What week is this?

So it would seem that upon entry into Serbia my immune system decided to go on holiday. This is the second week I've spent sick and miserable, but thankfully the feeling of being death warmed over has passed. I apologize to all of the people I missed skype dates with. A conversation while drugged up isn't the best use of your time anyway. I don't have much to offer in the way of blogging for this entry. I can, however, give you a list of ten things that happened to me this week.

1. I had a wonderful dinner with half of the Israel family, the half that wasn't off playing soccer. 
2. I had a sleepover with Brooke and we had Dr. Pepper and watched movies and talked and generally had an awesome time hangin out.
3. I made bread pudding, which was mostly a success and might need minimal tweaking. I'm getting all domestic.
4. I was pretty much sick for the whole middle of the week.
5. And then my visa was stonewalled again, we probably have it figured out though...maybe.
6. I made friends with the guy in the gyro shop. He got to practice his english, make fun of my serbian and he tried to teach me a few things too. I also inspired him to demand english from every customer after me. I'm a trendsetter and he's on my list of new best friends.
7. I managed to create an awesome friendship between Kristina and Beverly...you guys can thank me later (not at 5am again). 
8. So I either look like the nicest person ever or I give off this vibe that I'm fluent in Serbian. I had four different people ask me about the trams today. They had to walk by about 20 people waiting for the trams in order to ask me. We all know how that went.
9. Oh, I've also made friends with some of the little Serbian girls in my apartment building. 
10. Going along with number nine, I gained two kittens on the day that I was sickest. I wasn't hallucinating, but the story is bizarre enough that you might think I was. That'll be my next blog post, until then you can satisfy your curiosity with this photo of Cole and Lola.

Serbia, you're so sweet.

I'm not sure how much you've been keeping up with the political climate here in the Balkans, but suffice to say its a bit chaotic. You can find all sorts of graffiti slamming/encouraging quite a few political decisions, but this one is pretty fantastic. Mostly because of how polite it was. Take my word for the fact that graffiti is rarely this nice.

EU? No thank you. 

Serbian graffiti artist, you're such a sweetheart. Thank you for making me giggle and not feel bad about it.

Pegasus

So when I was in Croatia I had the absolute joy to randomly and awkwardly meet a fairly awesome world traveler. Well, sorta. 

I think Annie's face sums the experience up pretty well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 My first memory of Andrew/Pegasus is of meeting him in the grocery store where we would go to see Ivan, he (Pegasus not Ivan) had an Australian accent and was sort of piddling around the store in his sunglasses...trying to make confusion look cool. Story of his life.

Over the next week he helped us survive Croatia. Mostly because of his ridiculousness. He lived in this cabin pictured below. He would leave his door open in order to watch people as they walked by. Then he would creepily initiate conversation and we'd drag him along to wherever we were currently going.

He likes to make awkward jokes and point out inappropriately dressed people, all while bragging about his green card.

This is him in his Australian cabin, probably packing so that he wouldn't have to give any more of his clothes away. Or it could just be that he was indulging his neat freak tendencies, which he claims are totally normal. He swept the Seattle girl's cabin because he couldn't stand the dirt on the floor and he spent several hours talking about how much it distressed him.

 He also has a pretty prevalent spiritual gift: the gift of continual speech. On the way back to Belgrade he talked non stop for almost nine hours. It was awe inspiring. The only time he doesn't employ this gift is when he has been asked to translate. Case in point: One day while we were attempting to learn how to solve a rubik's cube we had Pegasus translate for us. After a while there was a long silence, the girl was still speaking so we turned around to Pegasus to see what was happening. He was zoned out, watching her and eating snacks. He had forgotten that he was supposed to be translating and had become totally absorbed in his snacking.

 He also has a penchant for drinking. This is a shot from the ferry on the way back home. The twenty minute ride was apparently so stressful he needed to visit the bar. Always with the sunglasses.

I felt like his cool potential can best be illustrated in this shot of our English speaking bible study group. Everyone else is totally okay with taking a photo and they even look happy. Pegasus, on the other hand, is staring hardcore behind his glasses throwing off cool vibes like they're going out of style.

I felt the need to introduce him for three reasons.
1. He is totally excited about being mentioned on this blog.
2. He is a recent acquisition to my friend circle and I'm pretty excited about his inclusion.
3. He's such a world traveler that odds are great that you'll eventually bump into him. 

