after a week of feeling like i fell into a little piece of heaven there in Akron, PA for the orientation together with 107 other young people coming from all around the world and going to all parts of the globe to serve with MCC for this year; a week of singing and praying and learning together in many languages and styles; a week of reflecting on MCC's peacemaking, relief, and development vision and how our particular assignments fit into those goals; a week of exchanging cultural insights with those coming from and going to Europe and the Middle East, particularly a new friend from Serbia, who will be working in PA this year; and a final night of dancing and laughing and hugging and packing and goodbye-ing, finally i was flying.
after a day of flying Philadelphia - Washington DC - Munich - Sarajevo, along with a fellow SALTer who is serving-and-learning in Sarajevo this year; after arriving in the airport and being picked up by the MCC-Southeast Europe program manager, finally i was touching the ground, seeing the sights, smelling the smells, hearing the sounds of this new land.
after a few days of orienting to the region, staying in an apartment with a stunning view of the surrounding hills and colorful houses and treasure chest of night lights of the city of Sarajevo; days of walking the shockingly scarred streets, with bullet-hole-studded buildings and mini-bomb-cratered sidewalks; days of wandering the old city markets with their mix of Turkish flavor and handicrafts reminding me of my journeys in Asia and Middle East as well as the modern, sophisticated cafe scene that fits my image of upscale Europe; days of listening to a soundtrack of church bells ringing and imams chanting their haunting calls to prayer; days of repeatedly telling my Sarajevo SALTer friend "you're so lucky you get to LIVE here!!!" and being told, "Anna, just wait until you see Belgrade, your city, you'll find things to love there, too", and agreeing, but still being slightly jealous; and a final day of learning about the programs and procedures of MCC-SEE and being welcomed into the home of the cutest bilingual little boy and his parents who are my MCC regional representatives, finally i was heading to my own assignment placement.
after a day of riding and roasting in a rattling bus for 8 hours through the hills of Bosna i Hercegovina, down onto the plains and across the border into Srbija; a day of starting to try to decipher signs written in the Cyrillic alphabet; after starting to see billboards and highway flyovers and traffic jams, finally i realized i was in Beograd, moj grad, my city.
after being met by my main supervisor here, and driving through the city with her for a while, and arriving at the apartment that i now call 'home', and being introduced to the area a little bit, i realized that it's not...exactly...in Beograd! umm....what??!
so from what i've learned, ZEMUN, moj grad, developed as its own town until urban sprawl jumped the Danube and swallowed it into one continuous city area. however, Zemun still retains much of its own character and its residents have a certain pride about being from Zemun, not Beograd. but, luckily for me, it is well-connected with the Beograd public transit lines i will take to work, and it is a lovely place to walk and wander around, and i am looking forward to exploring more on both sides of the river.
so, i have arrived. so, there is a whole new world of learning to do: about the language; about the history and deeper elements of culture and values; about how to care for the children at the kindergarten and how to help the counseling center in its goals and development; and about myself of course.
and a bonus for those of you (you're not alone, i know at least a few ;-) who may still be wondering how far Serbia is from Siberia...
