Venice... no, I don't speak Italian

Made it to Venice Weds, the trip was a long one (about 8 hours and the traffic outside of Venice didn't help) but finally made it, met Pia (a fabulous architecture student from Istria) and began the trek from the parking garage to boat to walking and walking to the apartment, right on Campo St. Maria Formosa. It's a lovely big square and extremely central. Dinner that night was our tourist trap experience (get that out of the way quickly I suppose), although tasty, and walking along the main canal was lovely in the darkness.

All that beauty begins to become a bit mundane after awhile, I'm sure. I caught myself today simply nodding over a canal that, had I seen the view a few days ago, would have been incredibly picturesque. Living in a postcard, that's what people do here.

Been exploring a lot, both alone and with Momcilo. I found a great little restaurant on Thursday tucked away near Rialdo bridge, we went for dinner that night and it was a fantastic time. Food was excellent, the place was warm and cosy (and full of Italians, always a good sign). Had cicchetti to start (like tapas), then great pasta and fish, homemade tiramisu for dessert. I've eaten more pasta in the past few days, but it's so good I can't help myself. Figure with all the walking I'm doing no harm will be done.

Friday night went out with Pia, her roommate Sara (from Ljubljana, also studying architecture) met up with us. First was a cozy little wine bar where outside seats are from a theater of some sort. Venice is totally no smoking inside, so we sat outside and enjoyed our glass together while chatting about this and that (the craziness of family is always a good starting point). Later went to a courtyard full of places near Rialdi teaming with people; everyone just stands outside and talks, many of the bars there have no space inside nor any seating. Met Igor (another from Serbia/Bosnia) and some others, lots of chatting in a funny mix of Serbo-Croatian, Italian, English.

Saturday went to Lido (after aborted trip to San Lorenzo - the monastery is only open in the afternoon for visitors), strolled along the beaches in the sun. I went around solo later on eating gelatto (sooo yummy), got a bit pink by the end. On the boat back talked a little with a woman who had met a Venetian and here she is with 2 kids, one 8, the other a baby. We both agreed about how life is full of surprising twists. In the evening I took myself out for a glass of wine and chatted with the bartender Andre (we'd met the night before). Ended up sharing champagne with a group of Italians (the girl had opened the bottle with a sword; most impressive), then talking with others who came and went at the bar. The funniest was a Bulgarian painter, his Italian friend and Swiss girlfriend. Stefan, the Bulgarian, was shocked that I could speak Serbian - he doesn't know English at all - so we were talking na srpskom, I was discussing nuance in French with the lady and getting insider information about Venice from the Italian in English. Crazy times, but a whole lot of fun.

Murano was my destination yesterday. Met a Iraqi vet and his family on the boat there - the man's leg was a graphic mess of scars from a roadside bomb as well as over a dozen surgeries. Originally he was told he'd lose the leg, then that he'd never walk again. But there he was only one crutch and a bit of a hobble. He said that now hard because doesn't know exactly what he'll do; he's always been a solider and plans to stay in the army. They were enjoying Venice so much though that they'd decided to stay instead of going to Rome as planned. I love this part of traveling solo, just touching people's stories is moving (unfortunately it seems to be moving me towards cliche, so I'll avoiding sweeping philosophy right now). Murano was cute and little, learned about glass in the museum - pieces from 1st century AD were INCREDIBLE to see. Strolled, got espresso in little bar with only minimal counters (one of the stand outside since there are no seats variety). Looked in a bunch of glass shops and realized that everything is made for people with houses- glass is not the nomadic possession. Also kitch abounds in incredible amounts.

I missed meeting up with the people from the night before since had class (yes, I am still working daily). Later in the evening Pia, Sara, their friend Ana (all three are blonde with one syllable names. Such a crew) met up with Momcilo and I, we went looking for a lively looking (or at least not totally dead) bar, talked and joked into the evening. There are so many tourist places here that actual places were locals gather are few; Venice is also not a night life kind of town.

Today was more wandering - I ran into the woman from the boat with the baby and she recommended my going to the Ghetto, so I checked that out. The sun is covered in a faint haze, but still I'm glad the rain is gone for now. Not sure plans for the rest of the week but between relaxing with good books, teaching, and wandering I'm sure to keep myself occupied....

Comings and Goings

Mike left this morning - I wish that traveling didn't require leaving sometimes. We had a rockin' good time here in BGD and it was beyond wonderful to have him around once again. I threw an impromptu party Saturday (invited people Friday morning) and while my apartment was STUFFED with people, everyone had a fantastic time (or so they said). Finally I got a bunch of people together that I've been wanting to meet for a long time. Knowing people in such convoluted ways, it's even more amusing to try and explain to them how we all know each other (even better was that many brought friends I didn't know, the circle ever-expands). The downside was having to be awake, dressed and functional for a lesson at noon on Sunday (yes, I worked on Easter); but totally worth it. Now if only a bunch of restaurants/cafes hadn't decided they would close for renovations this week (one night two out of three of my ideas for dinner weren't open) life would be even more perfect.

I head to Venice tomorrow morning for a little over a week. I'm sure there will be many stories to tell afterwards; here's seeing how Italian goes after all this Slavic language exposure. It's late and I have to get up early, so here's hoping your Easter was a good one (that included chocolate bunnies if possible) and that this weird March weather settles down a bit (snow, rain, sleet, and sun happened today in almost every sequence imaginable).

Late nights... and late nights

It's been a bit since my last posting - politics are still running amok but daily life has slipped back into that seductive lull of "I'll do my thing, the government will do its, and there's nothing I can do about it." Perhaps dangerous mindset, but here it is once again (hmmmm, where have we seen this before? It sounds so familiar).

Operating on the 'when it rains it pours' theory of existence, my sparsely filled days with barely any work and not much going out have morphed into a plethora of plans. I'm proud of getting to 2 films in FEST- "Le Scaphandre et le papillon" ("The Diving Bell and the Butterfly") was moving and beautiful to see. I had no idea what it was about going in, just knew that I'd be able to understand it (since French with Serbian subtitles I can handle). A man has sudden stroke, wakes up paralyzed and still manages to write a book - incredible. Both movies I saw ("Brokeback Mountain" was the other) spoke to be trapped in a situation you can't change and how varied reactions are to that state of affairs. I ponder on those who think they are trapped when they really could find a way out; we're good at placing blame far away from ourselves. But then again, sometimes you really are stuck in a situation - then it's figuring out how you yourself can make it at least livable, right?

Got to see The Belgrade Dixieland Orchestra play earlier in the week (spreading the music of the oppressors (note the sarcasm) for a Day of Jazz celebration; good tunes. Ate guacamole and played Scrabble, had really good Saturday classes and dinner with a new friend, went to Chinatown market... generally a good weekend and preparation for what will be a busy week as I cover adult classes.

Also looks like I should be working with American Councils for their summer pre-departure orientation for high schoolers going to spend a year in host families in the US; it would mean going to Ukraine for a few days end of April to get trained (where I've never been), then working end of June/start of July here in Beograd before heading to Turkey... plans they keep evolving.

OH! And funny thing - the artists have been having a lot of fun with the opportunities for satiric art current affairs have created. Here are some of my favorites based on actual posters (more here):