Tag: Serbia

Posts about the culture, events, language, etc. of Serbia.

New Serbian Smoking Ban

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Zabranjeno Pušenje – No Smoking, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

The Serbian Parliament last spring passed a public smoking law that went into effect last week. I was surprised at how well restaurants and cafes are enforcing the new law

Serbs love to smoke. According to the Ministry of Health, 1/3 of all adults smoke. but I would say it may even be a bit higher. In the US, according to the CDC (Center of Disease Control) about 17% of adults smoke. I believe this high percentage of smokers in Serbia is the same throughout Eastern Europe. I am not sure how many countries in the Balkans or Eastern Europe have anti-smoking laws. It would be interesting to get some statistics of smoking here and around the world.

The law gives police the power to fine individuals for smoking in prohibited areas (65 dollars) or businesses (13,000 dollars). It also bans smoking in theaters, cinemas, and most importantly, shopping malls. For restaurants, bars, and cafes, it depends on the size of the establishment. If it is too small, a business has to declare smoking or no smoking. Larger buildings must designate a smoking and a non-smoking area.

I say Hurray!!!! That has been one of the annoyances of living in Belgrade, especially in winter. There were so many places that we avoided because of the smoke. After coming home from a social gathering, our clothes were always stinking of cigarette smoke. We ate two great meals at Zodiac and Daco restaurants this weekend. They both had large non-smoking sections with the signs above posted. We also had smoke free experiences in the Usce and Mercator malls. What a difference!

I am sure some businesses do not like the new law. The smoking sections of restaurants that we see has more people than the non-smoking sections.

The nice weather continued this weekend in Belgrade. It was a bit cooler, but still unseasonably warm. I cut the grass, hopefully for the final time on Sunday. We also played with the kids in the yard as you can see below.

Kralovec Family Sleeps Through Earthquake

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Photo Courtesy of United State Geological Survey

 

An earthquake struck last night in Serbia at 2:00 AM. We slept through the earthquake, but most of my friends were woken up by a shaking bed here in Belgrade. It was a moderate (5.3 on the Richter Scale) quake, with the epicenter being about 75 miles southwest of the city. There was a lot of damage in the city of Kraljevo, where 2 people were killed and 50 people injured. They also lost water, electricity and there was much debris in the streets.

I love the two web sites with earthquake information. The world’s finest is the USGS website and the local, The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center, is also good.

Mali Zvornik

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Autumn Harvest Beauty

I had a wonderful weekend with our students and teachers at our first annual autumn retreat. We stayed at the Sunny River (Sunčana Reka) Camp in Mali Zvornik. Mali Zvornik, which means “little bell” in English, is a small town located on the Serbia – Bosnia border, about 2 1/2 hours south west of Belgrade. The resort camp is on the Drina River and it was a very peaceful time, with beautiful sunshine and autumn colors all around. The landscape reminded me of the Appalachians, because of the forested hills.

The town is across the river from its sister city in Bosnia, Zvornik. I didn’t realize how close Zvornik was to the infamous Srebrenica, the scene of the biggest massacre of the Yugsolavian Wars of Secession. A lot of horrible and sick events happened in Zvornik also, but they are not as well known as Srebrenica. The town was once 60% Bosniak Muslim, but they were driven out and it is a majority Serbian town today. If the United Nations sponsored commission reports are accurate, so many bad things occured in the area. I only felt peace however, with quiet walks along the river, nice meals with friends and students, and sports on the grounds of the resort.

Serbia is always full of surprises and Mali Zvornik was no exception. The owner of the resort arranged for the local Serbian Orthodox Priest to show us two underground sites. The first was the Holy Cross Church (Crkva Casnog Krsta)  which is a cross-shaped cave that is an ordained church. There is not electricity in the cave, but they hold mass there the last Friday of every month by candlelight. It fits around 100 people. The second site was more impressive. It was a secret, underground city constructed in the 1930’s for King Alexandar I of Yugoslavia. You can see us above in one of the 78 rooms of the 2 kilometer complex. The city was never completed because of World War II and the Communist Era. Today it is just light bulbs and cement walls. We toured a bit of it. Very impressive however, being that large. It would be a great place for a movie. I hope someday that they find the money to renovate the city how they had envisioned it during King Alexandar’s time. With the state of Serbia’s economy, I don’t see this happening for a while. The underground rooms and hallways can fit between 3,000 and 5,000 people. Very cool.

