A day before i started my travel, my friend she contact me with Jovana (in English: Yovana), I’m lucky that I succeeded to manage it and meet her in the next day in Belgrade 11/11/14 at 10am.
Earlier when i just woke up and get out of the room, i meet this girl working at the hostel and i asked her:
What was your first job ?
” on internet radio, I talking in a program, I was in high school 17-20, part time work and study. One of my family was working at a classic radio, he moved to Sweden there he opened the internet radio, once in a vacation when he back here to Belgrade, he asked for somebody to work at the radio, so I got it :)! The job was to animate people to let them talk or sending SMS what song or music they want to listen to, at the first day I was very stressful and afraid for talking to the public, my boss pick me up then when stopped by a store and he came back with. Bottle of gin and tonic! I was a bit drunk and that’s was my first day at the job of my first one. Most of who was listening to these radio where the Serbs who lives abroad!”
Its 10 am i meet Jovana we just cross the street and eat a simple breakfast and drink yogurt, while we were eating we chat about why i’m traveling in Belgrade, i explained for her i’m not a typical tourist, i’m going around without a map! just myself, wallet and my iPhone (to take sometimes pics), i wanna feel like a local.
while we were walking, in some point i saw few people, around 20 persons standing by a tower, parents and their kids, most of them were holding a paper and written on it numbers!! Jovana explains for me what’s going on; they are changing cards of world champion players, like a trade in. the parents are more excited than their children.
we get to the river DANUB its so dirtry, walked little bit, then from there we climbed up to “Kalemegdan”, the roman city where Belgrade started and then spreaded.
Jovan’s boyfriend joined us for a little bit it was so interesting also chatting with him, he is from England but lives here, explain for me how much it’s complicated the issue of the refugees here, and around 26 nationalities living just cross the river where it was concentration camp!! there are apartments and they live in it and part of them were building of the concentration camp. we start starving James left us to his work.
me and Jovana head to a restaurant called “Rest” i recommend it so much, a great place. i tried the local alcoholic drink that here they made it Rakjia, and we eat the Ćevapi or also you can say kebab.
after all i back to the hostel for sleeping for couple of hours, before the night starts and to go out, Jovan send me SMS that there is public Bachata dancing lesson and party a the street, so i just pick up myself and went there.
the next day 12/11
while walking in the park i recognize i flag that i don’t for what country belong, so i just stopped a gentleman and asked him:
What is that flag ?!?
“Flag of Azerbaijan, as a thankful to them for their help for building this park! Tasmajdan, and that person the president of Azerbaijan.”He asked me where I’m from? I’m from Israel I answered. Then he asked again where exactly? Oh somebody know what he is asking about! I said Haifa, “nice place, I was there, I was with my basketball team and we had a game up close to the Lebanon border at a Kibutz” He said. He end the conversation with saying “nationally it doesn’t important for me as what the people are, matter for me about the person if good or not! ”
after was the plan to go ahead to the river to rent a bike and to ride to “Zemun” neighborhood, when i got there i heard a music and some policies also going around, i walked through where the voices and music coming from, around 300 hundred people T.V channels also taking place there, flags, i walked to be more closest to them and asked someone was going on!
she explains to me: “Vojislav Seselj, he was the president during the war at the beginning of the 90’s and now after 12 years in the jail in Hague, as a result of war crime! he returned back to Belgrade”. the interesting thing here, he is thinking to back to politics, he has a radical party, looks again how to connect all the Serbs under one country!! as it was Yugoslavia, with discussing these issue with few people i was amassed that still there people thinking in this way! i just took my bike and ride back, and i don’t think i will ride this much again for who is not used to its hard.
late night i went out to explore a little bit the nightlife, went to the hipster area located very near to the river at street called Braca Krsmanovic, started at Club Peron at the same night the had Salsa and Bachata night, every Wednesday, around 1 am i started to be over, went out and changed to other mood, entered dance bar called “Chorba Cafe” its a was great live music band Vukasin Brajic.
Now comes the most interesting part of the night!! cause i don’t somebody will write about it, while i’m in my way back to the hostel, i saw the strip club in front of my eyes i said, i wanna talk with the people who work there. the enter was free the beer was similar price like back home, so for me wasn’t expensive its the same, a girl comes to me she was just 22 years old and i asked her:
Do you like your job ?
“I was a sales manager, was boring for me, I like dancing that’s for I end here this job at the strip club!, Because I wanna pay my scholarship! I study at two colleges, Arabic business school. i broke with my boyfriend because that’s job, but for me, i need it for money”
when i was going out i also stopped to talk with 2 guys one was the manager and the second bartender, both of them are married and have a kids! i just was without words and left back to the hostel.
the day after was just relaxing and taking a rest, because in addition i broke a little bit my leg !!
