Dobro utro, Kako si, Hvala

Don't hate me if I haven't acquired an easy tongue for Srpski, but I am looking for a tutor or a writing pal to help me out before making the move in about a year from now.

Any idea where to look for an onlin Serbian community, besides Facebook, which I try to screen tightly?  An good Serbian language books on the market.  Unfortunately, Rosetta Stone does not yet make Serbian manuals :(

What's the best way to learn the grammar?  Is there some sort of rythmic tone I should memorize or is it just an acquired talent?  I have also noticed the intonations are very exaggerated when I listen to authentic speakers.  When do you exaggerate an intonation?  I think I use latin intonations when trying to speak...thus no one understands my simple phrases. 

Any learning advice is welcome and much appreciated :)

Passing the time; Hopefully not the dream

16 weeks and 4 days...winter hell with signs of slightly less miserable weather to come..a blossoming baby grows outward by the day and a dream still connected to a wondrous life full of family travel, artistic endeavors, a career exploration, and clear, sunny skies.

16 weeks I have contemplated my motherly intuition on where to raise myself and my family comfortably, easygoing on the wallet and our mental health.  I still reach for Belgrade, voted 3 times now compared to 3 different U.S. cities on my list.  I still cradle that spontaneity that has securely nudged me through the wavering decisions I've been left to make of my slow to speeding life. Why stop now?

The only unsettling question I cannot sleep on anymore is the potentially big issue of what to do with my career goal, how to incorporate art back into my life?  I am left to squander over my self-conflicting, nagging dilemma to taste everything before comitting to one career move.  Well, I've had it up to here with leaping from one job to another, one hobby to the next.  I need to invent a practical goal before transporting my while life to another country.  How easy will it be to invent a career goal and apply it Serbia? 

With an open-mind and perservering will, this lost mamma will push on to better days...

Here's lookin at you Belgrade.

2010: New Year, New Plans to cross the Atlantic

Happy New Year and what a full year it will be!  Plans have slightly changed to stay in NY a bit longer than expected as we are welcoming a new addition to our family.  Jamaica produced the beginning of a whole new life and outlook for us! Belgrade is still in sight for the beginning of 2011 and I am just growing more excited by each passing day.  We have much to look forward to as far as securing our apartment, shipping furniture, a car and and other necessities, and I think I'll be counting down the days through this grueling Northeast winter.

New York has successfully impressed me again with its bold Holiday decor, beautiful snow-capped mornings and a flurry of tourist hustle and bustle throughout downtown and Time Square.  A chilling 20 degrees just adds to my craving for being home, wrapped up in a duvet, absorbed in Humphrey Bogart classics and safe from the grit and grime of this sweet-burdening city.

I look beyond the mundane work schedule, the daily fight to walk, shop, bargain, communicate, pay, greet, meet, HOME.  Everything seems tedious now, as if I'm carrying a barbell on my shoulders wherever I go.  I must be in a nesting phase now, wanting to tend to home and finding the joy in the simplicity of quiet indoor activities.

I think I'll get lost today in my thoughts of how I will make my home comfortable in Belgrade....first of all I will need to choose rich, earth tone paint colors for the living room and bedroom.... maybe brick red for the kitchen...I could paint a mural for the dining room......

Witnessed Do’s and Dont’s in Belgrade

When driving in Belgrade, do look for police waiting for speeding cars especially on the bridge to Kotez.  Also do look for them in Splavovi at night on the weekends. Speeding and driving under the influence is not tolerated at all. 

When dining in restaurants do order a srpska salad or kupa salad or a soup as it seems that every meal is ordered with one of these and waiters will assume you know this.

Don't order wine before 5-6pm at sidewalk cafes because the waiters and cafe goers will assume you are a tourist and do not know how to order coffee at a cafe.  (Based on my own experience).

Do eat biscuits, proja or burek in the morning with coffee at a nearby cafe. People do not eat big breakfasts or proteins in the morning.  They do drink a lot of yummy yogurt drinks with fresh bread and mladi sir.  When you go to a cafe for breakfast you will most likely be eating a sandwich and salad, oh and did I mention coffee, coffee, and more coffee.

Ladies don’t drink beer from the bottle, actually they do not drink beer at all.  I have witnessed them drinking mainly wine and some popular cocktails like mojitos and fruity martinis.  And while we’re on the subject, most kafes, lounges and clubs do not supply the basic ingredients, (no cranberry juice to be found) to make many simple cocktails, like Vodka and Cranberry.  Cranberry juice is only found in pharmacies to boost immunity and physical health.  If you want to order a bottle of vodka at a club, all mixers are not complimentary and you must pay for tonic water, orange juice and soda water.

