Last week brought an onslaught of people sitting outside drinking coffee and ice cream vendors. Cafes have pulled out their tables and chairs to be put outside the cafes. The streets are filled with freezers full of ice cream sandwiches, bars, and popsicles. People are walking down the streets with ice cream cones. I made sure to join in the fun and got myself a pistachio ice cream cone.
Read on for a blog entry that finally made it from the mind of Katie to the blog of Katie.
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MY TRIP TO THE ZOO....several weeks ago
A WiB activist, J--, was coming from Krusevac to Belgrade with her 3 year old daughter, A--. I have really enjoyed J's company whenever she has come to Belgrade for WiB events so we agreed it would be nice to get together. I had never met her daughter, but was looking forward to it. I haven't spent any time with any children since my arrival in Belgrade. I have spent some time with some activists that are in high school, but no one under the age of 14.
We decided we should go to the Belgrade Zoo so that A-- would keep busy. Unfortunately, just as we were supposed to meet it started to rain. So, we went to a cafe for to get some drinks for J-- and I and some ice cream for A--. A-- was okay as long as she had ice cream in front of her. When she ran out of ice cream, she started to get a bit antsy. So after two rounds of ice cream, we noticed the rain had stopped. We decided to give the zoo a try.
The zoo is located in Kalemegdan, an old fortress along the riverbanks. It was very small and the animals' cages even smaller. I'm told that the zoo has only started charging admission within the last few years. It was a small zoo, but it had all the important animals -- the ones that enabled us to say "Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!" Actually, it also had elephants, hippos, wolves, lots of tropical birds, wildcats, chimpanzees, and alligators. Not all the animals made an appearance due to the rainy weather, but we got to see most of them. It was sad to see two huge bears in a cage smaller than my apartment. There weren't a lot of security measures separating the animals from the people. There were signs saying warning of the danger and not to touch, but if someone was determined (and foolish) it would have been easy to slip under the wooden rail and reach through the cage bars. It was odd to be so close to the animals and separated only by a few iron bars.
Towards the end of our visit it started to rain. We decided it was best to head back. A-- was getting tired and had given up all pretense of being happy with me. She did not like that her mother and I were speaking in English (which she didn't understand) and kept telling us that we weren't allowed to talk. She said her ears were hurting. She obviously tired and had gotten to the point where she would cry if we started talking. It was sort of funny. I don't recall ever making a kid cry quite so much just by opening my mouth.
J kept apologizing for her daughter's behavior which made me feel a little bad -- I understood why her daughter was upset (I can understand the desire to cry because you don't understand what people are saying -- I have felt that way numerous times since my arrival in Belgrade.). Overall, I still enjoyed myself. We didn't have a lot of time to have great, in depth conversation, but I got to see the Belgrade zoo and meet her daughter.
Several days later, J-- sent me a message letting me know that she had caught A-- playing with her dolls and A-- told her mother, "I'm speaking English, like your friend Katie." I'm looking forward to the next time I see A-- and hoping my Serbian will have improved enough to not bring tears to her eyes.
4 comments:
I'm glad this one made it from the mind of Katie to the blog of Katie--- VERY much enjoyed! :)
Spring is in the air here in Indiana as well. The grass is finally green and growing all too fast. Some have actually mowed already, but not us!
Your trip to the zoo reminded me of the time that you, Erin and Melissa D. attended Kids Place together and rode on the humongous elephant...(I guess all elephants are pretty good size) Anyway, your post brought back some good memories of trips to the zoo and the fun of watching unusual animals respond to their visitors. Sometimes it is hard to tell which is the more entertaining..the animals or the visitors. Mr. LL could tell you all about a marmoset that cozied up in his safari hat at the Me Zoo. Hope you describe more of your special trips in future posts.
I am attempting this "commenting" thing with much trepidation. Since the rest of the "family" has responded, I thought I would make an attempt also. You understand why when I couldn't open the e-card sent by the thoughtful Miss K-----. Thank you. I'm sure it was nice. It must be nice to finally put away your bright orange winter parka and move on to a lighter jacket. What color will you be selecting for the warmer weather? It is always a nice trip to a zoo to enjoy the animals behaving in their natural way. Quite the contrast when observing some of the "uncaged" individuals behaving or misbehaving in our daily encounters with people. This "commenting" doesn't seem to difficult after all. I must try this more often, when I have the time. See ya!
Mr. LL
Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog, it is about the Transplante de Cabelo, I hope you enjoy. The address is http://transplante-de-cabelo.blogspot.com. A hug.
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