My Many Christmases in Belgrade

Katie and Tory (the other two BVS volunteers in the Balkans) and I spent the month before Christmas emailing back and forth about where we could go for Christmas; we looked into various possibilities and places we could go. In the end we decided, what better place could we spend Christmas than Belgrade? So, Katie and Tory came to stay with me in Belgrade for the week. They arrived on Sunday night and planned to stay for the entire week. We had grand plans of hot chocolate, movies, museums, and fun. Of course, since this is Serbia not all when as planned.


December 24th – Christmas Eve

My Christmas Eve in Belgrade was lovely. On Monday (Christmas Eve), the WiB office planned a Christmas party for me. They made a turkey, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and other delicious items. They had decorated the office with Christmas lights (a string of plastic Santa lights) and had even borrowed a miniature Christmas tree from another NGO. They also had some small gifts for me. I got lots of small items to hang up in my apartment, a teapot with built in tea strainer, a hat, and other small items. It was very sweet of them. Since I had a sneaking suspicion gifts would be making an appearance at the Christmas Eve dinner I had made lots of chocolate chip cookies. I had spent all day making them, wrapping up the cookies in saran wrap, and tying them up with green Christmas garland; this was especially an adventure since I am still trying to get the hang of the my oven and converting recipes for the different measurements (grams) and temperature (I’m sure another reason it took so long might be that instead of quadrupling the recipe I made four different batches individually). However, I was really glad I spent all day slaving in the kitchen just because it made me more comfortable about accepting their gifts (knowing some of them are not steadily employed and with that whole volunteer, privileged middle class guilt thing going on). Tory and Katie came along with me of course and my boss seemed very excited for them to be there (especially Tory, she kept forgetting Katie's name even though it should have been easy to remember). My boss proposed (meaning proposed in a manner that says, “You will do this”) to Tory and Katie that they stay until Sunday instead of Saturday so they could join us (WiB) in the yearly trip to Panćevo to mark the anniversary of the death of a WiB activist; Katie and Tory said they were glad to join so the pressure wasn't a bad pressure per say. She also insisted that we go out one night to a club with N* (a young WiB activist) and some other younger activists (saying she would go but she is not young and too old to go out with us); she said she would arrange it all for us and was very 'persuasive' in the need for this to happen. I told Katie and Tory that if they weren't keen on this idea we could talk to N about cancelling it or talk to N about making it a more low-key evening (coffee time or something). I think the three of us agreed the coffee idea would be the best. (However, this – or the originally proposed clubbing -- actually never materialized because my supervisor forgot to pass along her proposal/idea to N). All in all Christmas Eve was a wonderful evening. It was a bit surreal and didn’t quite feel like Christmas since neither of the things I associate most with Christmas Eve were a part of the evening (family and the annual Christmas Eve service). Also, I had been fighting off an ear infection (which turned into a double ear infection sometime between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning) so I felt a bit light-headed and drowsy the entire evening. Aside from the fact I was sick, for my first Christmas away from home things didn’t seem too bad.

In fact, I think it could be argued that the drowsiness brought on by the ear infections might have added to the whole dreamy, love-makes-the-world-go-round, Christmas effect. The entire night I had difficulty hearing what people were actually saying so I just kept smiling, nodding my head, and assuming everyone was speaking words of Christmas joy, good tidings, and love. Most likely, this was untrue; I’m sure people were saying much more reasonable things.


December 25th – Christmas Day

Everything was open on Christmas Day here since people here celebrate the Orthodox Christmas on January 7th. Therefore, I decided I would go to the doctor on Christmas Day. The pain in my ears was getting worse and was starting to get annoying. I had actually had an ear infection a few weeks earlier but had been able to get rid of it by taking some herbs (What are the chances of two ear infections so soon after arrival after years of my ears being the epitome of healthy living?). I had been waiting for a while (before giving in and going to the doctor) in hopes that the herbs would take care would take care of it again but it got worse and the other ear started to hurt again as well. So, on Christmas I decided to go to the doctor because it was getting really painful. I spent all of Christmas trying to get this task accomplished.

