Ratko Mladić

After the recent arrest of Ratko Mladić, I was asked by someone: 

"What are you hearing about the arrest and trial of Mladić? This seems an important time to be in Serbia."

The answer I ended up providing was longer than I expected, so I figured some others might be interested. It goes as follows:

"...the reactions are quite varied...It really depends on what end of the political spectrum you are on. The ladies (and one man) at Theatre DAH were absolutely ecstatic about the arrest. However, there were also very nationalistically charged rallies the same day. I don't, however, feel endangered here. I can keep my head low enough that in the open, even near a rally, its not an issue. Though I hesitate to conclude what would have happened had any of us made a scene about being Americans that day.

One of the lessons that was pressed into us the most is to not take anyone's crap about being American. If they start to talk about the NATO bombings, for example, we have been told to, basically, tell them to stuff it, that we were not involved, and didn't make the decision. The people here respect a show of strength.

Additionally, I know that after we leave there is an anti-NATO protest or something from 13.6-15.6. We saw posters for it today, not sure exactly what it is about. The website is antinato.in.rs - I plan to take a look at it later with a translator."

Anywho, updates to come soon...We've been so busy I haven't had much time to collect my thoughts onto paper.

Kragujevac and the Black Turtle

23-5-11 @ 10:15

Hotel Royal, Belgrade

Subject: 19-5-11

It’s been awhile since my last entries, again I must apologize.  Our pace in this city is “go, go, go!” but it’s been absolutely wonderful. 

On the 19^th of May, we visited the city of Kragujevac, or more specifically a museum outside of town.  Kragujevac was the site of a massacre by the Nazis on October 21^st, 1941.  A brief overview from Wikipedia states the following:

“Kragujevac underwent a number of ordeals, the worst probably having been the October massacre during World War II. The Kragujevac massacre was the slaughter of 2,300 to 5,000 civilians—mostly Serbs and Roma—in Kragujevac by Nazi soldiers between 20–21 October 1941. Staniša Brkić, curator of The Museum of 21 October, published a book in 2007 where he listed names and personal data of 2,796 victims. The killings went on from October 19 to October 21, 1941, in retaliation for a partisan attack on German soldiers. 50 people were shot per wounded German soldier, while 100 for a dead soldier. Among the killed was a whole generation of boys taken directly from the school.”

 

The museum is appropriately named “21 October.”  Luckily for me, the museum was fairly short.  It focused on the specific event and didn’t attempt to cover anything beyond the massacre.    The entire time we were listening to our guide, I felt sick to my stomach – I just can’t understand that level of violence.  What’s weird for me is that my aversion to violence is primarily founded on modern warfare and brutality.  Swords, axes, maces…violent, well yes – but there is something personal about having to go toe to toe with an enemy combatant, something about a more level playing field that, while it doesn’t appeal to me, doesn’t make me sick.  Maybe historical warfare just hasn’t been put in the right context for me, but having to look into someone’s eyes as they die is entirely different from a firing squad execution or a sniper shot from a half-mile away or an artillery shell landing in your barracks.  Those are cold-blooded.  Those are impersonal.  Inhuman.  Either way, the museum was a beautiful tribute to the loss of Kragujevac, but I was glad to be out of there.

Before entering the museum, we had been met by a friend of Dennis’ currently living in Serbia, Cheryl.  She had been married to a Serbian expatriate who had immigrated to the United States.  They had planned to retire in Serbia.  He would spend his summers building a house in the country-side.  Unfortunately, he passed away in a fatal car accident before they could retire.  However, Cheryl has maintained the house and uses it as a summer home with her mother (who is currently 91).

Cheryl spent the afternoon with us.  We saw in person the large sculture commemorating the schoolchildren who were slaughtered in Kragujevac massacre (you can see it on the Wikipedia Webpage, or I will upload some pictures eventually).  Additionally, she joined us for lunch at the Palisades restaurant across from the museum.   The food at Palisades was almost as good, and plentiful, as Znak Pitanja and cost us only 1/10^th of the price.  Much better value. 

