ISP Time = Cultural Immersion
We started ISPs a few weeks ago and it's going so incredibly well! At first I was caught off guard by how profoundly sad I was when I saw my friends off to the bus, but these part few weeks have been awesome. It's really pushed me out of my comfort zone and instead of allowing Will or someone to plan what we're doing, I make my own plan. Instead of going to the same old places, which are admittedly great and always fun, which is why wee go back as often as we do, I've been checking out new things regularly.
Working with alternative cultural groups really opens up doors for my social activities, let me tell you. I've been to provocative art exhibits, a post-modern dance performance, obscure coffee houses, and tonight, if the rain or my own lack of motivation doesn't stop me, I'm going to this prohibition style cafe where a group of people are gathering to listen to a radio opera. It sounds so cool and I'm loving having this time to myself to meet new people and explore parts of Belgrade I hadn't before. Because no one else is making the plans, I can pretty much go where I want, when I want without fear of missing out on something else.
On top of my own new discoveries, my friend, George, is very adventurous and quite curious and because he also stayed in Belgrade, we explore together often. Yesterday, he took me to the best coffee shop that I've tried here in this little hole in the wall place in the warehouse district. You can only imagine how hip it was, but the espresso was delicious and it was a gorgeous day, finally! Then we went to a buddhist meditation in this woman's house which was cool to experience because it was an actual Buddhist practice, not some Earth Mom's, looking to find themselves while staying hip. I really enjoyed experiencing a different style of prayer, reflection, meditation, whatever you choose to call it. I thin kit's pretty important regardless of what you believe to open yourself up to what others choose to experience, practice and believe in.
I feel really good and wish I had had the opportunity to get involved with some of these alternative cultural communities earlier in the semester because they're doing such cool work and I'm loving researching their role in processes of democratic transition in Belgrade (that's loosely what my ISP is about). I've done endless reading and some interviews as well and today I started writing and actually was productive, imagine that! Hopefully tomorrow's work will go the same. Fingers crossed.
