This weekend I will be returning to American to get a job and an apartment and wait for my husband's visa to come through so he can join me.
There is something about this time of the year. Last year, I returned to America for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Hopefully, next year my husband and I will be together for Christmas. It is going to be hard to be without him.
I expect that this will be a challenge. I am going to live with my parents for a time. Just until I get a job, a little car, and an apartment. I plan to live in the Longview,Texas area.
Longview is a beautiful little town with plenty of retail stores where I can find work in management. When my husband comes, he should be able to find work as well.
We're also talking about opening a Martial Arts school.
We want to live and work in America and save money for our eventual retirement. We can't do that here. We hope to eventually return to the Novi Sad area. I would personally love to live in Čelarevo.
The political situation here continues to worsen. I haven't talked much about it because I frankly don't feel qualified to. I don't understand it. My American heart and soul rebells against what I hear and see on the news on a daily basis. It is incomprehensible to me how people can remain as leaders when they don't have the confidence and support of the people they are supposed to serve. Probably since they don't have to fear the ballot box, they can do as they please.
I love the people of this area, I only wish they had the opportunities and the life that they deserve. I'm sure some would say that I am being unfair, judgmental or imposing my "American ideals", but I have spoken to many people since I have come here and this is the impression they give me.
I appreciate the cyber-friends I have made since beginning this blog. When I get internet access, I will continue to update the blog with news. I will keep reading your blogs and hope that you read mine for as long as it interests you...
Please, wish us luck and if you pray, please pray for us.
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Monday, November 26, 2007
Saturday, October 6, 2007
1 Hour in America, 4 Hours in Belgrade
Our trip to Belgrade was fun. We left by train from Novi Sad at 8 and got in to Belgrade at a little after 9:30. Added on to the price of our train fare was 50 dinars for a little sticker affixed to our tickets for "Celebration of Children" week/month??? I don't know. No, it was not voluntary like that little box on the 1040 US tax form that you check to donate money for political parties. I figure some government official has a wife who dabbles in causes.
Anywho... We got to Belgrade and it was buzzing with activity. Lots of people walking and driving and heading everywhere fast. The part of Belgrade that I saw is like a mini-San Francisco. You walk uphill, you walk downhill. (My legs are still sore!) There were even functional trolley cars on the streets.
We had to head directly to the US Consulate. I had read that this place is considered US soil, so I was happy to be in the US for that hour.
I'm not a "my country - right or wrong" person, but I have to say that since I have been away from the US, I appreciate it so much more than I did. And, I have always loved my country. I miss it.
When we got to the Embassy, my fiancé was very hesitant about opening the door, he felt like we had to wait for someone to open it for us from the inside. I was like, let's go in! but, I deferred to him and soon someone came and opened the door to see what we wanted. As soon as I told him I was an American citizen and had an appointment he took my camera and my love's phone and got us through security quickly.
We sat in the waiting area of American Citizen's services with a couple of Americans, but mostly with people who were waiting to find out if they were going to get a Non-Immigrant visa to the US, for various reasons. I was a little irritated at the procedure that they used for these people. They call them by number to a little booth (like at a bank teller counter) and the consulate person is inside an enclosure and speaks to them through a microphone...forget privacy! The person who is requesting the visa doesn't have a microphone, thank God, but since some of the people spoke English, I could understand everything that was said. And for those that spoke only Serbian, the people in the waiting room could understand everything. I don't see why the microphone is needed.
When they called me, by name incidentally, there was no use of a microphone. The officer just spoke to me through the glass.
Now, why wouldn't that work for everyone???
Anyway, we got our business taken care of there, only had to wait about 45 min. and I got to read some old Newsweek magazines while I waited and had access to a clean bathroom with toilet paper and paper towels to dry my hands with. (You will not understand how much this meant to me unless you come here for a visit!)
As we left the Consulate, I stopped to take a picture of the outside, since it was the first time I had ever been to a Consulate or Embassy. As I snapped away, my fiancé was conversing with the guards out front. As we walked away, he told me that taking these pictures is forbidden, but when he told them I was a US Citizen, they said OK. OMG!
Afterwards, we had to go to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (hmmm....how appropriate) to get our documents stamped and pay our tax (fee) and I had to sign a big book. Everyone was friendly and wished us the best.
Finally, we had finished all of the work we had to do. I had no clue where the mysterious Commissary was, so we just decided to walk around and see what we could see in the time we had left before our train left. About a block away was one of those buildings you read about when you read about Belgrade being bombed. I had never seen a picture, so here goes:
It was very disturbing to see those images, but I also realized clearly that it was meant to be a surgical strike. This building was a military headquarters. There were all sorts of civilian targets nearby (it is a busy main street after all), so if killing civilians was the idea, it could have been done on a massive scale. Again, I'm not political, I'm just saying it obviously was a target, not just a place to drop a bomb. And yes, it upset me and made me ashamed...OK?
