Nostalgic

K, my replacement in Serbia, recently suggested that we make lists for each other about the things that we like about the places that we just left. Here is my list:

Some Things I Love about Serbia

1. blueberry juice
2. cafes that serve every beverage imaginable, so one person can have juice, one coffee, and one beer
3. the ‘Olympic-level’ people watching
4. parks that turn into everyone’s living room in the summer
5. my friends
6. Women in Black—Belgrade isn’t gender exclusive, unlike Women in Black—Seattle
7. movies are so cheap that it doesn’t feel too extravagant to go to the theater to see movies that aren’t very good.
8. FEST, the film festival, which might be my favorite week in Belgrade
9. fresh fruit in the summer
10. wandering pijacas
11. being able to pick and choose which parts of Serbian culture I adopt and engage in, which I can’t really do here
12. kajmak
13. ajvar
14. fried pepper and cheese sandwiches from Toma Pekara
15. palačinke
16. being an expat – meeting so many people from all over the world
17. going to Ada Ciganlija in the summer
18. hospitality
19. the tradition of bringing small gifts whenever you go to someone’s home
20. single use bus tickets (They do not exist here, so I end up carrying pocketfuls of quarters with me everywhere.)