On March 27th, 1999….. The Serbian air defenses were able to blast an F-117 Stealth Nighthawk out of the sky. The only one ever to be shot down.
The F-117 82-0806 (whose remains are exhibited at Belgrade Air Museum) was shot down by the 3rd Battalion of the 250th Air Defence Missile Brigade of the Army of Yugoslavia, with one of several missiles fired by an S-125 “Neva” missile system (NATO reporting name, SA-3 “Goa”) at a distance of about 8 miles.
According to Sergeant Dragan Matić, the soldier later identified as the operator who fired the missiles, the stealth plane was detected at a range of about 50 to 60 kilometres and the surface-to-air missile radar was switched on for no more than 17 seconds to prevent the site to be detected by the NATO’s SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defense) aircraft.
Some pieces of the 82-0806 shot down near Novi Sad were reportedly sent to Russia, to be used in developing anti-stealth technology.
Fast forward to 2014……I was on a bus from Belgrade to Novi Sad. The bus had one stop in between, in the little city of Indjia, Serbia. The window seat is usually my first choice. I’ve never liked to sit in the aisle and have folks bumping into me the whole time. I was gazing out the window while the bus was pulling around the back of the bus station in Indjia,
when I noticed the words “F-117″ on the side of a little bar. I didn’t get a good look at the place, but noticed a few pictures in the window too. I had to get back over to see this place.
This afternoon,David Dautovic, contacted me for assistance. He is a young man from Pancevo who has been a Facebook friend for a long while. His sister is trying to gather a lot of pictures of people from around the world holding a sign that shows her love for her boyfriend. He asked me if I could help him out with one. I noticed that the bottom of his message said ” Indjia, Serbia” I quickly asked him if he was anywhere close to the bus station. He was close by so I asked him to seek out this little bar and shoot me some pictures. He was kind enough to snap the following pictures:
I’ll head over there in the next few weeks to do some videos from this location. I might wear my Canadian flag shirt ! It might be a little safer! 🙂
Everyone likes Canadians.
What is one thing that can be very annoying about having so many Serbian Facebook friends? Having your inbox flooded with the same info and links on anything that is going on in Serbia. That is how I first heard of Kevin Shannon, the adventurer , who was planning to march all the way across Serbia. There were over 20-30 folks who were sending me something from the local newspapers and tv stations about him and his mission. We had connected over Facebook and he asked me to join in on part of journey. I wish I had taken the opportunity to do so not only for my health, but to experience a little bit of his adventure.
We bumped into each other again the “Exit Festival Global Adventures” tourism conference. I was there to giving a presentation on my social network and blog while he was there to present “Walk Serbia”. I decided to quiz him with some more detailed questions about his time in Serbia.
1. Where are you from and what do you do?
So: my name is Kevin Shannon and I’m from the UK. Currently I run my own small creative design studio called Chips & Gravy studios
2. How in the world did you get the idea to “walk across Serbia”?
I originally visited Serbia the first time in the autumn of 2010 whilst on 10,000 km cycling expedition from the UK to the far end of Turkey and then back again. On that visit to Serbia I completely fell in love with the country and made some great friends. During the 3 to 4 months that I spent in Serbia I spend most my time in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Sabac and Nis. When I returned home I realised that I’d only seen a fraction of Serbia and although I had learnt about the country a little there was still Hell of a lot more to see. So I decided that one day I would return to Serbian and walk the length of the country.
3. What did you know about Serbia before you came here?
Before I visited Serbia first time I didn’t really know that much about the country. I had simply drawn a line across Europe and Serbia happened to be on that path. I knew the region was obviously famous for conflicts and I had a they recollection of seeing the NATO bombings on television when I was younger, but that was really it. But as I was cycling through countries before I got to Serbia I was warned that Serbian people what do horrific things to me once I crossed the border. Of course I don’t believe this but when your cycling on your own across Europe these warnings do not fill you with confidence.
4. Prior to visiting Serbia for the first time, give me four words that you would used to describe it…
Unknown, War, Scary, New
5. How long did your walk take?
The walk is actually two walks. The first in February 2013 took me five weeks and during that time I walked from the border with Hungary down to the city of Nis. My second walk was in July 2013 and I walked from south west Serbia back to the north of the country, which also took five weeks. 6. Biggest complication.
