Balkan Summer: One Month Check-In
This weekend marked one month of Balkan summer — 9 different cities/towns! — and I am happy to report that I have, in fact, learned some things. It is time to reflect.
Yet… I don’t feel I have much to say. That is, until I remember there is much I’ve already said. And because I try to avoid sharing new words for no reason…
I now present unedited excerpts from my notes app: Balkan Summer edition.
BELGRADE
first impressions: communism, hot, gritty
ZHEEVELEE — cheers
GOOGLE MAPS BE LIES IN THESE PARTS
no rakija for maggie
NOVI SAD
a cycling city
online train schedules mean nothing here
“Are lemons illegal in Serbia”
why when I am alone do I immediately need to fixate on fantastical scripts for a forbidden romance? why
Paintings on cardboard instead of canvas. Very Eastern European
Homo Ludens by Johan Huizing: the idea that play lies at the base of everything and is a necessary element of cultural development. “Play means freedom.”
older Serb women love boob jobs
SOMBOR
one day you like a guy who likes some basketball team you’ve never heard of and then four years and a championship later you’re in an old guesthouse in their star player’s hometown in Serbia. life is funny
it’s official. all doors turn left to lock
well can honestly say I’ve never been alone in a museum before (until now) — and for free!
jokic mural on the side of his primary school “don’t be afraid to fail big” 🥹
dining solo at a nice restaurant is one of the purest meditative joys of my life
SUBOTICA
“Her heart is full and hollow like a cactus tree. And she’s so busy being free” :)
so Serbians like Trump huh? (Or not, but Biden bombed them)
so this is a weird place
MOST AMAZING SYNAGOGUE
a lazy Sunday on the lake just me, my fish paprikash and delusion
suddenly we have a black woman running for president and I’m just like chilling in fuck all serbia like wootytootydoo what is happening
“Life is still in front of you!” - subotica hostel man upon my departure
SREMSKI KARLOVCI
towns where eating in the center square doesn’t mean you’re an idiot >
Bermet only produced here in the region, 27 diff herbs/spices — almost 300 year old family winery
you ever have one of those days where you witness your new presidential nominee adopt a social media-coded brat persona while sitting alone at a bar in surburban serbia where you haven’t seen or spoken to another foreigner in a week and you’re like when in the name of Covid 2020 did we get here and how
BELGRADE II
yugonostalgia
So much “fuck nato”
tried a Swedish zyn — weird. I feel bad for people who are addicted to that feeling
IDEA: in another city use a map like a real one and try to navigate
every time I see a seesaw I think of him
things I need to do in Serbia before I leave:
watermelon
VIŠEGRAD
seeing the border control man flip through the pages of my passport looking for stamp space. satisfying
I really need to know WHAT the Serbian mindset behind the Bosnian genocide was????? (and it’s true as my fellow New York theatre comrade said) Serbia is just not cute like it got bombed out
the plums are plumming
I wish brat summer aligned with spring 2023. I would have leveled up so hard
they really fucking love their slightly Balkanized covers of American top 40 hits
HOMEMADE RIVERSIDE GOULASH
“It’s not about wanting to make the wrong decision it’s about being open to not making the right one”
— me attempting to explain my poor life choices, successfully I think
the balkans is really just waiting on the side of the road hoping a bus will show up
SARAJEVO
“bosnians don’t know what bagels are”
woah the ethno-political system is bonkers (Orthodox Muslim Catholic)
Sarajevo roses: places where bombs killed 3 or more people
“hanka” play by isak samokovlija
why was hearing that random hostel Brit tutor some maths so hot
war children museum oy
KLEPE RATINGS🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼
Flavor:
Freshness:
Vibes:
JAJCE
this is not a town for maps
sharing my host’s homemade sirnica and chatting via google translate
the best
thinking about how BiH has no lyrics to their national anthem bc the presidents don’t want any unity and music unites
bosnian coffee: spoon off the grounds into your cup first, then pour
SARAJEVO II
idk why I’m drinking myself to death this week like jesus I must have had two liters of wine yd and beers (did I even make it out?)
Sunday klepe mission: accomplished
so I finally walked into a mosque at the exact time of the call to prayer and LITTLE DID I KNOW: women are separated! I got up after the call ended and this woman was pointing at me like get the fuck over here omg sorry gal
one month in and I cannot conceive of borek without yogurt !
—
Did you enjoy that?
I did.
With Serbia behind me, and Bosnia & Herzegovina thereabouts, I close today with what stands out above the rest: the hospitality here is amazing. I’ve never experienced anything like it. And I feel grateful to experience a new part of the world where tourism and encounters with different types of people and pride in your homeland is not a given.
Besides that?
Lots of börek. Lots of sweat. Lots of quality time with myself and my (dreamy, delusional) thoughts.
Just the way I like it.
ONWARDS,
Mag