Some might count this entry as an ego builder but Pegasus said in his own words, "I am a mere Australian/Croat/Texan/Mexican, I don't know the complexities of ego inflation". Which is probably why he wears his sunglasses all the time, you don't need to measure your ego when people can't even see the whites of your eyes.

Some kind of Sunday

I can't think of a better chaser to International Church than spending the day roaming the city with the Israels. After some creative driving, we ended up on the Walking Street searching out something delicious for lunch. We ate at the Serbian equivalent for "Snow White" and people watched while eating massive amounts of pizza. Once entirely full and barely able to walk, we headed down the street in order to check out the fortress.

 This is a photo of the lovely Brooke and Conner. You may be able to see the fortress in the background, just past the display of sibling affection.

 Just inside the fortress walls there is a collection of old guns, tanks and cannons. There is also a military museum, which I hear from credible sources, is top notch and really extensive. I'll add it to my list of places to check out when I'm not eating ice cream.

 This was posted as we went through the gate. It wouldn't be Serbia if there wasn't some sense of danger involved.

 Oh and this is a photo of me on the fortress wall with the river in the background, excuse my lack of photogenic ability.

 This is the outside of the Orthodox Church that was on the fortress grounds. We went in and checked out the icons and tried to stay out of the way of everyone paying their respects to the icons (they kiss each one and put money near or on them).

These are some of the ruins on the grounds. There are even some Roman ruins scattered about.

All in all, it was an excellent day of bonding. A full belly and good friends, sounds like a pretty good Sunday to me. 

Ending another week

After Croatia and saying another round of goodbyes, I was more than ready to have a slow end to my week. I've pretty much accomplished this goal. However, I know that laziness makes for crappy blogging. To ensure that wasn't the case, I did collect some photos for y'all.

 This is a church I pass pretty much every day. I've yet to actually go beyond the gate, but I'm sure I'll get there one day. Today I snapped this photo while unintentionally stalking a lady from my apartment building all the way to the grocery/mall/super duper thing (Mercator) in order to meet the fantastical wives of Team Belgrade for coffee. I pretty much followed her about ten minutes and then saw her later as I was actually grocery shopping. So much for not being creepy today.

 This is for the Seattle girls. After coffee I went over to the grocery store to pick up a few things that the mini mart under my language school doesn't carry. I figured I'd indulge my new found addiction, courtesy of the Seattle girls: Bruschette chips and cream cheese. My Maxi had one flavor of the chips and only three bags. This is a shot of the entire aisle dedicated to them in Mercator, I couldn't even get the whole aisle in the shot. It was like Bruschette chip heaven.

 On my way back to my flat, I passed by this large orange moving van. I stopped short when I saw this advisory sticker on the side. Apparently you and your family should not stand on the back with the moving guy...although he doesn't have an invisible X over him, so maybe its okay if only he stands there. Also you should be aware that the door opens and that you could be crushed. I think the invisible X means "squished to death".

If you're wondering why that sticker was needed it is because "Crazy Dog" drives this van. The name should be enough.

Technical Difficulties

So this morning I had one mission: pick up my visa downtown. So off I went to catch a bus and tram and then walk myself down to the pink police station and into the Foreigners Department. I dropped my paperwork off at 10:30 and was told to come back at 3:00. So off I went to explore downtown Belgrade and have lunch. Check out these photos...

Influence of the Matrix?

Beverly, this one is for you. I think this is what you'd look like as a vampire.

Belgrade is covered in graffiti, some of it is crazy interesting.

And then all of the sudden the trams stopped...right in the street. It was eerie, like zombie apocalypse eerie. It was all quiet and people were confused, I was mapping an escape route...and then they just started back up like nothing happened.

After scoping out graffiti, wandering the streets and seeing the trams stop, I accidentally stumbled on the Gyros place that the Seattle girls introduced me to. This made today worth it.

On my way back to the station I stopped to get a photo of this cow, mostly because I'm confused as to why a futuristic robot would be building a bridge on the back of a cow.

 And so I got back to the police station to see this spectacular sign on the door to the office. It wasn't there this morning, but I couldn't help but think of my first visa experience. In case you missed the story, check it out in my blog archive.

And so that brings us back to my visa. Which I didn't get. Even after I spent the day waiting and watched two Serbian women pick a fight with an Asian man that cut in line (I believe the line "No one here is entitled" was used quite a few times). I get to the counter and they inform me that I have to come back in seven days due to a technical difficulty. So in a week I will be back at the pink station attempting once again to become legal.