The biggest complication was issues from walking with such a heavy pack. My left knee became very sore during the first walk, and during the second walk I had horrific blisters on the sole of one of my feet.
7. Funniest situation.
I was in a small village about 75 km north of Nis, feeling very tired and the little homesick and out of nowhere a group of young kids came up to me with pieces of paper and pencils. The oldest had a hand written note in English which said that they were big fans and have been following my journey in the newspapers. Because they knew my route, they knew I would be passing through the village and so had taken it in turns to keep a eye out for me, just so they could get an autograph – they had been waiting for 3 days.
8. Favorite part of your journey.
The end? No, i’m just kidding. It’s actually very hard to pick a favourite part of the journey because so much happened but if I had to say one thing it was the generous hospitality everybody that i met on the road.
9. How would you compare Serbian food to your normal cuisine back in England?
Serbian food is very rich with strong flavours, and of course there’s a lot of meat. Which is really the case in England. I guess if I had to make a comparison I would say that Serbian food it’s very much like a traditional English roast dinner that is served in most households every Sunday – however in England you have that once a week and in serbia you have it almost everyday
10. Did you ever feel threatened or in danger?
I never really felt threatened or in danger, even in small Kafanas in the middle of god knows where surrounded by big, burly Serbian guys. The biggest issue with regards to safety to me was the packs of wild dogs. They were always a concern when I was walking in the mountains or sleeping out at night.
11. What 4 words would you use to describe Serbia after walking from top to bottom and back?
Beautiful, friendly, Great food, my second home
12. Will you return to Serbia? What would you say to someone that is considering a visit to this part of the world?
Without shadow of a doubt I’ll be returning to Serbia – in fact I returned earlier this year for a conference where spoke about my was through Serbia. I already have plans to take my fiance to Serbia, have my stag party there and maybe one day by small house somewhere where I can spend my summers (not walking)
13. You have decided to publish a book about this exciting adventure, right? Tell me a little about the project.
OK, So the project was quite simply to walk through Serbia to try and discover the real Serbia. In my original trip to the country i felt i’d only scratched the surface and was intrigued to see more of the country so i set up Walk Serbia. When you look around the internet looking for more info on Serbia you’re met with a lot negativity (except for a few sites included yours) and i decided that i wanted to create a document of my personal journey to not so much counteract the negativity but give a truthful view of a country. Now, don’t get me wrong, i expected it to be a positive trip due to prior experiences but i was open to negativity also – i essentially wanted to create a truthful account of spending 10 weeks tramping around the country. And this is, i hope, what i’ve done.
I’m still in the process of writing the book – i’ve rewritten some chapters 4 times – but i decided that i would set a date (in my head) for it’s release. So now i’ve set up a website – walkserbia.com – which will be the hub for all things to do with the book including, the opportunity to buy the book, perhaps some videos from the road, exclusive photos and information on speaking engagements and a potential book tour. For the moment i’ve thrown up a very simple landing page which has a small blurb about the book and an area to signup to the newsletter which will give you exclusive updates, a free chapter here or there and an exclusive discount on the final book. I set up the newsletter for the reasons i just mentioned, but something amazing happened when i did – i realised just how much interest there was in reading the book; not just from Serbia but from all over the world. Serb’s from Australia, the USA and Canada and even South Africa have sent me messages to tell me they would like to buy copies for friends, families and co-workers which is exciting…and daunting.
My plan for releasing the book was to self-publish and through friends in Serbia distribute the book there and of course here in the UK. But, with the response i’ve had so far i’m not looking at other options. I’m thinking about getting the book translated into Serbian, i’m going to start looking for distributors in the US and Australia AND if the list keeps growing i could have a great opportunity to promote the book to publishers around the world which will then (if i’ve done my job right) help to give the world a better understanding of Serbia.
Just like the journeys themselves felt like a community – i had people tweeting, facebooking and emailing to help influence what i should visit and where during the walk – the book is starting to feel the same.
