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Serbia. How am I in SERBIA?
 
I do feel at home here. It might be because I’m not sweating for the first time in months. Maybe it’s because I have a comfy bed in a room I’m sharing with only one other person. It could also be because I don’t stick out nearly as much as I did in South America and Asia.
I think a large part of the peace I feel here is because I am a quarter Serbian (I know! It’s awesome!) and for the first time in my life I understand a little bit about what that means. I’ve never really had an interest in my heritage or taken much pride in it because I naively wrote it all off as “European” and therefore uninteresting (I know! That’s not awesome). But since the moment we stepped off the plane I have felt proud to have this blood running through my veins.
I’ve only been in this country for about six days and the majority of that time has been spent in the city of Niš, so be aware of the very small lens I´m working with as I write this. But I am now going to tell (and show!) you seven reasons you should visit Serbia
 
The natural beauty. Honestly, I cant stop looking around. I see mountains and water and trees that are just about ready for winter to be over but not quite.
 

 
The buildings. I find a lot of comfort in older buildings because HISTORY and because BEAUTY. Look at these! I love love love a view like this on my walk home:

The weather. I know that cold weather isn’t much of a pull for most people but I can’t adequately describe how desperately I have missed the cold. I have been in operating in summer-like weather for the past 12-ish months and I am OVER IT. I´m over being sweaty all the time. I’m over not being able to enjoy a hot cup of coffee. I’m over not being able to wear the one pair jeans I brought because it’s just too hot. I’m over having to go running at 6:30 am because its the coolest hour of the day. Ok, end of anti-heat rant. But the best part about Niš right now is that it’s not too cold right now. It’s been staying between 40 and 60 degrees which is a very comforting Seattle-like sweet spot. 

LOOK! Sweaters!

Look! Airplane blankets worn as scarves!

The language. I really geek-out over languages and this one is especially geek-worthy. There are 7 different ways to talk about a table, depending on the case. WHAT! And over 30 different possible ways to say the number “2”. Even your name changes, depending on how you are being addressed. Serbian is beautiful and complicated and I know about four words of it. There is also something special about understanding virtually nothing someone is saying but knowing that my grandfather spoke the same words. The very present language barrier also reminds me how far I am from my culture and our tourists, which is refreshing after coming out of Thailand.

Here is my name and a couple of my teammates’ names in written in Serbian:

Speaking of tourists, there are very few tourists here! Trusty Wikipedia told me that the majority of tourists in Serbia are Serbs, and the few foreigners that are here definitely do not come from the United States. So, if you want to travel internationally and don’t want to run into another American, might I suggest Niš, Serbia?

Look at us interacting with the locals!

The food. 50 cent pastries. Everywhere.

Plz forgive the poor photo quality

Also important

RE: cheap, delicious Serbian cuisine:

 

The people. I can´t stress this enough. Serbs are friendly people, sometimes aggressively so. They are very proud of their country and want you to know it the way they do, not the way it might be portrayed in the media. We have been continually blessed by Serbs and their helpful nature. Whether its a needing help reading a menu, getting off at the right bus stop or finding a place to stay, we have been met with people who are eager to serve and represent their country well.

Here are some adorable Serbian ladies who are working on learning English:

 
To give my opinion some credibility, I will say I am not a fan of the cigarette smoking here. You will struggle to find a business that doesn’t reek of smoke, regardless of whether or not the sign on the door indicates smoking or non-smoking. So, that’s one thing I don’t LUV about Serbia.
Other than that, I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to be in the nation that so many of my ancestors called home. 
 
Thanks for reading! Hopefully you know a teeny tiny bit more about a country we (I) don’t often think about back in the states.
 
Ciao!
 
aka “bye”