It has been a tremendous week of early mornings for Goran and me dealing with the snow and cold temperatures. Goran is the head of the maintenance and security at the school. He and his crew started the week plowing the school grounds, parking lots, and nearby roads to make them passable for the community. He also was dealing with getting the buses to the homes through the snow-filled streets of the Belgrade suburbs. Finally today, he was trying to heat up diesel engines on four of our buses as the cold, bitter temps were freezing our fleet at school. That doesn’t include clearing the icicles from the roofs, salting sidewalks and steps for pedestrians, and maintaining the heating system.

We are pictured in the parking lot of the high school, still managing to smile after a crazy, but very interesting week. We are all looking forward to February Break which starts this weekend.

The video above is a recording of the song, Marš Na Drinu or “March on the Drina” by Serbian composer Stanislav Binički from Friday night’s concert of the Belgrade Philharmonic. The concert was part of their New Year’s Cycle which celebrates different New Year celebrations throughout the year. Friday evening was the New Year in the Julian Calendar, which several Orthodox Christian churches in Eastern Europe still follow.

I think the song should be the Serbian national anthem. Binički was inspired by the Serbian army’s Battle of Cer against the Austro-Hungarian army in World War I. The lyrics celebrate the bravery of the Serbian soldiers and the flowing rivers of Drina. The Drina River is a tributary of the Sava River and forms the border between Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia. I love the melody when I first heard it played at the stadium during Serbia’s run to the World Cup a couple of years ago. I especially like the haunting rhythms which begin about halfway through the four-minute composition.

The song was overwhelmingly voted by the Serbian public as the national anthem, but due to its use by the Bosnian Serb armies in the wars of the 1990′s and the song was associated with the war. Too bad, because the current Serbian national anthem, is a weak, rip-off of the Monarchist God Save the Queen.

It is somewhat similar to Australia, where Waltzing Matilda is a much more loved song than the Scottish written, Advance Australia Fair, the official national anthem.

The song was the encore to Friday’s concert which featured Russian and Serbian works of classical music. As time goes on and the wars of Yugoslavian Secession move out of people’s living memory, the song will eventually be adopted as the national anthem.

Nadia and I really enjoyed the concert! The Belgrade Philharmonic this year has spiced up their concerts with bringing in opera singers and as you can see in the video, a “stereo” choir on both sides of the auditorium.

Bill and Nadia Relax After the Concert

Lake Como is the story of a Serbian writer who wins a month’s refuge at an expensive Villa on Lake Como to work on his novel. The author however, is not really working on the book and a friend helped him fill in the application to receive the grant award. He is a part-time writer and full-time alcoholic. Not much happens in the book and he describes his month at the lake. He does a lot of drinking, sightseeing, eating, and observing the other guest scholars in the villa. He also mingles with the local townspeople quite a bit and is a bit of a ladies man.

The unnamed antihero, or hero of the book I guess represents Serbia and the people of his generation. Valijarevic is my age although the book was written 5 years ago. It made me think about what it would have been like to lose your country (Yugoslavia) and living standards that went with it after years of war and embargoes. It was quite traumatic for people his age who were just starting out in their careers when the whole thing went to pieces. The best review I read on the book is by Daniel Kelleher and here are the other books in the series by Geopoetika.

Titles that fall within the Geopoetika Serbian prose in Translation series under review include: —

• Basara, Svetislav – The Cyclist Conspiracy —
• Novaković, Mirjana – Fear and Servant —
• Ognjenović, Vida – Adulterers —
• Stanković, Slavoljub  – The Box

While waiting for my wife to come out of the movie at the Ušče Mall earlier this week, I explored the Friendship Park. This park in New Belgrade was established in 1961 to commemorate a big meeting of the Non-Aligned Nations Movement. Through the years, when foreign statesman visit Serbia, a tree is planted in the park in their honor. I walked around and noted some of the famous names. These included Fidel Castro, Moammar Gaddafay, Leonid Brezhnev, Hafez El Assad, and of course the first one, Tito in 1961. My favorite is from 1976, Jimmy Carter planted a California Sequoia which must have died because there was a large bush near his marker that certainly didn’t look like a 35-year old Giant Redwood. One of the latest trees planted was by current Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mohamed Kemel Amr in September next to the Serbian Foriegn Minister, Vuk Jeremić in September of 2011.