This may be a very weird do, but do appreciate and take someone's offer to give you slippers when you enter their home in the winter.  I grew up in a warm climate year-round so this idea of offering slippers in the wintertime may be common everywhere where climates change. I normally don't like to wear slippers but I quickly found them to be warm and valuable in December and Jan in Belgrade and I was so grateful for the hospitable families who did offer me warmth.

Jamaica = Happy Serb II

I think B's red former Yugoslavian t-shirt with a Communist logo which read, "srp icekic" really attracted the attention of our Jamaican hotel staff because for the remainder of our stay we were given great treatment and offered low activity prices.  They also requested his cuban fedora and paper boy cap in exchange for a Katamaran cruise or scuba diving.  It was great for me, I sat back and watched B perform his bargaining magic, saving me from purchasing over-priced wares because I was lingering a bit too long by vendor huts.

 At that point it became easier for B to bargain a decent price for our activities and souvenirs and it became entertaining for me to watch the consistent debate in action.  My favorite instance to witness occurred when B was approached by a cigar vendor on the outskirts of our hotel beach.  This Jamaican/Cuban was thoroughly impressed by G's bargaining strength as they offered him Cuban's for an excessive price and he bargained them down more than 50%.  This vendor instantly approached him with respect and struck up a conversation regarding their close ties with Cubans.  He told us about his Russian neighbor that use to live in Cuba but retreated to Jamaica for a relaxed lifestyle.  He explained to us how Cuban cigars and alcohol are smuggled across the border and sold in Jamaica tax free.  As a boat repairman, he worked closely with some Russians in Cuba building and repairing boat engines long enough that he fashioned his own for Jamaica.  He and B had a quick and long lasting friendship and I have a feeling when we do return to Jamaica, he will be one of the first guys we reunite with.

Well, luckily, we left Jamaica with B's Cuban fedora and Red Star jersey, but it has been requested upon our return that we bring back NY goods to exchange for great service :)

I genuinely like Jamaica and so does B.

Russia+Jamaica=Happy Serb

I just returned from Ocho Rios, Jamaica with B and wow what a wonderful time we spent on island time!  Jamaicans are really wonderful people with a great appreciation and respect for the quality of TIME.

The town of Ocho Rios is full of arts and crafts and great jerk stands!  And the beaches are serene, pure and full of expansive reefs to snorkel.  And I had little understanding of the Rastafarian movement, which is a way of life for a very wholesome, organic, crafty community.  Among our driving venture through Ocho Rios, we came across a wooden hut found in isolated patches of the town, decorated with gracefully carved wooden masks, statues and vases;  and one Rasta peacefully perched on the floor crafting wood sculptures and feeding off the vegetation grown solely on his land...truly one of the healthiest communities I have witnessed.  My perception of Rastas was such a stereotype conceived from many days spent on Venice Beach watching these long dreaded hippies sporting yellow and green polos and knit hats, playing hacky-sack bare foot on the dirty public sidewalk, smoking small joints, feasting on french fries from McDonalds as night  fell...clearly not True Rasta.

Another Jamaican stereotype of mine was crushed when I noticed that locals really don't wear excessively long dreads like most wold assume, in fact they don't wear dreads at all, except for the Rastas.  The mix of British and African genes are flowing beautifully through the island and I found their exoticism to be quite alluring...not to mention that the men have perfect bodies and they boast that their food is pure and organic. Organic it is, we ate 3 big meals a day and drank Rum Punch, Kiss from the Heart, and Tropical Poisons  consistently and we lost weight!  The seafood is amazing with mussels and clams the size of my hand.  My one and only complaint was that the white wine was never chilled and never seemed to arrive on time during dinner.

To our surprise Jamaicans get along very easily with Russians, Serbs, Croats, and more generally with East Europeans. There is a common respect for strong bargaining power and each country can hold it's own when it comes to negotiating a good business deal. Jamaicans will try to sell you any of their goods as tourism is the main source of income on the island, and if you don't have good negotiating skills, they will provoke you to spend past your limit.  Fortunately, B has unbelievable bargaining power and the Jamaican vendors respected him as a business comrade after they found out they could not push their high prices on him.  Jamaica has a high respect for Russians who live in Cuba and Jamaica.  A self-made community thriving in each of these countries brings them closer together,  and Jamaicans spotted B's will-power to bargain and spotted his respect for vendors who are ruthlessly trying to sell to survive.

Farewell Steady Voice

I would like to pay my respect to Patriarch Pavle, devoted in his mission to steady the hearts of all who suffered during the Balkan ethnic wars; who spoke against violence and peacefully led the Orthodox Christian Church through a post-communist era.

By demanding former President Milosevic's resignation, Pavle fought for justice and the freedom not just for his people but for all people to live as human beings in a war free region.  His faults are not extreme, he protected what he knew best, Serbian churches and monasteries.