With Basil Fawlty providing an example of what not to do, I banished a few volatile words from my vocabulary in prep for Serbia. Was chatting with a doorman at the student residence hall Monday, and joked that I didn't need a visa because Canada is a friendly country...to which he coolly replied, "Didn't you guys bomb us a few years ago?" When I turned pitch red and madly searched for a rock to crawl under, he cracked a smile --"I'm totally joking!"
Welcome to Belgrade.
Commonalities among Serbs I've met so far include:
- deliciously dark sense of humour
- lust for beer and all things meat
- shockingly rowdy, boisterous behaviour (largely due, I suspect, to the beer and meat)
As I explained, I’m here to cover the communications officer’s mat leave, but (CO) Vera is kindly spending a few weeks training me. Can't tell you how many meetings I've already attended –it'll take about 2 months just to learn all the acronyms. My boss (Nicholas –Advisor to the Resident Coordinator) is toting me around, offering introductions to a bunch of interesting contacts within the UN/diplomatic community here. He brought me to a cocktail party at the new EU Ambassador's residence last night –I’ll actually be hitting the town with the daughter of the Romanian Ambassador tonight...apparently she has some pretty cute Serbian friends…
The job is super-cool, but nuts. Once Vera is off, I'm meant to be in charge of all outgoing communications from the RC Office incl the UN newsletter, press releases and communiqués. There’s already papers piled 2 feet high on my desk –am still playing catch-up following Wednesday's launch of the World Investment Report. I live about a 15 min walk from work and pass through the most amazing market (selling everything from bunnies to cheese to roses to shampoo), so it's really easy to get breakfast and dinner on the run. Except for the top-level officers (Resident Coordinator, Deputy RC, and Nicholas), most people here are Serbian. There are way more young kids in the office than I had anticipated (incl a rad French intern named Olivia) and everyone is sharp as a tack and so outgoing...I think the next 6 months are going to be fantastic.
Belgrade is awesome; a shocking juxtaposition of new/ancient/blitzed buildings, but typically European in that there are tiny bakeries and cafes hidden down every skinny cobblestone street. I found an enormous Communist-era apartment (just moved in Wednesday) with 15ft ceilings, hardwood floors, old-school moldings and fixtures. Fully furnished down to sheets/blankets and dishes: 350 Euros a month. The place that Melissa found is out in the suburbs and would have required 2 busses for my daily commute…no thanks. Not too worried about it –am ecstatic to be on my own.
It's clear that I'm in the "honeymoon" phase of the culture shock curve, so will enjoy it while I can!
PS: Anything in my blog which is underlined and light brownish-green is a hyperlink, which means that you can click directly on it to be taken to a site containing more information.