It's October Already?

That came quick.

The past two days have been really fun and the weather has been amazing. I would LOVE to sleep with the window open at night but my baka and I share a room and she is always cold. I'll just have to wait till I get home.

I spent Tuseday afternoon in Serbia's Ethnographic museum. The museum was a collection of traditional Serbian costumes from the 18th and 19th centuries. It also included old tools, rugs, and agricultural equipment. Matije took me there and then he had me try Yelen Pivo (deer beer). This is Serbia's brew. We bought a few cans and then headed to Kalemegdan and drank them with some of his friends. Now I can check that off my list.

I spent yesterday with Vukasin. After some miscommunication that involved me finding a police officer, asking where I could buy a phone card, and getting in touch with my cousin, we finally met up. We usually meet at the TRG Republik, it's a section in the middle of the city where my bus takes me.

I don't know if this has been in the US news, but a French student was beaten to death after attending a football game in Beograd. A french football team was playing against Beograd's team. After the game, a few serbian fans beat up a few French fans. This man ended up in the hospital for over a week and then passed away on Tuesday. There was a large memorial for him in the TRG Republik where people waited in line for hours to put candles and flowers at the base of a statue. It was really moving to see the hundreds of people that came by to pay their respects.

Yesterday was the day that I got to plan and it started by taking Vukasin to a vegetarian restuarant. He was a bit uncomfortable but I think he enjoyed it. He had vegetable Samosa and a Falafel for the first time ever. It was great to have my pick of the menu and know what I was getting on my plate, rather than crossing my fingers and hoping that I don't end up with a big piece of meat.

After the very satisfying lunch, we took a bus to a park (I should remember the name, since it's one of the biggest parks in the city, but I can't). Anyway, the city of Beograd made a large lake by diverting some of the water from the Sava river and it's a very popular place. The other part of my plan was to rent bikes. Vukasin hadn't been on a bike in years so I was more than happy to rent us both bikes for an hour. I wasn't so happy when I saw what bikes we got to ride. Let's just say, they needed some work...well, a lot of work. But it ended up being $5.00 for the both of us for an hour, so I guess you get what you pay for. We had a really good time, even though Vukasin thought I pedaled too slowly. He was in it to win it and I just wanted to take everything in. Good thing we didn't rent a tandem.

Today is Vukasin's first day of school and we aren't able to hang out. (he's starting school all over again for a degree in Economics).

After lunch, I'm thinking about taking a bus into town and walking around for a bit. I've read all my books that I have brought and am afraid to buy new ones since books aren't the lightest things to pack. Tonight, we are having dinner at a really nice restaurant downtown. I don't know much, but I do know that we are having dinner with Boshko and Ana's friend from France. It's a dinner in her honor and she wants everyone to be there and lots of music to be played. I'm really looking forward to it.

I figured out that I've had Turkish coffee. I was hoping that it would be awesome, but i wasn't all that impressed. My cousin Rada made it for us every morning, I just thought it was instant coffee but I was wrong. I don't think that I will be bringing that home with me. Oh, well. I guess that means I have more room for Rakije!

Ciao!