This wonderful young lady met her Serbian boyfriend on the social media site, Say Serbia, that my Chicago Serb friend and I helped bring about. Hope they name their first child after me. 😉 She contacted me on Facebook to ask for a few tips and bits of advice prior to coming here this past summer.
We had plans of meeting up while she was here, but we never seemed to be in the same place at once. One day I was with some friends in Novi Sad and bumped right into her and her Serbian boyfriend. They told me about a ton of experiences that she had encountered. She told me about her plan to create a video diary of her Serbian vacation when she returned to Ireland. Guess what I received in my mailbox today? This beautiful 28 minute video that documents her entire trip. I wanted to grill her with a few questions before posting it and she was kind enough to respond.
1. What did you hear about Serbia before visiting?
“I had never really heard much about Serbia. The only word I would have used to describe it previously would have been Sports! I was aware of a few of their athlete e.g. Vidic, Ivanovic, Seles, Djokovic etc”
2. Did you have any fears about visiting Serbia?
“As a kid, one of the stereotypes I heard a lot was Eastern Europe is dangerous, especially if you are black, as a result I never questioned that statement and deemed it to be a no go area for me. As I got older and began to interact and befriend more people from different nationalities I realised most stereotypes I’ve heard are extremely false and through stereotypes prejudice and discrimination are formed. I wanted to overcome that. I became more interested in travelling and learning about different cultures .My mum visited Poland a few years ago and loved it. It really encouraged me to want to travel more and experience places for myself. That’s where my curiosity to visit the eastern part of Europe began. Naturally I researched alot about different places to visit but after randomly talking to someone from the Balkans (he didn’t want to tell me he was from Serbia at first) and seeing how friendly and pleasantly easy to talk to he was, I wanted to learn a bit more about Serbia. Which is how started reading about other people’s travel experience and also how I came across YouTube videos of this American guy who was excited and passionate about Serbia.
Initially I wasn’t scared about visiting but when I started informing people about my upcoming trip, I was really taken back by the prejudice comments I was hearing from others, who I’m certain couldn’t even point out the country on a map if asked. This did lead me to start to worry about my visit just from allowing others comments to scare me. Two weeks before I was to leave, I messaged a black girl from London who had just returned from the EXIT festival held in Novi Sad. She shared with me her observations during her time there, how she loved every minute she spent in Serbia, how friendly and courteous people were and not to allow opinions of others to dictate my decisions and said that I should go there and see for myself before passing any judgement. Today I’m glad to say I’m delighted I went.”
3. I have heard a lot of propaganda about Serbs being racist. What are your thoughts after being here ?
“I did get alot of stares especially in Zrenjanin; people didn’t even try to hide it. I was asked to take many pictures in Guča but you realise that people are just curious about you. People were interested in my background, my hair, the type of music I like etc. I didn’t experience any hostility during my visits to different towns and cities.
Serbia is country that is often misunderstood by the world and seems to be painted in a negative way. All i can say is that it’s a place full of rich heritage, culture diversity and truly exceptionally warm and hospitable people. It’s the people who are the true treasure of this country. I’ve been to different countries but Serbia by far is the only place where i’ve truly felt welcomed and well looked after. It is impressive how they are willing to show you their home places and share their personal stories with you. I cried days before my flight, i just didn’t want to leave. Not many places or people can make you feel that way.”
4. What are four words that you would use to describe Serbia after spending your vacation here?
Divini ljudi
Odlicna hrana
Hospitality
Rakija
5. What is one thing that really shocked you about Serbia?
“I wouldn’t say shocked but more touched. People don’t earn alot and yet you wouldn’t realise that from their behaviour. A friend of ours had been working almost 24hours one day and yet whenever we went out he always made sure to come and spend time with us while I was around. Everyone would always offer to pay for me, they wouldn’t accept no for an answer. What I’m trying to say is that regardless of whatever situation they are in, people were still generous, caring and humble, making sure I was well looked after and even offering me gifts before I left. . My boyfriend’s baba gave me a gift she had owned for over 30 years. I loved the fact that every meal we ate together at the dinner table or that the Sunday lunch was always at the grandparents’ house, and everyone would insist that I should eat more because baba thought I was too skinny. Ne hvala, Sita sam was a phrase I used far too often. These kinds of gestures no matter how big or small really touch my heart.”
