Bajina Bašta part 1

I’m sitting on the balcony at our apartment (Janovič) on the edge of Bajina Bašta just a hundred meters from the Drina river and the border crossing into Bosnia. It is chilly and damp from the low mist and fog but it’s predicted to be warm and sunny again today. A dog is making mournful noises somewhere in the neighborhood. When I woke today I heard sheep and roosters, and later, church bells. 

I love this spot. This valley is surrounded on all sides by steep forested hills (or mountains, depending on one’s definition ). The farmland is fertile. Many fields are filled with tall corn, the plants now dry and tan. We have heard it was not a good year for corn because of the many storms the area had this summer. 

We stayed at this same apartment last year on these same dates. Last year our hosts, Melisa and Zoran, were helpful and friendly but mostly left us to ourselves until the last day when we were delayed in leaving because workers were doing something to the road. Our hosts invited us to their porch for coffee while we waited for the road to open. They speak no English but we used Google to translate our simple conversation.

This year they are treating us like friends, largely, I surmise, because Cedar stayed here for 8 days in August and they thought he was wonderful. Their adult kids from Belgrade were in town when Cedar was here and because they speak good English they were able to have good conversations and in fact had a party with neighbors in Cedar’s honor one night. 

When we arrived Monday afternoon they greeted us warmly and immediately invited us inside for coffee. Of course Zoran also served us their rakija, this version made from plums from their orchard on their property across the river in Bosnia where they are originally from. They also grow pears, veggies and chickens. The tv was on, as it almost always is wherever we go, and tuned to N-1, a news station connected with CNN. We used our meager Serbian and Google to communicate while we drank Serbian coffee and ate Plasma biscuits, a staple here. Melisa showed me lots of photos on her phone, of her kids, their village, food, and hikes they have done. Their daughter, Bojana, 35, is an investigative journalist in Belgrade. Their son, Boban, is married and does some sort of IT work. Zoran is a retired Border Control agent. Melissa works in an office and will retire in 2 years. 

After 2 hours downstairs I finally tried to find the most polite way to take our leave. We unpacked then set off for town for dinner. Their road is a dead end and we enjoy taking the shortcut through the field and past the corn and cows. We like the feel of this small city (about 10,000 in the town, 25,000 in the municipality). As with most places over here the land is rich with history going back thousands of years. Most recently, until the 1870’s, the area (country!) was under Ottoman rule. When Serbia was established the Muslim Bosnians here had to move across the river into Bosnia. 

We ate at a place on the main road in the center of town where we had eaten twice before. They have good pizzas. We sat out front and watched the steady stream of people strolling by as they do every evening when several blocks are closed to cars and the street turned into a pedestrian zone. 

I don’t tire of watching people here. Old men in groups of 2 or 3, young men in groups of 2-3, teenagers, couples, and families with kids move about in no hurry as they enjoy each others’ company. Of course stray dogs roam about as well. We don’t see many groups of women walking together, probably because they are busy with chores at home. Women here do most of the cooking, housework and child-rearing often in addition to having a job.

I continue to try to identify why people here look different to me than people walking together in the U.S. I don’t know how much is due to my projections and how much is ‘true’, but when I watch people’s body language as they sit or walk together I notice they seem more actively interested and engaged in mutual conversation. They sit and walk closer together than we do. They are more physically expressive than most people are back home, including men with each other. They lean in to hear each other and they typically look at each other, in the eyes, when they talk. They seem genuinely interested in what each other is saying rather than being preoccupied with what they want to say next, or distracted by their own thoughts. In short, they appear to erect fewer walls around themselves than we do. I know these are generalizations, about Americans being more aloof and Serbs being warmer and more open, and my assessment might be off, but nonetheless there IS a difference culturally how people interact that I see and experience even if I might not be accurately articulating it.

..

The next morning I was sitting on the balcony and saw Melissa feeding the cats in the yard (her yard is a magnet for strays because she feeds them) and said, dobro jutro (good morning). She immediately invited us down for coffee. We sat in our spots in the main room that serves as kitchen, dining room and living room (as is standard in many houses) and while Melissa made coffee Zoran poured us rakija. The tv was on and there was extensive coverage of the recent shooting in Kosovo which feeds people’s worries that there could be war again. I won’t comment here about what happened because at the moment it is still difficult to assess whose story is most accurate. Not long after we arrived a neighbor showed up for coffee. She comes every morning. We all chit chatted in between watching the news about the Kosovo incident. Jim and I wished we could understand more.

After an hour or so Jim and I went back upstairs after agreeing we would go out for coffee later in the afternoon. We walked to the market to get a few things. Along the way Jim stopped and did pull ups at another outdoor exercise area, this one in better condition than most we see. It is set next to sports fields and a small soccer stadium and a pleasant park that includes a large concrete area with cheap amusement park rides, the kind that looks to be part of a traveling fair but seems to be here permanently. We saw them last year too. When we returned home Melisa gave us fresh from the oven cheese pastries that were delicious!

At 4 we set off in Zoran’s old, well-worn VW sedan. There were no seatbelts in the back, or at least none that we could find. They drove us along the Drina river about 20 minutes into Tara National Park. He pulled into an empty restaurant lot and we took a short walk up a path along a stream fed by springs at the base of the steep mountain in front of us. The water was clear and we could see trout swimming about. Next to the stream was a hatchery or fish farm, we couldn’t tell which. Melissa kept pointing to the water and repeating, čist, which means, clean. We then walked to a cafe/restaurant that sits at the edge of a steep drop down to the river. It’s a lovely spot with views of the aqua waters of the Drina and the surrounding forested hills. Their son got married at that place, about 9 years ago. 

While we enjoyed our drinks and conversation Zoran and Melisa kept looking at the food menu. We wanted to offer to buy something but feared if we offered they would counter-offer and insist on buying us something, so we said nothing. 

From there we continued up the road passed the large dam to the reservoir behind it where people swim and boat, and small floating vacation cabins (many with solar panels) dot the shore. It is a majestic spot with large (relatively) mountains around 3 sides of the lake. We walked out onto the ‘beach’, a large wooden dock with missing boards scattered about. In summer it is busy with tourists and vacationers, but there was only one guy and a stray cat there when we were there.

Zoran drove us back home and we immediately set off on foot for town. The park with the amusement rides was busy with people of all ages enjoying the evening. The ride most popular with teenagers had seats hanging from cables that rose out sideways to mimic the feel of flying when the center pole spun around. Kids were doing acrobatic maneuvers in their seats, scary but mesmerizing to watch.

 We tried a restaurant further up the main street where there is a fairly new attractive square with fountains and a couple newer big stores. This end of town has been updated in the past few years and is very pleasant. Once again we enjoyed watching people on the busy car-free street. The flavors of our food were good but there was too much sauce on my pasta and Jim’s chicken. An endearing shaggy stray dog joined us for dinner. We gave in to his imploring stare and wagging tail and shared a few bits of chicken with him.

I enjoyed our 20 minute walk home, savoring again the feeling of being unafraid to walk around safely at night.

Photos- view from our place, exercise stuff in the park, burek from Melisa, at the edge of Tara national park, Jim, Melisa and Zoran, reservoir above the dam, cow in the neighborhood, square in Bajina Bašta, dog companion, huge cabbages