I hopped on a plane in Switzerland and I got out in a very different world. Back to my roots I guess, as much as I like to deny that part sometimes. I try to tell people about this place, what the life and culture are like, but you just can't put it into words.
There is also the problem of language. Unless you speak the language and can hear the world around you, you will never get the full hit of what this culture really is. It is all a well kept secret only the people of the Balkans will ever know. The rest can just look in from the outside. Unless you are like my roommate and decide to learn every language on the planet, then you just can't know.
Getting off the plane, in this not so little city made me laugh. I couldn't believe this was the airport. The tractors were what killed me, I wouldn't be surprised if they took the tractors home at night so they could plow their fields in the mornings before work.
For the most part I feel like this place never changes. Half of what you see is unfinished. They start something, get in too deep and stop halfway. The people are also always the same. Getting into each others business, arguing in public, always trying to get the latest gossip. Everyone knows everything about everyone else. You can't ever get much space, your neighbors are always listening in, watching from their windows and dropping by for coffee unannounced.
Sitting here thinking back on it all it is funny and so different from Germany and the US. I would consider these people warm though, much warmer than the other cultures I have gotten to know. You are never alone. Most of all you will never go hungry, they may no have much, but they are always ready to feed you. Learn early on that they don't accept the answer NO and go with it.