It would be nice if this area of Serbia and Bosnia could receive more tourists. It is a gorgeous, peaceful place for relaxation. I will definitely take my family back to the resort. For all the former areas of conflict, it will be good for them to develop their economies through tourism. There is lots of potential.

My Angel Princess

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I snapped this photo a couple of weekends ago at the Knez Mihailova Street in downtown Belgrade, Serbia. It is the famous walking and shopping street that is only open to pedestrians. There is an old art gallery with high curb where street vendors sell souvenirs. Ocean sat down while Nadia and Alejandra were buying some ear rings. I took a series of photos showing the various emotions of her. She is very expressive and I absolutely love her. I call her my “Angel Princess” because she is so heavenly. It has been amazing to be a father to a daughter. I think I am learning as much from her as she is from me.

Sense of Community in Belgrade

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Tuesday evening we took the kids to the Kalemegdan Park in Belgrade. The park is a huge public green space surrounding the ruins of a fortress. The city was originally only the fort as it commands a strategic, and more importantly for us today, a position with gorgeous views over the city and rivers. It is nice in Belgrade that most people live in apartments and do not have private gardens. They must use the public spaces, and this creates a real community feel. That is lacking in  many western nations as people tend to stay in private homes more. There is also not a lot of crime in the parks so families can enjoy them without worry. In developing nations, the parks are not very nice or safe from crime. I think this is one of the reasons expats like Belgrade so much, is this sense of community.

You can see Alejandra above (black dress) and my family, watching the old guys play chess. We had a nice evening, meeting several people and having the kids run around the fort walls and scramble on the collection of tanks they have on display.

We jha

Back in Belgrade

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Owen Playing Chess Against His Cousin Sebey as Ocean Looks On

We are back in Belgrade and enjoying the beautiful weather and relatively empty city, with everyone on vacation. We are also hosting Nadia’s sister and my nephew for the week as they do not have to be back to school until September. I am working hard getting ready for the arrival of the new teachers. In the photo above, we had a pizza at “Brodic” one of our favorite splavovi (restaurant floating in the Sava River) and Sebey taught his cousin how to play chess.

We also are spending time at Belgrade’s “seaside” or Ada Ciganlija. The family is shown below on the rocky beach cooling off. It is an amazing place and the thing that most impressed Nadia and I was the fitness level of the Serbians. There are not many overweight people in Serbia as it is the US. We were discussing why that is so. I think it is a combination of more activity and less food intake.

Kralovecs Beat the Heat

My Serbian Man Purse

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Yes, I’ve joined them! Probably over half the men here in Serbia walk around with a “man purse” and when my secretary bought me one, I was skeptical. I first noticed this a few weeks ago at the Usce mall. In the mall, about 2/3 of men had them. I started to look around and saw that most clothing stores had a version of the man purse. After using it a couple of times, I found them very handy to carry my wallet, camera, keys, etc. I love it. Especially as a father, it seemed that my pockets were always full with toys, diapers, etc.

This particular brand is Diadora, the Italian Nike. I am comfortable with this one, it is not leather so I can beat it, and it is a sporting company so it is a bit more masculine. That is if you can call a man purse masculine. There is a wide range of sizes, from just enough to put in a passport and wallet, to expensive leather purses that really are the size of a woman’s purse, and may actually be, a woman’s purse.

My wife and I are afraid that I will forget it somewhere. Partly because I am not used to walking around with a purse. I’m sure this recent development of  carrying a man purse will develop for me. I don’t think it will become a lifelong habit. At least I hope not. For now, I am enjoying the fact that my pockets are empty and I’m comfortable.

I figured an expat would have noticed this before me and when I typed in “Balkan Man Purse” sure enough, a post was done a couple of years ago on the B92 blog by Nicholas Cromie. A very funny post.