Keeping up the Best Friend tradition

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a tendency to label people as Best Friends fairly quickly. I'm all about sharing the friendship love. Some of these people need an introduction because I'm fairly certain you'll be hearing more about them later on.

 This is the English speaking bible study group from Kamp in Croatia.

 These are my new besties from Ghana. Solomon in the glasses and Moses on the right. They will be moving super close to me in about a month and studying at the University. Expect to hear quite a bit about them.

 These are the Seattle girls who sadly leave tomorrow morning. Kamp was an excellent time for bonding and we learned quite a bit about each other.

This is Pegasus on the left. Real name: Andrew. He'll have a post later this week and will probably pop up frequently, mostly because he's so excited about the idea.

 This is a freebie. This is Annie (not Amy, Alex, or some other creation) and these are the matching pants we got. Actually Annie introduced me to them first, then flaunted their awesomeness and then finally relented and allowed me to buy a matching pair. For two reasons: 1. She totally loves me and 2. because I won't be in Seattle wearing them at the same time as her.

Just across the border in Croatia

Soooo I spent last week at Kamp in Croatia. It was not exactly what I'd hoped for, but it was unexpectedly awesome in quite a few ways. I'll get to that in a later post, as for kamp itself, I'll try to give you the low down now. Late Sunday night we drove, about 12 hours, to an island off the Croatian coast. It was me, the Seattle girls and about 90 Serbian/Croatian students that we'd never met. The week consisted of swimming, tanning, bible study, large group, and a whole lot more swimming and tanning. The setting was beautiful, the language barrier was atrocious. Thankfully there were several of us that spoke English so we just stuck close to each other and had a grand time. I did make a few Serbian friends and some awesome new friends from Ghana so all was not socially lost. It was a learning experience and an introduction into just how difficult parts of this journey may turn out to be. All in all, it makes for excellent stories.

This is the view of the area our kamp was situated in front of. The water is where we swam when we didn't go to the sandy beach. The beach by the kamp was concrete and there were rocks in the water. It was still gorgeous and the water was crystal clear, but ice cold. 

This is the view from the sandy beach, there were no rocks here, but the place was crazy crowded.

This is the walk back into kamp. In the afternoons we walked into town and had snacks and just sort of hung out before heading back for large group worship.

This is my delightful bungalow that I shared with three other girls. It was sweltering during the day and an ice box at night.

This is where we had three square meals a day and also played Uno late into the night.

Croatia was gorgeous and quite a different view from Belgrade. Having said that, I'm ecstatic to be back home and sorting out my life details...like my visa and such.

If you'd like to see more photos from the trip, you can creep on my facebook album.*This is me advocating facebook stalking.

Hey Seattle Girls and Pegasus, do you remember....

1. "I couldn't hear the translator, but I did hear Calvinists blah blah Armenians and I decided to be offended."
2. When we discovered the distinction between Protestants, Catholics, Orthodox and Christians.
3. "You should mingle."
4. "Who are you walking with today?"
5. "Are you being missional right now?"
6. "Stop ruining your witness."
7. "Lil John is lurking."
8. Hair Soup
9. Pegasus, Zelena, Tasteful...well you know.
10. "Why isn't anyone here yoked?"
11. Ivan
12. Spoon stealing, cream cheese, bruschette chips
13. "Why does everyone here rub their belly?"
14. SOS, BSB Kevin, Fall Out Boy, Paramore
15. Prison food/eating the same color
16. "Look at my crater."
17. "One day, this will be me."
18. "Use your words."
19. When Sarah when through Pegasus' pants.
20. "You're not my friend anymore."
21. "Same."
22. "She hit me in the unicorn."
23. "I need two birds and a fish."
24. "This is heinous."
25. "Your English is too loud."

Where is Amy?

She's in Croatia, that's where! Check back here in a week for some fabulous photos and stories sure to make you jealous that you weren't able to go to the seaside.

Creepin Beograd Part One

 Kristina, this post/subsequent posts for today are dedicated to you. I saw some interesting things in the city today, some of which I didn't capture on film. (I'm disappointed as well!) However, I did manage to find quite a few things that lead me to believe that you were meant to be in this city. Just imagine, if you lived here full time you could stock your cupboards with these chips! You could never buy these back home, probably because some silly goose would see that mascot as offensive.

 AND I found your shoes. Your pants were in the adjacent dumpster...no word on your shirt.

 Do you feel safer with blue stairs? I could hook you up.

 Just look at this artwork you'd be able to take in everyday. The world is a beautiful place and people need outlets and audiences for this beauty...will you keep them from their joy in life?

