are FANTASTIC! I’d heard Balkan weddings are amazingly fun so when my fellow intern invited me to come along to a wedding his host family was going to I couldn’t pass up the offer. I had as much fun at this wedding, where I knew only four people, as I did at the last wedding I went to where I knew almost everyone. Of course, it helps when the groom is a famous Serbian pop star and the bride works for Pink TV (the equivalent of MTV). Ognjen, the groom, is a member of the Serbian pop band the Flamingos and their biggest hit “Crazy Summer Days” almost made it to Euro Vision song contest this past year. (Check out the controversy here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4824692.stm.) The paparazzi milled about outside as the guests entered and we all waited for the bride and groom to arrive. I’m sure the event was full of celebrities, but, unfortunately, we couldn’t tell who was famous and who was not.

The reception took place in Dedinje, one of Belgrade’s fancier neighborhoods, and involved copious, yet equal, amounts of eating, drinking and dancing. I have never seen so much cake served in my life. The afternoon started with drinks, progressed to appetizers, followed by dancing, more drinks, dinner, dancing, more drinks, dessert, more drinks, more dancing, drinks, cake, dancing–it all becomes a haze. Three bands performed various classic Serbian songs throughout the evening and everyone seemed to know all the songs by heart. I’ve been told you hear these songs at every wedding, but I was still impressed. The dress code was a mixture of fancy suits and dresses, to casual jeans and skirts, but no one seemed to care–it was obviously more important for everyone have a good time. As the night wore on, an increasing number of people started dancing on the tables and chairs and began linking arms and swaying back and forth to the music. Although we had arrived at 3:00 p.m. and stayed until 11:00 p.m., we were some of the earliest guests to leave and I’m sure the party went on into the wee hours of the morning.

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As in most other areas of the world, Serbia is currently in the midst of World Cup mania. Most cafes and bars have set up huge tv screens outside so that people can watch the games, and it all contributes to the jovial summer atmosphere that’s slowly arriving in Belgrade. The other day, I caught most of the Serbia and Montenegro (they’ve decided to remain united for the World Cup) game against The Netherlands in Trg Republike where the city set up a huge screen for public viewing. It was great fun to cheer and moan with all the Serbs who seemed only slightly disheartened by their loss. Tuesday night I watched Croatia vs. Brazil at Plato Cafe–a notorious student hangout–where most of the crowd was cheering on Brazil and jeering Croatia, which goes to show you the state of affairs among some of the people of the region.

But speaking of tv, I’m surprised I’m not already famous here as since arriving a little over two weeks ago I’ve already been on tv twice. Count ‘em–TWO times! TWO! The first was during a visit to Novi Sad, the capital of Vojvodina, which is in the northern part of Serbia and has a large Hungarian minority giving it a slightly different feel than Belgrade. We visited some government people up there and an American visit was such a big deal that they filmed us walking in and shaking hands. The second was Monday night when Serbian National Television (RTS), also gripped by World Cup fever, decided it would be interesting to film a bunch of Americans watching the U.S.-Czech Republic match (where we were miserably defeated), so a bunch of us gathered at someone’s house and tried not to be too embarrassed at the American performance. I’ll be sure to report if I am filmed yet again and I’m sure by the end of the summer I’ll be regular celebrity in Belgrade.

Serbia and Montenegro play Argentina tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for a Serb victory!

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After a long hiatus, I’m back–blogging again. This summer, all will be able to hear about my exploits in Belgrade, Serbia where I’ll be interning for just under three months. So far it’s been fantastic! This is in spite of the fact that it has rained almost every day since I arrived, resulting in freezing weather–I definitely planned on a warmer summer, which I’m assured is coming soon.

All in all, I’ve come to Serbia at an interesting time. Montenegro has just declared their independence from Serbia through a referendum, resulting in the formation of a new country. Negotiations about Kosovo’s future status are currently underway (it is now still technically a part of Serbia, but has been controlled by UNMIK [United Nations Mission in Kosovo] since 1999). Developments on the negotiations are always cropping up and this summer should be full of them. Just a few weeks ago, the European Union called of negotiations with Serbia to join the EU as the government has still not turned in two of the most infamous war criminals–Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic–to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague. Politically, there’s lots of interesting things going on, which means I should be kept busy at my internship.

But, socially, the Serbs are amazingly friendly people. They’ve all been extremely helpful when I’ve gotten lost or have to ask questions in English, as I have now only added three or four more words of Serbian to my already limited vocabulary of two words before I arrived. I seem to have finally mastered the Euro look as my shoes don’t make me stand out and I constantly have old ladies coming up to me and asking me questions, only to laugh when I respond in English that I don’t speak Serbian and have no idea what they are saying. Coincidentally, on her way to India, Sandhya ended up sitting next to a guy around our age from Belgrade. Milan has been absolutely fantastic about showing me around Belgrade, helping me buy a phone, introducing me to people and just generally making sure I’m not too lonely.

It’s great living by myself and my apartment couldn’t be closer to work. It’s not really my style, but it’s all mine for now. I have discovered that the stove burners don’t seem to work and there’s no microwave or toaster oven, which does somewhat hinder my eating options, but fortunately I’m living across the hall from some Americans who happen to be vegan! Since arriving a little over a week ago, I’ve been over for dinner once and dessert twice. Interestingly, they are an older couple from Vermont who are Mormon missionaries. They had me over the other night with some Serbian Mormons, who had just returned from a conference in Slovenia. It was interesting to hear these young people talk about their experiences with Mormons from other countries in the Balkans–Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and even Kosovo. Sometimes it was the first time they had met someone from one of these former Yugoslav republics. It’s so interesting to think about this “new” religion coming to the Balkans and actually bringing people together, who only ten years ago were at war with each other.

While Belgrade itself is a bit dingy and polluted, it’s a city that is very vibrant and full of life. All the stores carry Western products and there are several of the familiar Euro stores–Zara, Benetton, Mexx, Mango–on Knez Mihalova, the main shopping drag. The buildings are a mixture of European architecture with a few communist-era buildings scattered about to remind you of the old Tito days. I have seen a number of bombed out buildings throughout the city from the 1999 NATO bombing campaign. There are actually three right next to my apartment that still have curtins flapping in the windows, which were of course shattered the day the bombs struck. I can only imagine what it must have been like to live in Belgrade at that time. It particularly hits home knowing that my windows would have most likely been blown out and I certainly have felt the bomb blasts had I been living in my apartment at the time. Some of these buildings are being rebuilt, but some simply stand there as reminders to all of how much Serbia has changed in the past seven years.

In fact, I keep hearing that Belgrade is kind of like the “new Prague.” I’ve never been to Prague, but hopefully my impressions of Belgrade will help those who can’t visit understand more of what it’s like to live here. The nightlife is supposedly amazing and while I haven’t had a chance to explore it yet, I hopefully will tonight. Check back for a report later and I’ll let you know if it’s really as fun as everyone says it is.

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