here. It's so free, I guess, in the

sense that like people do whatever they

want. There are things that people do

here that like in the US would not fly.

This is Basil. He's an American who came

to Serbia 2 and a half years ago. Back

in the US, he converted to Orthodox

Christianity. And in Serbia, he's about

to begin studying at the faculty of

Orthodox Theology at the University of

Belgrade [music] to become a priest. He

shared how he found true freedom in

Serbia, how he managed to combine

orthodoxy with his love for techno, and

what is the main difference between

[music] Serbs and Westerners. Enjoy.

>> So you came to Serbia. What were your

shocks in the country when you first

came here?

>> In the US, from the moment you can talk

or read or listen, whatever, America is

the land of the free. You know, you're

free, free, free, freedom, liberty,

freedom. And I think here it's so

free I guess in the sense that like

people do whatever they want. Like there

are things that people do here that like

in the US would not fly. For example,

like I don't know in the US I could get

fined for walking down the street with

an open beer in my hand. Like that's

illegal. But here like nobody cares.

Maybe not walking down the street, but

like I've gone with friends to like

calamed down and sat on the wall, have a

beer and watch the sunset. You get in

trouble for doing that in the US. You

need the like the brown paper bag, you

know, you see in movies, blah blah blah.

>> But like not even just that, it's like

um I remember like this was one of these

moments that I was like, "Okay, I love

this place."

>> Was and it was the first time after I

had left Serbia when I moved here. So,

I'd been here like 3 or 4 months and I

went outside of the country for the

first time since I'd been here to travel

to Portugal and it was just, you know,

went for like a few days and then I came

back and I was taking the the shuttle

back from the airport here to like

Slavia

and I remember there was really bad

traffic. So the shuttle bus driver just

drove the bus up over the sidewalk like

behind the tram and then just like past

all of the traffic driving behind the

like tram on the tracks.

>> And I thought like this would never

happen in the US. And I was this is I

was like I love this place. Like it's

just there's a problem. Okay, there's an

obvious solution. I I just thought I was

like that just blew my mind. I still

think about that moment. I was just like

okay this place is like

>> it's great. But uh you know this freedom

has its flip side. I was thinking about

it and for people who accustomed to

rules and uh to you know to the

situation when the rules are working you

know the rules are in place

>> here it could be a bit difficult.

>> Yeah that's [laughter] true. That's

true.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah. Yeah, I mean there are definitely

things that like are not as convenient

or smooth or easy. Um like bureaucracy

here is a nightmare. Like I remember the

first time I ever had to go to the

Estrans to like get visa paperwork stuff

like [sighs]

like it it bureaucracy here is crazy and

other things like the buses like and I

know it's funny cuz I have a friend here

who's from Germany and he would always I

never understood why but he would always

be like Belgrade has the best public

transportation in the world and I said

like sometimes it's 50/50 if the bus

even shows up Like and then but then I

went to visit a friend in Germany and I

went on the German trains and now I

understand why people love it though.

>> In comparison with Germany

yes totally. What about food? It was a

shock.

>> I don't know. It's very different food

but it's delicious. Like I love Serbian

food so much. Um, and I think like I had

a I was I was with a friend the other

day and he's not from not from Serbia

and we were trying to figure out what to

have for dinner and I said I was like,

"Oh, you know, we go get rost like I'm

sure there's somewhere nearby." And he

said, "Oh," he's like, "I'm sick of

rosh." I'm like, "How is that possible?"

Like, this is amazing. So, yeah. No,

Serbian food is great. I think I was

surprised at how simple it is. like I

think um you know it's a lot of just

grilled meat, cabbage and uh potatoes or

something, but it's good quality,

especially compared to American food.

Like I think US foods, a lot of it is so

processed and very fake. There is a

place in my heart for that. Like when I

come back from the US, I always bring a

box of like craft macaroni and cheese

with me cuz I want to taste the plastic.

No, I mean I the food is really really

good. Especially the the culture around

the food. Like it's so like I was at a

at a friend's like birthday party

earlier this week and there was like

pen. So we had lamb and pork. You know

you have big plates. Everybody just

takes what they want like you know we

call it like family style in the US but

you know just eating communally. And I

think in the US and I thought about this

before with other foods, but the pichen

is the same idea is it seems to me that

like a culture doesn't get really good

at cooking a huge portion of something

unless they're always eating it with a

big group of people. And I think in the

US we don't have anything like that.

Like there's there's very few except for

maybe some parts of like the southern US

with American barbecue. Like there's not

these this culture of let's develop a

way of cooking a whole animal all at

once or like I remember thinking that in

Greece with Yos like who develops this

way of making a giant thing unless

you're like feeding a ton of people.

