Check Out the Bridge Year Website

The Serbia Group (us) posted a Group Update; check it out here: http://www.princeton.edu/bridgeyear/updates/archives/index.xml?id=6155

Tying up Loose Ends

This is my last week of Serbian language classes at the University of Novi Sad, and next week is my last week working at NSHC, my NGO. This Tuesday I had a long final examination, which consisted of four parts: grammar, oral, listening and reading; it lasted around three hours. It was a culmination of everything that we've learned this semester, although we had one major test a few weeks ago (the A1 level examination). I obtained good makes in every category then, but I this last one (on Tuesday) was a little more difficult. Maybe it was the fact that it contained more difficult material that we had just learned, or that I was sick last week with a virus and was unable to attend class for two days. It doesn't really matter, though; regardless of my grades (which, by the way, were a little worse, but not by much), I feel like last week and this week I made a huge leap in my my ability to communicate in Serbian with others. Suddenly, it feels like many of the cases just clicked; now I can much more easily decline the adjectives and nouns in the necessary cases, conjugate the verbs, and vocalize my ideas in Serbian. I feel like I have now reached a benchmark in learning Serbian; I can only get better from here on out.

This week has been relatively busy with Christmas preparations and farewells. For those of you who don't know, this academic year-long program is broken up into two parts, or semesters. The first semester is soon ending; the following semester is to take place in Niš, a large city approximately three hours from Novi Sad, our current location. There, I will have a new host family and I will be working with a new organization, R-point. I don't know too much about this NGO, just that I will be working five days a week (at least) in a schoolhouse for Roma children. Currently, I only lead workshops on Saturdays, but in Niš I will be leading workshops several days a week...I am incredibly excited! However, I will deeply miss my coworkers and my NGO here in Novi Sad. Today, my boss Danijela and my other coworkers took me to a Salaš, which is pretty much a restaurant in the outskirts of Novi Sad set in an old, typical Vojvodinian house. We had kolači, or typical Serbian pastries. I had krempita, literally translated as "cream pie." It was delicious! My coworkers went around in a circle and said several kind words based on our last few months together. Then, Danijela gave me a gift on behalf of them all! It is an incredible warm and fuzzy multi-colored scarf with a matching hat. I wore them today to Charlotte's house, and they kept me warm and toasty in this cold, 35-degree weather. We had a great time at the restaurant; they made me feel special and appreciated--boy am I going to miss them!

This afternoon I took a nap, because for some reason I've been really tired lately. When I woke up, I had ćevapčići made by my host mom, Irena, on a grill. My burger was huge and I wasn't able to finish it. Our dog, Лоцо, loves eating our leftovers...this dog is an exact replica of Jari, my own dog back in the States, but a little bit bigger! After supper, I went to Charlottle's house, where the BYP Serbia group got together to celebrate Hanukkah with Charlotte, who is Jewish. She lit a small Menorah that her parents sent her and we played dreidel with white and blue jelly beans (Hanukkah colors!). I'm quite bad at dreidel, and by the end of it I was quite glad that we weren't playing with money!

This whole week has been pretty busy. My group celebrated Christmas on Wednesday in Цеца's apartment. Wednesday was her birthday and we gave each other gifts. We stood around a Christmas tree and listened to Christmas music...I really enjoyed spending time with my group. We have grown really close and I am so happy that I get to share my holidays with them! Tomorrow, we are all going to Belgrade for Цеца's big birthday party. We'll leave form Novi Sad at 6 in the evening and get there back at...well, that's to be decided later. It really just depends on how the party goes! :)

God bless all of you. Thank you for taking an interest in my happenings here in Serbia. I don't know what I'd do without all of this inspiring support! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! :)

My Attempt at Getting Ya'll Caught Up

(Haha, this was written a while ago, so bear with me...this part about the fog is not true NOW, but it WAS incredibly true...) I’ve been walking on clouds all week--well, more like in them. During late fall in Novi Sad, fog inhabits every street for the majority of the day. When I leave my house at 7:30 to catch bus # 4, the fog already interferes with my ability to see much more than a few feet, and in the late afternoon, the fog once again starts rolling in. It’s a beautiful sight, really. Last night I attempted to capture the beauty of the fog that was so thick I could practically hear the fog condensing into droplets of water and splashing onto the sidewalk. The flash was pitifully ineffective...

