An Old Nation

As Serbian scholars and experts of all sorts exert themselves to explain how it turns out that Serbs are the oldest nation in the Balkans and how every other neighboring nation is not really a nation but a self proclaimed group derived from Serbs, we, the citizens of Serbia, have rapidly been enduring additional wrinkles and gray hairs. I mean this literally - not only are we lagging behind our modern counterparts with our mentality and habits, but we are an aging population. With a negative population growth rate (estimated at -3.5% in 2004), low birthrates and high brain drain, Serbia is becoming rusty in every sense - mentally, financially and demographically. Many people are afraid to have children - afraid that they will not be able to support them financially, that the state will not provide them with basic rights to education, health care, peace and safety and that their children will become like those of my generation. Those who do have children, aspire for them to live abroad. Those oblivious to Serbia's problems, also have children, and spend their time talking about some trivial topic, such as which nation really settled the Balkans first. I would by no means want to discourage any theorizing, however I do think that - in our case - this specific argument is detrimental. Yes, we are old, but we are old in so many ways much more relevant to our lives than the origin dates of our nation. We are an aging population demographically and an aging group of individuals mentally. Our streets are aged, our schools and hospitals obsolete. Why would we want to be old in any additional way?

Why would we want to tag along yet another theory that will turn our heads from the future?

Knitting 101: The Product

Meet Zucha, my life-long friend, modeling the very first scarf that I knitted for my baby niece. Who is going to wait for winter to wear this chic one-of-a-kind sustainable piece of art?

And here is a better view of the stitches, loose and messy, but not bad for a first timer and the thick colorful thread allows for imperfection. Start with thicker threads!

One Proud Ballerina

The Ballerina - a typical ride on Serbian fairs, festivals (including the BeerFest) and portable amusement parks (we do not have a real amusement park yet and the closest thing to it was Bambiland, a controversial park built by Milosevic's son in the 90's and abandoned after Milosevic's fall) - set in front of a prototype communist building with a Heineken add. This spot is located on Belgrade's Danube riverbank, between the delta of Sava and Danube and the historic Zemun area.

Trotting Tulum

In 2008, my mom and I decided to go to Mexico for spring vacation. Her yoga instructor insisted we see Tulum. Personally, I am not the type to enjoy all-inclusive resorts - I prefer to feel the culture I have traveled to. So, knowing that Tulum is only a 2-hour drive from Cancun, I was skeptical. We arrived in the evening with reservations only for that first night at the Posada Dos Ceibas bungallows on the beach (I like taking this risk because it has usually bred better deals - the next day we looked at several cabanas and got a bargain for La Via Laktea). It was pitch dark. Surrounded by absolute silence, we ate and fell asleep early.

I slept like a rock. However, we strangely woke up at around 6AM, both of us at the same instant. A gorgeous sun was rising. We decided to run out for a stroll on the beach. I opened the door of the cabana and, as soon as my bare foot touched the warm sandy ground, I realized I was in paradise. We crossed the endless empty beach stretches, absorbing the colorful sky that was evolving slowly from red to blue. All that existed for miles, it seemed, were waves. No other sounds, no other thoughts. This was the first of the several days spent in this tranquillity, barefoot, waking up and falling asleep to the turquoise ocean.

Tulum's beaches spread south from what are considered to be the most beautiful and best preserved Mayan ruins. The Tulum Ruins are situated on a cliff above the ocean. This combination makes it one of the most stunning historical sites I have ever seen. However, be prepared - it is overcrowded with tourists and this will especially be unpleasant if you have spent a few days in the cabanas isolated in nature. This is why I recommend you see the ruins at the very beginning of your stay in Tulum.

The cabanas are situated on a preserved strip of beaches that lead to yet another natural treasure. The Sian Ka'an Biological Reserve, a 1.3 million acre UNESCO World Heritage Site, literally means "Where the Sky is Born". This area is full of Cenotes - freshwater lakes in limestone, most often connected to aquifers.

With all its beauty, this is a perfect place - for a peculiar set of travelers (like myself). The tap water is salty, the solar-powered electricity only runs in the evening hours (5PM-11PM), it's damp and the bungalows and camps are set directly on the sand, which the wind inevitably carries into the rooms. Because of the Biological Reserve, construction of real houses/buildings/hotels is prohibited. Here's how I see it: the lack of air conditioning definitely gets compensated by the tune with nature and the fact that, even at peak season with every cabana overbooked, there simply aren't nearly enough cabanas to make this place crowded.

As is the case with any paradise, portraying Tulum is virtually impossible. Let's just say that I met quite a few people who visited once and stayed forever. No wonder.

A few tips:

• Do not go if you are not a nature lover.
  
• Use websites like Trip Advisor to skim through the list of cabanas but ALWAYS try to find the actual website of the cabanas you like, find the contact information and call directly to make a deal, preferably in Spanish. It's cheaper that way.
  
• The cabanas can get pretty pricey - they range anywhere from $20 to $200 per night. Be careful how you pick your accommodation as the cheaper options may not actually be on the beach.
  
• If looking for low budget accommodation, go with the camping option, which costs approximately $5 per night.
  
• Have snacks with you! The food is great but it is expensive. The town is not on a walking distance and it adds up to eat at one of the cabanas' cafes all of the time. That being said, keep in mind that you will be surrounded by wonderful fruit.
  
• Visit the town, its market and restaurants. It's full of life and the food is amazing and cheap (but the taxi to town, one way, costs around $8).

Hidden New York: 5 Pointz

5 Pointz is a year-long graffiti exhibit spread across the facades of a 200,000 square ft (18,600 square meters) factory building used for art studios. Graffiti artists need to obtain a permit to leave a mark on these walls, with more prominent artists / sophisticated art getting the most visible spots. The lifespan of a single graffiti piece at 5 Pointz ranges from 1 day to 2 years, depending on its quality, popularity (pedestrian traffic around it) and the artist's name. This ensures that, no matter how many times you visit, there will always be something new to see.

I highly recommend this free exhibit, especially if the weather is nice. Not only will you see many unique works, but the combination of so many of them on a single object makes the facades of the abandoned factory resemble an enormous technicolor mosaic. Circle the building and find the stairs to climb on top, chill and take a deep breath of Manhattan and Long Island City (or at least take some awesome photos).


Address & Directions: 5 Pointz, Jackson Avenue at Crane Street and Davis Street, Long Island City, NY 11101; take the E or V subway to 23 St/Ely Ave, 7 to 45 Rd/Court House Sq., or G to Court House Square.

Market Middlemen

While the post-communist transition process picks up in Serbia, even the make up of our open air markets has been transforming. As real peasants can no longer afford to travel to the cities to sell their produce, the middlemen/women of the markets have prospered. The buyers do not trust these new "businessmen", partly because the prices have considerably risen and partly because they are unsure about where the food they buy comes from. Thus, the market middlemen wear clothing as similar as possible to the stereotype image of the Serbian peasant, in hope that someone will mistake them for one and become a regular customer.

The End of a D.C. Public School

H.D. Woodson High School was the only high school in Marshall Heights, a neighborhood spread across the border of South East and North East Washington DC, and is now being demolished because of serious problems with plumbing, heating and hazard protection.