After lunch, we were taxied back to the bus station and boarded the bus back to Belgrade.  The ride back was much the same as the ride there – naptime.  What little I did manage to see on the trip looked quite similar to the hillier parts of Minnesota.  Time and time again, this area of the world reminds me of home and the fact that I won’t see it until August.  C’est la vie.  Such is the life of an artist.  That being said, I am starting to get excited, and a little scared, for this summer.  Canterbury will be an awesome opportunity and experience, but it will also be quite challenging.  When I’ve been alone, I’ve noticed that my mind tends to wander toward speculation of the coming three months… I’ll be interested to see how I grow these next few months.

Back to the topic, Serbia.  We arrived in Belgrade around 6:30 and got to the hotel at 7:00.  After Lucas, Keegan, and I showered we met up with Stacia and Lynnette to get some food before meeting Brandon, Anna, and Briana.  We wandered around Kneza Mihaila before finding a bakery and a coffee shop to eat at.  After eating, we wandered towards Republic Square where we randomly met up with Katie.  She had been waiting for Dennis and they were heading out to a small little dive bar.  We decided, with permission, to tag along.

Katie took us to a small little bar called the Black Turtle.  In the States its entrance would probably be considered pretty sketchy but here it felt pretty normal.  There is a patio for the bar out in front of the building, but the entrance is marked only by an alleyway with a small green sign overhead.  You turn into the alley, walk about ten or fifteen feet, walk down a stone staircase, and enter a smoke-filled little bar.  It was great.  Like most bars I’ve visited in Belgrade they didn’t carry any dark beer, but they did have carry a line of fruit beers.  I only tried the blueberry, but they also had lemon and strawberry as flavors.

After entering the bar, myself and Lucas went back to the hotel to bring Brandon, Anna, Stacia, Lynnette, and Briana to the bar.  Soon after we returned, Katie’s friend Dylan arrived.  Dylan was originally going to meet up with us after Znak Pitanja, but due to the highly intoxicated nature of most of the group – and Katie – only Liz managed to meet him when he arrived at the hotel and walked Katie home.  Anyways, Dylan showed up at the Black Turtle and the rest of us finally met him.  He is teaching English in Serbia as the other Fulbright scholar to the country.  He’s originally from New York City and a pretty cool kid.  He majored in music and is looking toward a career in composition.

After about two rounds at the bar, Keegan and Lucas left to attempt to find Club Anderground where we had thought to party that night.  I would have joined them, but was still nursing most of a beer.  Either way, it didn’t really make a difference – they came back to the bar about twenty minutes later, unsuccessful.

It was about midnight when Keegan and Lucas returned to the Black Turtle, and the bar was winding down – last call had been about five minutes previous to their arrival.  Belgrade has a new law that any bar beneath a residential complex must close at midnight…Katie say’s it’s a real shame as most of the good bars have been affected by this new rule. 

We ended up leaving soon after and walked across the river to New Belgrade with Dylan, Katie, Stacia, Lynnette, Briana, Keegan and myself to explore the boat clubs.  We started at the first one we saw.  It was known as Olympic and that night was playing late 80’s, early 90’s punk rock.  It was a fun time, but we left after a round to explore some more.

As we walked south along the Sava river, we passed many more clubs – most of them lifeless tonight.  Eventually we came upon the club Freestylr.  The music was bumping, lights were flashing, and it looked like a grand ole time…however there was a huge crowd waiting outside, it was past 1am, and we noticed a metal detector at the entrance to the boat – Keegan’s knife probably wouldn’t make it in.   So we decided that we would come back later in the weekend or next weekend.   We wandered north, back towards the bridge to Belgrade, and ended hopping on some small boat that was filled with smoke and pumping out turbofolk.

Turbofolk is an experience…Imagine traditional Serbian music – go look it up on youtube or something – then add a big-ass house beat underneath the stings, accordions, and woodwinds playing.  Actually, don’t imagine it – go on youtube and look it up.  It’s an experience.

