The Day of Mladić's Arrest

26-5-11

Hotel Royal, Belgrade

Today is our first truly free day…sort of.  Lucas and I slept in before getting gyros again from Gyropolis.  After we had out lunch, we spent most of the day over at Hotspot, the local internet café, playing catch-up on these very journals.

That evening, we had a grand old adventure attempting to find the boat which was going to give us a river tour – we had gotten free tickets from our tour at the National Theatre.  Not knowing when we were going to eat because of the boat trip, Keegan, Lucas, and I went to TOMA’s pizza for dinner.  As we were eating, there was a group of young men standing near us also having their dinner.  One of them was wearing a shirt with a older man’s face on it that said “National Hero.”  The face looked familiar, but I couldn’t place it…Turns out it was Ratko Mladić.  And he had just been arrested.  Here we are, three dumb Americans laughing and joking in English next to a man who probably says NATO and thinks America…

Anyways, we left from TOMA and headed towards the hotel to meet up with everyone to head to our free boat tour we received for touring the National Theatre.  As we walked past Republic square, we noticed it was littered with military and police in riot gear and that near the statue of Prince Mikhail there was a large crowd chanting and waving a Serbian flag around. When we arrived at the hotel, Dennis informed us about Mladić’s arrest and that there may be some demonstrations by nationalists in reaction to the event…we had avoided the large crowd, just to be safe, and were now happy we had.  Dennis wanted the group to split up on our way to the bus station so that we didn’t attract attention to ourselves.  He instructed for everyone to go, but Lucas, Keegan, and I wanted to see what was going on at the demonstration still…and it was on the way to the bus station either way.

Well, we arrived at the bus station to find no one there.  After about ten minutes, Dennis showed up.  Everyone had apparently met up on the bridge to New Belgrade – despite the fact we weren’t supposed to acknowledge one another on our way there – and decided they would just rather walk the bridge as it would be the same distance as going to the bus station…and we’d be back tracking on the bus route.  Either way, everyone else had met up and we hadn’t shown because we had gone the other route.  Dennis was visibly upset and disappointed – and I think partly scared – for us, and rightly so I believe.  He generally gives us plenty of freedom in which to roam, but this time I think he was unsure on how volatile the population was in response to the Mladić situation.  I feel bad that I put him through that.

We found our bus and headed to New Belgrade, calling the other group on our way.  They had walked past their turn and needed to head back towards the bridge to find a bus that would take them towards Hotel Yugoslavia.  After the bus passed Hotel Yugoslavia, we ask the driver if he could let us of early.  He was nice enough to do so and dropped us near a carnival or city fair type event going on.  We walked through bouncy-castles and carnival game, through food stand and the popcorn mafia for about ten minutes before we came to the edge it.  We continued walking east alongside the Danube looking for the tour boat company.  We walked….  And we walked….And we walked almost the entire way to the northernmost bridge connecting New Belgrade back to Belgrade (yes, the one we had crossed just thirty minutes earlier…).  Anyways, they were nice enough to hold the boat for us (we were a party of fourteen…not an insignificant number) and after we found the spot we all quickly boarded (the other half of the group had found a way towards us and had mostly caught up).

We got on the boat and soon after we started floating away from the dock.  An older man began speaking in Serbian about the sights as we passed them before coming around to allow us to leaf through, and purchase, the books he had authored.  The craft moved slowly and we didn’t go very far, but overall it was fairly nice and relaxing.

After we got off the boat, Lucas, Keegan and I decided that tonight was the last and only real chance to attempt to go clubbing.  In order to satiate Lucas’ desire to see the inside of Freestyler, we went there first figuring if we arrived early we had a better chance at getting in (the last time we had thought about going in, about a hundred or so people had been standing outside being denied admission).   However, Freestyler had another hour or so before it opened, and we killed the time playing with a hacky-sack.

Freestyler opened up around 11:30-11:45 or so, and we got in soon after.  We entered and looked around, noticing many of the table and lounge areas had reserved signs on them…A friendly employee came up and asked if we had a reservation or if we would like to purchase a table.  We told him we didn’t and enquired after the table.  His response:  “A table reservation comes with a bottle of vodka and six redbulls and costs twelve thousand dinar.”  Yes, that’s right – costs about $180 USD.  We decided against that fairly quickly.  Realizing there was no way he could convince us otherwise, he steered us towards the bar for the night.  We ordered two Becks (three-hundred dinar apiece) and began to nurse our beers…slowly.

