"Hello, my name is Sara, it's nice to meet you!"
A sense of relief comes over me, things are picking up. Entering Serbia 4 days before seems like such a dream now. On the second day my ankle began to swell and cause quite some pain, this led to a short 3rd day, sleeping over in Sombor with my first CouchSurfer for the trip. The conversation flowed freely into the night as I learned first hand about the ups and downs of life in Serbia.
The impressions I received during that evening where embellished by my second CouchSurfer in Novi Sad, who is, by coincidence, a fellow kiwi studying in Serbia. The evening is spent being entertained by comical Serbs and an eclectic mix of nationalities at a nice pub despite combat theme.
I continue, requiring directions, I stop to ask. I'm greeted by an inquisitive eye which has already giving my bike the once over. Without a common language we proceed into his house to look at his bike, there are 3 rooms full! 15 in total I'm told, it looks like more.We are joined by the broken English speaking daughter and I'm given drinks and snacks. Soon the broken (but a little better) English boyfriend arrives and out comes the infamous rakeja bottle, no less than 12 years old. We cheers to life and cycling and I reluctantly pass up the offer to spend the night. They are worried that I will have problems in Belgrade because the US vice president is visiting along with 500 (yes, 500) body guards and an 8 tonne armoured car.
Belgrade is filled with police, every 100 m there are three or four loitering like school boys. It's amazing what chaos one person can create.
The evening is spent with people I met on my previous visit to Serbia and my CouchSurfer At a small jazz club we discuss how education can be used to change the world until I start to fall asleep (surprise surprise).
I stop to ask a uniformed officer directions, he points ahead and waves me on with a big smile, after lots of starting and stopping I reach the edge of town and begin to wind south through woody hills.
I notice people are not quite as friendly, many don't respond to my greetings. It feels a little strange but I continue, as evening sets in I begin to search for a place to camp. A small village appears, it seems perfect. I ask the first people I see, without any common language I'm told that it's impossible, I must go back to the city. OK, I think. I then see a young women planting the garden with her grandmother, she calls for her brother who speaks very good English point to the grass where I can camp. Perfect!
I begin to pitch my tent, the women then comes to me and says "I'm sorry, you can't camp here, you must leave". I'm confused, I start to pack again, she sees my confusion and explains that they are from Croatia and it's not their land, the people from the village are very closed and do no accept foreigners. Cycling back towards town, I feel quite strange, disappointed I guess.
I try a few houses and am either met with nothing, or a no. I really start to think of alternatives, this has never happened before. An old man is chopping wood, I stop to ask. He starts off in German saying that I should come in, and to wait inside the gate. I feel some relief. His grand daughter then appears with a huge smile and says: "Hello, my name is Sara, it's nice to meet you!"
After asking if I have a passport her grandfather agrees, I again begin to pitch my tent. Sara then suggests that I stay at her parents place instead as she speaks English, so everything in the bags again and I'm on the road again, following her and her father in their car. I'm shown an ideal camping spot under a huge laden cherry tree. Food and a hot shower are then provided, life really does work out.
I tell of what happened in the village, Sara laughs and says that the guy in the village is her friend and will come, which he does. He apologises for his grandmother who he says is just afraid after living through so much. He actually came looking for me after I left to make sure I had found my way.
We head off into town to meet some of their friends and to discuss growing up in a small town in central Serbia, what dreams they have for the future and everything else that is real for them.
I retire to my tent with a smile on my face, a graduation party to look forward to in the morning. It's been a few years since I was a high school student.