Second Group Update

For our second group update for the Bridge Year Program website, we decided to write an unofficial guide should you ever find yourself in Serbia.

http://www.princeton.edu/bridgeyear/updates/archives/index.xml?id=7138

Hope it's to your liking!

Building Bridges via BIMUN

If I had the chance to be any professional for a day, a diplomat wouldn’t particularly be my profession of choice.  That’s not to say that the duties and responsibilities of this internationally political career path aren’t interesting; it’s just that if I had one day to be anything, I would like to try something unconventional –something along the lines of a chef or a snowboarder or even a violinist in a world-renown orchestra.  But after spending four days at the Belgrade International Model United Nations (BIMUN) conference, I’ll admit that one huge perk of being a diplomat is the opportunity to meet people from all over the world.

From March 15 to 18, the BYP Serbia group headed to Belgrade to participate in BIMUN.  For those of you who are not familiar with Model United Nations, it’s a type of conference where students from high school to grad school gather and represent the various countries involved in –none other than– the committees of the UN.  Needless to say, BIMUN was the international version of model UN in Belgrade.  After applying and (shockingly) being accepted, I was told I would be one of two members representing the Morocco delegation in the Security Council; its topic was the crisis in Libya.  Jacob represented Pakistan and Tucker France in the Security Council Crisis Committee, which addressed the Israel-Palestine issue; Charlotte represented Jordan in the Human Rights Council, covering corruption in the Balkans; and Yentli represented Serbia in the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in order to discuss preserving culture in Kosovo and Jerusalem.

Of course, these issues required research and preparation; and while some of us prepared at different intensities, I think it’s safe to say that none of us were expecting what the conference truly and fortunately ended up being about: forming friendships with people from around the world.  At this year’s BIMUN conference, 37 countries from five continents were represented.  Basically everyone at the conference is currently living in Europe, but there were people originally from Colombia, Singapore, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan.., just to name a few countries.  Never in my young adult life had I felt so worldly and so invested in an international community to this extent.  Every day at the SC sessions I tried my best to be engaged and participative, but it was always much more exciting for me to have the opportunity to interact with other participants outside of the sessions.

Conversing and spending time with these amazing people has opened my eyes (even further than the Bridge Year Program already has) to the importance of connecting with the international community. The world is about so much more than just the country you come from, and it’s extremely essential to be aware of that.  This BIMUN experience only further confirms that when I return home to the States, and later to Princeton, I’m coming back as a person with bridges that will link the world I've known to the new one I’ve discovered over the course of these six and a half months.

And we're back

Firstly, I would like to make up for some lost time, so...Meppy Christmahannukwanzikah! Happy New Year! Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! Happy Presidents' Day! Happy Valentine's Day! Did I miss any other major holiday since I've last posted? I've realized how long it's been since my last post and am determined to bring my blog back to life. I don't want to bog you folks down with information overload, so an as-brief-as-I-can life update will have to suffice until I get back into the grove of writing these things regularly.

Hmm, where to start?

In the beginnng of January I went to Budapest with my Novi Sad homestay sisters, Dunja and Nikica; their friend, Bobi; and Dunja's boyfriend, Nikola. It was my first time visiting a "traditional" looking European city, and I savored every minute of it. We wandered around the two parts of the city for hours, shopping, eating, sight-seeing, soaking in the sun, etc. The trip contributed to ending the first half of my journey with a bang.

The Fisherman's Tower was my favorite
structure we saw over the course of our 36-hour trip.

The view of the other half of
Budapest (I think the "Pest" half)
 from the Fisherman's Tower.

Heroes' Square

On January 9th, the BYP Serbia group started the second half of its adventure by moving to Niš. As we drove into the city, there was snow on the ground and mountains within plain sight. Regardless of these immediate physical indicators, we could sense the multidtude of differences between this true Serbian city and the Vojvodinian city that is Novi Sad were waiting for us to discover them. Our first week was spent getting acquainted with our new home via some sight-seeing and a scavenger hunt.

view of Niš's city center from its fortress

just hanging out at the remains of an old mosque in the fortress

We had the opportunity to visit the WWII concentration camp,
Crveni Krst (Red Cross). It was the first time I had ever been to one,
and it was a bone-chilling and surreal experience.

 One of the upper floors of the main building was
where vicitms were kept. Anywhere from 20 to
30 people were crowded into each cell.

The Skull Tower constructed by the Turks and
made of -surprise!- the skulls of Serbian soldiers.

As soon as our orientation week ended, we moved in with our new homestay families, started work, and continued our Serbian lessons the following Monday. I reside at the Ković residence with Darko (dad), Emilija (mom), Miša (17 year old brother), Nina (9 year old sister), and Baka (grandmom). They're definitely a spirited and fun family. I love how they watch movies and play card games often and lunch with Darko's parents every Saturday afternoon. Although their family dynamic is different than that of the Skorić's, it suits me just fine.



my new room

I got to go snowboarding with Darko and Miša (they skiied)!

view from the slope

I work at Svratište za decu ulice, or Drop-in Center for Street Children, during the weekdays. There I hang out with the children; we eat snacks, color, play board games, share our limited vocabulary in various foreign languages, and just talk. Despite how unfortunate their home lives may be, they are a cheerful and enthusiastic bunch, and their joy is infectious.

I hope I haven't disappointed, but that is honestly all that's happened in these last two and a half months. It feels good to be back, so I'll surely post again when I have more to share.

Whirlwind-of-a-week

The past couple of months at Jazas were definitely a slow build up to the whirlwind-of-a-week I recently experienced.  Last week, I was fortunate enough to take part in Jazas’ major campaigns dedicated to the fight against HIV/AIDS.