But I didn’t just write this blog to talk about fog. Believe it or not, Gilberto Vega, I have not given up on this blog. Settling into a different routine and a different environment is a time-consuming ordeal. It entails everything from changing small habits, to completely altering sleeping habits, to restructuring your life. It’s a little difficult, what with some weeks being better than others, but, overall, the pleasures that I obtain make everything more than worth it. 

Some people have shown an interest in knowing my daily schedule, and, as always, I’ll take that a step further and walk you through my week! 

My established weekly schedule (for now) is as follows:

Monday: 

8:15-10:30 Serbian language class!

12:00-4:00 Work at my NGO NSHC (Novosadski Humanitarni Centar)

After, I return home and maybe go back to the city center to hang out with my Princeton friends or my Serbian friends! Also, homework...and if I stay at home, sometimes I play games with my host family! My host sister, Mima, loves playing Dutch Blitz and Rummikub, both of which I brought from the States!

Tuesday:

8:15-10:30 Serbian language class!

12:00-4:00 Work at my NGO NSHC (Novosadski Humanitarni Centar)

5:00-6:00 Piano lesson at the nearby school of music. My piano teacher is named Dina and she’s AMAZING. Sadly, I mostly only get to practice piano at my lessons. :(

6:00-8:00 I grab a bite eat in the city center and go to American corner to prepare for the English conversation classes lead by the five of us, or a lovely combination thereof: Tucker, Dominique, Charlotte, Jacob and I, or a combination thereof. We play madlibs, the dictionary game, rhyming games, and initiate discussions and debates around a myriad of topics.

8:00 Hang out with friends from American corner at a café in the center, or go home to do homework, or домаћи. 

Wednesday:

No class. Instead, the five of our meet at Ceca’s house at 9:00 am to discuss our week, work on our group and/or individual updates for the Princeton blog, participate in group and individual reflections, discuss upcoming excursions or reflect on a past one, and fill out Dora (we do a group reflection in a book using drawing and diagrams to record the week’s highlights. Always mentioned are Jacob’s heart (hahaha) and a list of the new Serbian friends that we made that week). We always end with a group picture:

Such as: 

or

Sometimes, we get a little distracted....

But we ALWAYS get our work done...

12:00-4:00 Work at my NGO NSHC (Novosadski Humanitarni Centar)

5:45-9:30 Youth group at the local Baptist church. The first time I was able to watch the worship team practice and then the youth group begins, with lively music and a teaching. Oftentimes I recognize some of the Serbian praise and worship songs, such as: Blessed be the Name, Lord I Lift Your Name on High, and Forever. I sing in English if I know the song, and attempt to sing in Serbian (fail...). I manage to understand the teaching if somebody knows enough English to translate for me! I've hung out with my youth group friends outside of class a few times, and I've had an incredible time!

Jammin' out!

My youth group friends...we're a little crazy?

My youth group friends...we're normal?

Thursday:

8:15-9:45 Serbian language class!

My University: Univerzitet u Novom Sadu

12:00-4:00 Work at my NGO NSHC (Novosadski Humanitarni Centar)

Chill at home with my wonderful host family or in the city center. Thursday night is Pljeskavica night: these delicious HUGE hamburgers that my host family makes on the grill in the balcony. I’ll find a picture somewhere...

Delicious!

Friday:

8:15-9:45 Serbian language class!

12:00-4:00 Work at my NGO NSHC (Novosadski Humanitarni Centar)

Go home after work and spend time with my wonderful host fam...then leave at 10:00 for the center to meet up with friends for a good night in the city’s infamous street Laze Telechkog or some other café/pub. I drink ne gazirana voda, or just plain water; If I’m feeling particularly adventurous, I might order sok od jabuke but I have a great time with my friends anyway! :)

A night out with my girlfriends!

