Well, hello world!
I am back! Hopefully for a longer period. But you know I was kind of busy these days, this summer in general.
The internet connection or better say lack of engine providing such service in private conditions was missing. But I live among people and there were shared facilities available to use in limited time. But it's not the same thing as your personal, so no real moment actually came to feel like writing more that 140 signs on Twitter posts. But thanks to luck and good people I have a new/old/used engine with me to enjoy my so desired moments of intimacy with public outcomes to all kinds of social media.
So how have I been doing here so far? Well, not bad at all. But as much as I wanted to avoid it with reference to the fact of how much I love this country... it came and took me completely - my dear Culture Shock No.5 [yeah, nothing connected with Couchsurfing]. Actually it's easy to speak about it right now, as it's kind of over... and I had a few discussions about it with some other people, who are dealing with expatriate lifestyle here in Serbia. So actually the conclusion is about accepting the rules how this society is functioning or not, but it won't change anything if you still fight against something what is considered as normal. So I am calm now, I accept most of the things, which bothered me, except some issues about women rights [of course, huh? :D].
Summer 2011. After volunteering at the Exit festival and meeting masses of drunk and happy people, waking up every morning in a field full of tents, swearing on the sun for radiating sunrays exactly on your face and continuing to hide from it whole day long [as 45 degrees is not something what can be enjoyed for unlimited period of time] - mostly lying on the beach and doing nothing [which kind of annoyed me] and enjoying great music at night, I said - 7 days in nature is enough for me, so escaped from that already the next day after the festival finished. But being staff at Silent Disco was really cool experience, I even kinda felt like being part of this Festival.
I escaped to the city for which I felt longing for all the time... I arrived late and my potential host didn't give me any sign that he's alive, so I stayed in a hostel for 15 Euros. I managed to have a little fight with the receptionist about volunteering and money issues, so I didn't like him much or better say his views on life [but later on I proved myself that is something that majority of people think]. Next day I went to look for a job in a hostel as it's actual opportunity for a foreigner to find a job in Serbia. Of course illegally. I checked a few websites like bookings.com or hostelworld.com and wrote down the adresses of around 25 hostels in Belgrade. Thought it could be quite enough for one day. Then I took a map and placed all hostels like little dots according to location on one or another street, so that I could make a randomly organized City tour for today. It was already a mid-day of 14th July and I went on my hostel tour. I visited around 5 places, some I skipped as they seemed suscpicious or the entrance was just a bit scary to enter. Then I actually got into one of those 5, where I went to ask, if they need some staff members, and luckily I came at the time, when the boss of the hostel was present. So he offered me a job of "tourist attractor" or it could be translated in urban dictionary as a person, who promotes the hostel and brings people. The deal was easy: 1 tourist = 2 Euros, plus I get a bed to sleep for free. Of course it didn't mean that I go in the streets and desperately attack tourists with my leaflets. Of course I do that, but in more smart way, sometimes flirting, sometimes emphasizing on the facilities the hostel is offering, but my workplace or I would say 2nd home was the train station - eternal longing for the international trains to come. Waiting hours: from 6 AM to 10 AM and then from 6 PM to 11 PM. Worth to mention that trains are always late - just you never know if it's 30 minutes or 4 hours late. 2 hours was the average "lateness". Welcome to Balkans! Miracles happen exactly here...
But the tourist season pays off really well. Thanks to God and Interrail. If emphasizing especially on the last one - that's how Western Europeans basically get to know the Balkan region. Speaking from the side of majority - by my unofficial statistics, covering research on countries of origin, where the most backpackers came from - the leading country this year is Denmark [2nd Holland, 3rd UK/France] they don't have any big promotions of Balkan region, just Croatian coast is promoted, but Interrail does all the job. There is something like Balkanflex here, but not many local people usually can afford it. The idea is - you purchase the Interrail ticket [a fixed price] and you are given a period of time, which you can spend on trains, traveling around the countries, which support Interrail idea. If you don't feel like reserving yourself a chair on the train [which could cost you from 2.2 - 3.5 Euros, with sleeping facility - around 10 Euros], then enjoy your ride with a luxury to avoid standing in a cue to get tickets.
Coming back to work - of course I'm not the only one, who is promoting cheap place to stay in Belgrade. There are around 8 other people offering hostels. Eventhough we all are competing between each other, but day by day working [read: waiting] side by side to each other, we became more or less friends, sharing information, enjoying the happy or sharing the moments of not so happy days. We even established an unofficial band "Cekaci" [Waiters], as coincidentally in the period of our corporate working, everyone proved their singing abilities. But friendship ends at the moment when the train finally arrives... then everyone tries to draw attention to [sometimes scared] backpackers. Though I have a little bonus for being a girl - the thing of human psychology - ladies are not treated as being dangerous. The most competitive hours are in the evening, when all the "late" international trains arrive... otherwise if I am able to wake up at 6AM and take my half-asleep body to the station - the chance that I'll meet somebody from other hostels is minimal [but might happen], so then it's my "Jack Pot" hour. [In the first 3 weeks I did so, but by the time I got really tired, so it wasn't anymore so regular, but I tried hard to make it so]. And then there's another type of hour, which is inconstant, but I call it " an easy catch" hour and it comes usually during the day, while you're out doing your stuff - and by the way - inviting somebody to check out your hostel. It's all about business, huh? :P
Back to friends and the hostelworld I was enrolled in. About life under cover. Actually thanks to my new competitive friends after working 6 days in one hostel I took offer to work for another hostel - the conditions and the location were a bit better [this time I call it 3 in 1 = a job, a bed and finally as well the registration]. So if you don't want to continue to lose to your strongest competitors, you join them [if there's an opportunity]. The price on the leaflet played a role as well - offering beds for a few Euros less plays a huge difference. So that's how summer went on - meeting new people, sharing tourist information, living in a hostel, meeting soulmates, having lack of privacy, having no time for yourself [yeah, sometimes you have to sacrifice something], being tired all the time, having an emotional crisis, and getting good again. More straight forward. And being thankful for the given opportunity. A separate chapter should be made about people, actually everyone of them deserves a separate article, as all kinds of ideas and topics were on the imaginary discussion board this summer. Happy moments with happy people. If you ask me - what I have seen in Belgrade or Serbia this year - nothing yet, but luckily I know it from my previous journeys. And actually I still have time, as I'm not going anywhere from here. And no CS No.5 or 6, or 7 will stop me. Because this is my White City.
The life goes on. The tourist season is over, that requires extra nerves and energy to look for something else, as unfortunately no Alchemist ever invented a formula for free food and accommodation. The tourist-oriented business shuts down for a while [by the way - many hostels close by the end of the season]. But the Visa question is now on the agenda... and dealing with Bureaucracy is always a pain in the ass [why there's no difference in whichever country you're dealing with it? Well, ok, some countries are better, and some are really the worst :D], but I'm persistent when I want something. And I have good people around me. Hopefully everything works out. If not - next country, next Culture Shock...