Keegan, Lucas, and I left shortly after we arrived – I could barely breathe in there and have no idea how Keegan could manage!  We headed back to the hotel, put on the local musicTV station, and passed out soon afterwards. 

Belgrade Reflections

18-5-11 @ 11:15

Hotel Royal, Belgrade

We planned to have a bike tour today, but our guide canceled on us.  He thought it was going to rain.  It’s a shame, because it was a beautiful day…but it was probably for the better.  After last night, not everyone is the brightest shining star that they could be. 

It was warm and sunny today.  I was reminded of Minnesota summers, sitting at the edge of the water and just meditating on nature…it was a great half-hour we spent outside the bike store.  We decided to walk along the river and back through Kalemegdan to get to the Hotel.

As we entered from the base of Kalemegdan, we walked up a large set of stairs we had seen on our tour with Katie the day previous.  We passed near the old church, which I will have to return to someday soon.  I hear it is absolutely beautiful inside.  Briana, Lucas, Keegan, and I broke from the rest of the group and explored more of the castle. 

We went near the military exhibit and looked at the tanks and artillery…I didn’t enjoy that part.  The older I get, the more I don’t understand violence and war.  These are machines that are built for one purpose and one purpose only – to destroy.  Lives, buildings, and other machines or whatever – they are built solely to destroy.  I don’t know, maybe I’m just one for creation but I can’t wrap my head around it.

We finished in Kalemegdan and walked a small way on to Kneza Mihaila before coming to a gyro shop – Gyropolis.  We decided to have lunch there.  We bought our food and headed back into Kalemegdan to eat it.  Absolutely delicious.  After lunch in the park we headed back to the Hotel.  There was some talk by people of seeing the new Pirates of the Caribbean later, I wasn’t really interested.  I ended up taking a nap for the afternoon…or I planned to take one.  I ended up sleeping most of the night away.  C’est la vie. 

Time for a beer and then bed.

Znak Pitanja

19-5-11 @ 10:48

Hotel Royal, Belgrade

Subject: 18-5-11

We met up with Katie in the lobby and took a brief tour of Kalemegdan.  The weather is still a little wet, but not bad at all.  The fortress is really cool here, and I plan to come back and photograph a lot of it.  There is also a military museum here.  Outside in the fortress is a display of tanks and artillery launchers, though we didn’t do much more than point them out. 

After leaving Kalemegdan, we walked a couple blocks to Znak Pitanja, or “Question Mark”, where we had dinner reservations for 7p.  Znak Pitanja is one of the oldest establishments in the city and has an interesting story behind its name.  Katie recounted for us how it used to be known as “The Place Across From the Cathedral” and was a really rowdy dive bar, maybe even engaging in prostitution.  The priest at the Cathedral didn’t like the fact that its named referenced the Cathedral and was therefore associated with it, for better or worse.  He feuded with the owner of the establishment over its name for a while before taking matters into his own hands.  One night, the priest snuck over and ripped the signage down off the wall.  In response, the owner put up a single “?” in its place.  It has been known as Znak Pitanja ever since.

The meal was absolutely wonderful.  Multiple delicious appetizers including stuffed peppers, kajmak, juicy tomatoes, and bread and the main dish consisted of sausages and stewed pork that was to die for.   To top it all off, there was beer and vilijamovka (pear rakija) throughout.

At some point, Yugi from Theatre DAH arrived and joined us, though he had already eaten.  Dennis also asked if there was music playing that night, but unfortunately that was only on Thursdays or Fridays.  However, were in luck.  A traditional Bulgarian chorus had stopped by Znak Pitanja for a drink after a concert they had performed.  Vlade, our waiter, asked them if they were interested in singing for us.  It was a great surprise.  I’ll post a link to the footage/audio that other recorded as soon as I can.  They asked afterwards for a reciprocal song, which we provided in the form of “My Little Sunshine.”  I’m still not sure how I feel about that… heh.