Saturday:

12:00-2:00 I lead various workshops at a school in the outskirts of Novi Sad that NSHC runs with the purpose of supplementing the education of Roma kids and kids belonging to other marginalized groups. I teach both English and creative workshops. The last Saturday in October, in celebration of Halloween, the younger kids decorated oranges (alas, no pumpkins) and simple masks:

My creative workshop!

The older kids made paper pumpkins. Charlotte wanted to join me on Saturday and so she helped out. We gave the children candy that I had purchased before going to the school, and Charlotte gave them candy from the U.S.: peeps and candy corn! All, in all, a great afternoon! 

In the afternoon, I meet up with friends and we hang out, shop, cook...

Sunday: 

10:00-12:00 Church at a Baptist church near my house...just one block away! Sometimes they sing hymns and sometimes more lively worship music. I do the best that I can...Good thing they have someone translating the sermon into English through these funky and cool-looking headsets. I’m not only only American attending the church.   A met another American girl, close to my age, who is in Novi Sad through a Christian Service Organization! 

After church, I try to hang out with my Christian friends, Princeton friends, or Serbian friends (or a combination thereof). 

In the late evening, I try to skype with my wonderful family back home. It’s hard because of the time change, but totally worth it to see their smiling faces and their sweet voices.

Non-profit work is a whole different ball-field from the dependable field of academics. The most you can do is do your best, be flexible and open-minded, and accept challenges as they come. At my service organization, I am currently working on two major projects: 1) the Spanish class for volunteers that I am teaching twice a week. It is good that I get to practice my Spanish and I enjoy preparing the classes. The volunteers are eager to learn another language and very receptive to whatever I teach them! 2) The English and creative workshops for the school on Saturdays. It is fun to prepare the workshops. Last week, my weird supervisor ;) (just kidding, he’s pretty awesome) Dejan (my former boss) went to a store with me and we bought a ton of creative supplies for my workshops. I normally teach two workshops each Saturday--one for the older kids and one for the younger ones. Some smaller projects that I have worked on include the campaign for raising the awareness of mental health that my NGO is running, and editing English reports that some of my coworkers have to send to the philanthropists that fund their projects. Apparently, I am also in charge of making sure that nobody in the office goes hungry...a job which I gladly take on! Some time ago I made funnel cakes for the entire office. Needles to say, I smelled like food for the rest of the day, but, other than that, it was a very enjoyable experience! 

Part of the Bridge Year Program includes several excursions that we take as a group--some are meant as a short break from our every-day lives, while others are meant to improve our understanding of the political and social problems in the Balkans. Our four-day October excursion to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, was just that. Although we had our fair degree of fun (see below...) the trip opened our eyes to the damaging effects that war has left in the region, and to ethnic tensions that run deeply in some regions of the Balkans. A professor from the University Sarajevo told us about the ethnic and religious tensions throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. In fact, this fairly small country is a large melting pot of ethnicities and religions: Muslims, Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and Serbs, Croats, Hungarians, Turks, and those who refer to themselves as Bosniacs. The ethnic tensions are highlighted even more by the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-96), especially the Siege of Sarajevo. Serb forces blockaded Sarajevo for almost four years, bombarding important buildings, targeting innocent civilians through snipers located in the mountainside, and prohibiting the import/export of goods. In order to survive, a tunnel was built that under the Sarajevo airport (controlled by NATO) through which thousands in Sarajevo received enough food and other supplies from the outsideto survive. We visited this Tunnel, which is now a museum near the outskirts of Sarajevo. It’s amazing that a Tunnel that small was able to make such a difference in the lives of the Bosnians. To this day, there is still tension between Serbs and Bosnians, and a lot this is due to the recent war between them and the lose of nearly 10,000 lives at the hands of the Serbs. 

We also had the opportunity to visit an NGO that works with training people to be peacemakers in their towns and work to solve problems in society that are a direct result of the Bosnian war. After attending all of our lectures, we had the rest of the day on Saturday to ourselves. Shopping in Sarajevo was an amazing experience! The Bazaar was especially incredible. The Turkish and Hungarian scarves and jewelry were  exceptionally cool to look at! The center of Sarajevo (the pedestrian zone) is a mixture of many different cultures, two of the more pronounced being the Turkish and Hungarian cultures. Then, in the evening, we met up with a friend of mine from the States, Sanda Hinjalic. She was an exchange student at J.P. McCaskey for a year, and it was great catching up with her! What are the odds of my having a friend in Sarajevo? Apparently, they’re pretty good! 

