Serbia

I have been in Serbia for a few weeks now, so I thought it might be a good idea to write a little update on how things are going so far.
It’s a big change from what I am used to in so many ways, but I know that in order to grow as a person I need to challenge myself and experience new things.

Claudia is very happy, which is such a relief to me as one of my biggest concerns was that she would miss her Dad while we were staying here. For the moment she is so busy having fun with the other kids, that it hasn’t been a problem.
I am also very busy, I don’t get much time to feel lonely and that’s a good thing as it’s hard to adjust from always having someone around to not being able to get help or comfort from that source anymore.

My job here is very different from what I was involved with back in Ireland, and I feel good about the change and the things that I am learning. Serbia is cold right now, but it wont be long before Spring will peek its head around the corner and the whole country will transform itself.

I want to start driving here, as it’s almost necessary in order to get around with a kid on your day off, without squeezing into over crowded buses. I drove for the first time a few days ago and it was an experience, not only was I constantly grabbing for the gears on the wrong side but the traffic here is nothing like the orderly lines you see in “civilized” countries. The drivers are very impatient and a bit too liberal with their horns.

In contrast to the drivers, there seems to be some strange transformation that happens behind the wheel, the people here are very friendly and young and old alike love to practice their English. I have been going out with a colleague, Anna, to various companies for sponsorship of our humanitarian programs here. It has been an interesting experience, between her basic Serbian and my nonexistent vocabulary we have stumbled into the most bizarre circumstances. Nothing like ignorance to give you faith. But most people we have encountered have been more then happy to speak with us and practice their “how do you dos”

The things I miss the most right now are being able to drive to the store on Sunday and buying steak and Port for dinner. Things are very expensive here compared to the wages and things like meat and cheese is a luxury. I feel so spoiled when I think about the mountains of eggs, cheese and meat we have in our fridge back home in Ireland, and being able to eat as much of it as I want.
Instead the humble cabbage and various legumes are on the table almost every day here, and to think that we would throw away cabbage at home!
But don’t worry about me loosing weight, on the contrary I think I have put on a few pounds, as to compensate for the lack of protein I stuff myself on bread, which is thankfully always on hand…



Giving out free books at the Roma school in Novi Sad