The entire time, music was pumping and after midnight or so people began to file inside in twos and threes, sometimes larger parties but not often.  As the bar filled up, the music got better and the light show got more and more wicked.  Mind you, Freestyler had a far better lighting rig than Coe and was equipped primarily with Vera-lite fixtures.  Though they looked about a generation or two old they still far surpasses our conventional equipment.  The DJ also loved vamping breakdowns and they tended to last quite a bit longer than Lucas or I ever expected them to, but his style seemed to be working because after each time the beat dropped again the bar went wild – at least those who were dancing did.

Around one or so, some dancers came out on the second-level stage in fairly skimpy clothing and began to dance for everyone…it was a good show.  One girl was wearing a very skimpy, very short strapless dress.  It was hilarious to watch this girl dance because every time she opened her legs at all the dress slid up to her waist and she kept trying to keep it down.  More than once she would pull the back of her dress down just to leave her front fully exposed…it was hilarious!  However, not too much later we had to take off because we had Theatre DAH workshops in the morning.  Lucas didn’t want to leave, but by the time we made it to Hotel Royal we were all ready for bed.

Samuel Beckett, Early Civilization, and Kosa! (Hair!)

25-5-11

Hotel Royal, Belgrade

This morning we went to the Ethnographic Museum that is located right near Students Park.  The Ethnographic Museum is dedicated to the history of the Balkan people.  As such it was filled with examples of national dress, housing, furniture, tools, and a manner of other interesting objects.  What was most fascinating to me was how each Balkan culture was very distinct, yet still similar to each other culture.  Also, there was a carnival exhibit in the museum that looked at how various cultures, including the Balkans but also ones beyond, costumed themselves for carnivalesque celebrations.

After the Ethnographic museum Dennis, Lynnette, and I went to the University to meet up with Zorica.  At 11, Professor Stanley Gontarski from Florida State University was giving a lecture on Samuel Beckett.  Professor Gontarski is a member of the English department at FSU.  As such, he took a literary approach to analyzing Beckett, as opposed to the typical performative approach.  He attempted to place Beckett amongst the contemporary philosophers of his time who used performance as his medium.  All in all it was a very interesting position, though it went about double the estimated forty-five minutes and we had to duck out when he asked for questions rather than stay the entire time.

We ducked out just in time actually.  When we got back to the hotel, our taxis were just pulling up.  That afternoon we were going to a dig about thirty minutes outside of Belgrade.  We arrived at the Dig to find it closed and graveled over (to protect from vegetation), but the archeologists were more than happy to still talk to us about the history they had discovered in the area over the past one hundred years of excavating this site.

The dig was the site of a Neolithic town – maybe the first in the Mediterranean.  The town prospered for many years during a two-thousand year period of peace – something that has never happened since.  The main reason for the peace surrounding the town was for the fact it was better to make trade than war with them.  The town exported cinnabar (which was ground up and used for dye) and obsidian (used for tools, weapons, mirrors, etc).  Unfortunately, funding ran out for the project and so they wait and steward what they have accomplished so far in order to gift it to the next generation of archeologists.

When we had first arrived at the Dig, our drivers had offered to call a nearby restaurant they claim was “lots of great food, very cheap” and make reservations for us for lunch.  We took them up on it…not expecting the price again.  It’s partly our fault – again – as we didn’t specify that some people had already eaten, others weren’t very hungry, and that overall our appetites were smaller than any group meal had thus-far assumed.   I swear – marathon eating.  Any “family-style” restaurant promotes marathon eating.  It might be a different story if we had more guys on the trip, but we didn’t.  There were four men on this trip compared to eleven women – most of whom ate smaller portions too (Lynnette may be the only exception to this…Liz and Britt sometimes).  Good meal – as always.  Too much food – as always.  However, we finally had a refrigerator in a room because Britt and Liz had been moved from their bed-bug infested room (Britt was covered in bites from a day or two ago, Liz was not). 

