A post without a purpose

I don't have any antecdotes or stories for today's post. I just felt like posting a general update.

My Serbian language class continues to grow. We started out as three then became five. Then six. Then seven. Then nine. Then eight. Then nine. People keep rotating in and out of the class. We've been averaging eight students, but the faces change. We seem to have a faithful core of six with some guest appearances by the same 3 students. (There was also another student who dropped by for a week. He will be back in May for another month's lessons.)

Many of our mid-class breaks consist of somebody sharing their latest Belgrade adventure or complaint. I try not to join in on many of these conversations since they seem to turn negative quickly. Of course none of us are from Serbia and for the most part (with one or two exceptions) we have all moved here within the last 6 months. The reasons we come range from volunteering (me), diplomacy (two students are here with a family member who is working at their country's embassy), adventure, and love (this is definitely the majority of the students). Interestingly enough, the persons here for love seem the most distraught at being here. In fact, one of the students just returned last week from visiting her family and friends (in Holland) and happily announced to us that she would be moving back to Holland permanently this summer. Her husband could stay here or come with her, but she was going.

Another student is here from Ireland with her Serbian boyfriend. Every class (she isn't the most faithful attender so this is about 3 times a week) she talks about the things she hates in Serbia, the things she misses about Ireland, and the many ways Serbia doesn't measure up to Ireland. Yesterday she mentioned that she thinks it might be worse for her to come to class since she is then with other internationals who all complain together about their lives in Belgrade. I thought this was ironic since she seems to be leading the mini therapy sessions.

This past weekend we had an activist from Guatemala come and share her personal story and lead us in activities. It was very interesting. It was nice for me since she spoke in Spanish (which was then translated into Serbian) so I actually understood what was going on (most of the time -- there were still times when nobody remembered to translate for her and so we just smiled at each other in confusion). I found that my answers to anyone started coming out in Englospanbian (some new hybrid of English, Spanish, and Serbian). I couldn't get my mind and my tongue to work together to use the right language (Spanish with the speaker, Serbian with the non-English speaking activists, and English with the English speaking activists).

Cooking is fun with my stove. I seem to only be able to get the burners to go on medium high or high. There is no low heat (or at least not as I can tell). I'm also trying my hand at being inventive in using my kitchen utensils. For instance, when you are making rice and don't have pot with a lid a plate can be substituted for the lid. But take care not to keep the plate on too long or it will crack. Also, be open to the possibility that your rice may not turn out perfectly.

This weekend I am going to Sarajevo to visit Tory. I am very excited about this since it will be a nice getaway. I had to leave the country anyway since my 3 month tourist visa is getting ready to expire so I thought it might be nice to make it into a fun thing rather than just another task to complete.