We ended up spending far too much money at the restaurant, so we’ll be cutting a Coe-funded meal out of the trip likely…but I think most of us are okay with that.  We had a great time together, and that’s what matters.

We went back to the Hotel afterwards…some of us more drunk than others, though Lucas took the crown.  Some went to bed while others sat with Yugi in the bar for awhile…or most of the night for Stacia, Jenna, Lynette, and me.  Pretty sure it was 4am when we finally called it quits and went to bed.

Theatre DAH and the Open Air Market

18-5-11 @ 10:05

Hotel Royal, Belgrade

Sorry about the delay in posting…it’s been an interesting two days.   

Soon after my last update, I went down to a wonderful breakfast.  This is not your American continental breakfast, this is like a home cooked meal!  Hard-boiled eggs, omelets, bread, orange juice, Turkish coffee, kijmak (basically butter cream spread), salted cheese, sausages…it was fantastic! Keegan, Lucas, Lynnette, Sam, and I went for an exploratory walk around the city until we were to meet as a large group around 10:15 for more exploration.  It was nice to just explore the city for awhile, and I’m starting to pick up on landmarks a little bit – between the two walks, I knew pretty much where I was in relation to the Hotel the entire time.

After some time, we boarded a bus to another part of the city to visit Theatre DAH’s location.  They are located in part of an elementary school and to Americans would be fairly poor off in their theatrical and administrative facilities.  They assured us, however, that they have more now than they ever would have dreamed of.  They have great pride in being one of the few theatres to have never taken any government money.  

As I was talking with one of the ladies who had came to Coe this past fall on their United States tour (that Dennis had helped to arrange), she jested that maybe I could come and rewire their facility and install some new equipment…She really got me thinking though.  These ladies (and Yugi, a fairly recent addition to their ensemble) are some of the finest, nicest people I have had the pleasure to meet.  They are now in their twentieth year of operation.  This entire time they have been speaking about the unsung atrocities that no one else would.  The Serbian people, partially because of laws and sanctions in place by their own government, have a habit of not speaking against the government or atrocities committed in front of their faces.  I’m not talking of government conspiracies.  I’m talking of the events everyone knows of – Goli Otak during Tito’s reign for example.

Goli Otak was a bare island that Stalinists were sent to after World War 2 to be reformed into “Tito-ists.”  Remember, these weren’t the opposition to Tito’s government – these were the men who fought for a united communist Yugoslavia right beside Tito.  These men had sworn allegiance to him.  But Tito was Stalin’s right hand man in the Balkans.  By swearing allegiance to Tito these men had indirectly, but more importantly, sworn their allegiance to Stalin.  Everyone knew someone who had been to Goli Otak, no one was allowed to speak of it.  Ever.  And that’s not uncommon throughout Tito and Milošević’s reigns.

Anyways, twenty years ago the women of DAH decided they had to speak out, and so they started doing street performances.  They are a movement based company, so what you see is not always what’s being spoken about…there were still sanctions in place about content.  But everyone, performers and audience alike, knew exactly what was being said.

Fast-forward to now.  I think it would be great to help Theatre DAH in any way I could.  If I could scrape the money together – grants or what not…anything! – I would love to come back and give them more ability to control the mood and atmosphere of their small theatre (we’ll go into what the space is like at a later date – when I’m participating in their workshop).

We left DAH to their meeting – they are in the middle of planning their twentieth anniversary festival – and wandered around another part of Belgrade for the afternoon.  Dennis took us to a burger joint, Mc Dek’s, which smelled wonderful.  They made huge burgers and only charged 200 din (about $3.00).  Keegan and I wandered up the street further to an open air market and browsed around the fresh fruits and vegetables before deciding on purchasing broccoli, strawberries, and cashews for lunch.  It was an interesting experience to purchase from people who speak no English but very useful.  I realized I need to go back and spend some time with numbers…and learn how to ask them to repeat their words slowly! 