 If you live by me this building with its space age needle thing will glow on even the gloomiest nights. Reminding you that life/commerce/whatever this is exactly, goes on.

I know some kids that would be happy to put your name on a wall or declarations of love or maybe even some hate graffiti directed at the person of your choice. If all else fails you can just write random words, thats cool too. 

I also found you the perfect place to live. This leftover bomb shelter is right in my courtyard! Its a little messy inside, but the door locks and there is an inner door as well. You'll be totally safe. The kids that play above, around, and all over it will keep you company too.

  

Look! It even has a picture of you on the side!

Other things I saw, but didn't manage to capture on film:
-A man on a motorcycle, dressed all in leather, looking awesome...with a tiny fluffy dog strapped to his chest.
-A girl in stilettos tripped on the sidewalk and then yelled at the random guy walking past her. Probably an attempt to save face.
-A lady smelling and molesting the prepackaged chicken pieces in Mercator. I probably won't be buying my meat from there.
-A little boy playing hide and seek with his two friends. His attempt to be invisible? Playing dead under a bush. I'm not sure if I should be concerned or impressed. FYI it slightly worked.

I'm going out again in a bit, I'll see what other creepin I can do for you. 

Worst job in the world?

I'm currently sitting through my first real Serbian thunder storm. It's pretty ferocious, the rain hitting my metal shutters sounds quite painful. Which reminded me of the little man downstairs. They are constructing a new building just across the way and there is a man that sits in a little guard hut all day long keeping an eye on the site. He's still out there, possibly floating in his shack. In this weather:

Thats him down there at the end of the video, in that little lit up box.

Side note:  This is also when I realized that there is no outside handle for my balcony door. That's a good thing to know for sure.

This is dedicated to my daddy who was all concerned about Beverly being a mudslide victim...at least she's not this guy.

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Soooo about that Visa...

I'm not sure if any of you have ever attempted to get a visa in a foreign country before, but you should know that it's crazy hard, especially in a former communist country that is so stuck on its bureaucratic ways. These people have stamps and forms and rules for every little thing. Which wouldn't be so bad except everybody in charge gets to make up their own rules. Case in point: The no shorts allowed rule.

Kyle and I went downtown one day to start the visa process. Before we even got to the official visa place we had to pick up my important documents from the translator and then go to these two ladies to do something or other and then we had to go pay taxes and THEN I went into the Foreign Department to start the actual process.  We went back to this hallway and stood all sketchy like in the doorway for them to invite us inside. As we're standing there a woman starts speaking quite loudly in agitated Serbian to Kyle. I'm of course in my mental happy place. The next thing I know I'm being thrust through the door as Kyle says "She's in a skirt, is that ok?". The woman comes around the desk and tells me that yes, that is indeed ok. I look back at him and he tells me that his shorts have made it impossible for him to step inside with me. He pushes me forward and heads for a bench along the wall.

I go inside with the agitated Serbian woman and she sits me down to go over my paperwork, upon discovering that I need a work visa she tells me that I need to go outside and wait for the inspectors next door. So here I go to wait outside door number five, where I have an excellent view of several girls getting kicked out because of their short shorts.

After a few minutes, Kyle tells me to just knock on the door and walk inside. I can imagine several things that could go wrong with this, but he was making shooing motions and I mustered up courage and knocked on the door. Inside are two Serbian women who tell me to come inside and sit down, not nicely either. Then they ignore me for about ten minutes. One of them makes a phone call and the other spends the entire time cutting my passport photos down to size with a pair of scissors that could've cut bone. It was an intimidating ten minutes. Finally phone girl leaves the room and scissor girl starts going through my paperwork. She tells me that she doesn't need a birth certificate...apparently Serbia doesn't really need that sort of proof. But she does need an address for the office building where I'll be working in the fall. Of course I don't have that information and even if I did I could never pronounce it.

She starts to get frustrated at my ignorance and I keep telling her that my supervisor is right outside. Finally she gets irritated enough that she demands I tell him to come in the office. So I rouse Kyle off of his bench and in spite of his shorts he is allowed to enter the sanctum of office number five in order to explain that we're a legit company. She doesn't really seem to believe it, but she tells me to come back for an interview the following Monday with paperwork that I need to have translated in about two days. As were leaving Kyle is telling me that he's never been denied entrance based on the length of his pants before. I guess the girl just didn't like the look of his knees.

This is just the first visa interaction, I'll tell you about the Monday meeting featuring the return of scissor and phone girl tomorrow.