6. Name one thing that annoyed you or something you disliked about Serbia.
“smoking indoors”
7. Favorite food and drink?
“Oh my goodness, there are too many to choose from. The food was so delicious with so many different flavours and very healthy. Most of the ingredients used were from my bf’s fruit and vegetable garden.”
Food
Gomboca
Gibanica
Cevapi
Sataraš
Domaćinski
Homemade plasma favoured ice cream
Drink
Medovača Rakija (had one too many
8. What would you tell any other women of color or women in general that were considering a trip to Serbia?
“I’d say go for it and experience Serbia for yourself. Immerse yourself in the culture, people and food of course. I highly recommend.”
Serbia has left another great impression on a first-time visitor! She will be back soon.
My encounters with interesting people continues to grow. It seems that I meet a very unique person everyday.
Pink Tv will have my episode on in a week or so
Pink Tv called me for an interview last Monday. He wanted to meet me in Pirot at 10AM. My stomach failed me after eating boat loads of food at this little village slava so I left Pirot on Tuesday and returned to Nis. The gentleman said he could pick me up in Nis and I could ride with him to Pirot on Wed if I was feeling better.
beautiful lavender fields
I woke up that morning feeling a lot better! I met the gentleman at the entrance to the hospital. He was very kind and driving an American car! 🙂 He wanted to take me to Pirot on a back road to see the beauty!!! OMG, WAS HE RIGHT!!!! We headed south of Niska Banja on a small two lane road. The view was FANTASTIC!!! There are some massive mountains, lots of trees, a beautiful river that runs down in the canyon and lots and lots of lavender fields! The smell was intoxicating!! You could see some of these strange contraptions that were harvesting them!!
Melanie from Germany
We pulled into an entrance to ask a young lady for permission to enter. She said ” I don’t speak Serbian”. I immediately jumped out of the car and asked where she was from. I could tell from her accent that she wasn’t American. She told us she was from Germany. She had a bicycle that was loaded down with supplies. She had decided to take a bike trip from Turkey to Germany by herself!!! What a trip that would be!!! I walked from Sremska Mitrovica and almost got to Ruma and it was only 17km!!! ahhaaha.. I thought that was an accomplishment. She was riding for months!!!!
The guy from Pink Tv was equally as impressed and stunned by our strange encounter with a German biker on this little road. We all took out our cameras and took numerous photos to remember this. We gossiped for a few minutes about everything imaginable. I decided to find out what she thought of Serbians. She quickly said “ I could tell a huge difference once I crossed into Serbia from Bulgaria! The Serbian people seemed to smile more and were more interested in me.” She had just entered into Serbia when it started to rain heavily. She pulled into the first home she saw and went to the door. She was going to try to use gestures to ask where the closest town or place she could camp would be. An elderly man answered the door. He instantly motioned her in. She stepped into a small, not very nice home. She felt bad for the man because of his home. He pulled up a chair for her and instantly started to make some coffee. He also got out an egg and put some milk into a pot. She was trying to say that she didn’t need to eat because she could tell he had very little food. She gave up and sat down. He brought over a cooked egg and a bowl of milk and bread.
bread and milk
He threw his hands in the air as if to say that was all he had to offer. She really felt bad, but didn’t want to be rude. She ate the food and thanked the man. He kept pointing at his sofa and wasn’t going to let her leave. She got all of her belongings and laid down on the couch for the night. The guy was up early and already preparing coffee for her. He also broke out more bread with butter for her to eat. She didn’t want to argue with him and ate it and drank her coffee. She was preparing to head off on her journey when he pulled out his wallet and handed her 200 Dinars. She is sure that he didn’t have much at all. She told him that she didn’t need it and for him to keep it! He kept pushing it at her and she opened her wallet to show him she had some Serbian money. He finally put his money back into his pocket. She gave him a hug and thanked him over and over. She left the house in awe of the kindness of a poor old man from a Serbian village. She told us that it seemed that the poorest of society were the ones that were most generous with her on this journey!
