This past day and a half has been the most enlightening thus far in terms of experiencing Serbian culture and understanding the five other people who with I am sharing this experience.
Yesterday started like the rest of the days will for this entire trip -with a Serbian class. I genuinely believe that each day of class will be refreshing because I will probably learn something new and applicable every time. For instance, I learned the pronouns and how to conjugate verbs (zvati se = i call myself, biti = to be) both of which are essential for forming coherent phrases in Serbian. We then were lectured at Ceca's house by a Serbian doctor who will be able to help us with our medical needs for the entirety of our time spent in Novi Sad. At the end of his lecture though he made a remark along the lines of it would be best to take care of any medical needs before going to Niš. I hadn't thought anything of his comment until Ceca clarified that he is saying this out of prejudice. So it's not even necessarily true that Novi Sad has better health practices, but Sinisa (the doc) felt it was appropriate to express his preference perhaps out of his dislike for the cultural aspects that exist in Niš. It was interesting to be minimally exposed to the prejudice that exists in Serbia and made me realize and remember that we are here to understand "the why" of Serbian culture and to help incorporate tolerance by working with our respective project placements.
My other encounter with Novi Sad locals was during this intense scavenger hunt that we had to do in order to get a better sense of Novi Sad. The tasks ranged from individual to group orientated, but my favorite had to be the third group task which required us to find someone to teach us "Osam Tamburasa", a song inspired by the city's fortress. We approached these two women sitting on a wall and used our best Serbian with them. Of course we ended up resorting to English, but I think we get an A for effort...eh maybe. Despite our broken Serbian and their broken English, they were enthusiastic about helping us. They couldn't recall the song but they were more than going out of their way to find someone who could help us. Eventually they ended up remembering the words to the song, but their willingness to assist five foreigners spoke volumes about their character and how they want to represent their country. The time I was spending with them didn't even have me concerned about completing the task, for I was simply enjoying their company.
Yesterday night was probably one of the best parts of the day because after the scavenger hunt we drove up to the fortress and had dinner there. The food was decent, the view was gorgeous, but the company and the discussion transcended them all. Charlotte, Tucker, Yentli, Jacob, myself, and even Ceca engaged in one of the most adult-like conversations I've ever had. We each expressed our views, beliefs, and opinions on love, marriage, sex, etc., and I just found it so great how we could agree, disagree, or agree to disagree on such heavy concepts that play a huge role in society -both American and Serbian (thanks to Ceca). For me, it was an opportunity to discover how my peers thought and for them to share their perspective on life. Listening to and observing the discussion, while also contributing from time to time, taught me so much about the other byp participants and Ceca. We moved the discussion to a cafe where it eventually died out, but I look forward to more instances like this one with not only them but also the people of Serbia.
...Oh and I would just like to mention that I absolutely looooove gulaš! I had it for lunch yesterday and it was just meaty and saucy and just overall greatness (especially with hleb [bread])!