>> Yeah. And so I think even the way the

food is prepared like shows

that it developed in a in a

in a community of people who are eating

together and celebrating things together

and you know whatever. So I think that

was really really cool. But I think

Serbs need to increase their tolerance

for spicy food. I like spicy food and

there's not a lot of it here. So

sometimes I like I want to get my fix,

you know? Also, I have to go find some

Indian food or something that can like

give me that.

>> So, rot pa it's your favorite choices.

>> I mean th those are really good but also

like the dishes like sarma or like pa

paprika [gasps]

like those are delicious as well. It

seems to me that people give pui a lot

of hate but I really like it. So, I

don't know like that's one of the things

I make for myself at home all the time

like especially when I want something

that's posing beans is great. So, I

don't understand the hate for them. But

yeah, I mean, there's not any Serbian

food I've tried that I don't like. So,

it's all good. I mean, the one thing I'm

interested to try is what's it called?

Pescita J. Like the the raw peskita,

like kind of like tartar, I guess. I

think it's from like Valivo, like

somewhere in the southwest is where they

make it.

>> So, it's bles,

>> but it's raw. I haven't tried it. I

really want to.

>> Sounds horrible for me. No, I love I

like I I I tried something like that cuz

I you know I like beef tartar or

whatever, but I tried there's a similar

thing in um that I had in Lebanon called

Kibay which is like the same idea. It's

like raw meat with spices and I learned

I don't know like 6 months ago or

something that that's a thing here and

ever since then I've wanted to try it

but I haven't like seen it anywhere here

in Belgrade and I was told it's best in

volleyball area so I got to go. Have you

ever checked uh do you have any

ancestors from Serbia? Because you look

like Serb.

>> As far as I know, no. Like I I mean, but

I understand I get that a lot. Like I

think a lot of people don't realize I'm

not a Serb until I open my mouth. That's

been true pretty much anywhere I've gone

like in the Balkans, people have assumed

I'm from there. Like even when I went to

Lebanon, people assumed I was Lebanese,

which that was surprising to me. I don't

know. My friends joke I have ethnic

camouflage. like I just I blend in

wherever I am. But um no, my my dad he

was uh Mali from New Zealand and then my

mom is American I think ethnically cuz

she was adopted. So her

biologically

for some reason my whole life I've

thought or we've had this idea that

she's like Finnish, but I have no idea

for sure. Like I think that's just in my

head from somewhere. But yeah, no

Serbian ancestry at all. And especially

people like uh when they find out that

I'm Orthodox as well, that's they're

always like, "You must be Serb." I'm

like, "Nope." Like [laughter]

in the US, I'm very very far above

average height.

And here I'm still above average, but

like it's normal for me to see people as

tall as me. And so it's uh that was a

funny thing when I first came because

that was one thing I did know is that

people here were tall. And I remember my

first weekend I went into a bar

somewhere and I counted five people that

were taller than me. Before then in my

life the number of times that had

happened was like twice and it was

because I was in the room with like a

basketball team or something. So I feel

a little more normal maybe.

>> What is your favorite part of Belgrid?

>> Dorchal is a nice area. It's nice to

walk around all the cafes and the bars

and things and people are there and then

Kinesov is right there as well which is

really nice. I'm happy living. So this

is Syak technically I think and I like

this neighborhood. It's really nice. But

as far as stuff to do and there's not

the people out cuz you know we don't

have cafes back here. It's just houses

and apartments. But this is a good area

cuz it's close to everything else too in

some sense. Like in the summer I can get

to Ada really quickly which is always

nice. It's close to the waterfront as

well. I like being along the river. I

don't like the waterfront development

itself. It feels like Miami. I'm there.

I'm like, this doesn't feel like

serving.

>> That was the purpose actually of this uh

project to feel like Miami.

>> Yeah. Well, they succeeded. I don't know

that that's a good thing, but like if

that was the point, you know, they did a

good job of it. I guess it doesn't feel

like Serbia down there. It feels like

something else. I I don't know. Like I

do like this neighborhood because you

get back here and it's just houses and

trees and cats and you feel like you're

not in the city for a little bit, you

know?

>> Sa are very posh residential areas.

>> It's funny cuz like my street doesn't

feel that posh, but then like I'll walk

two blocks over and see some of the

houses that are here. I'm like, "Okay,

this is a posh area, you know."

