We get invited to many birthday parties from the classmates of our children. We rarely go because with our hectic schedules, when we get some time away from school, we prefer to be alone as a family.
We made an exception Sunday as you can see above. The Serbs really know how to throw a party! Serbia is a south Slavic nation and has more in common with southern Europe lifestyles, than northern Europe lifestyles. They emphasize good times and family and there is more disorganization like Spain and Italy, than say Austria or Switzerland. That is a big generalization and it is not a comment on the entire population, but that is the trend I have observed.
The party was at a place called “The Jungle” and there are many childrens’ birthday party places in Belgrade. The children above are watching a magician on stage. See if you can spot Owen!
The hosts care as much as the comfort of the adults as children. There were probably 60 adults at the party and about 50 children. As you can see above, there is a nice cafe/banquet style seating for adults behind the children. The hosts had a really nice buffet and an open bar. The building was large, with separate rooms for a disco and play land.
The Jungle provided supervision for the children in the playland and did music activities with them in the disco. Quite an operation, that makes it easy for parents to hold a party. The downside I imagine would be cost, as I saw plenty of bottles of wine and food being consumed. Overall we had a nice time. We have a lot in common with the other school families with young children.
Belgrade is known for its night life. This is about as close as I get to the partying scene!
Bill's Blog 
I just stumbled upon your blog while digging up stuff on Serbian royalty. I just returned home (to the US) from Belgrade last month, with my 10 year old son Axel who I adopted from Kragujevac. What is interesting in your picture above, is there is not one single child with a disability. Not one. You don’t see much of them there, do you? The son I adopted has Down syndrome. He, along with 98% of all children with DS in Serbia, had spent his entire live in the mental institutions in Serbia. While I was in Kragujevac I had teenagers spit upon my son as we walked down the street. So different from here in the US where my daughter (14 and also with DS) goes to regular school, goes to school dances with her peers, etc. Instead my son, who spent his last 2 years in a foster home, had never had a pen/paper put in his hands. He’d never seen a puzzle. He flat out wasn’t taken out in public at all. The link above is to my regular blog, but I have another another as well. http://myianna.blogspot.com/ I was in Serbia from 11/29 to 12/15 if you are interested in reading about my experiences there.
Serbia is a wonderful country. They are making progress, and “slow and steady wins the race” would apply. But for people who have disabilities, they are stuck where the US was back in the 40’s. Hopefully change will start to happen soon!