We departed with a short hug and I taught her to say “Srecan put” in Serbian. She said it will take her a few months to get back to Germany!! If you see a young lady on a bike pedaling through Serbia ……. give her a big “ZDRAVOOOO Melanie!”
It is very rare to find a foreigner that hasn’t had a good experience with a Serb!!
One of my first pen pals was a guy from Kuwait. He sent me a few pictures of his country and I was always in awe of the “Kuwait Towers”! I swore I would see them one day.
The Kuwait Tower, as its known, is actually three towers. They are one of the most well-known structures in the world. The main tower has two separate spheres and stands 187 meters high. The smaller, top sphere is used as a cafe, lounge and restaurant. It can hold up to 90 people and rotates every 30 minutes. The lower, larger sphere is a water tank of 4,500 cubic meters. The second tower is a water tower and stands 147 meters high.The third tower houses equipment to control the flow of electricity and illuminates the two larger towers. The towers hold 9,000 cubic metres of water altogether.
The Kuwait Towers were designed by Danish architect, Malene Bjorn as part of a water distribution project that was being done by Swedish engineering company, VBB. VBB hired Belgrade company, Energoprojekt and Ivan Milutinovic ,to do the actual construction of the towers . Other Yugoslavian companies were hired to build many of the government buildings, air bases, and ports around Kuwait City.http://www.slideshare.net/dottuta/kuwait-towers-presentation2edited
The Serbian company started construction in the early 1970’s and finished around 1976. The large tower was first opened to the public in 1979.
The towers are built with three levels of concrete, making sure that they will be able to withstand natural disasters and catastrophes like floods. This is also to ensure that the towers can endure wear and tear through the years. They were slightly damaged during the war with Iraq, but have been repaired. The spheres were constructed of 41,000 enamelled steel discs that come in eight shades of blue, green and gray. They could be described as Arabic architecture, carefully mixed with a touch of contemporary elegance. This modern style was relatively unheard of at the time these towers were being erected.
Serbia’s relationship with Kuwait is still going strong today! They are one of many Arab nations that do not recognize an independent Kosovo. Kuwait’s Foreign Minister was in Belgrade in April. He said his country is willing to invest in Serbia’s energy, agriculture, and infrastructure. http://www.tanjug.rs/news/83980/kuwait-willing-to-invest-in-serbia.htm
Serbian lands have had a long history of raising great scientific and creative minds. This is one great example of Serbian influence on the world. Please join our new Serbia website to find more interesting bits of info on this great nation and its people. http://www.sayserbia.com/
What gives??? A few days ago I was reading up on Madeline Albright and her huge investments in the telecom company in Kosovo. That really bummed me out. How could I have been so blind? A few moments after posting my blog article on it, a friend messaged me this little tidbit of info.
General Wesley Kanne was born in Chicago , Il in 1944. His father died four years later and the family moved to Arkansas because his mother didn’t share the Jewish faith of the Kanne family. She remarried a gentleman by the name of Viktor Clark. She had her son’s name officially changed on the birth certificate to Wesley Clark. She failed to tell Wesley of his Jewish roots to protect him from the Ku Klux Klan that had a strong following in Arkansas.
Wesley Clark excelled in high school and eventually attended West Point. He served in Vietnam and was awarded many medals for his bravery. He ended up as a 4 star general and was chosen to head “Operation Allied Forces”. He had previous been military advisor in the Bosnian conflict and had a few close calls like this:
“While the team was driving along a mountain road during the first week, the road gave way, and one of the vehicles fell over a cliff carrying passengers including Holbrooke’s deputy, Robert Frasure, a deputy assistant Secretary of Defense, Joseph Kruzel, and Air Force Colonel Nelson Drew. Clark and Holbrooke attempted to crawl down the mountain, but were driven back by sniper fire. Once the fire ceased, Clark scaled down the mountain to collect the bodies of two dead Americans left by Bosnian forces that had taken the remaining wounded to a nearby hospital.”
General Clark on the left with General Mladic’s hat on…. General Mladic on the right with General Clark’s hat.