>> So you converted to Orthodox church. Y

>> how did you get this idea? So, I like

grew up in like an American Protestant

family. Um, and then when I was in

college, uh, I discovered or I heard of

Orthodox Christianity cuz it was

mentioned in one of my classes, um,

Arabs. We're talking about the Middle

East and like Orthodox Christianity

there. And something about it just

piqued my curiosity. Like there was just

something about it that was like, "Okay,

this is interesting. Like, I want to

know more." And I think at first it was

just curiosity because it was something

that I'd never seen before or heard of

before. And so um like I had a vague

idea that like orthodoxy existed because

I knew in my head Russia was some other

kind of Christian that like I didn't

know anything about. So I was reading

and then something about it was just

like really

different and and beautiful to me I

think. And so I tried to like I went

online to find like where the nearest

like Orthodox church to where I was to

where I was living in the US. Um and it

was a church with Arabs. It was a Syrian

church. And so I went to like my first

service there, my first luria. And uh it

was in Arabic mostly with some English.

And I just remember like it was

something

very very beautiful and profound and

powerful that touched me very deeply and

it was just this like I just knew at

that moment I was like okay whatever

this is I want in. So, um, I kept going

there and I learned to to like chant

like to sing the church songs in Arabic

and in English. And, uh, after about a

year and a half, I was baptized. And

then that's also partly what piqued my

interest in Serbia as a country to pick

of all the countries outside of the US

cuz I knew it was an Orthodox country

and I was curious about what that would

be like to live here because I had done

a little bit of study in Greece in

university. Um, and so I got a kind of

taste of that of seeing like, oh,

there's churches everywhere and like

everybody thinks they have the same like

religious foundation and they see the

world in a similar way that I have

learned to see the world and so

uh that was also part of what drew me

here and it has not disappointed at all.

>> How did your relatives and friends

reacted to your conversion?

>> Mixed. It was a mixed bag. I have there

were one or two people who I know who

like basically stopped talking to me cuz

they saw me as having like become

something other than Christian. The rest

of my family it was more like they were

kind of like okay that's your thing but

like they didn't really express much

thought about it like oh okay you're

doing your thing or whatever. And

[snorts] then my mom is now Orthodox as

well. So, she became Orthodox after I

did because I think she was curious

about what I was doing. Um, cuz she knew

that I had started going to like this

new church [snorts] and she told me

later on that she thought that I was at

first that I was joining a cult. She was

like, "Oh, this is something weird like

whatever." So, she wanted to know about

what I was learning and what I was doing

and becoming

I think a lot of out of curiosity or

even worry at first. And then it just

like as I was learning things, she was

just one of the people that I talked to

the most. Um, and so I would tell her

about stuff. And then she got curious

and she started asking a lot of the same

questions I was. After not long she

started going to the, it's funny, there

was for years we didn't know it, but

there was an Orthodox church like 5

minutes down the road from her house. So

she started going there and she's been

there since. So she came after me. But I

think it was never my intention to like

convince her or bring her with me. It

was just like I was being I think

affected positively

by what I was learning and what I was

experiencing. And so I just wanted to

share that because she's my mom and it

had the same effect on her as well. Um,

and I think she said she said one of the

things that convinced her that it wasn't

a cult is because she's like she said

she could see the way that it changed

me.

>> How did it change you?

>> I used to be an This was when I

was a Protestant Christian. Like and I

think it was just the way that that that

system of thinking affected me and the

way I perceived the world. like I was

really I wouldn't have known I wouldn't

have known how to describe this at the

time or I wouldn't have been aware of

this but I was really angry I think at

the world about a lot of things and like

things that I saw as problems but I was

mad about it instead of feeling like

compassion I was really judgmental and

like I you know I still try not to but

like I used to just like anytime I saw

people doing stuff I always was like

thinking okay this is good this is bad

this is good this is I wouldn't do that

or I would do this or like it just it

was exhausting and I Think that was one

of the first things that changed is I

was like I can't I can't sustain

thinking like this like if I'm

constantly just worried about what are

other people doing what do I think of it

but like I need to deal with me first

you know so that was something that I

felt that change in myself and

my mom apparently saw it too. So I think

that was one I think it's just my

approach towards other people changed.

Like I think the at least

like I'm far more aware of when I fail

in like caring for my friends and my

family and the people around me. And I

don't know. I guess I have a I try to

hold myself to a different standard than

I used to of what it means to like treat

someone well, you know? Like I think

that played out in like we were talking

about community here in Serbia. Like I

think even if people are not, you know,

cuz I know not everyone here like

regularly goes to church and whatever,

but it it's kind of baked into the

culture in a way that I think it affects

the way that people live and behave here

toward each other even if they're not

really aware of it just because it's

like it's baked in, you know, but um

which is cool to see for me cuz this is

like something that I chose, but then to

see like there are people who are raised

and born born and raised this way like

that's crazy to me. What's the situation

with faith in America? I was wondering

is America a religious country?

