quarterly report

Six months ago – nearly to the minute – I arrived in Serbia. A quarter of the time I am scheduled to be here has passed. Craziness. I feel like I should be sharing some grand insight into life in Belgrade, but there wasn’t a flash of lightening as I rolled out of bed this morning.

One thing that has been on my mind for the past week or so is spending my time in ‘Serbian ways.’ On the nights that I hole up in my flat to watch movies or stay in to clean, cook, and do laundry, I feel a bit like I am wasting the precious time I have here, that I am not taking ‘full advantage’ of the city I am living in. This is becoming stronger now that it is warmer, now that it’s so cold, doesn’t overrule any desire to leave the house.

It’s pointless, though. Wasted emotional energy. I am trying to get over it. I can’t go out on the town every night; it isn’t feasible physically, financially, mentally. I never had any sort of feelings like this in Portland, where I lived for less time than I will live here. A night spent of TV on DVD marathoning with friends was a perfectly acceptable way to pass a Saturday night there, so why does it feel strange to do that here? (Some friends and I watched 5 episodes of Gilmore Girls last night.) Comfort and solace and mental health days are just as important here –if not more so- as they were in my previous life.

It’s time to stop feeling weird about that.