After we returned to the hotel, we had some time off before we were going to go tour the theatre Atelje 212 (pronounced ah-tal-yay two-twelve) before attending a performance of Hair that evening.  After a shower and a nice nap – I was ready to go out again!

We arrived at Atelje 212 at the scheduled time to find no one there…After about thirty minutes, in which we took pictures of Liz and Dennis falling asleep, our “guide” arrived to inform us that he actually had double scheduled and couldn’t give us a tour but that his friend could.  We got a brief tour of their spaces – stage, rehearsal, technical, and the cantina – before we had to duck out to allow them to prepare for the show.

Let me start with saying the show was damn fantastic.  Damn fantastic.  They updated the script so that Claude was being sent off to Afghanistan and the hippies were actually protestors outside the World Peace Summit – specifically protesting war-mongering companies that promote pro-war stances in order to increase profits while simultaneously pushing the American way of life on other cultures, slowly suffocating and destroying their cultural heritage.  Despite the updates, the script was relatively the same as the original having only altered bits to allow for the update to modern day.

The set was three stories high and designed to look like a large office building with a grand stair case coming down the front – A single staircase descended from about fifteen feet to around eight before stopping at a platform and splitting into a traditional grand staircase.  Across the building was a rolling LED screen upon which messages often floated across in English.   There was no onstage masking of the wings at all and on the stage left side a live band was playing the accompaniment.  Downstage center there was a slightly lower platform to allow for another level onstage while the entire set was framed in a large industrial false proscenium.

The light for the show was absolutely wonderful.  Interestingly, it utilized a mostly amber palette – similar to what you would find State-side.  Additionally, there were two large sets of high-side ambers from stage left and right – and when I say large sets I mean a grid about five lights wide by six lights tall all arranged about five feet apart from each other.  On the tower, there were seven window areas which were lit with large LED/LCD panels that would change color frequently throughout the show.  The most interesting choice for me was the fact that there was barely any front light for the stage, which at times made it very hard to see actor’s faces.

Overall, the lighting design was pretty good.  However, there were two sets of fantastic cues during the show.  The first was during Aquarius.  The stage was flooded with a very deep sea-blue/green lighting.  The entire stage was very dark and you couldn’t see anyone’s faces.  Suddenly you hear the first strains of the bass line to Aquarius and then you see the pregnant girl focused on by flashlights.  She’s standing onstage, playing bass guitar and rocking the licks.  Soon afterwards, the vocals come in and more flashlights are turned to the singer.  Throughout the piece, the only lights illuminating people onstage were flashlights held by other cast members.  It was a really great effect.

The second point was during Let the Sun Shine.  The entire cast was on stage, down on the lower platform, and was raising their arms to the sky when the roof actually opened up to reveal more lights – this time in the 6000K range of light (very white) – shining through and slowly opening more and more to bathe the entire cast in a brilliant white light.

There was one really scary moment for me in the production as an aspiring technical director.  One of the actors climbed up the proscenium and began to swing across the horizontal like it was a large set of monkey bars!  When he got to the middle, he began doing leg lifts and holds and other gymnastics for a couple minutes before finishing his cross across the stage, climbing down and walking away.  Not releasing a safety as he walked away.  Just walking away.  No safety. Thirty feet in the air.  I shudder to think of the fines they would have been assessed State-side for that stunt, what with the whole Spiderman fiasco currently on Broadway!

After the show, we all parted our own ways.  Lucas, Keegan, Brianna, Lynnette and I all headed towards the Hotel, though by a different route – I was feeling adventurous and wanted to explore roads we hadn’t been on.   Nothing exciting happened and we made our way back to the hotel with no issues.

Life in Tight Shoes

24-5-11

Hotel Royal, Belgrade

This morning we decided to look at Museums around Belgrade…well, two in particular.  We wanted to see the Fresco Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum.   The Fresco Museum was just a block over from Hotel Royal towards Kalemegdan where as the Contemporary Art Museum was near the Sava River, but in New Belgrade.  We walked to the Fresco Museum and looked around for a little while.  There were no replicas or original frescos there, only photographs of the originals.  It was really cool to see the differences in how the Serbian Orthodox Church depicts its Saints versus how the Catholic Church does. 

