Oct 2 - Belgrade

We started off with a bus tour of the city, stopping at an old fortress developed by both the Autrian-Hungarian Empire AND the Ottoman Empire because this area of Serbia was under the control of both of them at various times. There was a mausoleum of a pasha on the grounds, which was under some renovation, so we were able to take a peek inside, something you cannot normally do. There was also a very nice overlook to the confluence of the Danube and Sava Rivers. Unfortunately, it was misty and got increasingly wet, so the view was not quite what it could have been.

River Confluence

In addition to identifying the various buildings we drove past, our guide also discussed some of the challenges of Serbia and her former partners in  Yugoslavia as well as her view of the NATO bombing that took place in 1999 when Serbia was trying to prevent Kosovo from breaking away. Serbia still does not recognize Kosovo as an independent country, which they will need to resolve if they wish to join the European Union. The Serbian point of view is that when Serbs originally swept into the area, they initially settled in the Kosovo area. However, over the centuries, Albanians moved in and Serbs expanded to the east and the Albanians had no right to do that. So even tho Kosovo is no longer primarily Serb, it should still be part of Serbia due to this historical connection. 

Pasha's tomb

We also visited the Tito Memorial and had a conversation (translated) with a man who had lived in Tito’s Yugoslavia. Older people there are generally very positive about Tito and remember with pleasure his brand of communism and felt they were much better off than people in the countries controlled by Russia. Yugoslavia was also rebuilt after the war as part of the Marshall Plan, so apparently Tito was pretty effective working with the west as well.  However, no one really wants to talk much about his failure to plan for the country after his demise or to resolve or address the underlying animosities between the various ethnic groups in the country, which led to its dissolution about 10 years after his death.

St. Sava Outside

Next was the St. Sava Orthodox Church, which has been in various stages of construction for over 100 years. During WWII, the Nazis used it as a garage. Now, it has a fabulous exterior and a huge interior space that is largely undone. What’s really interesting is that it looks an awful lot more like the Blue Mosque in Istanbul than any church I have ever seen!

St. Sava Inside

After lunch on the boat, we walked up to the pedestrian zone in downtown Belgrade. Probably the most interesting thing we saw was a pizza place called “In & Out”! The shops were oriented toward young people, which makes sense because there are two universities in the area, and there were lots of youngsters and young adults wandering around. 

After dinner, a young Roma (gypsy) woman talked about the challenges of being both Roma and female in Serbian society. She was educated – a master’s degree – and is working to improve the life of Roma women in general. She said that within the community, Roma women are seen as baby machines and servants to the family. In one community, 75% of over 200 women she spoke to reported that they were the victims of domestic violence. While there are laws against this in Serbia, the women are largely marginalized because this behavior is tolerated within their community, leaving them few options for reporting the crime and getting the support they need. 

This young woman did not live in a Roma community and her parents had encouraged her education, which is pretty unusual. One very interesting thing I learned is that the Roma trace their history to low caste people of northern India who dispersed centuries ago in search of a better situation. We have heard negative comments about Roma here, that they are disruptive in the classroom and stupid. Their name ‘gypsy’ comes from the mistaken concept that their ancestors came from Egypt. She also spent quite a while answering questions from the audience. It seems like this is a challenging problem that crosses many country borders and will take more than enlightened women to resolve. They will also need to recruit enlightened men to carry the message to other men who mostly dismiss women’s concerns now.