He was also thrashed in the western media outlets for his meeting with Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic. General Clark and General Mladic were shown exchanging hats which led to outrage from both the Liberal and Conservative pundits. Some Clinton administration members privately said the incident was “like cavorting with Hermann Goring.”
General Clark led “Operation Allied Force” , the military intervention into Serbian lands. President Clinton came on tv explaining to the American people how Democracy was threatened and we must help those that are seeking freedom from oppression. -_- That is what we were told anyway!! Was it true???
June 6th, 2012…… The company that former General Wesley Clark heads, Envidity, has received the green light from the Kosovo Government to begin work on oil generation from lignite in Kosovo! They are offering hundreds of millions of Euros in investments!!! Shouldn’t this be considered a conflict of interest??? We can start a war on some small country that has lots of resources and then privately invest in them to make millions of dollars! INSANE!!!!! You can never trust your government!! http://www.eciks.org/english/lajme.php?action=total_news&main_id=1250
IT IS TIME THAT WE ALL REVOLT!!! OUR LEADERS CARE NOTHING ABOUT US! THEY LOVE TO BLOW SMOKE UP OUR ASSES AND ACT LIKE WE MATTER, BUT WE DON’T!!! REVOLUTION!!!! They would sell us for a $5 bill!
I have friends in the majority of countries around the world. They are all dealing with the same corruption that is dripping from the top down. Check out my video from my friends all over the planet that are sick and tired of the status quo! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOBBBo71ClA
My friend invited me over to his house for a cook out in a little place called Grocka, Serbia. We ate some fantastic Serbian food!!!! One of the best things that I tried was liver that was wrapped in bacon!!!
liver wrapped in bacon that was cooked on the grill.. YUMMY
I have always loved liver and when it is cooked on the grill with bacon… OMG!!! I AM IN HEAVEN!!!! We also sipped on some homemade apricot rakija, gossiped with the neighbors and had a gorgeous view of Grocka, Serbia.
Grocka, Serbia
Grocka is a little municipality that is part of Belgrade. It takes about 40 minutes by bus to get there and has that little hometown feel to it. Everyone seems to know each other. The area is GORGEOUS!! You are surrounded by nature! The second you get south of Belgrade the ground starts rising and the trees start sprouting up towards the sky. My buddy had a big backyard that was filled with grapevines, apple and plum trees and this cherry tree that was overflowing with cherries!
his tree was filled with cherries
My two buddies took me out on the town that night. We had full stomachs, but were ready to throw down a few pivos. 🙂 I love making Serbian words plural by adding the “S”. 😀 We played some pool, drank some beer on this beautiful boat bar and sat in the park chatting with some of his friends. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing evening. My buddy gave me his room to sleep in. I laid down and was out until 11AM the next morning. I slept so well! You couldn’t hear a sound from his room. The only sounds were the many birds that were nesting in the many fruit trees that surrounded the area.
The night after drinking I am usually very dehydrated. My buddy asked me if I had ever had something called ZOVA SOK. I hadn’t heard of it before. His mother went to Google to find out the translation of ZOVA. It turned out to be an elderberry.
ripe elderberry
My mother used to pick them in the fall and make jelly out of them.
She poured me a glass of it. It was great! It had a fruity taste and was very refreshing. They say that ZOVA SOK is good for cleansing your blood, helps with breathing problems, lowers a high fever and many other ailments. The odd part about the juice was that it didn’t come from the ripened berry , but from the flower of the elderberry! I was drinking flower juice! 🙂
Carefully wash flowers to keep as much pollen on as possible
put flowers in a large pot with 5 liters of water and gently mix
cover and let stand for 24 hours
remove flowers, add sugar, stir and let stand 24 more hours
stir sugar every few hours to help it dissolve
pour through a strainer into a bottle
Syrup mixed with water to scale taste. Our recommendation is 1:5.
After drinking our fill of this unique drink we headed to bus station. My time in Grocka was over for now. I will be returning soon!! It is a great place to let down your hair, lower your blood pressure and see some beautiful nature.