On Monday, Milica, a fellow Jazas volunteer, and I made two roundtrips from Novi Sad to Ledinci (a village on the outskirts) handing out fliers and condoms to bus passengers. As people entered the bus, we said a quick “Izvolite” and presented them with the goods. Most of the passengers on the bus were grandparent age, but that didn’t stop us from distributing.  The reactions from bus riders varied from amusement to rejection, and seeing those reactions was probably the best part.  When people refused the condoms and the fliers, Milica would sigh a bit and wonder why they wouldn’t take something educational and useful that was being handed out for free.  My guess was because they were embarrassed or considered themselves “too old” to be a target group for this action.  But everyone is a target group, because HIV/AIDS doesn’t discriminate.

From Tuesday to Thursday I participated in Jazas’ Summit.  Representatives from various NGO’s in the Balkans all came together in Novi Sad to exchange ideas and thoughts about attitudes towards HIV/AIDS and different kinds of projects and actions they have at their organizations. During the summit, we had workshops, visited drop-in centers, played games, and just spent some quality time together.  The majority of the activities were held in English, but when the group fell into deep discussions it was difficult for the other participants not to switch to their regional language/Serbian to accurately express their opinions.  Despite the fact that there were people from Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Croatia –countries that are known to have some tensions among them– that tension wasn’t felt among this group.  In the bigger picture, we were all dedicated young volunteers coming together for a greater cause, and getting to share these three days with those people was invaluable.

part of the group

The very last day of the summit was conveniently World Aids Day, so together we came up with some ideas for actions to have out in the streets.  Earlier in the afternoon our action was distributing condoms and information via booth in front of the Law Faculty at the University of Novi Sad and via Condom Waiters who carried condoms on a tray from building to building.  Our big action, a flash mob, took place later in the afternoon.  All of the summit participants stood in the middle of the center frozen with a sheet of paper that had a specific HIV/AIDS fact on it.  After posing for about five minutes, we formed a circle and once again held out our papers for people to read.  The end of the flash mob was when each of us put our papers on the ground one by one in the shape of a ribbon.  The action wasn’t flawless but it grabbed people’s attention, and that’s what we wanted. 

I know, I know....I'm holding my sign upside down.

Later that evening, myself and about ten Jazas volunteers were the Condom Police.  What did that entail?  Basically, we busted into major cafes and asked people if they had a condom on them.  If they didn’t, they were given a “fine” in the form of a flier and a condom.  If we weren’t hassling people in cafes, we were surrounding random people on the street as one big unit.  It felt pretty legit considering that one volunteer had a whistle.

It saddens me that the intense part of Jazas is over because it was such a rush to be involved and out there getting people to think about serious issues.  I know that every day won’t be like the days of last week, but that just makes those days much more special and worth every other ordinary day I have at Jazas.

First Group Update!

Each month Princeton has one country write a group update, and November was Serbia's turn. Check out what we had to say here:

http://www.princeton.edu/bridgeyear/updates/archives/index.xml?id=6155

Enjoy!

Going to the Groblje

This past Saturday my family brought me to the cemetery with them to pay their respects to the deceased Baba Sofija (Jasminka's mom) and Baba Marta (Boško's mom).  When we arrived at the first cemetery, I was surprised to see about ten vendors on the side of the road selling flowers, candles, and incense. What surprised me even more was the immense amount of people at the cemetery. I thought our visit was sporadic, but it turned out that Saturday was one of multiple Saturdays in the year dedicated to visiting graves of loved ones. I discovered that this meant the entire experience would be more than just walking to the grave, taking a moment, and leaving.

Every family at the cemetery, including mine, was cleaning the weeds and dirt that covered the grave.

As I watched the Skorić's take the time to maintain Baba Sofija's grave (then Baba Marta's at a different cemetery), I couldn't help but admire this Serbian tradition. We tend to say that the dead are not forgotten, and this display of care for the dead made me believe in those words. Even though I'm not related to Babe Sofija or Baba Marta, I felt so fortunate that the Skorić's shared this tradition with me and payed my respects Roman Catholic style to show my appreciation.

The cemetery Baba Marta was buried in had tombstones
that dated all the way back to the mid/late 1800's. The
fact that they are still adorned with fresh flowers and
candles speaks volumes of this Serbian tradition.

I'm a bona fide English to Serbian translator...

...hah, not at all! However, there was a little scenario yesterday that presented the opportunity to showcase the Serbian I've learned thus far. Last night I was chatting with the parentals via Skype at the kitchen table. Jasminka, Nikica, and Boško heard what I was doing and wanted to say hi. I moved my laptop so that the Skorić's were within sight, and after a greeting or two, Jasminka and my mom fell into conversation. The exchange went something like this:


Jasminka: "Hi. How are you?"
Mom: "Oh we're fine. How are you?"
Jasminka:"Fine, too. Dominique is sweet girl."
Mom: "Thank you. You guys are sweet. Dominique has said a lot of wonderful things about you guys."

PAUSE

Jasminka (looking at me): "Šta kaže?"

This was it, my moment to be the link between an English and a Serbian speaker. As best as I could, I told Jasminka what my mom said.

Me: "Ona kaže da ja sam rekao rekla mnogo dobro stvar o..."

Jasminka: "O vama."

Me: "Da"

Obviously what I said was no where near perfect, but I'm pretty sure it effectively conveyed the message to Jasminka. Thinking about it now, I probably should have said, "Ona kaže da ja sam rekla mnogo dobrih stvari o vama." I was kinda close.

Once Jasminka and my mom said their goodbyes, I moved my laptop so that I was in sight. When I finally looked back at the screen, it's image caught me off guard: the faces of delighted and proud parents. It then hit me that they just saw and heard me use Serbian semi-conversationally. Seeing their pride and joy made me feel proud of myself. Yeah ,what I said wasn't perfect, but it showed progress; and, I'm all about progressing.