Kao što sam i najavio pre nekoliko dana na twitter-u, u junu i julu idem na lepo letnje tronedeljno putovanje u američki Kragujevac, Budvu i Beograd, odnosno Detroit, Majami i Njujork (i možda još ponegde) , i planiram da ga maksimalno iskoristim za istraživanje i učenje.

To istraživanje i učenje planiram da prenesem “na papir”, tačnije ovaj blog, putem gomile post-ova, fotki i, ako se oskrbim tehnološki, putem video kanala. Tokom tih 3 nedelje putovanja, ali i još nekoliko nedelja kasnije, u zavisnosti od prikupljenog materijala, naravno.

Teme na koje ću obraćati pažnju i istraživati nisu različite od onih za koje se svakodnevno interesujem i o kojima diskutujem na blogu, twitteru, facebook-u:

• Mladi (šta su njihove vrednosti, koji su njihovi izazovi, kako izgleda njihovo detinjstvo u ova 3 grada?)
• Aktivizam (šta je uopšte aktivizam u različitim delovima SAD-a, ko su aktivisti, da li su različiti od naših?)
• Upotreba tehnologija (na koji način i koje tehnologije Ameri koriste u svakodnevnom životu? Gde je Android u odnosu na iOS?)
• Uprava/lokalna samouprava (birokratija, javni prevoz, elektronska uprava, kako uopšte to izgleda u npr. Majamiju?)
• Društveno preduzetništvo (šta je social business u SAD-u, ima li ga u bogatim gradovima, koje društvene probleme pokušava da reši?)
• Edukacija/obrazovanje (šta uče, kako je organizovano učenje? Pokušaću i da posetim neki od Uni kampusa i vidim kako to funkcioniše…)

Osim ovih tema, pisaću, logično, i o životu u SAD-u uopšte. Imaću prilike i da posetim neke od najboljih i naj-fensi klubova u Majamiju, kao i neke od najvećih i najjeftinijih Outlet centara, pa će biti i zanimljivosti tih vrsta. (Već mi se priviđa jedan post u kojem upoređujem cene u Majamiju i Beogradu )E sad, za ovo putešestvije mi je potrebna podrška da bi ono u potpunosti uspelo, pa stoga nudim priliku da sarađujemo.

Ako su vam teme koje sam gore naveo zanimljive, želite da neku dodatno ili ciljano istražim, vidite prostor za marketinškim oblikom saradnje (in-post reklama, baner, logo…), ili pak želite da dogodovštine prenesem na vašem portalu, javite mi se preko twittera, facebook-a, linkedin-a ili mailom na nikola . jovanovic @ gmail . com.

It’s funny ’cause it’s true…

Cartoons from: http://www.donika.com/cartoon.html

Have you ever met a Serb?

You know how we always tell stories about fearless Serbs, about how we kicked out all invaders throughout history, how we fearlessly won many many gold medals in many sports despite the fact that we are a very small country etc? Or stories about Serbia being the safest place on the planet…

Well, all these stories are true (seriously, they are), but apart from being so perfect, we actually do have a weak point – we trust our grandma’s unconditionally!

- “Grandma’s!?”, you ask…

Hell yeah! And let me tell you something – Serbian grandma’s are evil! They know that we are born to be perfect, but they feel kinda sorry for the rest of the world not having a chance against us, so they used every minute spent with us in the childhood educating us 2 things:

1. Trust your grandma’ unconditionally, for grandmas are keepers of eternal wisdom!

2. Modern science sucks. Grandmas know better!

Now, once properly raised and educated, you get an injection of fear towards the most stupid things ever! And we are educated so well that we tend to spread this “wisdom” as far as our circle of influence is stretching. That means that if you are coming to Serbia, don’t listed to CNN or Foreign Office when they tell you to bring a helmet – nope, we are no threat in that sense at all!

But do prepare to die! Say goodbyes to your friends and family, return your debts, do whatever you want to do before you die, cause Serbia is dangerous!
And here’s why:

One foreigner living in Serbia is apparently still alive but about to die very soon… And she is blogging about it…

Before coming here I spent a decent amount of energy convincing people that Serbia is a place where I will be quite safe. A lot of what people in the US know about the region relates to the wars, so when they hear names like Bosnia and Belgrade, they get nervous. Over and over again I explained that I would be safe, I knew what I was getting into, and that I almost certainly would not die.

