Wind blows on...

I had my last night in Belgrade... it was good. I finally got lost. This is different than getting lost in other cities. There are no maps. No street names. If a street has a name, it's written in Cyrillic. Chances are, the name has also been changed at least three times. It was an epic adventure.

I was trying to get to Jacob's apartment by 8:00 for a little sending off dinner with everyone. I had it in my head that he and I lived on opposite ends of the 26 bus line, so I thought it would be a pretty easy trip. Not so.

I ended up at the end of the 26 line in Dorćol, texting Jacob - "I think I'm lost." This was at 7:50. Apparently, Jacob doesn't live on the 26 bus line, he lives on the 28 - who knew? So, I got back on the 26, went half way back to my house, and got off at the law school. There, I asked some people for directions to the bus stop for 48 or 33, and they directed me to the center median of the cross street. How Belgrade traffic patterns function, I'll never know.

After waiting many minutes for the bus to come, I took it to the "third stop" like I was directed... it was the middle of some random intersection. I called Jacob's apartment so someone could come find me. I waited and waited and waited. Yes, I was at the wrong intersection...

At this point, I was hungry and cold enough to just head home. So, I crossed the street and walk a few blocks to the the bus station heading back to the law school. I called Rachel and said that I was in Cvijićeva and giving up.

When I got back to the law school, Danjiela (Jacob's host mum) calls and said that I absolutely need to come because she had information for me about her Roma projects. Talk about dangling the carrot. I turned around, got back on the 48 bus "headed down the hill" and this time, counted the law school stop as the first of three stops (which is what I messed up the first time)... and get off at Cvijićeva...

I finally made it to Jacob's at 10:00. I was never really lost. I ALWAYS knew where I was, I just had no idea where I was going (which is an analogy for my life in general).

Luckily, it was a beautiful (but cold) night. It was completely clear and there was a full moon. The Koshava wind was blowing up from the south, which, in my opinion, makes the city air feel less polluted.

Today, it's back to Croatia... wind blows on...