>> My my gut reaction is that no, the US is

not a very religious country. Um I would

I think a lot of people like if you

asked them um a lot of people would say

that they're some kind of Christian or

something, but like as far as whether

that actually impacts the way that they

live on a day-to-day basis, no. Um, and

I think it's interesting. There have

been I know there have been some studies

and stuff in the last like maybe 10

years. There's a growing number of

people in the US who wouldn't identify

themselves as any kind of religion. Like

I think now it's I could be wrong about

this, but it's almost half of the

country now would identify themselves as

nothing um, religiously speaking. But

there are definitely it depends where

are you are in the US too. Like you go

to parts of the South or the Midwest

which we call like the Bible belt. It's

like everybody there is some kind of

like Protestant, but then you have other

places where you know it's a a desert so

to speak of religious activity. And then

especially it was interesting too

because like when I became Orthodox I

went from being like part of the the

mainstream religious group in the US to

being a group that's less than like 2%

of the Christian population which is

like itself only half of the country. So

it's like it shrunk very very quickly.

>> Um which was an interesting experience

to say the least.

>> What about language? Do you learn Serban

language?

Foreign

speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech.

Melody.

Yeah.

How does uh Orthodox faith influences

your everyday life now?

>> I'm in church pretty much every day.

Like go to there's, you know, services

in the morning and stuff. Soon it's

going to be my my whole life cuz I'm

going to start studying at the the

Boguski facult um to maybe become a

priest one day. Basically, I will be

studying part-time this year while also

learning Serbian. And then I'll start

full-time studies for like the Bogoski

Focalet next fall. And soon I'm going to

be I've been learning how to uh to sing

and like learn that like I have the the

Venezuelan school like I'm learning how

to read it and it's very difficult.

>> You mean difficult because they have

these very difficult tones, you Yeah,

the tones are really difficult. And also

I had to learn how to read like I'm

still trying to learn how to read

cerillic well, but learning like the

church savonic that's the writing is

even more difficult. So I'm trying to

learn that now and I'm working hard to

like figure that out. I mean and just

daily life like uh you know fast days

like Wednesdays and Fridays or postno

and um then you know like the the longer

periods coming up to Christmas and

Easter and my house is decorated with uh

icons and stuff. I think it's like I see

the way that it changed the world for me

or at least changed my understanding of

the world changed me and so it's like

when I've worked other jobs it's like

kind of you know I have this sense of

like well the feeling of importance or

like what I'm doing with a job is just

like it could be something doing

something more. So now hopefully uh I

think I found that or at least I'm

starting to to find that. And that's one

of the cool things here with Serbia is I

remember like my first time like I went

into the supermarket and I was looking

for like what I was going to eat cuz I

was trying to figure out okay well what

is there here that I can make that's

like vegan you know so you lentils and

rice and that kind of thing and then I

remember seeing like the plasma box with

like the thing on a pos plasma and I was

like that's so cool like in the US

that's not a thing like you don't have

this labeled because it's good for

fasting or whatever like I was like okay

I'm yeah that was really cool but so

that another thing that shocked me when

I came here.

>> So were any surprises for you in Serbian

Orthodox Church when you came here? The

Slava is a big one. [clears throat] Like

that is something that doesn't as far as

I understand like it's a thing only in

Serbia when I was brought in with the

the Arab Christians and then you know

the Greeks I know and everyone else like

they celebrate uh names days you know.

So like if you're named for a saint the

the day in the year that that's their

feast like it's a kind of like a

personal holiday. So like mine is uh St.

Basil the great

and uh so it's like in January is that

day you know it's a names day and it's

you know make a little cake and at least

when my mom and I like when my mom was

orthodox then it became like a little

thing we would just have that day but

here I was shocked that that's not a

thing like people don't have their own

day they just have their family slava

which I think is really cool that that's

a thing and I remember [clears throat] I

was one of my uh my friends here told me

that if I ever get married to a Serbian

woman, I have to pick my own Slava. So,

like that might be cool to do one day.

But yeah, that was the biggest thing.

Like I'd never heard of that before. I'd

never seen that like practice because

you know it's unique to hear and I think

that's really cool being from Russia

from Orthodox country but basically

>> uh it was no surprise for me to witness

all this orthodoxy here. But I was

genuinely shocked when I've seen a

teenager making a cross.

>> Yeah. