Fame, Body fluids, Bathtubs, and Bumper Stickers

My life has been a mixture of interesting observations and experiences recently. Here are just a few of my tales...

1. Last week I went out to a cafe with some of my classmates for a drink. As I was drinking hot chocolate, M---, my classmate from Cyprus, whispered, "Look! That is an actor. He is on TV. I can't remember what TV show he is on, but he is Serbian actor." Once M--- pointed him out, I did realize he looked familiar. However, I do not watch much Serbian television. I'm not sure whether I recognized him from my brief glimpses of random Serbian televisions shows, or if he is one of the actors whose appears in the Kosovo is Serbia ads that I see at least once a week in one of the buses. We joked about taking our napkins or menus and asking him to sign them, but we decided it was a bad idea since we didn't know his name, his television show, or his language. So instead, we just relished in the fact that were sipping our hot chocolate in the same cafe as a Serbian actor.

2. Not quite as lovely, was one of my bus rides home last week. After standing for the first, twenty minutes of the ride, I snagged a seat. I was just sitting there congratulating myself on my ingenious timing in picking a bus that eventually had open seats when I heard a retching noise. I looked down on the ground to see that there was a trail of liquid running back and forth along the aisle. I then realized that I had chosen to sit behind a girl who had spent the last ten minutes of the bus ride vomiting. After suppressing my own urge to vomit, I looked down to make sure there wasn't any chance of the vomit running backwards towards my feet. I was in luck since the floor between our seats was divided by some sort of metal partition. The girl continued to vomit until she got off the bus two stops later. Of course, when I got off at my bus stop I made sure to go to the opposite door to avoid the river of vomit. It was a bit further, but well worth the few extra steps.

3. Now for something a little cleaner: Last week I resorted to doing some emergency laundry in my bathtub. Actually, I started out doing it in my sink and then switched to doing it in the bathtub, but that is a completely different story. I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed and scrubbed my clothes. The end results: an aching back, some sore knees, a lot of wet clothes that resembled cleanliness, a long search for places to hang the wet clothes, and new sense of respect for women around the world without washers.

4. All throughout Europe cars have bumper stickers that proclaim their national identity (The most common is an oval bumper sticker with the country's recognized abbreviation). Serbia is no different. Since my arrival, I have seen them everywhere. Not every car has one, but my guess is that 3 out of 5 cars have one. One interesting thing I have noticed is that there is two different abbreviations for Serbia: SRB and SCG. The SRB is the new abbreviation for Serbia, whereas the SCG refers to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro (which was dissolved in 2006). Some people (and their cars) have not gotten the memo that the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro no longer exists (rendering SCG an invalid country code), or they just haven't bothered to update their bumper stickers to reflect the new country code/abbreviation (SRB). Perhaps even more interesting than this dilemma is the fact that within the last two weeks I have noticed several SRB bumper stickers that are accompanied by the McDonald's golden arches and logo "I'm lovin' it". I'm sure the bumper stickers were something given out by the McDonald's in as a value meal prize or special advertisement of some sort, but it strikes me as odd that I have noticed several of these stickers within the last two weeks seeing as how 2 of the 3 McDonald's in Belgrade have not yet reopened since they were vandalized (in the wake of Kosovo's declaration of independence). I'm not sure how long the McDonald's bumper stickers have been out there. My observational powers aren't always the sharpest -- the bumper stickers might have been distributed years ago (Obviously, only sometime since the abbreviation change that occurred in 2006).

In other news, I continue to have daily sightings of the dog in the window that I referred to in an earlier post. Although, last week I saw him standing up in the display window and barking for the first time.

Just your average update

I am still working on some blog entries about my trip to Sarajevo and some other recent events, but I thought I would just write a quick random update. I know that Belgrade has been making it in the news recently in the U.S. which is a far cry from when I first arrived and most people in the U.S. weren't exactly sure where Serbia is located.

Things are in a state of limbo right now here. The government coalition dissolved. The new elections on May 11th will determine which way Serbia will head -- towards European integration or isolation. Tomorrow another protest will be held for Kosovo. I'm not sure how big the turnout will be. Two of the three McDonald's in the city are still shut down (they closed after they were broken into, burnt, and vandalized after Kosovo's declaration of independence). I'm not sure when they will open again (not that I have visited any of them since my arrival or plan on visiting them anytime soon). I guess they are waiting for things to calm down and blow over.

During the big Kosovo protest in Belgrade (on Thursday, February 21), I camped out at my friends' apartment. They live in the center of the city and have a television. I don't have a television or radio in my apartment so my access to the news is limited. It seemed like a better idea to be with them so I could sit with them and watch the news. We ended up keeping the news muted on the television in the background while we watched a movie on the laptop. We would take short breaks from the movie to see updates on the news. They broadcasted the entire protest on several of the Serbian television channels. The broadcasted the speeches given at the protest by politicians, famous artists, and others. We watched people streaming down the streets as they went from the protest in front of the Parliament building to the religious service at the church. We stuck our heads out the windows and watched as people walked down the streets with their flags and banners. We saw a bank window get smashed in, but some young men as they walked. Of course, I'm sure many of you watched the news unfold about the attacks on the embassies and stores in the U.S. while we watched it on our television in Belgrade. It was a reminder of the existence of anti-American sentiment within Serbia amongst some people. I was sure the next few days to keep my English to a minimum in public.

