Goulash Cook-Off

Last Sunday, Kragujevac had its annual goulash cook-off down by the lake. Naturally, this wasn't something we could miss.

It started at noon, and we arrived around 2 to the tantalizing smell of simmering goulash (and the sight of at least a dozen people dressed in traditional Serbian garb). There were about 30 contestants, including a team from the fire department, and each had set up a metal tripod over a fire. The stew pot hangs on a chain from the top of the tripod. Everyone was mixing and stirring, the goulash was bubbling away, and it all looked delicious.

Unfortunately, nothing was ready to taste when we arrived, so we had lunch at the restaurant next to the lake. I figure the restaurant sponsors the competition - all those yummy smells next door must drum up business.

After lunch we walked around the lake (in the process we found the local lovers' lane - identifiable by the scattering of condom wrappers) and had another look in all the stew pots. We saw people lining up for stew at the firemen's station and we went to see if we could get some. We didn't realize it was a BYOB event (bring your own bowl) so Dan went to the beer stand and got two plastic cups. The goulash was delicious, and the cups were just strong enough to withstand the heat without melting, although it was tough on our fingertips.

A friend joined us in the late afternoon to hear the band (a local group that covers rock standards). We sat and rocked out until the concert was interrupted by a huge fight. A group of guys were hitting and kicking one guy (even when he was down), really pounding on him. I don't know what started it, but most people had been drinking all afternoon. It was shocking for me - it was the first time I've seen people trying to harm each other in earnest. When it became clear that people were joining the fight instead of breaking it up, we moved on for some frisbee.

It was a beautiful, sunny day to spend down by the lake, enjoying some local fare, although by the end we were a bit dazed by the sun. Nothing a few cocktails at Buena Vista couldn't fix, though.

A Serbian Perspective

For my US readers who may be wondering what Serbians really think about the whole referendum thing, Bg Anon, a new contributor to Belgrade Blog, has posted his views on the Montenegrin referendum.

Of course, there are other opinions, but most of the people I've spoken with have had very similar takes on the situation.

Change of address

Unofficial results are showing that yesterday Montenegrins voted (by a very narrow margin) to dissolve the union with Serbia. As far as I can tell, today is business as usual here in Kragujevac. Over the past week I asked many Serbs for their opinions and predictions of the referendum, and I can sum up the overall response with one big shoulder shrug.

I was watching the weather report on CNN this morning, and I noticed they hadn’t yet added the new border to their map of Eastern Europe. I wonder how long that will take.

The countdown is on

We've been busy over the last few weeks completing projects and attending conferences, many of which have long been symbols of the end of our stay in Serbia. The only big thing we have left is our tango vacation.

I don't want anyone to think that I'm impatiently counting down the days until we leave Serbia (because I'm not), but the fact is that today is May 21 and our return tickets to Boston are for June 21. So one more month of fun and games in the Balkans.

Last weekend Dan had the ELTA conference in Belgrade; since hotel accommodations were included in his travel grant I tagged along and had a few days to enjoy our capital. Previous excursions to Belgrade have all be one day trips, and it's hard to really enjoy the city when you have to pay attention to catching the return bus and you have nowhere to leave your stuff or take a siesta.

So while poor Dan was stuck in conferences, I hit the town. The weather was lovely, so I spent an afternoon at the Belgrade zoo, which had a surprising variety of animals, although I have never before seen dogs displayed in a zoo. Some of the living conditions were sad (especially for the bears, I thought), but it is quite an old zoo. A lot of cages and concrete cells. Some rich investor should get involved so they can renovate.

I saw some other historical sites (I didn't make it to the Tesla museum, though. They have really bad hours.) but mostly spent my time exploring on foot. As much as I've enjoyed my year in Kragujevac, I'm sad that we weren't stationed in Belgrade. It is an amazing city, with so much to do and explore. There's also a real vibrancy there. It seems there's always some random event popping up somewhere around the city, whether it's street performers or a dance competition or a rally to get people hyped up about the World Cup. Also, I saw these guys crowding the front of the Hotel Moskva, and at the time I had no idea what was going on.

On Friday night we went to the Indian restaurant, and both surprisingly (because we didn't know they would be there) and not surprisingly (because it's exactly the kind of place you'd expect to find them), we ran into a bunch of embassy staffers. They invited us to join them, and we had a great time kicking around our theories on Serbia and the US, and also eating a lot of great food and drinking quite a bit of wine.