Serbia versus “The Rest of the World” at the Football Expo 2010

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Atacante with Coach Antic

An amazing game last night at the 2010 Sajam Fudbala (Football Expo) in New Belgrade. The boys’ football club, Atacante had the honor of opening the Expo by playing a friendly “U-10” game between Serbia and “The Rest of the World.” Owen and Ollie and the international students of ISB that belong to the club played against the Serbian kids of the club. The game was played on a mini-soccer field inside the ExpoCenter, which is a big exhibition hall next to the Holiday Inn in New Belgrade. The Sajam is going on all weekend with exhibitors of soccer camps, professional clubs, sports television, and sporting goods, all having interactive booths.

The Rest of the World lost 2-1 in the game. Both Owen and Ollie played well and I’ll be posting video of the game tomorrow. The highlight was getting to meet the Serbian National Soccer Team coach, Radomir Antic. He is the guy in the center of the photo. A big thanks to Atacante coach Mihailo for organizing this for the club! It was an unforgettable experience. The city is getting excited for Serbia’s World Cup games. They open up against Ghana on June 13.

Ollie on the Attack
Owen Gets Ready to Enter the Game

Who wants a Frikam ice cream?

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That is a line that never gets old.

For those non-native English speakers, it sounds like “frickin'” which is a non-vulgar way of saying a vulgar word. Frikom, is pronounced in Serbian, “freekohm” but we say it a bit differently when we ask the kids, “Who wants a Frikam ice cream?” and they all shout, “me!!!!” Hilarious.

Owen is shown above holding the sign of all the different kinds of ice cream bars the company produces. They are from Croatia and besides ice cream, they also produce frozen berries which we eat all winter. Delicious. There colorful tents are seen in many places in Belgrade. There are lots of ice cream/refreshments/cigarette/newspaper stands on the sidewalks of busy intersections. The one below is next to a Maxi supermarket in Senjak. Owen and Ollie’s favorite is the Classic King. I bought the Frikom version of the “orange sherbet push-ups” for the kids over the weekend. They are not quite the soft ice cream I remember eating as a child, but they are a pretty good orange/pineapple mix.

The Pushup of My Childhood

Frikom is also getting into the World Cup spirit. They produced a set of cards and a special “soccer” ice cream bar. The advertisement below features Nikola Žigić, the big 6 foot 8 inches striker on the Serbian national team. He regularly plays for Valencia in the Spanish league. He is Ollie’s favorite player because he is so tall.

The Eastern Gate of Belgrade

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Yesterday errands took us over to the suburb of the famous “Eastern Gate” of Belgrade. The gate is an apartment complex that is a highly visible landmark as cars enter Belgrade on the main E-75 freeway from the east. The Genex Building, also on E-75 but on the other side of Belgrade is known as the “Western Gate.” The two communist era “Socialist Realism” architecture style buildings are the most highly visible of a city full of these monsters.

I personally love looking at them and have been reading some on their development. The Eastern Gate Apartments were built in 1976 and there are three buildings that form a circle and they house around 2000 people. They were built in 1976 and the complex is named after the town of Rudo, Bosnia. The idea behind communist architecture was to glorify the common worker and downplay individualism. They loved cement in those days as it is the main structural and decorative medium. Today’s apartments are made more of brick, wood, glass, and steel.

I am so curious to know what it is like to live in them. As I wrote, they are interesting to look at, but I am not sure what the residents think. I would imagine the hallways, stairwells, and elevators must be a disaster because they are not well-maintained. The majority of Belgraders live in apartments, but it seems that they do not devote much resources to communal upkeep of the buildings and grounds.

I guess the reason I like this architectural style so much is that it is so different from anything I have ever seen. They remind me of a science fiction movie of a Orwellian future, a type of “Blade Runner” post-apocalypse skyline.

I hope I get a chance to go into one. All of my current Serbian friends live in smaller apartment buildings. I’ll be blogging more about these Socialist Realism buildings in future posts.

Another View of the Rudo Apartment Complex