We met back up with the group before all heading to the market for a while. After spending time in the market, we went back to Hotel.  We were going to meet Katie in the Hotel lobby around four for a tour of Kalemegdan.  I went and took a nap briefly before we headed out on our next adventure.

The Arts in Serbia, a Cast List

17-5-11 @ 7:36

Hotel Royal, Belgrade

It occurred to me as I posted that last entry, that people reading this blog may have no idea of whom I speak of.  I will attempt to provide and update a “character list” so those of you not intimately familiar with us will have a point of reference.

Dennis – a professor of Theatre.  Serbia and one of its greatest playwrights, Dušan Kovačević, has been the focus of his academic career.

Keegan – junior Technical Theatre major at Coe College.  Originally from Colorado Springs. 

Lucas – senior Art major from Ripon College.  Dennis’ son.

Tekla – junior at Coe College. Originally from Minnesota.  She is rooming with Stacia (…surprise!  Just like at Coe).

Stacia – junior at Coe College.  Originally from Iowa.

Lynnette – sophomore at Coe College. She is rooming with Sam.

Jenna – junior at Coe College.  She is rooming with Briana.

Sam – senior Technical Theatre major at Coe College.

Brandon – graduated from Coe College with a degree in Theatre Acting in May.  He is dating Anna.

Anna – junior at Coe College.

Briana – sophomore at Coe College.

Britt – senior Photography major at Coe College.  I first met Britt in my first year seminar class. 

Liz – senior at Coe College.

Katie – graduated from Coe College with a degree in Theatre Acting in may 2010.  She has spent the past nine months in Belgrade, Serbia on a Fulbright scholarship.

Yugoslav “Yugi” – A friend of Dennis’ and a co-worker of Katie’s at Theatre DAH.  He is the only male member of Theatre DAH.

Dylan – A friend of Katie’s.  He is the second Fulbright recipient for Serbia and originally from New York City.

Zorica – A friend of Dennis’.  She is a professor of Philology at the University of Belgrade.  Her specialty is in comparative literature, primarily Shakespeare.

Day One: Welcome to Belgrade!

17-5-11 @ 6:30a

Hotel Royal, Belgrade

Excited.  That’s the one word I feel coming from everyone last night.  Yes we were all tired, but as soon as we got in the plane to Belgrade the excitement became palpable.  We took off with no issues and the flight was smooth…for a puddle-jumper.  Lynnette and Stacia really impressed me today, on both flights.  The puddle-jumper was a little shaky taking off, but no more than normal for a small plane in wind.  They both took it in stride and kept on smiling.

We landed with no issues and took a bus from the Airport in Neo-Beograd (New Belgrade) to the city proper.  It was really interesting watching the architecture a we travelled closer and closer to the city center.  Neo-Beograd was built during Tito’s Yugoslavia and the general architecture reflects a utilitarian approach – “This needs to be built so it will be built, no need to get fancy.”  For the most part, this held true until we crossed the Sava River and entered Belgrade proper. 

In Belgrade, the utilitarian motif still remained, but it was infused with the ancient architectural forms of the city.   We got off the bus, and headed towards a central square to catch a couple of cabs.  A few of us decided we wanted to walk to the hotel, so we sent the others on their way in a cab and the rest of us (Dennis included) walked to the Hotel Royal.  Just as we were about to take off, a lady of about fifty years approached us asking if we needed a taxi.  We declined, but through talking to her we came to find out she was a Canadian citizen (though originally from Serbia).  She was extremely kind and warm to us, and promised us that the Hotel wasn’t far at all.

We started by walking through a tunnel under some streets and we came above ground in an almost warren-like area.  The first thing I noticed is there are shops EVERYWHERE. And they are tiny.  None of that department store crap (though some of them look just a primped and “fancy”), just small specific stores.  It’s refreshing.  As we walked up hill and onto the ped mall proper the fusion of architecture became readily apparent.  Fanciful stone work meshed with utilitarian complexes and were overlaid with a splash of capitalist appropriation.  It was cool. Everything I’ve seen only furthers my desire to explore this city and its people (and Europe for that matter!).