The only down side to the weekend was that I sat in gum. Gross.

It Don't Mean a Thing...

Last Wednesday Dan and I taught a swing dance class at the American Corner. We had 10 couples, and everyone picked up the steps relatively quickly. Such fun!

The flying hair! The green sneakers!

Sveti Djordje

May 6th is the slava of the city of Kragujevac, so this past weekend was one big party.

On Friday we celebrated the first anniversary of the American Corner. At the party, we announced the winners of the creative writing contest and gave out prizes and awards. I was chatting with one of the winners, talking about Lemony Snicket (her prize was the box set of the first three books) and she asked how much Serbian I know. I said not much because my husband (pointing to Dan) learned so much faster than I did. She looked at me in surprise and said "He's your husband? He's so cute!" I don't think she was surprised that I have such a cute husband - I think she was disappointed to find out Dan is married. Nice to know he appeals to the 15 year old crowd.

After the party we went to a new bar with some friends. It specializes in beer, which means they have dark beer, which can be hard to find in K. We went there for the first time last weekend - the owner and I have a mutual friend who has been doing his best to promote the bar. Naturally, we wanted to do the same so we brought our other friends. It was neat to be the foreigner showing the locals a great new place. My favorite thing about this bar: the music isn't so loud that you have to shout to have a conversation. So you can actually sit and talk with your friends over a pint.

From there we went to watch the pre-concert fireworks. I have never been so close to fireworks - they seemed to be exploding towards us. And that's because they were. The parking lot we were standing in was just across the way from where the fireworks were being set off. Apparently the city had suggested that people not park their cars there to make sure they didn't get damaged. They didn't seem to think it was important enough to block the lot off to people. There were literally cinders coming down around us. It was great!

Following the fireworks there was a concert with a famous "stari grad" singer. "Stari grad" means "old town," and I think it's quite perfectly named. I thought it was good, but it wasn't music I would stand outside on a cold night to hear. I might play it while relaxing in the backyard with a book and an iced tea on a summer afternoon. So we listened to a few songs and turned in for the night. Our Serbian friends stayed to enjoy the concert; I think for many of them it's the music they grew up with and so there's sentimental attachment. Maybe if there had been chairs...

After a busy week of party planning and the resumption of Dan's classes, we were too worn out Saturday to get out and see much of the fun. We did go to a Mozart concert at the high school - we finally had an excuse to see the inside of the high school (it was the first one in Serbia, as any good Kragujevcan will tell you). It was beautiful... much nicer than NQHS. The hall the concert was in had statues of the trifecta of Serbian heroes - Vuk Karadzic, Saint Sava, and Milos Obrenovic (labelled, on the wall as "Milos Veliki," or Big Milos). I like the idea that they have representatives of intellectual, spiritual, and political/military greatness, instead of the usual George Washington you find in US classrooms.

I thought the concert was good, although Dan had a few minor complaints (he knows more about classical music than I do) and we were inspired to download a bunch of Mozart when we got home. Happy 250th birthday, Mozart!

Sunday we went out to investigate the newly-opened Srce ice cream parlor, one block over from the original. I felt a little like I was in Disney World - the atmosphere was reaching for a Viennese cake shop, or something like Gerbeaud in Budapest. A lot of thought had clearly gone into the decorations. The ice cream is just as delicious and there are two new cases full of pastry treats and cakes, so I can wholeheartedly (ah! it's a pun! get it? srce means "heart") endorse the new location, particularly the cherry tarts.

One of my favorite lazy Sunday afternoon pastimes is going down to city hall and watching the weddings. Everyone has to get married at city hall before going to church and / or party. The entire wedding party usual goes to the official ceremony, which means there are hordes of people, usually at least one trubaci band, and often a gang of Roma kids scrounging for money. This Sunday we saw three different wedding parties. Many people ask if we've gone to a Serbian wedding - it's supposed to be an unrivaled Serbian experince, replete with food, wine, dancing, rakia, and more food. Unfortunately, none of our friends seem ready to tie the knot, so the closest we've gotten is people-watching at city hall. One of these days we're going to crash someone's reception.