I am sorry to say I have to take back those comments. It turns out I probably WILL die this year, and according to some Serbs, it’s a wonder I haven’t already. The following is a BRIEF list of all the things that Serbians are sure will kill me and/or cause me to be infertile (which seems to be a major concern over here):

If I go outside with wet hair, I will die.
If I stand or- God forbid- sleep in a drafty place, I will die.
If I use the AC too much, I will die.
If I drink too many cold drinks, I will die.
If I sit on cold concrete, my ovaries will freeze and I will become infertile (this is my favorite!)
If I walk around without shoes or socks on inside, I will become infertile, and then die.
If I let a wet bathing suit dry on my body, I will get a UTI, become infertile, and then die.
If I swim in a cold lake I will get a UTI, become infertile, and die.

Read the rest of the text at Maggie’s blog.

Now you all know… I revealed the biggest secret of them all, and I did it publicly…

If you don’t see me online these days, that probably means that I was either arrested by the government security agency or that grandmas got me!

This is where the GPS Navigation took us on our way to Timisoara airport!
How can you not love modern technology? Without it, we would never visit this amazing place )

Budget of CSKA – 30.000.000 EUR
Budget of Panathanaikos – 45.000.000 EUR
Budget of Partizan – 2.000.000 EUR
Lasme & Vesely (both foreigners) singing a fan song dedicated to the love for Partizan (in Serbian!!) – PRICELESS!!!

There are things that money can’t buy…

America:

“We have George Bush, Stevie Wonder, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash.”

Serbia:

“We have Vojislav Koštunica, no wonder, no hope and no cash.”

as the writer of the original post wrote in his piece – this had to pop-up sooner or later

How many times have I heard praises over Serbian women from fellow aiesecers and friends from all over the world that have visited Serbia? Jeez, who counts…

Or even when I’m abroad – people asking me if it’s true that we have so many beautiful girls, asking how the hell is that possible and generally being envious that I’ve been born there (lol!). Some guys even asked me to find them internships here, so that they can spend a nice summer over here (and perhaps get married hehe)…

Anyhow, all the guys here are fully aware of this fact, especially those that have traveled a bit… And wouldn’t be happy if they had to move to another country (not because we think there aren’t beautiful girls everywhere, but the percentage here is simply remarkable…). Except maybe to Argentina, since they are quite good with this ratio too, plus girls there are latinas

And sure you’ll hear all the guys talking about this all the time… But when you hear/read traditionally jealous women praising this particular phenomenon (among other), then it really becomes news… the author of the text below linked 2 nice articles there, to prove this… And I`m adding a link to a nice gallery of every-day girls in Belgrade, so…

Enjoy!

http://www.pbase.com/pavlec/belgrade_girls&page=all

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text below cross-posted from: Belgrade 2.0: Serbian girls – hot or not?
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This subject had to come up sooner or later, you know.
But I was hoping that something else will trigger it other than your usual drooling foreign guys impressions you see on net or hear from various sources: “Dude, they have the most beautiful girls there, I swear!” or “Man, Serbia is heaven on earth as for the girls are concerned!” or stuff like that.

No, I had to wait for at least a couple of women to mention it in order to conclude that there just might be something in all these drooling guys’ claims. And here they are:

Maggie Alderson, of Sydney Morning Herald :

“The whole thing was like some kind of genetic experiment. It was clearly just the national body shape.”

and Rosmary on her blog couple of days ago:

“If Tyra Banks saw an entire town of women like these while scouting for her America’s Next Top Model show, the top of her head would pop off. It would be too much to choose from, overwhelming.”

National body shape? Too much to choose from? Something is clearly going on here. Is it even possible to determine in one nation or in one region, say, that the women are, even generally speaking, better looking than somewhere else? Or is it just another stereotype? Well, even if it is, at least it’s a good kind of stereotype. I think. And what about us guys? Nobody mentions us, I guess we have to conclude that we are average joes. Oh well.

Maybe it’s just the way girls dress and the time they invest in dressing up. I don’t know what to think anymore, seriously. You?

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Lots of friends from abroad have either been making fun of me or asking questions about my purse/handbag/european carryall/gay bag/whatever you call it…
for most of the people, it is either a gay thing, or metrosexual, or simply a girl item…
And it seems that it is a kind of a cultural shock for visitors in Serbia… it strucks them that such a “homophobic nation” is cool with “gay items”…

well, even if we often use a name “pederusa” (gay-bag) for it, I don`t think anyone really finds it gay… it`s simply useful! no need to fill your pockets with all the stuff you usually carry around: cell phone(s), credit cards, cigarettes, IDs, money, pen, papers, usb stick, condoms etc… although, it is indeed a risk that if you lose it – you lose all the stuff , but that never happened to me… yet…

anyways, there`s a nice blog about it at B92.net VIP blog – author is a foreigner living in Belgrade… read the comments too – some are really funny!

Jess, enjoy it – this post is for you anyways!