However, was there were replicas of were monasteries and large stone archways.   The archways guarded most of the entryways between rooms.  They were large and imposing and very detailed.  I’ll post some pictures of them up here as soon as I have an internet connection that will handle them.  The models of monasteries were extremely detailed, even down to the lawn they were on.  There were no inside views – just exteriors.

After we finished with the Fresco Museum, we decided to head towards the Contemporary Art Museum – supposedly a much large museum than we had seen so far.  We decided to walk across the bridge, rather than walk to the bus station and get on it the hot and muggy weather…it was about the same amount of walking either way.  However, as soon as we get to the museum, we realize that Dennis had been correct and Jonathan misinformed – the museum was indeed closed.  However, since we were already by the river we decided to eat at a nearby restaurant. 

We checked a couple of the boats, but nothing was promising and they only served fish soup…One of the waiters recommended a nearby restaurant that had a view of the river and was only about fifty yards away from the shore.   We went there and the food was delicious.  I ordered only desert because I was planning to eat somewhere cheaper.  What I ordered ended up being a boiled and skinned apple, stuffed with cinnamon glazed nuts and a dollop of whipped cream on top.  Delicious. 

Lucas on the other hand ordered pljeskavice (burger patty) with kaimak (butter cream).  When it arrived, his eyes went wide in surprise.  He actually received what he ordered.  To the letter.  He got a 200-250 gram meat patty absolutely drenched in melted butter cream. No bread, no fries, no salad – just meat and butter cream.  He would later claim he could have finished it had there been some sort of carbs…I’m not sure.  He did make a valiant effort though and only gave away a small portion of the meal to people wanting a taste.

After lunch we walked back to the Hotel where I planned to spend the afternoon writing journals.  Only to fall asleep soon after sitting down.  I wake up in time, with some help, to get ready for our trip to Zvezdara Theatre, Theatre of the Stars, that evening.  Zvezdara is owned by Dušan and we were going to see his newest piece, Life in Tight Shoes.   We sat down with Dušan before the performance, with his daughter translating (who incidentally is a pretty famous pop star in Serbia…), to talk through the play before we saw it.  Tight Shoes takes place in an old shoe factory.  Five workers are on strike (and have been for two years) and they have decided to begin hunger striking.  It is important to note that the head of security has rigged the factory with explosives and continually threatens to blow the factory up throughout the entire show.  After some time, a reporter comes in and offers them a chance to be on a game show if they agree to end the strike.  There is a catch though – they must see the hunger strike through and the last person alive is the winner of a big house, nice car, and a bunch of money.  After some argument, they agree on going ahead with the show. 

Act two begins and the set has transformed from a ratty squatters residence to a game show floor.  Flashing blue lights all over the stage, a camera man (offstage, though actually filming) and a TV in the background so we can see – entirely transformed, yet very obviously the same space.  Some time goes by, they introduce everyone.  Each contestant has been given a pair of shoes from the factory for the show.  Unfortunately, they are all slightly too tight.  The dialogue continues and the contestants continue to starve themselves…until they all die. 

After they are all dead, the host of the show (the reporter’s boss) calls the owner of the factory and tells him the strike is broken and he’s free to do what he wants.  The reporter walks in on this conversation and flips out – she didn’t think anyone was going to actually die and she thought there was going to be a winner.  She was under the impression she was genuinely helping these people.  An argument occurs and eventually the reporter detonates the explosives in the factory.  The show ends with the five strikers in a sort of Elysian Fields afterlife, taking off their too tight shoes.

After the show, Keegan and I stuck around to get a closer look at the set.  I was particularly curious how they had done the flashing lights around the door.  When I went over and inspected the doorway, it was literally lined with raw LED chips – no bulb, no reflector, just a raw chip.

We then walked from Zvezdara to Katie’s apartement.  We stopped on the way to get some pljeskavice and other food at a little shop before we started drinking – Katie had bought about ten or fifteen liters of beer for that night.   We ended up not staying super late at her place – everyone was tired.  We brought the beer back to the hotel for another night instead.