After a short walk, maybe thirty minutes, we arrived at the Hotel Royal and an fun surprise – Katie was at the Hotel to meet us.  It was nice to see a familiar face in a foreign city – especially one who knew the city!  I should digress for a second here:  Katie a Coe College graduate who is currently studying with Theatre DAH in Serbia on a Fulbright Scholarship.  In fact, it was this exact class four years ago that inspired Katie to apply for a Fulbright.  She has been here since September and will be spending portions of the trip with us.

We quickly settled into our rooms.  I’ll be spending the trip with Lucas and Keegan, so this should be a fun and interesting room!  We each took a quick shower and then went to exchange our USD for Serbian Dinars.  Lucas and Keegan managed to exchange all of theirs, but I was only able to exchange $50 before the three of us entirely cleaned out the booth’s reserves.  C’est la vie.

Some other students wanted to exchange some money still, so Dennis led us to a nearby booth for them to exchange at before leading us around the block to Hotspot, a local internet café that has been a common hangout for student in the previous two trips.  On our way, we passed Student’s Park and a couple cool pieces of artwork (I’ve uploaded photos of them).  We finished walking back around the block and towards the Hotel…which we passed with no explanation.  Dennis had decided to lead us to a gourmet chocolate shop that was just down the block.   The chocolates were delicious and quite inexpensive (a trend I am noticing around here…).  I tried two: A chile and a ginger chocolate.  They cost about 44 dinar a piece – 64 cents.

At that point, it was about time for our dinner reservation at a pizza place just up the hill from the Hotel – we had actually passed it on our way to Hotspot.  It was a nice restaurant and had a great atmosphere.  I split a pizza with Keegan and just about everybody kicked back a beer or two.  I ordered Nikšićko Tamno, a dark beer that had been lauded by the previous trip.

After dinner we walked through Kalemegdan Park, which we will explore more today.  It started raining part way through though, so we hurried back to the Hotel.  We went back to the room and had thoughts of going out, but weren’t sure if we wanted to in the rain. I actually ended up heading to sleep since I was getting bored (exhaustion and all that…) but I believe Keegan and Lucas bought a bottle of pear rakija (a local alcohol…it’s a type of brandy).  I woke up fairly early this morning, but that’s to be expected with having gone to bed early too.  Tonight will be phase two of acclimatization to the new timezone.

Živeli!

Update from Warsaw!

15-5-11 @ 10:28a

 Warsaw, Poland

This trip is going to get interesting fast.  We wasted no time in creating trouble on the road and Tekla’s truck broke down in Clinton, Iowa – transmission issues.  Luckily, a recent Coe College graduate, Chelsea, lives in Clinton.  She and her father were extremely helpful and after about two hours we had a courier van coming to pick up five of the group and drive them to O’Hare.  The rest of the drive was smooth sailing and we arrived in Chicago with no further issues.  In fact, the timing of our trip actually worked out perfectly – we spent absolutely no time waiting at the gate for our flight.

On the plane, I sat next to Lucas – our professor’s son.  He attends Ripon College in Wisconsin and is joining us on the trip to Serbia.  Real cool kid, I’m glad he’s coming along.   I look forward to getting to know him more as the trip continues.  We, along with Keegan, ended up teaching Stacia how to play Hearts on the flight before spending a large portion of the trip playing Rummy and watching the in-flight movies...we may or may not have forgotten to sleep, whoops.

We landed safely in Warsaw, Poland (where I am currently writing this from).  Interesting to note, the security here is fully armed.  Each guard had a side-arm and it wasn’t uncommon to see a sub-machine gun.  Definitely different from what I’m used to in the USA.  Anyways, we’ll be boarding the plane to Belgrade here soon so this entry is getting cut short.

Živeli!