After sleeping in and watching a few episodes of Arrested Development with Katie and Tory, I left the apartment to go to the doctor. When I left the apartment (around 1pm, I believe) I told Katie and Tory I would be back in a few hours and we could have a nice Christmas dinner and watch a movie or something. Well, I got back after midnight (I believe it was around 12:30). First, my cell phone wasn't working properly so I couldn't call the doctor to make an appointment (Al gave me the number to the doctor she used when she had an ear infection a few weeks ago.). My cell phone would let me call some people and numbers but not others saying I had active diverts. So I went into the menu and cancelled all diverts and it still was saying this. So I went to a cell phone service center, they were very kind and checked my phone and said they thought it was a problem with my SIM card rather than the actual phone and I needed to go to Telenor, my provider. They didn't charge me and helped to guide me in the correct direction to find Telenor, so I walked to Telenor and then waited in line for 30-45 minutes to get some assistance. So that guy then proceeded to tell me all I had to do was put in this code and then it would work; he then called his phone with my phone as an example of how it was fixed. I told him I thought he was wrong and it still wasn't fixed since it could always call some numbers but not others. He had me try a different number which wasn't working and I just picked the most recent one I had tried to call which happened to be Katie's cell phone at which point he then told me it was because I was putting in her number wrong (because it requires a different country code since she lives in Bosnia and Herzegovina) and showed me how to correctly do it (which was completely unnecessary) and then moved on to the next customer. I then went outside tried the doctor and got the exact same message of the active call diverts. I then stood in line again for 30-40 minutes at which point a woman opened up a new register and called me over to get assistance there. When I explained my problem, she then said that I was actually not with Telenor but with Telecom Serbija and needed to go there for assistance.

At this point it was 3:45 in the afternoon and I was starting to feel worse and more tired. So I decided to give up on the phone thing (which still has not been fixed) and work towards getting to the doctor. So I went to Al's and used their phone to call the doctor to make an appointment. As it works, they ask you what kind of doctor you need to see and then hang up and call around to find a free doctor of that type and then call you back with a time. They usually call within 5-15 minutes later. Well, forty minutes later they had still not called so I called them back again and explained how I had called, etc. They said they would be sure to call back within ten minutes. Well, it just so happened that in 5 minutes Al needed to leave to meet a friend to exercise and then go to work from there and I had given them Al's cell phone number. So, I went with Al to her friend's apartment thinking they would call by the time we walked there. They didn't. Almost an hour later and still no call. I then called them at which point they said (not very nicely) they had tried to call me ten or fifteen times to no answer at which I said no you didn't because I was sitting here with the phone in my hand. Turned out they had the wrong number (after I had repeated it 3 times when giving it to them). So, they apologized, called again and then said the earliest time they could find someone would be at 9pm. I said this was too late and could I get in at 6pm (which was 30 minutes away). They called back and said no the earliest was 9pm. So as tempted as I was to say no thank you and make an appointment for the next day, I went with 9pm out of a fear of what would go wrong the following day to create a disaster. So, I was exhausted and feeling worse and worse and had to wait until 9pm for my appointment. Al gave me her keys and I went back to her apartment for a nap until it was time to go to the doctor.

At 8:45, I grabbed a taxi to go to the doctor. I met with the doctor; he prescribed 2 different types of medicine. He told me to come back on Friday to make sure it was working because it was a double ear infection (and apparently a bad one). So we made an appointment for me to come back on Friday at 6pm.

Next job: finding a 24 hour pharmacy. I asked the doctor's assistant/registrar person, and he gave me directions that seemed easy enough. Well, apparently not. So I ended up walking around asking for assistance in finding the pharmacy. Finally, one lady and I were able communicate through my horrible Serbian and lots of hand gestures. She told me (and motioned) to follow her onto a bus, and then when we got to the pharmacy she got off with me and pointed me in the direction. I waited in line there for at least 20 minutes.

Next job: getting back to the apartment. I was near the bus station (sort of) and knew that I could walk back to the office and then walk to Trg Republica and get a bus from there to the apartment. But I also knew it was a long walk to the office in the cold when one is sick and needs to go to bed. So I started walking and then saw a bus that was headed to the green market, jumped on it and then got to the office much quicker to head to the apartment. So that was my Christmas. I'm very glad Katie and Tory were there (even though I didn't see them all day) since it meant when I got home there was a warm meal and somebody to share my adventures.