We walked on down the street and found a gorgeous park with beautiful flowers all around and as our walk continued we found a lovely area with a fountain and a reflecting pool. Here's the park:
We made a large circle and came to a really impressive building set up on a hill. My fiancé called it Capital Hill, because this building is the setting for important government meetings and such. Here's me on the steps of this huge building:
And here's a shot of the building itself:
It was a warm and sunny day so the walk was nice. We stopped by a pekara (bakery) on the way back to the train station and got a yummy, flaky bread with cheese inside and walked down the street grazing on it.
I slept most of the way back on the train and we got home to Novi Sad at 3:30. We'll go to the City Hall in Novi Sad early next week and turn all of this paperwork in so we can get married.
UPDATE: I posted the photos from the trip to my Flickr account.
Anywho... We got to Belgrade and it was buzzing with activity. Lots of people walking and driving and heading everywhere fast. The part of Belgrade that I saw is like a mini-San Francisco. You walk uphill, you walk downhill. (My legs are still sore!) There were even functional trolley cars on the streets.
We had to head directly to the US Consulate. I had read that this place is considered US soil, so I was happy to be in the US for that hour.
I'm not a "my country - right or wrong" person, but I have to say that since I have been away from the US, I appreciate it so much more than I did. And, I have always loved my country. I miss it.
When we got to the Embassy, my fiancé was very hesitant about opening the door, he felt like we had to wait for someone to open it for us from the inside. I was like, let's go in! but, I deferred to him and soon someone came and opened the door to see what we wanted. As soon as I told him I was an American citizen and had an appointment he took my camera and my love's phone and got us through security quickly.
We sat in the waiting area of American Citizen's services with a couple of Americans, but mostly with people who were waiting to find out if they were going to get a Non-Immigrant visa to the US, for various reasons. I was a little irritated at the procedure that they used for these people. They call them by number to a little booth (like at a bank teller counter) and the consulate person is inside an enclosure and speaks to them through a microphone...forget privacy! The person who is requesting the visa doesn't have a microphone, thank God, but since some of the people spoke English, I could understand everything that was said. And for those that spoke only Serbian, the people in the waiting room could understand everything. I don't see why the microphone is needed.
When they called me, by name incidentally, there was no use of a microphone. The officer just spoke to me through the glass.
Now, why wouldn't that work for everyone???
Anyway, we got our business taken care of there, only had to wait about 45 min. and I got to read some old Newsweek magazines while I waited and had access to a clean bathroom with toilet paper and paper towels to dry my hands with. (You will not understand how much this meant to me unless you come here for a visit!)
As we left the Consulate, I stopped to take a picture of the outside, since it was the first time I had ever been to a Consulate or Embassy. As I snapped away, my fiancé was conversing with the guards out front. As we walked away, he told me that taking these pictures is forbidden, but when he told them I was a US Citizen, they said OK. OMG!
Afterwards, we had to go to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (hmmm....how appropriate) to get our documents stamped and pay our tax (fee) and I had to sign a big book. Everyone was friendly and wished us the best.
Finally, we had finished all of the work we had to do. I had no clue where the mysterious Commissary was, so we just decided to walk around and see what we could see in the time we had left before our train left. About a block away was one of those buildings you read about when you read about Belgrade being bombed. I had never seen a picture, so here goes:
It was very disturbing to see those images, but I also realized clearly that it was meant to be a surgical strike. This building was a military headquarters. There were all sorts of civilian targets nearby (it is a busy main street after all), so if killing civilians was the idea, it could have been done on a massive scale. Again, I'm not political, I'm just saying it obviously was a target, not just a place to drop a bomb. And yes, it upset me and made me ashamed...OK?
We walked on down the street and found a gorgeous park with beautiful flowers all around and as our walk continued we found a lovely area with a fountain and a reflecting pool. Here's the park:
We made a large circle and came to a really impressive building set up on a hill. My fiancé called it Capital Hill, because this building is the setting for important government meetings and such. Here's me on the steps of this huge building:
And here's a shot of the building itself:
It was a warm and sunny day so the walk was nice. We stopped by a pekara (bakery) on the way back to the train station and got a yummy, flaky bread with cheese inside and walked down the street grazing on it.
I slept most of the way back on the train and we got home to Novi Sad at 3:30. We'll go to the City Hall in Novi Sad early next week and turn all of this paperwork in so we can get married.
UPDATE: I posted the photos from the trip to my Flickr account.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Trip to Budva/Petrovac, Montenegro
We just returned from one week in beautiful Budva, Montenegro on the Adriatic. My fiance and I were there for the World Martial Arts Festival.
