Friday rain and thunderstorms were predicted in the afternoon, so after breakfast (Jim walked to town to buy more pastries) we set off, down the hill this time, toward the Drina river where we hoped to visit one of the many stony beaches and maybe have coffee at one of the several cafes scattered along the otherwise undeveloped riverfront.
We were surprised to see the main intersection in town was blocked off and realized that even in the very small town of BK, every day at noon a couple dozen people stand in silence to protest against the government.
Most of the walk is pleasant, on a small road through fields, then a dirt road on the mostly undeveloped riverfront side of the busy main road. There are some small holiday houses here, many raised on columns due to the tendency for the river to flood. But for a stretch of the walk one must travel on a path on top of a high berm next to the road. When we reached the turnoff from one dirt road to the one that goes to the river we rounded a bend and discovered the river was flooding the road. There was no way past, and the map showed the cafe is temporarily closed, presumably due to the flooding. So we backtracked and once back near town took another road that steeply climbs the hill through a residential area of mostly old houses and passes behind town and back down to our place.
Once home I worked on writing and Jim crossed the street to the outdoor ‘gym’ hidden amidst the trees where there is rudimentary exercise equipment. Rains came as predicted and delayed our walk to Contact for dinner because the rain was so heavy, but when it lessened we donned rain pants and raincoats and made our way to the restaurant. The food was good, as usual.
Saturday we were scheduled to meet at our cousin Rada’s apartment in the town of Loznica at 1 pm for lunch with family. But when we went out to the car our host said one of our tires was low, and when Jim took a look saw a screw had punctured the tire. Our host said there was a ‘vulcanizer’ (tire repair shop) on the main road in town so we notified our family we would be late and pulled up by the very small shop. When we rented the car we had been told if we needed any repairs we needed to call the rental company to approve the shop. It took me 4 failed calls to realize our SIM card was only good for calls in Serbia (the rental office is in Croatia). So I switched my cell back to ATT and paid the $12 fee for the international day. I tried 5 more times to call Enterprise but each time the guy on the other end could not hear me. Finally HE called me and we could both hear each other. And he said, no problem, fix the tire. It cost us $7 as opposed to $25 in Seattle.
Even though we were running 45 late we popped in to the flower store near my cousin’s apartment thinking it might take 5 minutes to get some flowers. The friendly shopkeeper was helpful but was soooo slow and chatty. She talked favorably about the protestors and very harshly against Vučić and Trump. We were there nearly 15 minutes.
Finally we arrived at Rada’s and were greeted warmly and ushered into the living room where we sat only briefly because everyone was hungry. We then went into the small dining room where 6 of us ate lunch (the others ate later). We had a broth soup with veggies and chicken, bread, a platter of grilled meats, a bowl of chopped onions, a red pepper salad, radishes, whole scallions and a delicious layered cake called ‘city cat’ for dessert.
We sat around the table chatting for a couple hours. Rada and her husband, both well into their later 80’s, don’t speak or understand English so didn’t talk much, but Rada listened closely when Ružica and her 2 teenage daughters translated. Ružica’s son Djordje, 17, and her brother’s son, Nikola, 10, stayed in the room briefly but then disappeared into the other room. We of course talked about politics in our countries. All of them think Vučić is ruining their country and Trump is ruining ours. Lazo, who works as an agricultural inspector, sees and hears first hand from the farmers who are suffering from Vučić’s policies. I asked Rada if, at her wise age, fretted much over politics and she shrugged and said no. She of course has concern for her grandkids’ futures
Katarina, almost 13, and Nevena, almost 15 both have excellent English, but of the 2 Katarina is much more outgoing and fearless in speaking. While they learned English in school what has helped them most is watching American movies and tv shows and seeing videos on TikTok. Katarina knows lots of popular slang and idioms. She wants to be a lawyer, Nevena a researcher (she loves Chemistry). Djordje’s wants to be a computer programmer. Both girls also dream of spending a school year studying in America when they are in high school.
At the end of our time we exchanged gifts, then said our goodbyes. I got teary when I told Rada how much I appreciate our visits and am sorry we can’t communicate better due to our lack of shared language, but that I feel a deep connection to her in my heart. She said, through Katarina, that she feels the same.
Once back home we went to Contact for dinner and had a relaxing evening. Once again I felt full of gratitude for another lovely and touching day.
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