It seems that I experience something unique and wonderful everyday I am in this country! You must add Serbia to your list of future vacation destinations. Experience life like it should be! JA VOLIM SRBIJU!
I know , I knowwwwwww… People are always telling me to STAY away from Serbian politics. I am just curious to find out where the majority of my friends sit on issues. I stay farrrrrrrrrr away from your politics, just like to see your views.
I asked a poll question the other day looking for the best leader of Serbian lands since 1900 and for the biggest Serbian hero. The poll is still going strong. I was asked by a few people to add a poll for them to vote on the worst of the worst in recent Serbian history. I apologize for not adding all the names or neglecting some. Please be respectful in your comments to others. This is a big world with many different view points. Your people have gotten a bad wrap over the last 20 plus years. I started a neat little series on Youtube to break some stereotypes against Serbs. If you haven’t watched it, please do!! 🙂 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzePnUSVI0U
Thank for all the messages of support after the airing of my Prva Exploziv episode. It is great to have so many Serbs show their love for me. Volim vas. If you haven’t joined Say Serbia yet, please do!!! http://sayserbia.com/ We are going to be in Blic soon!!!
We all know the impact that media outlets can have on your internal mental image you have of a place and people. The media does what their corporate sponsors want them to do. They cannot be trusted! The days of fair and balanced news are HISTORY!! We, the people of the world, need to unite and bring back sanity to this insane world!
I talk to a lot of foreigners that come to Serbia. Everyone of them has the same preconceived view of Serbia and Serbian people. I decided to ask many of them what words they would have used to describe this country and its people before their visit and after their visit. Here are some of the top answers:
BEFORE VISITING SERBIA
war zone
genocide
criminals
Serbia? Where is that?
dirty
evil
bearded men
rude people
dangerous
lawless country
communist buildings
lack of electricity and internet
corruption
AFTER VISITING SERBIA
hospitality
generosity
sexy girls
friendly people
tall people
proud nation
delicious and healthy food
no fat people
small cars
unique culture
“I felt safer in Serbia that in my own country!”
laid back way of life
“Exit Fest is the best! I will be back”
too much smoking in public
very intelligent population
“They all speak English!”
“We will be back for another visit!”
🙂 Isn’t amazing how much you learn when you step outside of your comfort zone and explore with your own eyes??? Serbia is worth a visit!! The most expensive part is your ticket…… after that you can live like a king for around $600 a month! BOOK NOW!!!! 🙂
A few friends and I have started a new website that is dedicated to EVERYTHING SERBIAN!!!! I would love to invite each and every one of you to join us! It is called SAY SERBIA http://sayserbia.com/ . There is a security question on the entrance page. The answer is “baba”.
We decided to do this to show the world what all Serbia has to offer. It will be a place where Serbs and the MASSIVE diaspora can get together and chat, provide information on your history, music, culture, art, food, and people. We also have an excellent section with foreigner reviews of your great nation! Please help us make this site a success!! It was made from the hearts of a few guys that are very passionate about your country and your people. Please feel free to create your own discussions, add photos and info on your city, add videos, etc… BUT please avoid the negative things. This is a positive site for those that are interested in visiting. We have BIG plans for the future. It is currently in the beta testing mode. Check us out and if you have any suggestions, comments, complaints, just message me!!
Prva Exploziv was here in Sremska Mitrovica for 8 hours with me on Tuesday.They are doing an episode on me that will air next week. The site will be mentioned in there and will also be in 24 SATA in a week or so!!! HELP US SHOW THE TRUE SERBIA!!!! Hvala puno!!!!
The only way to save this evil planet is to start with the youth! They are our only hope for a better tomorrow. The old folks have already formed their opinions , but the youth still have a chance at seeking understanding and respect between those that are different from us.
The exchange programs like A-SMYLE are amazing. They are helping students from all over The Balkans see the beauty, culture, and life in the United States of America. It is very rare to find any negative feedback from the kids that have been on these programs.
