Sunday, 25 May 2008
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Well "goodbye" season is in full swing here in Novi Sad, resulting in a relatively full schedule and no time to blog. Thursday I made what will probably be my last trip out to Novo Naselje to hang out with the new friends (I still have plans to see them, but not at Rade's place). For whatever reason, of all my frequent hangouts in Serbia I'm probably going to miss that place the least, although it has much more to do with the bus ride and feeling that I don't get out enough than with the new friends as people. Obviously I'm still glad I met them and everything. Plus we had a particularly nice time together, and it's always good to end on a high.
Since I had been feeling incredibly guilty about cancelling on the high schoolers after my surgery, I rescheduled to meet with the second group on Friday morning. It turned out that it happened to be the last day of school (ever) for the seniors, so there were some attention-span issues, but I'm still happy I went. It would've been really not cool of me to leave without saying goodbye. In the end I'm not sure they really learned anything from me (or cared about anything I ever said to them), but at the very least I got a firsthand look at the Serbian education system and got to meet some cool teachers (especially Jovana and Nebojsa). And this time nobody told me that America has a corrupt moral system, so that was nice. I gave out my e-mail address to all the kids, but then later realized that I never learned ANY of their names, so it might be awkward if they actually write me. Eh, I guess I feel pretty much the same towards all of them, so maybe it doesn't matter too much.
After school I hung out with Igor downtown (as usual), and hinted strongly that I wanted to go out, but apparently he and Dane had other (sketchy, internet-related) plans. But, just as I was about to give up, I got a text message from my friend Jelena saying she heard I was looking to go out (apparently Igor called her), so even though it felt a little like a pity-hang out I still appreciated it. I hadn't spent much time with Jelena one-on-one before, but we actually had a blast. We started out in her apartment finishing off her rakija stash, and then wandered along Laze Teleckog (which was FULL of people) before settling on a second-floor bar on Zmaj Jovina. The whole experience reminded me how few times I've managed to go out this year, but maybe in the end that's ok given budget restraints (and it's not like I sat around at home, I was just always at someone's apartment). So yeah, good times.
Last night I had a big going-away party planned, but it ended up being mostly a failure. It turned out the majority of the usual party-at-my-place crew was either out of town or just didn't show (thanks, Lazar), so it was only the six of us who went to Lake Palic together (minus Jekic). I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty disappointed (especially considering the amount of alcohol I bought with the money I don't have), but the best friends helped make up for it by giving me a really nice going away present. Oh well, soon I'll be starting a fabulous life in Massachusetts (after my DC detour) and none of this will matter. The day was still pretty depressing in general though, because I had plans to go up to the fortress to check out the art galleries for potential souvenirs, but not only did I have no one to go with but it ended up raining all afternoon. Hopefully I'll find time Tuesday morning to make it up there.
In other news, I simply can't pass over the fact that the Eurovision Song Contest finals were held in Belgrade last night. As all reports on Eurovision must point out, even though it's generally mocked/ignored in western Europe, east of the former Iron Curtain it is still a big deal and a huge source of national pride. At my (lame) party last night we tried to watch part of it online, but my internet's not good enough it would seem. Now, overall I feel Eurovision songs are the epitome of campiness and kitch, but after watching some of the entries I think I could've voted for France and kept my self-respect (although after hearing the actual song I can't understand all that controversy about it being in English, considering I can't really understand a single word he's saying). Also, I guess the (admittedly strange) Bosnian song didn't make me want to die (unlike the god-awful Serbian entry). And I have to say, it was pretty hilarious when Jelena told us (to no one's surprise) that she voted for Bulgaria. But in the end, in case anyone cares, it all went to Russia's Dima Bilan, who was apparently produced by Timbaland. Yawn.
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