December 26th – Christmas II (My Fake Christmas – the do-over)

Since Christmas Day was such a bust Katie, Tory, and I decided that we would pretend December 26th was Christmas. We slept in and then watched the most Christmas oriented movie we had available (Love Actually). We had a nice brunch. Then I got called and asked to come to the office to work on proofreading a document. Katie, Tory, and I decided that I would go to the office and work for a couple of hours until I finished the document and then I could meet them at a museum after they had visited Kalemegdan. I ended up being at the office for several hours longer than I originally intended. The emergency proofreading document ended up being very long. I worked for several hours on it until I realized that it was not quite the rush job it was made out to be. When I finished it, nobody even knew the address that I was supposed to email it to. Although I had completely missed out on joining the visit to Kalemegdan or to the museum (which ended up getting substituted with a visit to an Orthodox church since the chosen museum was closed), I was able to go with Katie and Tory to eat at an authentic Serbian restaurant. It was nice to relax, and our food was delicious. We shared our dishes so that we each got the opportunity to try three different dishes. Overall, the do-over Christmas was much better than the original Christmas. It was a bit frustrating to be called into work, but the morning movie and the evening were lovely.


January 6th – Christmas Eve II (The Orthodox Christmas Eve)

On Sunday, I went to a WiB activist’s house for a Christmas Eve dinner with M and S, two other WiB activists who live in the WiB office. It was fun. It was just the three of us, L (the WiB activist who invited us over), her husband, and their son. Their son had spent a year studying abroad in Minnesota during high school; it was nice to have someone there to explain things. We had the traditional Serbian Christmas Eve meal – fish (and side dishes to accompany it). I was able to ask L’s son why I had seen so many people selling branches of brown leaves on the streets recently. I knew it was related to the Orthodox Christmas but was unsure of the significance. He said each family buys some leaves and then places them out with some fruit as a decoration. Later they symbolically burn them (the branches, not the fruit). L was really drunk (apparently she had been drinking a lot before we even got there since there was not any alcohol or wine offered to us) and it was hilarious. Her English vocabulary is very limited – maybe 15 words, but she was trying very hard in her drunken state to communicate with me in English. It came out in an odd mixture of Serbian, English, Russian, Italian, and Spanish. It left everyone at the table very confused and thoroughly amused. After we finished the main course, we all sat down and watched 102 Dalmatians on the television as we ate the traditional Serbian Christmas Eve dessert. Unfortunately for you, I do not know what it is called. When I asked, I was told there wasn’t an equivalent word for it English, I don’t remember the name for it in Serbian, and I have no idea what was in it. I know it was good.


January 7th – Christmas III (The Orthodox Christmas)

I did not have to work on the Orthodox Christmas. Most shops and cafes were closed. The whole city seemed to be closed down. Only a few brave restaurants and cafes were open (and those had limited hours). Luckily, I had been warned and had made sure I was not running low on any of the necessities (milk, toilet paper, etc.). I slept in, proofread some documents for work (in my apartment), and then met up with my friend Al and Zach, her friend who was visiting from the US. They were doing some sightseeing so I met up with them at Kalemegdan and then we headed to one of the open cafes. We were actually able to get a table at Greenet, one of the busiest cafes; it is always packed. I had a delicious hot chocolate. We chatted about the upcoming presidential elections in the US and the various potential candidates for the two parties. It was a nice break to be able to have an intellectual conversation without worrying about using phrasal verbs, or other complicated English grammar concepts. Also, it was nice to be able to talk about something that I felt mildly knowledgeable about (or at least on fairly equal footing as my companions) in comparison to talking about Serbian politics and history with Serbian citizens (who have had a lifetime to study their country’s politics and history, whereas I am just beginning). We practiced the Balkan art of conversing over a cup of coffee (or in my case, hot chocolate) – in other words, talking for hours and hours while slowly sipping one cup of coffee. Eventually we got hungry. We went to the best palačinke place in town. (Palačinke are sort of like crepes or thin pancakes. You can get regular palačinke with meat, cheese, etc. or dessert palačinke.) It was also surprisingly empty; we were able to walk right up and place our order without waiting in line. More importantly, it was delicious. I then parted ways with Al and Zach and headed back to my apartment. I worked some more on proofreading documents, spent some time practicing/studying my Serbian, and watched a movie. It was a great vacation day, but not really Christmas.

*After much thought, I have decided to start using initials (of first letter of first name, first two letters of first name, or some sort of combination of letters) to refer to people to help maintain their anonymity. The last thing I want is some sort of libel suit for writing about people without permission. I will try to maintain some sort of continuity and create some sort of system in regards to the use of the initials for those of you who are trying to keep track of the reoccurring characters within my life here. Of course, those persons who I have already referred to by their first name will continued to be referred to in that manner.


I have in the works several more blog entries (meaning I have started writing various parts of several different entries and they now exist in different stages of completion) including an entry about my New Year’s celebrations, Lost in Belgrade, My Orange Coat, and other various entries. Look for them to be added soon.