A Sarajevan street shop.

Self explanatory...just, you know, the place that started WWI...

Me posing as Gavrilo Princip...it's super cool, I know.

Delicious ćevapčići, a Bosnian typical dish! 

Beautiful view of downtown Sarajevo.

This is us with Sanda in Sarajevo....she's an amazing person!

They say that if you drink from this fountain, you will return to Sarajevo!

Life is good. Life is great, actually. Sometimes, I catch myself thinking: Yentli, what are you doing? How in the world did you end up in Serbia instead of college? This program has, so far, been an amazing experience. I’m reveling in the new friendships that I’m forging, the new experiences that I’m being exposed to, and the opportunity that I have to grow in this new, phenomenal world. 

I love us. :) BYP Serbia  is amazing! 

Haha, wrong picture. ;)


Peace out, homies. God Bless.

Sladoled, Mleko i Paradajs

My class schedule is as follows: class on Monday and Tuesday from 8:30-1045, and class Thursday and Friday from 8:30-10:00. Seeing as today is Wednesday, and we live in some semblance of a sane and functioning world, I didn't go to my language class. Instead, I dragged myself out of bed at 7:00 am and took the bus to my coordinator Ceca's house, where I arrived half and hour early. Some of you may remember the days when I was inevitably late (or exactly on time) to wherever I went; those days are apparently over. Over some home-made baked goods, our group of five BYP Serbia students shared about our host families and our service organizations. I had nothing but good things to share! After that, we spent an hour attempting to decipher cyrillic in order to fill out paperwork for our bus passes and official student documents. Then I went to my service placement, but first I just had to stop for some ice-cream (sladoled), milk (mleko) and a tomato (paradajs).

I had a very productive, enjoyable and fulfilling day today at NSHC. I edited my boss's english pamphlet on the project implemented by NSHC to raise awareness concerning the immediate need to make education more available for Roma girls that will be distributed at an international conference. Then I read some of a book on gender roles in Roma communities--a book written by my NGO (!). Then, I discussed my proposal for creative workshops with my immediate boss, Dejan. He like my ideas and I hope that many of them will be implemented in the future! In between, I sipped my ice kafa, or coffee--which, of course, was a cafe con leche! I returned home to the arms of my loving host family. We had a fantastic dinner and then just chilled! 

I'm delighted with my day, yet I'm filled with anticipation for what awaits for me tomorrow, for tomorrow I visit my first Roma settlement. I hope that God will open my eyes so that I can do His will.

FYI: please comment...also, ask question about what you'd like to see in my blog posts...

Palacinke, NGOs, and Politics (како да не!)

Hmmmmm. As I sit here, I can hear my host mom making палачинке, pronounced "palachinke," a traditional Serbian dish consisting of crepe-like pancakes stuffed with sweet strawberry "jagoda" jam, or eurokrem and crushed plazma with slices of banana. As I relax after a tiresome but extremely fulfilling day in class and at my service organization, I let the sweet aroma of the палачинке wash over me. Irena, my host mother, calls me to the table. I am home.

A lot has changed since ten days ago. For about two weeks I had been living out of a suitcase--first at Princeton and then at a small hostel right in the Center of Novi Sad. I never realized how much that sense of insecurity and lack of stability was affecting me until I settled into my host family's house. I live with a family of three (well, four now): Irena, the mother with one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen, Mima, the eleven-year-old daughter whose English is almost impeccable, and Dejan, the father with an amazing sense of humor. Within a few hours I felt like both a daughter and a sister. I'm practically part of the family now, except for the fact that Irena still won't let me wash the dishes (and believe me, I try) and for my broken Serbian.

