Back in Belgrade - what's the difference?

Looking back, it's easy to conclude that spring is a better time to walk around the Serbian capitol. Greens, flowers, open terraces and presence of people in Kalemegdan make this a bit of a livelier place to be. Being back in the Balkan feels good. Friendly people and good, sometimes 'interesting', food is one of the aspects that kicks in on the scale of melancholy. People's stories about being totally banned abroad also do the trick.

Talked to a salesman of old Yugoslav Commy icons (coins, military 'jewelry', notes). He used to work as a communication officer in the Yugo fleet. Been around the world a bit and remembers Vlissingen and Rotterdam quite well. Then the war came and everything changed. Serbs were (are?) persona non grate and simply not welcome anymore. Even working for other nation's fleets seemed to be impossible. At the end of the day, the impact of downsizing measures was total when technological developments clearly made the salesman-to-be downright redundant. His current business consist of a 40x60 cm cardboard display crammed with Yugo goodies of which each one of them are accompanied with a story. These stories can be heard at the gate to the Military Museum on Kalemegdan.

The photos

	Hippy girls at Kalemegdan, looking for ...
	There is a lot of glueing, sticking and pasting involved in Belgrade. The collums designed to carry the burdens of all city announcements are changing almost every day. As a result of prefered glueing on man's height, all the collums transfered into wide egg-shaped oval round announcement boards.
	Kalemegdan is the meeting place for lovers of all ages. The park is quite impressive in size, but you can see the hugging, kissing, smooching, etc. at virtually every corner of it. This spot is in front of the typical Serbian House, overlooking the Sava, Novi Grad and the best sun set in town.
	A lower level at Kalemegdan where the sun shines on your face most of the day.
	The Commy Goodies salesman mentioned in the entry above. A nice man with his little business outlet under the Clock Tower near the Military Museum on Kalemegdan.
	Terrace with great sunset, again on Kalemegdan. This place is simply wonderful, apart from the elevator music screaming for attention from the far away entrance. This muzak is really too bad a choice for one of the best spots in town. If Porcupine Tree is right with their song 'The Sound of Muzak', this spot only neutralises your brain (see lyrics). I hope not.
	Novi Grad seen from Kalemegdan.
	Sveti Marko glowing on Good Friday.

Getting out of the country

Trying to get out of the country for whatever reason is not always a garanteed succes for Macedonians. After a view conversations today, it appeared that this hassling with visa is the same issue for Serbians also. In every day situations, it doesn't really matter who it is you talk to or when this talk occurs, usually there will be a moment when the subject of traveling abroad is coming up. What follows are examples of what I heard today in Belgrade and during the past few months in Macedonia.

• Beti and Boris are a peaceful couple with a fur boutique and a tiny atelier in Skopje (Bit Pazar, Butel) and Strumica. They have a daughter who lives in Australia. She is married to a local from down under and they have kids. Applications for visa on both the wedding event and that of becoming grandparents were turned down. No reasons were given. Excuses were found in the businesses that needed to be run, so B&B had to get back to Macedonia anyway. Till this day, they still haven't seen their wedded daughter and their grandchildren.
• Applying for a visa for Greece in Macedonia works like this: [1] Pick up an appilication form at Stopanska Banka. You're also allowed to pay the 35 euro fee in advance at this bank. If your visa request, you don't get a refund. [2] Try to get an appointment with the liaisons office in Skopje. When in luck, you will get this appointment within 2 months time (current waiting last is 4 months). [3] Show up at the liaisons office, queue up and wait some more. Be sure you have all the information with you that the Greek may ask for (copy of passport, copy of medical card, copy of employment contract, filled out application form, one pass photo, a blue card for medical and social insurance, and 35 euro in case you didn't pay it in advance). [4] If all turns well, your visa is delivered to you on a seperate piece of paper carried with your passport.
• Ceca is the both famous and infamous 'big' female singer from Belgrade (born in Zhitoradza, southern Serbia). Famous in Serbija, Macedonia, Bulgaria for her singing and for her, well, for being her. Not too welcome in many other countries for reasons I will go into a little later. Rumour has it that her singing carreer has seen bigger peeks - she runs out of money. Knowing her castle in the Belgrade hills, it's easy to imagine the truckloads of denari necessary for maintanance. So, she decided to tour. Not only in the Balkans, but also a little further abroud - Canada and Australia were on the tour manager's wish list. Application forms for visa were filled out, handed in and on return found rejected. Reason: Having once been married to the late war criminal Arkan was not something that 'amuzed' the Canadian and Autralian authorities. What also might have added to the rejection was the fact that she once had been a suspect for the assassination of Zoran Dzindzic (former prime minister of Serbian-Montenegro) and had been in jail for that for a week.

Oh my God! What's happening to the Bodem Society?

Recently I got asked this question a few times. Sad to say, but I could have been reminded a lot more about the Bodem Society (or plain 'Bodem Sociëteit' in urbanized parts of The Netherlands) if it was up to me. But that's a story to tell another time. There is a good part to this all, and that is that www.bodemsocieteit.nl is finally launched. After many years of searching, discussing and, well... Nobody really took the decision that needed to be taken. But now, there it is. It currently only hosts the old site, but there are plans for a 're-making' of it. When all that happens, you will be informed about it.
Maybe you're wondering why I mention this society on these pages. It's a legitimate question to which the only suitable answer I can come up with is: "They distill rakija in Macedonia, and you'll just never know what it can do for the Bodem Society".

Real rakija

Yes! I'm getting in the right mood. Got a little sip of 'real' rakija last night. The goody that usually is very well hidden in cupboards, on attics or lockers. The family stuff. The one I was served yesterday was one with a clear view (no wood aging) and made from that special one pear tree near Tuzla, Bosnia. And, to be honest: I've got to reformulate my view on distilates. This one was a very good one (fala Nihad).

If you think that I'm already on the road in the Balkan, I've to correct you. I'm still in NL, getting all my gear packed. But there's one more day of work in Apeldoorn with cake, talks and celebrations (I wonder who will celebrate me absence at the office for the coming 2.5 months, but I'd rather not know). After that, it's road time.

And you're welcome to leave comments

Somewhere at the bottom of this entry, you'll see the option of leaving comments. Go ahead and make use of it (in either english, dutch, or whatever language you feel it needs to be).

For the future, I'm working something out with Photobucket. My intentions are that you'll be able to see photos on these pages too. Like mentioned in previous messages, I'm a little new to this, so for my part a little introduction here and there is still necessary.

Getting ready to move to Macedonia again

Currently I'm getting ready to move back to Skopje again. The list of dutch goodies to bring is growing and growing ('stroopwafels', 'hagelslag', 'kaas', 'dropjes', more 'kaas', and even more 'kaas') and will undoubtedly challenge a few customs officers on the way to Macedonia.
Coming Thursday morning we will leave. 'We' as in Margitt, my sister and me. She'll be joining me on the long ride that takes us to Belgrade for Koninginnedag (30 April) and Easter (1 May). After that it is Macedonia that is awaiting us. Today I heard that it's a much greener Macedonia than 3.5 weeks ago. We look forward to that.

That's all for now. I realize that this is not the most exciting start as a life of a Blogger. Keep in mind that we all to get started somewhere ;)

Cheers.

First Post

Well, I had to get started some day...