The other interesting part of the park is the Soviet-style monument erected by Slobodan Milosević after the NATO bombings in 2000. It used to contain an eternal flame. In the background of the photo to start this post, you can also see the former Central Committee building. It was destroyed in the NATO bombing campaign, but is now office buildings.

St. Sava’s Cathedral, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Last night we went to Saint Sava’s Cathedral here in Belgrade for the burning of the badjnak and the Christmas Eve Service. As you can see from the photos, it was a beautiful and culturally enriching night for my family.

Each of the kids had a “badnjak” which is like a yule log. The word badnjak may be derived from the verb, bdeti, which means to stay awake or keep the vigil. The tradition stems from pagan times and the man of the house (domaćin) or sons on Christmas morning went into the woods and cut down a young Oak tree. The yule log is kind of like a ceremonial sacrifice to bring health and happiness to the family for the coming year. The log was burnt over the family hearth. Today, an assembly of twigs with Oak leaves, corn, pine sprigs, and straw is tied together with a red ribbon and sold in markets and street corners around Belgrade. Every church has a bonfire on its grounds where people can come and throw their badnjaks in the flames.

There were hundreds of people there and outside the church a mini-market was set up selling religious and holiday crafts and mulled wine. We went inside the massive cathedral to watch a bit of the service and light candles in memory of lost family members. The service, shown below, had a lot of priests singing and waving incense. There were also lines of people waiting to kiss various icons.

Afterwards we went to have some Lebanese appitizers at the Byblos Restaurant and the kids played in the park.

The Terra Art Colony is a government-funded project that provides an amazing studio and property for the fine arts. It is a former brick and roof tile factory that closed down in the 1950′s. The “Banat” region of Vojvodina is a historical region in the agricultural plains of Hungary, Serbia, and Romania. The area was once a sea and has rich, red, clay soils that were perfect for bricks and terracotta ceramics. The factory is an amazing place for making a movie or hosting a Halloween party. The head artist-in-residence Jovan, showed us around the complex. There were several studios and exhibition areas. Most of the art was terracotta sculpture and there were many interesting pieces on display. Behind the main building, there was a long drying shed that used to be for the tiles. The kids loved running up and down the spooky aisles between the drying racks. It is very nice that the factory was preserved and is put to good use. I bought a small statue of a “Lala” which is a typical guy of the Banat region. He is a chubby guy because the food is so good in the “breadbasket” of Serbia and he is pictured on top of a pumpkin. This is because the Banat is so flat, that one only has to get on top of a pumpkin to see a long way.

The Summer Studio

The artists also had a pet dog that is a breed typical of the Banat region. The Puli is a working dog known for its athleticism in protecting sheep and other livestock. They have a thick, curly coat that is waterproof. They are usually black and their fur can be very long, almost like dreadlocks.

A Puli dog

I recommend visiting the town and especially the art colony complex. I am not sure what the opening hours of the gallery and if they give tours. My friend introduced us to the place and I think the artists came just for our group. That is one of the best features of Serbia is that it is not geared for tourists at all, so there are not many maps, brochures, advertising, etc. for the place and it felt like we discovered a secret place. I’ll try to get our visual art students to spend a day at the place.

Last night I attended the Belgrade Philharmonic’s performance in the New Year Cycle. The cycle is a concert series based on the various religious New Year celebrations. Last night’s concert was the Islamic New Year. It is always interesting to watch the “VIPs” enter hall and last night was no exception. With a lot of cameras, etc, Belgrade Mufti Muhamed Jusufspahić came in to be seated. I snapped this photo of him speaking with the Philharmonic Director, who looks “artistic” with the spiked hair and fashionable glasses.

The Islamic community in Belgrade and in Serbia is quite small with only one mosque in Belgrade and about 300,000 Islamic people in the country. Most are found in the Sandzak, a region in Southern Serbia that borders Kosovo, Montenegro, and Bosnia.

Jusufspahic is a somewhat controversial figure in that he is the self-proclaimed leader of the Islamic community in Serbia. Several muftis in the Sandzak dispute this and there is political tension because of it.

I think it is nice for Serbia and the rest of the former Yugoslavia to have an Islamic community. It gives a bit of “exoticness” to the overwhelming majority Slavic Orthodox Serbian architecture and culture. The Islamic followers however, are Slavs, having been converted during the 500-year Ottoman occupation of Serbia. They don’t have different foods and look very Slavic. I enjoyed visiting Sarajevo and Mostar and hearing the call to prayer and seeing the towers of the mosques. I also visited the Bajrakli Mosque here in Belgrade in January of 2009.

