Tuesday

It’s a gray, cold, rainy day in Vranje. I had assumed it would be this way everyday so have been pleasantly surprised to have had dry weather until today. It has been gray since Saturday. Yesterday I discovered I could put damp freshly washed clothes on the bathroom radiator and they would dry much sooner. Given that there aren’t dryers in this part of the world, I was pretty darn happy. Otherwise I wasn’t sure if our jeans would be dry before we leave on Friday!

I have been going to town daily for fresh rolls for breakfast and sometimes dark chocolate (my new health food) and water. I stand by the roadside and usually within five minutes a taxi comes by and flashes his lights, as a way to ask if I want a lift. These taxis pick up as many passengers as possible to increase their fare. It saves me money, is quicker than the bus and cost just a wee bit more than the bus. I am impressed with how honest people are here. I wasn’t sure how much to pay the driver today because there were only two of us in the car. So I held out 60 dinar and he gave me 10 back. He could have easily kept the extra given I was a foreigner. Ron called me today to say he had lost the flash drive to his computer. I looked outside to see if he had dropped it in the drive. Gorem, the taxi driver called me to tell me he had found it. Hooray for honesty!

I have been finding more places to eat and observe Serbians. I notice that men mostly patronize restaurants and cafes. They sit together, drinking shots of whiskey or vodka and visit. I don’t usually see them eating except at Kykyra. But all restaurants and some cafes have a full bar of hard liquor as well as beer and wine. Often I am the only woman present. I see older people on the streets that look like characters out of Zorba the Greek. They wear dark clothes, the men with berets or similar head coverings and the women with headscarves. There are a few beggars here, mostly children and occasionally women. They are all darker skin people so I assume they are Roma, people who originated in India and we use to call gypsies. There is a section of town populated by Roma and are said to be the poorest of those here.

There are no public restrooms here. Some cafes and all restaurants seem to have restrooms. For those of us with tiny bladders this is a major concern when you live five miles out of town. Today I discovered that Ivan has a restroom in the space between his shop and his mother’s clothing shop in front. What a relief, literally. I told Ivan I had been reading the history of Croatia and Serbia and was struck by how often there have been wars in this part of the world where each country fought for independence. He told me he lived in Croatia when the war broke out in the early 1990’s and his best friend stabbed him because he was a Serb. Ivan wasn’t expected to live but after 40 days in the hospital he was released and left Croatia to return to Serbia, where his mother’s parents lived. It is hard to imagine such an incident yet it happens all over the world, where we kill one another because of our differences rather than celebrating those differences. We are a strange breed indeed.

Last night we found out that the average salary in Serbia is 300 Euros, about $420 a month. Salaries are higher in Belgrade, the capital but so is the cost of living. Income taxes are about 50%. Ouch!

Gorem, the taxi driver is one of the three Serbs I have met who doesn’t smoke. Because I eat in restaurants, my clothes reek of smoke. I even noticed that when I use my handkerchief, it smells of smoke. Yuck!

I can’t remember if I have already mentioned this but Serbs don’t use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Wow, that’s pretty great after being in Sri Lanka where chemical fertilizers are subsidized by the government. What is really sad is that 80% of SL’s garbage is compostabe! Oy!!

This weekend when we were driving in the rural areas we spied small flocks of sheep attended by shepherds. Macedonia had lots of vineyards and we saw dead cornstalks vertically stacked in conical shapes. About 60% of the houses here are unfinished. They have the basic structure but no windows and no stucco covering on the exterior making them quite drafty. Window openings are covered with boards. We are assuming this is due to a shortage of cash and that they complete construction as they can afford it. We saw two houses with asphalt roofs in the 10 days we have been here. All the others have been terra cotta. I wish we had more access to people who speak English to explain some of these things. Then again it would be really swell if we spoke the language. Barbara who is working on this project with Ron speaks German, her native tongue, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Swahili! It is humbling to say the least.

Two of the Serbian consultants brought us two books from Belgrade this week. They are by the Serbian author Ivo Andric who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1961. I am reading The Bridge on the Drina. I have also started Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje who is the Sri Lankan author better known for his work, The English Patient. I am so grateful to have more to read but am anxious about how heavy my suitcase will be. Ron and I always share books but I am two ahead of him at this point since I have all the time in the world to read while he is working.

Ron came from work and had inquired about the unfinished houses. It turns out that you pay a fraction of the property tax on an unfinished house. Pretty darn smart but seems that you pay with your discomfort!

That’s the blurbia from Serbia!