In Belgrade I have been rudely welcomed by the mosquitos! I couldn't sit anywhere waiting for my host, without being attacked by tens of them, what's a hell!!! Fortunaltely few days after, as it's made every years, a plane was going to overfly the city spreading insecticide, action certainly very bad for the environment but so relieving!
I must say that the weather, which got really great since my arrival in Serbia, is quite hard to deal with: after a rainy period in Bosnia, I had to adapt myself to a burning sun, which is quite heavy to support in the city! But thanks to this powerful sun, I confirmed some impressions that I had in Novi Sad: Serbian people are really relax when comes the summer time. Terraces are full, and there are a lot of people everywhere outside: in the streets, parks, cafés.... And I've been able to check a stereotype that follows me since Slovenia: Serbian people enjoy life and as they tell themselves, don't like to work!


This willing of enjoying life is quite understandable when you talk with those "lazy people"about the former life in Belgrade in the 90's. First, people had to face the after-war, NATO and Western Europe Union had decided to punish the remaining Yugoslavia because of its "bad behavior", imposing an embargo in 1992, that lasted for 3 years. During this time the local money, Dinar, went completly unstable, and the word is weak: in 1993 was indeed one of the biggest inflation in world, at this time, one Deutsch Mark (currency used in Yugoslavia since this German occupation) was equal as 500 billion dinars (the note with the most zeros ever printed: 500 000 000 000). People were earning miserable salaries (when they had a job). There were regular shortages of everything, black market was reigning, and people were fighting in the street trying to get bread, yogurt, cigarettes, any daily consumer products. In Belgrade especially, the buses and trains were a mess: people could use the transports for free in the city, because the State was not able to provide a correct transport network, so buses were circulating irregularly, full to bursting, and this lasted until 2002.
After this unbelievable economic situation until 1995, the Kosovo war took place, ad NATO bombed Belgrade during 78 days. Their target were Yuogslav military infrastructures, which was involving a lot of obvious collateral damages (great expression to excuse civils' death...): for example a guy told me that he was living in the area of the airport of Belgrade, just next to a military base, so his area was regulary bombed.
Despite all those heavy events, Serbians kept this joie de vivre, that you can notice anywhere you go.

             
I was very glad when I realized how easy it was to take picture of people, they are completly relaxed regarding this, some of them were saying "Hvala" (thanks), when I was taking them! There are markets everywhere, like I have already seen a lot in  BiH, even in Belgrade, where you can find all the fashion Western stores, a lot of people sell pop corn in the street or handmade craft. I appreciated a lot to find in many streets sellers of second hand books, proposing very small prices, free or cheap culture, that is very important!
 When I heard about swimming in the river I couldn't resist and I went with Wesam, the Lybian flatmate of my host, in Ada Ciganlija, an artificial peninsula on Sava river. I was quite surprised once again when I arrived there to see that it was like a beach, with many frameworks, bars and fast foods, people renting boats, and shitty american music, on  the other side of the river, and of course it was full of people. Even if it's not the kind of places that I liked, it's so good to be able to refresh, just 10 minutes by bus from the city center of the capital...

I had a good surprise staying with this 'guys' flat in Belgrade: I have been the witness of a great friendship between those Lybian and English guys, I think I've never seen such a complicity between so different people! I laughed a lot watching them playing like children, as if they knew each other forever. The treatment I received there was also part of the surprise: those 2 guys were taking care of me as if I was a child, always worrying if I was hungry or needed something, preparing food for me, waw, perfect! And I have to admit that Sam,  this English guy was a great person, yes, an English guy, I admit! We were laughing a lot once again ( it already happened in another English in the train), about the French-English hatred. For the first time in my life I spent a lot of time with a "rosbiff", as we call them , walking around, talking about Serbia, that he knows quite well since he lives there, travelling, life, and watching the first football games of the world cup, and yes, I can say that we became friends!

                                                                             
 
                This cohabitation between an Arabic, English and French has been a cool gathering.