We didn’t stay for the whole concert and Nadia and I went for a drink next door to the Hotel Square 9. A really nice atmosphere with not much smoking. We laughed quite a bit.

Yesterday for the opening of our gymnasium a Serbian Kolo Dance Troupe performed. The “kolo” or circle in English, is a traditional cultural dance performed in the ex-Yugoslavia, in Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia. This being Belgrade, it was the Serbian version of the dance. A professional troupe performed in the ceremony as you can see in the video above. I loved the music and costumes. Note the elf-like shoes, which traditionally are made of pig skin and are molded to fit one’s foot. They have a little “pig’s tail” on the tip of the toe.

It is a beautiful dance and great outfits. I felt like drinking a rakija while watching them!

I’ve noticed around the city the past couple of weeks many political posters. This spring they will be holding parlimentary elections and next year there will be a presidential election. The campaign has begun!

The posters definitely have a negative tone to them, highlighting the faults of the other parties.

The poster above reads, “Their interest in our debt!” and the subtext is “they brought the Belgrade economy to the edge of destruction.” The poster shows city mayor Dragan Đilas speaking with the economic minister. In a “city-state” such as Belgrade, the mayor has almost the same amount of power as the president and it is a position that the major political parties go after.

The current president, Boris Tadić will be serving out his five-year term in 2013. I think this is the first time a president has done that in Serbia’s short time as an independent nation. I don’t know how he can win reelection with the economy the way it is in Serbia. Experts are predicting Barak Obama facing difficulties getting a second term with 9% unemployment and a slow recovery. Tadić should be in big trouble with 23% unemployment, foreign direct investment falling in half in the past two years and inflation close to 10%. They also have 1/3 of their budget going to pensions.

But with a situation as dire as it is, it will be awfully difficult for anyone to turn the economy around. I don’t see much difference between the political parties (much like the USA) with all of them in favor of a 1 billion Euro subway system, promising more jobs, and cutting down on corruption. Most also agree to support the agriculture sector of the economy, which is already a healthy 13% of the GDP.

The argument used to be should they try to join the EU or go it alone or have a special relationship to Russia. I don’t see the EU accepting Serbia in the near future with the economic problems of Greece, Italy, and Spain.

Serbia needs leadership that will make it easier for businesses, both foreign and domestic to start up. Serbia is one of the most difficult places in the world to do business because of the bureacracy from Communist times. The rule of law needs also to be established here with everyone paying taxes and punishment of crime and corruption. I feel they should be putting their energy to trying to unite the Balkans instead of going for the EU membership. The negative campaigns are not focusing on the real details of what needs to get done and who can do it. Politics are the same in most countries and the USA is not an exception.

The poster below is making fun of Serbian Progressive Party leader, Tomislav Nikolić. He used to be with the Radicals and the left side shows him wearing a t-shirt of Voja Šešelj, the former leader of the Radicals, now on trial at the Hague. “Who is the person who never lied to you, Nikolić or the real Toma?”

Serbia deserves good leadership and I hope whoever gains power in the next election, and focus on good government and the betterment of lives of its citizens.

I took this photo Saturday evening while coming back from New Belgrade. All six lanes of traffic were open for the first time in many months as a large repair construction project was completed 7:00 PM on Saturday. The Gazela Bridge is one of the main bridges in the city connecting the old part of Belgrade with the New Belgrade. Besides being used for intra-city traffic, it is also part of two major highways crossing Europe (E70 and E75) and so besides Belgrade traffic, there is lots of foreign cars cruising through. The bridge has more cars crossing it than it was designed for.

The bridge built in 1970 was in desparate need of reinforcement and it looks and feels much better. The project did however, make everyone’s lives a hassle because of the limited options in crossing the city. Hopefully with all six lanes open, this will cut down on the traffic delays that were a daily part of many Belgraders lives.

The city is working on another bridge across the Sava River (see photo below) which should be done in the next few months. It will be interesting to see how this affects traffic flow. There are only two other bridges going across the Sava in the center part of the city. The bypass project, which would divert E70 and E75 traffic is still in the planning stages.

By the way, the name “Gazela” comes from the fact that on a side view, the bridge does look like a gazelle running.

View from the river, of the almost completed Sava Bridge (August 2011)