...Which brings me directly to my language classes. The first few days were tricky. Initial phases of change have always been somewhat difficult for me, but as I have adjusted to the rhythm of the class it has become considerably easier to feel comfortable. Outside of the classroom, my host family and those around me have been extremely supportive in my attempt to speak as much Serbian as possible. For those of you who don't know much about the Serbian language, I'll tell you that it is one of the hardest languages I've ever heard of. There are seven cases in Serbian, which means that a noun changes depending on its placement in a sentence (direct object, etc.) It's crazy! There are also three genders: female, male, and neutral, and each adverb and adjective changes depending on the case and the gender! Insanity! However, after a few days of struggling and writing hundreds of words in this little notebook that I carry, I'm finally getting the hang of things. I can write in latinica and cyrillic (both print and cursive which are entirely different) and read the cyrillic with a little more difficulty. I am also able to string together many rudimentary sentences using the words that I have learned. It's getting easier and easier. As I continue to learn the language, I become more and more comfortable with the Serbian society and with my interactions with other Serbs.

The political life here in Serbia is exceptional. The national borders within the Balkans have been continuously changing for centuries. Until recently, Serbia included  Montenegro (they are now separate entities) and Kosovo (although many here would argue otherwise.) Approximately 75 countries have voted Kosovo as independent but roughly another hundred have yet to do so (including Serbia itself). My co-workers jokingly tell me that if I want to make friends with Serbs I have but to lift my thumb, pointer finger and middle finer of my right hand and say "Kosovo je Srbija," the literal translation of which is "Kosovo is Serbia." A lot of graffiti around Novi Sad accurately depicts the political tension in this country. One of the key political issues is Vojodina's plea for more autonomy. Novi Sad is the capital of the province of Vojvodina. Before Kosovo's declaration of independence, Vojvodina and Kosovo were the two autonomous provinces of Serbia (the degree of autonomy is to this day debated in the Serbian parliament). чанак, pronounced "Chanak," the leader of the President of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina and a parliamentary representative to Belgrade, is seeking financial autonomy for Vojvodina. The government and several influential figures are claiming that he is a separatist, a highly feared title after what happened with Kosovo. We (the Bridge Year Serbia participants as well as Ceca our supervisor) had breakfast with Mr. чанак as he explained a lot of the modern Serbian politics and their roots in Balkan history.

Not only are Serbia's recent history and politics quite intriguing--its relationship with the United States is as well. Approximately  ten years ago the U.S. bombed Serbia due to Milosevic's genocide and mistreatment of the Albanians in Kosovo. Some Serbs resent Americans due to the fact that our government punished the people for their government's wrongdoings. However, many Serbs are able to separate us from our government, and while I personally have faced no discrimination due to our past with Serbia, I am sometimes reminded of our bombing campaign against the Serbs through poster boards and signs. For example, in the University building where we take our Serbian language classes there are several posters with instructions on how to react to various emergency scenarios, including what to do in the case of a bombing. Ceca told us that that was added under the threat of U.S. bombs falling on their heads. In addition, a member of our small American group had a taxi driver tell her "I love your people, but not your government." The ability of many Serbs to not hold resentment against us on account of our government's actions is a testament to the strength of the Serbian people.

I will remain in Novi Sad until January 8th, one day after the Orthodox Christmas. On January 8th, our group will travel to Nis where we will remain for three months. Novi Sad is a gorgeous city full of marvelous architecture that is bustling with culture and activity. The Serbian way of life, "polako," meaning to "take it easy," is truly lived out in the dozens of outdoor cafes in Center City where, on any given day, you can observe people simply sitting down and enjoying a drink for hours on end. Every day I pass through Center City on my way to my service organization (NGO). My NGO is the Novi Sad Humanitarian Center (NSHC), the second largest service organization in Novi Sad. A Non-profit organization, its focus is on working with marginalized populations, specifically the Roma people. They mainly work in the sectors of mental health, gender equality, youth empowerment and education. I will be focusing my work on Roma youth and children through creative workshops that I will plan and help lead and through NSHC's campaign for mental health amoung the Roma youth. The highest suicide rate in Serbia exists among the Roma youth, most of which live in extreme poverty and many of which are uneducated. Most Roma make a living through the collection of reusable items, entertainment and construction. I am delighted with the opportunity of learning much from my very knowledgable coworkers, which include a doctor, a lawyer who specializes in Roma civil rights, and several psychologists. I have my own desk and computer (even though I use my own laptop) and the environment is very welcoming. I know that this year I will have an opportunity to serve people like never before while simultaneously experiencing abundant self-growth. I am so excited for what this year holds! Although I miss my home in Lancaster, I know that this change and experience is for the best.