Many of the students on the A-SMYLE program contact me! They are always thankful for my blog and videos about their country. They say that it makes it easier to explain Serbia to their friends. 🙂 I know so many former and current students. It really puts a smile on my face when I get a message from one of these bright kids. If you are interested in A-SMYLE check out their website http://www.ac-see.org/programs/hs-citiesdates.htm
I was contacted by this young man named Vuk Vasic. He was accepted into the A-AMYLE program after beating out many others in this area. He is from the beautiful town of Jagodina that is located in the heart of Serbia. He was placed into a host family from Edwardsville, Illinois USA. That isn’t far from my hometown of Greenup, IL!! Lets see what he has to say about his time in “The Land of Lincoln”
Dear Charles,
I’m a Serbian exchange student from a town called Jagodina in central Serbia. I went to America through A-Smyle, an exchange program completely financed and supported by the US Department of State. You asked me to share my American experience and I will but first, I must tell you something about my history.
Ever since I was a kid I wanted to go to America, it was mostly because I was influenced by American culture through TV, Internet and video games. All of this pushed me to start learning English at a young age, even before they started teaching it in school. By the time I was in 5th grade (when Serbian students used to start learning English) I already had a basic knowledge. My English teacher helped me perfect it, plus I practiced a lot with my friends outside of school.
I had a group of friends who by 8th grade all shared my dream of going to America and experiencing the culture first hand. The wonderful exchange opportunity came in my Sophomore year of high school and me and my friends jumped at the opportunity. Sadly, out of 4 of us that had the same dream, only I had the opportunity to actually experience it. When the acceptance call came, my whole family was overjoyed but what followed was nerve wracking and terrifying. It took the organization about 4 months to get me a host family, way, way longer than anyone else’s. My waiting was fruitful though, and I got placed with the most wonderful host family any exchange student can ever wish for, The McCrackens. They live in a small town of Edwardsville, near St. Louis in southern Illinois. This is where the rest of my year was spent.
Vuk and his American brother riding snowmobiles
I have done so many things here, it’s hard to recall everything but some of the highlights were:
Vuk meeting with 100 year old WWII vet
– Meeting an American WW2 veteran who’s turning 100 this year, he was my host family’s neighbor, so naturally, I had to meet him. As luck’ll have it, he spent some time in Yugoslavia(Country which Serbia was a part of in the 1900’s) in 1960’s and had only positive things to say about the hospitality of it’s people.
– Going to my school’s football games. That was the first time in my life that I have seen American Football being played, and being a soccer fan, it was hard for me to grasp the concept of it at first but later I started enjoying it immensely.
Vuk at the St Louis Blues hockey game.
– Watching professional hockey games. My host family are huge fans of hockey and the St. Louis Blues, so they took me to a couple of games. I absolutely loved it, it was like watching soccer on ice. Me and my host brother were so into it sometimes, yelling and cheering, that we got weird looks from people
Vuk as a cowboy in Nevada
– My trip to Nevada. My host grandma and my host aunt live in Reno, NV and during the Christmas break, my host mom took me and my host bro’s to their house. Being a huge fan of westerns, I was stoked to go to the actual Wild West and experience it. I wasn’t disappointed. Between going to fancy restaurants, enjoying Casino atmospheres, snowmobiling and just generally strolling around in my Ten Gallon hat and cowboy boots ,(How could I come to America and not get some western wear?) there was no time to rest.
Vuk at 4-H function
– Going to different seminars and workshops with other exchange students from all over the world (Albania, Pakistan, Russia, Egypt, Jordan and many others). We all had opportunities to share our experiences and troubles which proved to be fairly important to the entire exchange year.
Vuk dressed as a hillbilly for Halloween
There were many other experiences but those were the ones that stood out to me. Other than that, American people are wonderful and friendly, people are approachable and easy to talk to and some girls are very pretty Americans are actually quite fit in general and not fat as other nations stereotype them as. Sometimes I actually think that they overwork themselves. I should wrap it up since I’ve already been typing for an hour. I definitely recommend this program for any high school students because it isn’t just fun, it’s also life changing.
Best wishes,
Vuk”
Thanks a million for this excellent story!! I am very happy that you are enjoying my home state as much as I am enjoying Serbia! Average Americans and average Serbs will always be friends…
Serbia through American eyes 