Today is a monumental day for one reason: I am finally leaving Belgrade behind.
I have lost track at this point of how long it's been, when it's all added up. At least 70 nights. Not quite 80. The exact number is unimportant.
I don't know when I'll be back. I don't know when I will next see all of the Serbian friends I have made, who are unfortunately not blessed with the same magical blue passport that someone lucky enough to have been born in the United States receives, and so most likely won't be traveling to the States anytime soon. Dragana is leaving the Three Black Catz to start up a place of her own, and Mladen will power on in the face of rising competition for hostel-goers in the heart of the former Yugoslavia.
Even if I happen to blow back through here on my way from Macedonia up through Europe and back home, it will only be for a night at the most -- I intend on getting back to Texas by the end of the month. There is so much that I have never written about on this trip -- the rest of what happened to me and Uncle Dan in Asia, for example -- that I intend to try and get down before it slips from memory. But a million of those moments have happened in this city, with these people, who have really formed the substance of what slowly became my undeniable Balkan Home Sweet Home.
All I can hope for is that when I say "Vidimo se" to the last person, it will really be the truth.
I have lost track at this point of how long it's been, when it's all added up. At least 70 nights. Not quite 80. The exact number is unimportant.
I don't know when I'll be back. I don't know when I will next see all of the Serbian friends I have made, who are unfortunately not blessed with the same magical blue passport that someone lucky enough to have been born in the United States receives, and so most likely won't be traveling to the States anytime soon. Dragana is leaving the Three Black Catz to start up a place of her own, and Mladen will power on in the face of rising competition for hostel-goers in the heart of the former Yugoslavia.
Even if I happen to blow back through here on my way from Macedonia up through Europe and back home, it will only be for a night at the most -- I intend on getting back to Texas by the end of the month. There is so much that I have never written about on this trip -- the rest of what happened to me and Uncle Dan in Asia, for example -- that I intend to try and get down before it slips from memory. But a million of those moments have happened in this city, with these people, who have really formed the substance of what slowly became my undeniable Balkan Home Sweet Home.
All I can hope for is that when I say "Vidimo se" to the last person, it will really be the truth.
Dovidjena.
1 comment:
Bayless, its drew. I got the voicemail you left me a few weeks ago, but it was mostly static. send me an email when you get a chance, so I can respond ( i dont know what email you are using right now ). mine is drew.lester@plaskolite.com. i hope to talk to you soon and catch up.
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