One of us

Walking along the bank of the Sava recently and enjoying our Indian Summer, I had the pleasure to meet Marjan (MAHR-yahn), a fellow photographer, who's doing here what probably a lot of us would like to do. I certainly would, but never seem to get myself organized, with all my other daily obligations. He sells his tastefully framed and well-composed photographs for 1500 dinars, which is about $30.00, and says he manages to sell a couple each time he comes down to the riverside. The sign on the left is for his telescope that he's going to set up at twilight so that for 20 dinars a peek, folks can see the moon, Jupiter, Venus, and Mars, which he says will be visible.

ABC Wednesday "M" is for "Memories"

This post is dedicated to a Serbian gentleman who recently wrote to me through my blog. I was very touched by his email. He grew up here, but his parents wished a better life for him, and bought him a ticket to the US when he finished high school in the mid-sixties. Off he went, never to return. He sent me the top photo of a corner in Belgrade that was dear to him, and asked me to photograph it now, and so I did. There are very few changes. Here is part of what he wrote to me in his email:

"...The day before I had to go, I came out on street on which I grew up, and went to the nearest corner where I spent perhaps more time in my life then that I did in school, or at home, or anywhere else. That was the corner where I and my friends were growing up, day after day, year after year. Everything was happening there. The corner was at the intersection of street called Lenjingradska (now renamed Petrogradska) and a street named Topolska... My house was less than half a block away from that corner, but most of my childhood and adolescence, and of many friends who lived in neighboring houses, was developing on that corner. That was the safest place in the world for us, from which we launched our fantasies, our dreams, our plans for the future, our self-assertion, our sense of positive regard for each other, and everything else which those early phases of life bring. By now, most of us are all gone from that place. Some have died, some just disappeared without a trace.That day, not believing that all of that was coming to an end, I borrowed a camera from a friend and went to that corner to take a picture of it. It was still early in the day, before noon, women were going to and coming back from the market, and kids younger than me were still in school. I stood across the corner on which we used to gather, and took a picture of it, but then stood there for almost an hour, trying to remember everything about it, the smell of the air, the sounds of people walking by, the very essence of the world in which I lived until then..."

So, dear sir, I have dedicated this "Memories" post to you. I wish you well.

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On pins and needles

This is another "Darn--where's my camera?" photo taken on my cell phone when I didn't have my real camera. But I couldn't let this guy get away. Blagoje (BLAH-go-yeh, his name which has its root in the word "to bless") was walking along, calling out, "Needles! Scissors! Zippers!" and smiling all the while. I bought a pair of scissors that I didn't really need, since he was so cute. He let me take his photo and made me promise to send him a photo, which I will happily do. I also admired his cleverness in using one of those pull carts to display his merchandise while he pushed it in front of him, and to store it in when he finished his daily rounds. His sign reads:

• Needles...!!!
• sewing needles
• sewing machine needles
• crochet needles
• knitting needles
• tapestry needles
• safety pins
• carpet needles

Blagoje has it all. I especially like the fact he also sold bandaids, and he treated me to a pack when he wrapped up my scissors. Do I look like a klutz??

Laugh, and the whole world....

...laughs with you. This girl was undoubtedly thinking happy thoughts, or else she was very pleased to see these brilliant, gigantic flowers at Belgrade's recent Plant and Flower Show. She even kept smiling when she saw me take this photo.

"Happy ever after in the market place..."

Well, I'm definitely somehow on a rock "roll" now, with this photo named after the Beatles' song. This happy couple have a stand in a small market downtown, where they sell all kinds of batteries, plugs, extension cords...enlarge the photo to see. Before I took their photo, I'd been trying to photograph on the sly a woman selling cabbages, but she wasn't lining up as I liked. This lady gesticulated to me, making "clicking the camera motions," and said in English, "Please--photo!" (Imagine--she thought I was a tourist!) She was happy to find out I could really communicate with her, and we had a little chat. She pulled her husband over, and there's the photo. I promised her, as I often do with people, a hard copy.

Gimme Shelter!

You may think I'm on a music gig with my Purple Rain title yesterday and my reference to the Rolling Stones' song title today. But this pup was seeking shelter from our cold weather that we had a little while back. Oh, if those curtains just hung down a little bit more...

Purple Rain?

Not sure this is what Prince had in mind when he wrote Purple Rain, but there's not an umbrella in sight here. These balls are part of an advertisement for Komercijalna Banka, a Serbian bank founded in 1970, with 251 branches all over the country. These purple and white spheres are actually large stickers on the bank's window, and what you see behind the balls is actually a reflection of part of Belgrade's recent annual Flower and Plant Show.

A Politician with a Sense of Humor

Nikola Pašić (PA-sheech) 1845 - 1926, was a politician and diplomat. He was the most important Serbian political figure in the country for almost 40 years, twice mayor of Belgrade (1890-91 and 1897), several times prime minister of Serbia (1891-92, 1904-05, 1906-08, 1909-11, 1912-18) and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (the future Yugoslavia) 1918, 1921-24, 1924-26). He was also an important politician in the Balkans who, together with his counterparts in Greece and Romania, managed to strengthen their small, still emerging national states against strong foreign influences, most notably from Austria, Hungary, Turkey, and Russia. This is all quite admirable in itself, but Pašić was also known for his sense of humor. I wonder if he'd think it was funny that there's often a pigeon on his head.

ABC Wednesday "L" is for "lashes"

At Belgrade's recent annual Flower and Plant Show, I caught this seller taking time out to refresh her make-up. Gotta get those lashes ready to flutter. Join ABC Wednesday at: http://abcwednesdayround3.blogspot.com/

Back in Belgrade...15 years later!

This is probably my first really personal photo. Here are Chris and Jenny, two teachers who taught at the International School of Belgrade 15 years ago! They fell in love with Belgrade and the Serbs, and have always kept up contact with me and with Chris's Serbian cousins. Their travels have taken them to China (10 years!!), Costa Rica (4 years), and now they're in Doha, Qatar. But their hearts are in Belgrade, where they've just visited over their school's Ramadan break. In this photo they're about to enjoy a starter dish of kajmak (KY-mak), a rich, creamy type of spread guaranteed to eventually clog your arteries. Bon appétit, or Prijatno! (pree-YET-no), as they say here.

The Honey Fair

Yesterday was the last day of the annual Honey Fair in Tašmajdan (tash-MY-dahn) Park downtown. This fair is the largest honey fair, though there are smaller ones held occasionally at different times during the year throughout the city. Several hundred honey farmers or apiarists gather in the park to sell royal jelly, candles, beekeeping equipment, cookies, cakes, mead, and of course, all kinds of honey. I bought a kilo (large jar) of almond blossom honey with the comb inside. You can see that it was raining and quite chilly, which didn't deter crowds from taking advantage of some price reductions during the last day.