Yesterday Women in Black had a street performance and women's peace march. It was actually the street performance and peace march we had planned to do last Saturday. Last Saturday was March 8th, International Women's Day. Women in Black's planned street performance and women's peace march were banned by the government citing safety concerns. It was a sad reflection of the state of things here that we were banned from having a celebration of International Women's Day (On a side note, International Women's Day is a very different holiday here than in the U.S. Men give their wives and mothers gifts, flowers, and chocolates. It's sort of like a mix between Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.) Women all throughout the world gathered to have celebrations, but we were forbidden. So, we rescheduled the events for this Saturday and were determined to do them with or without government permission/police protection (We had police protection and were able to do the peace march).

In less serious news, I spent several hours yesterday doing some laundry in the bathtub. It made me grateful to be born in an era of washers. It is definitely not something I want to make a habit of doing. Of course, I then had to try to find spots throughout my apartment for everything to hang to dry. Some of my clothes are hanging outside on my small balcony and I am just praying that the pigeons don't find them a nice place to nest or use the bathroom. I've hung clothes up to dry outside in the U.S., but I don't remember ever having this fear of them being soiled by birds before I even get to wear them. Maybe it is all the time I put into handwashing them that makes me so concerned, or perhaps it is the fact that several mornings I wake up to hear a pigeon right outside my window.


I also managed to get lost once last week on my way to class. I thought I was done getting lost, but apparently not.


On Friday night, I was buying something from a kiosk and the worker told me my Serbian was excellent. I think he was trying to flirt with me or charm his way into me buying something more than my original request. At this point he asked me another question, but some child walked by screaming so I couldn't hear what he said. So, then before I could stop myself, I said mande? (a word in Spanish that is the equivalent of pardon, or can you repeat that). That quickly my so-so Serbian returns to that crazy Englospanbian (my unique hybrid of English, Spanish, and Serbian). One step forward, two steps back?

Fifteen Years since the Crimes in Štrpci

Since I haven't had time recently to post anything (although I have lots to share), I thought I would post this account of my first visit to a site where crimes were committed with Women in Black. It is something I wrote for Women in Black, but thought I would share it with all of you. Keep checking the blog for future postings (there will be new ones eventually).

On February 27, 2008 I joined a group of Women in Black activists on a bus from Belgrade to Štrpci to commemorate the crimes committed there fifteen years ago. There were Women in Black activists from Leskovac, Velika Plana, Belgrade, and Niš on the bus. We were joined by activists from other human rights organizations including the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, the Humanitarian Law Center, and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights. We were also accompanied by journalists from print, electronic, and televised media.

We were all travelling to visit the site of the crime committed on February 27, 1993. Fifteen years ago 19 people were kidnapped from a train at the Štrpci Station and subsequently murdered. According to documentation of the Belgrade office of Serbian Railways (formerly Yugoslav Railways), representatives of Serbia, Yugoslavia, and Yugoslav Railways knew of the plan to kidnap non-Serb travelers who were citizens of Yugoslavia.

Republika Srpska soldiers stopped train number 671 which was traveling from Belgrade. There was an armed group with Chetnik insignias aboard. In the Štrpci train station, 25 masked men entered the train and, with the help of the Chetniks already on the train, took some travelers. They tied them up with wire, took them off the train, and led them to a garage in Sasa, not far from the banks of the Drina. Many shots were heard, enough to kill every person in the garage.

This was my first trip with Women in Black to visit a site where crimes were committed. As we sat on the bus, I wondered what it would be like. I tried to prepare myself for the onslaught of emotions I was sure to feel. First, we stopped along the way at the town square where we were joined by family members of the victims. Many of the family members and activists warmly greeted each other – it was obvious that a relationship of trust and solidarity existed between them. We stood at the town square with the signs we had brought. Among the signs were ones proclaiming that “We will not forget” and a sign in which the names and ages of the victims were written. I read the names on the sign letting them wash over me as I tried to grasp the enormity of the events that took place fifteen years ago: Esad Kapetanović, Ilijaz Ličina, Fehim Bakija, Šećo Softić, Rifet Husović, Sead Đečević, Ismet Babačić, Hail Zupčević, Adem Alomerović, Rasim Ćorić, Fikret Memetović, Favzija Zeković, Nijaz Kajević, Muhedin Hanić, Safet Preljević, Džafer Topuzović, Jusuf Rastoder, Zvjezdan Zuličić and Tomo Buzov. The youngest person killed was only 16 years old.

After the vigil in the town square, we went to place a flower wreath at the construction site of the monument being built for the victims. We then headed to the Štrpci train station. We got off the bus before reaching the train station so that we could walk the 2 kilometers up the mountainside on a winding dirt road leading us to the train station. We made the walk in silence carrying our signs and the second commemorative flower wreath. When we arrived at the train station, we began to assemble ourselves and distribute the signs. We waited for the train to pass by at 3:58 pm just as it had 15 years ago. Today it passed by the train station without stopping. The Štrpci train station is now abandoned; it is rarely used.

The emotions of the day were overpowering. As we stood on the mountainside, I couldn’t help but be struck by the natural beauty that surrounded us. It seemed wrong for there to be so much natural beauty in a place where such tragedy occurred. The contrast between the beauty and the tragedy was overwhelming. The beautiful day and scenery did not fit the occasion. My first experience visiting a site where crimes were committed with Women in Black was a powerful one. It is something that will never leave me. The experience only cemented my belief in the importance of these trips and Women in Black’s mission. The media coverage brought by Women in Black’s vigil and commemoration service served as a reminder to the general public of the crimes committed amongst a society eager to forget. However, I felt the most important impact of this event existed in the support and solidarity Women in Black offered to the victims’ families. The relationships established and cultivated gave me hope amidst the current turmoil in Serbia.