A year and a half has passed since my first
version of this page went up in a suburb of Belgrade. A lot has
happened. I did come back to the states, though under NATO duress. I
had the fortune of spending almost eight months in Serbia, with a
month-long trip through Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy, and I had the
misfortune of being in Belgrade when the fireworks started to fly.
Depleted uranium fireworks, that is. I left within a few hours of
the first attack, but it was an interesting situation to say the
least. And I was certainly more lucky than the millions of Serbs,
Montenegrins, and Albanians (and the 25ish other minorities who call
Serbia home) who spent two months underneath a falling sky. For some
highlights from my days in Belgrade, see my "Retrospective
Statement," an addendum to my undergraduate thesis. You can go
directly to it from the "table of contents" page if the word "thesis," in any context,
turns your stomach. But (a little advertisement for myself) my
thesis isn't typical, dry analysis. I think I am incapable of such
rot. I'd like to think that I am. As my beloved mentor reminded me,
I am an ASPIRING scholar, not! to be confused with a real scholar
who has mastered that time-honored tradition of organized, critical
thinking. So you might just find my "thesis" amusing. Seriously, I
wrote my thesis in a rather journalistic style. In fact, it had a
little too much drama for some of the official folks who critiqued
it. I'll add a few other caveats to that one: there are still
problems with font, a few typeOz still exist, and the intro is a bit
philosophical. You may freely ignore these things without hurting my
feelings, including the introducton. Go for the jugular and dive
directly into the story if you
wish.
Belgrade and Serbia have
had a really rotten year and a half since I left. Bombs, a heavily
damaged environment, economic blues, ground-level citizen morale;
PLUS Nosferatu himself has Serbia in a vice grip, posing as
President of Yugoslavia. I am describing Slobodamn him Milosevic, of
course. The most troubling events are the most recent. Milosevic has
launched an overt attack on independent media, harassing those pesky
independent thinkers with beatings and arrests as well. Keep an eye
on current events in Serbia at the
B-92 homepage. The B-92 story is sad and inspiring. Let's hope
it has a happy ending. They aren't transmitting in Serbia, thanks to
Nosferatu, but they do maintain a marvelous web page that has hourly
news in English. The fellow with his arms outstretched (see below)
is an OTPOR activist, a member
of the student resistance in Serbia. That pose has "historical
precedent." If you aren't from former Yugoslavia, I guess you'll
have to read my thesis
to find out what it is all about(-: Let's hope the historical
paralell doesn't hold in this case. We want Nemanja Nikolic to have
a long, happy life in a free Serbia.
The "Family
Gallery" is in progress. I am in a picture with my big adorable
brother, Larry, my parents (HI MOM & DAD) are in the upper
left-hand corner. Then there are two guys with two pictures each.
One has long brown hair, that's Ryan, my best friend from Boise,
Idaho, my hometown. The other one, shoulder-length wavy hair, is
Stanislav, my Balkan love. If your picture isn't up and you know I
love you a bunch, just be patient. It'll make it, promise. Feel free
to send pitcures!
A few words
about my contemporary doings before I return to making my Summer
Salad ala Sarah (we are having guests over tonight for dinner. Hi
Sami, Altaf & Bob!!) I am living in Baton Rouge. I just
graduated. THAT was a long hard road. There otta be a country song
about graduation. I live right next to the Mississippi. What do I
think of Baton Rouge? I'll answer that another time. The answer is
complex. It is very cool that I live so close to New Orleans. That
city makes me giddy!! I am tutoring kids, coordinating a tutoring
service, working as a langauge editor for the journal "Serbian
Studies," and spending two days a week as a waitress at a local
greasy-spoon diner. I am, uh, regrouping, trying to decide what I
want to do next. I have decided to write a book about my Belgrade
experiences and I'll be primarily working on that this summer while
the tutoring business is at a dull roar. I plan to make periodic
additions to this site: my own pieces and friends' creations will
find a home here. Visit us often! Cao! TTFN! Zivela Slobodna Srbija!
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, May
2000~~~Sarah
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