We stayed at the Slovenska Plaza, which is a resort consisting of many "mini" hotels. It is right there at the beach. There were tourists from many countries. Hearing all of the languages being spoken made me think of the Tower of Babel story from the bible. English, German, Serb, Macedonian, Russian, Korean, French...
The water was cold like ice! But, the water was clear and blue and the beach was nice with sand and small pebbles. I am used to the mud of a lake bottom where your feet sink into the goo, so I loved it. But, not being a "nature girl" I spent most of my time in one of the two pools there at Slovenska Plaza. They used fresh seawater in the pool and it too was freezing, but refreshing.
On our last night, we went to Petrovac, another village on the Adriatic and stayed at the Hotel Palas. The accomodations were even better than at Budva. Our room had a terrace, air conditioning, TV and a mini fridge and we had a beautiful view:
The little island on the right has a little Orthodox church on the top of it!
The weather turned stormy and cold that night, so we took the train back home to Novi Sad.
Prices were very reasonable. I think for most Americans, English, etc. it would be considered cheap to stay in Budva or Petrovac. I noted some prices:
Large Pivo 1.5 Euro
Hamburger or other sandwich 1.50 Euro
Room in hotel 55 Euro per night
(This included a full buffet breakfast and dinner, with meat, salad, bread, dessert, everything. And the food was good. The hotel in Petrovac, owned by some French investors even served white or red wine with dinner.)
Parasailing, boat tours, fishing expeditions, carnival rides for the kids...all was available from about 3 Euro and up. And of course, souvenirs of all kinds were available.
There were the usual little markets conveniently located so that you could buy juice, fruit, whatever you wanted at prices that were close to what we pay here in Novi Sad.
We stayed at the Slovenska Plaza, which is a resort consisting of many "mini" hotels. It is right there at the beach. There were tourists from many countries. Hearing all of the languages being spoken made me think of the Tower of Babel story from the bible. English, German, Serb, Macedonian, Russian, Korean, French...
The water was cold like ice! But, the water was clear and blue and the beach was nice with sand and small pebbles. I am used to the mud of a lake bottom where your feet sink into the goo, so I loved it. But, not being a "nature girl" I spent most of my time in one of the two pools there at Slovenska Plaza. They used fresh seawater in the pool and it too was freezing, but refreshing.
On our last night, we went to Petrovac, another village on the Adriatic and stayed at the Hotel Palas. The accomodations were even better than at Budva. Our room had a terrace, air conditioning, TV and a mini fridge and we had a beautiful view:
The little island on the right has a little Orthodox church on the top of it!
The weather turned stormy and cold that night, so we took the train back home to Novi Sad.
Prices were very reasonable. I think for most Americans, English, etc. it would be considered cheap to stay in Budva or Petrovac. I noted some prices:
Large Pivo 1.5 Euro
Hamburger or other sandwich 1.50 Euro
Room in hotel 55 Euro per night
(This included a full buffet breakfast and dinner, with meat, salad, bread, dessert, everything. And the food was good. The hotel in Petrovac, owned by some French investors even served white or red wine with dinner.)
Parasailing, boat tours, fishing expeditions, carnival rides for the kids...all was available from about 3 Euro and up. And of course, souvenirs of all kinds were available.
There were the usual little markets conveniently located so that you could buy juice, fruit, whatever you wanted at prices that were close to what we pay here in Novi Sad.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Visit to Montenegro
This past weekend we took a short business trip to Montenegro's capital, Podgorica. Coming in to the city on the train I was excited to see beautiful mountains and little streams running through the countryside. Very beautiful. This photo was taken from the train window.
The train was fairly old, but the sleeping compartment was comfortable. It was tiny, but our party was able to be alone in the room. We had a little pivo (beer) with us to toast the trip and we joked and laughed as people here love to do for a little while before going to sleep. I actually slept a little while on this train, something I have never done on a train in the US.
It was a bright sunny day when we arrived and the air smelled fresh and clean. Our host met us and took us to our small but friendly hotel. Because I am an American, I was treated like royalty by our host. I must admit, it felt very nice to be with people who love and admire America. Most people that I have met in Novi Sad like America, but our host, having visited for a time in New York City and other cities LOVES America.
We sampled the local cuisine at each meal in our hotel and after having cooked at home for practically every meal since I have been here (eating out is too costly), it was nice to let someone else do all the work for a while. The local "black" wine (what red wine is called in Serbia and Montenegro) is very good...smooth and flavorful...not too heavy or sweet. We drank the local water as well as bottled mineral water with no ill effects to my digestion. I'm afraid I can't say the same for the water in some American cities that I have visited!
After several days in Podgorica, we took the train back to Novi Sad. We arrived in early morning and have rested most of this week. The visit was fun and productive, but it's good to be back "home"!
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