P.S. Posting pictures on here is apparently overly complicated. I have posted 6 albums on my Facebook. You can find me under the name "Yentli Soto Albrecht;" if you friend-request me I will accept you! :) God Bless you.

Connected

Keeping a blog is hard work (ne zezamse); bear with me as I navigate these unknown waters. It's hard to imagine that just two nights ago I was sitting cross-legged on the tiled floor of a Princeton auditorium surrounded by other BYP students, preparing for the adventure of a lifetime. In the farewell ceremony, the coordinators and previous BYP students led us in activities that stimulated reflection on the journeys that we were to undertake. Our first instruction was to think of a word that embodied, the most important part of our experience, taking into consideration our expectations, anticipations and fears. My word was "grounded;" I wish to stay grounded in the positive aspects of my character and my faith so that I can only grow in one direction: forward. Then, we each had to take the same ball of string and tie it around our wrist once while saying something that we wish to leave behind us, and once again while intoning something that we wished to take with us to our respective service placements. I hope to leave behind "perfectionism" and take with me "compassion" as I continue my voyage in these following months. After tying the string around our wrists, we threw the ball to a person across from us, eventually forming a web. This was an visualization that embodied the connection that we now shared, both in what were to be similar experiences of service and in the network that we would become a part of once we returned to Princeton. This activity showed us the shared mutual dependance characteristic of our parallel journeys and that even in future instances of great difficulty, we are not alone. We then cut the strings connecting us for practical purposes (haha), but tied the string and bead around our wrists as a reminder of this moment for months to come.

Hurricanes, Fire Alarms, and Looking Forward

Preparing for what will probably be the most formative year of my life is simultaneously thoroughly enjoyable and distressing. Constantly at the back of my mind is fear that I won't like who I'll become, mixed with the knowledge that my upbringing and the many people that have been influential in my life have given me the guidance so that I should not doubt myself so. Those of you who know me know that this is to a degree inevitable, although I'm working on it...

Being here at Princeton for the past few days has been an amazing experience. The people that I have met and formed relationships with are stimulating and come from a myriad of backgrounds and perspectives. It is amazing to think that I will be friends with these people for at least the next five years, if not my whole life. At this time, it is enough to just sit and soak in the moment with the knowledge that I have a whole life ahead of me, full of opportunities to serve and travel that I cannot even begin to fathom.

The onset of this new experience has not lacked those experiences that are short-lived yet memorable. The first night that I spent at Princeton I was awoken at 2 am by a blaring fire alarm. For the first few minutes I tried to sleep through it convinced that it was my phone alarm and completely oblivious to the urgency of the situation. My roommate, Azza (who is really cool, by the way), threw something at me (apparently; I don't really remember that part) and I eventually stumbled out into the hallway clutching a sweater. As soon as we walked outside we remembered that Princeton was in the middle of a hurricane--in fact, we weren't even supposed to step outside until 5 pm the next day (the University was on shut-down). Irene was nice, though, and resumed dumping rain once we were given the clearance to head back into the building. Even though our suit companions and ourselves staggered out visibly shaken 5 minutes later than we should have, all of the other Bridge Year participants stumbled out later than we did. Of two things we were sure after that experience: we have a deep hatred for the Princeton fire alarms, and if this had been a test we had failed miserably.

Tomorrow is my last whole day in the States. I'm excited yet conscious of the change that my life is on the verge of undergoing. I'd like to thank all of those people who have helped me get to where I am today and have equipped me with the tools necessary to handle myself in any given situation and view any experience as an opportunity to learn: teachers, friends, my church, my family, my parents, and my sister. These interactions and relationships I will carry with me as I move forward. God bless.

This is Yentli signing out. ;)

P.S. Reach me at yesotoalbrecht@gmail.com, or contact me through Skype (username yesotoalbrecht).