What a lovely city! We began our day riding the public bus to downtown Belgrade. As with any city bus at rush hour it was packed! Air conditioned buses don't exist here, but in the mornings, everyone smells pretty good....later that will change. We are in Serbia during a heat wave adding to our adventure. We walked down their central avenue - now a pedestrian walkway - and came to Kalemegdam Park and the Fortress of Belgrade, which stands at the confluence of the Sova and Danube Rivers, once the borders between the Ottoman and Austria-Hungary empires.
To give us our best view of the city of Belgrade, we rode one of the double decker tour buses - complete with headphones and information in English. We had an excellent tour of the city, including a number of bombed out buildings remaining from the NATO bombings in the 90's. I don't know if they have not been torn down and rebuilt in order to remain as a "monument" to the fighting or if it is economic (my guess). Tito is still highly regarded and the military stadium near his palace is now a national sports stadium. The most ironic thing was that the old communist government building in New Belgrade is now a huge shopping mall (communism to capitalism!) A sad note is that there is also a former Nazi concentration camp in New Belgrade (once a rural area “across the river”) – 94% of the Jewish population of Serbia was killed. After lunch we spent a few minutes at the Ethnographic Museum before heading back across the Sova.
Our afternoon appointment with a couple of teachers from a public school in “New” Belgrade proved to be a huge lesson in hospitality and collegiality. We were met by the head teacher and several other teachers, taken to the faculty lounge and served juice, water, and coffee while being given the history of the school and of its high rank in the Serbian education system. It is a 1-8 school with 52 teachers and 10+ support staff. The Head Teacher (Principal) spoke the least amount of English. A 6th grade teacher was the main translator. The other staff to meet with us were the media specialist, school psychologist, registrar, Serbian teacher (language arts), geography teacher, and English teacher. Like the teachers in Turkey, they ask that we teach the geographic location and cultural relevance of Serbia and its people. After a discussion of education practices in Serbia and the US, we toured the school (classrooms mostly in disarray due to summer cleaning and painting – looked like home!). The most interesting thing was the Dentist’s office. The school has a full time dentist on staff! Thinking our visit was winding down, we were preparing to gather our things and they said “no, no, one more thing!” and led us downstairs to a small “theater” room complete with a bar, disco balls, video players, and sound system where the Head Teacher served drinks and the group had snacks and music and some folk dancing…it was an amazing time of camaraderie and fun. We were also each given a mug with the school logo on it. They had prepared supper for us but we already had reservations in the “Bohemian” section of town, so they then tried to get us to come for breakfast. I can only hope that if our school has the opportunity to host a group of teachers from another locale that we could be so gracious and warm.
Overall my impression of Belgrade is that while it is the capital of Serbia, it is a lot like Portland – a young and vibrant city determined to be a center of learning and life in Serbia.
To give us our best view of the city of Belgrade, we rode one of the double decker tour buses - complete with headphones and information in English. We had an excellent tour of the city, including a number of bombed out buildings remaining from the NATO bombings in the 90's. I don't know if they have not been torn down and rebuilt in order to remain as a "monument" to the fighting or if it is economic (my guess). Tito is still highly regarded and the military stadium near his palace is now a national sports stadium. The most ironic thing was that the old communist government building in New Belgrade is now a huge shopping mall (communism to capitalism!) A sad note is that there is also a former Nazi concentration camp in New Belgrade (once a rural area “across the river”) – 94% of the Jewish population of Serbia was killed. After lunch we spent a few minutes at the Ethnographic Museum before heading back across the Sova.
Our afternoon appointment with a couple of teachers from a public school in “New” Belgrade proved to be a huge lesson in hospitality and collegiality. We were met by the head teacher and several other teachers, taken to the faculty lounge and served juice, water, and coffee while being given the history of the school and of its high rank in the Serbian education system. It is a 1-8 school with 52 teachers and 10+ support staff. The Head Teacher (Principal) spoke the least amount of English. A 6th grade teacher was the main translator. The other staff to meet with us were the media specialist, school psychologist, registrar, Serbian teacher (language arts), geography teacher, and English teacher. Like the teachers in Turkey, they ask that we teach the geographic location and cultural relevance of Serbia and its people. After a discussion of education practices in Serbia and the US, we toured the school (classrooms mostly in disarray due to summer cleaning and painting – looked like home!). The most interesting thing was the Dentist’s office. The school has a full time dentist on staff! Thinking our visit was winding down, we were preparing to gather our things and they said “no, no, one more thing!” and led us downstairs to a small “theater” room complete with a bar, disco balls, video players, and sound system where the Head Teacher served drinks and the group had snacks and music and some folk dancing…it was an amazing time of camaraderie and fun. We were also each given a mug with the school logo on it. They had prepared supper for us but we already had reservations in the “Bohemian” section of town, so they then tried to get us to come for breakfast. I can only hope that if our school has the opportunity to host a group of teachers from another locale that we could be so gracious and warm.
Overall my impression of Belgrade is that while it is the capital of Serbia, it is a lot like Portland – a young and vibrant city determined to be a center of learning and life in Serbia.
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