depths of the Black Market) that I’m convinced is just a front for something even more ‘black market’ than simply having a store at the Black Market itself. Bryan was pointing out a Nazi dagger or bayonet point in the glass case. Outside of the market, he pointed out old slave shackles. He loves the Black Market and is convinced whatever you possibly need or want, you’d be able to find it there. I’m pretty sure he’s right. We stopped at a tagine store on our way ‘home’ where I tested out my new lens while Bryan shopped and Andrew kept an eye on the car. Andrew refused to let me buy one of these giant ceramic pots to ship home. He likes to crush my dreams like that.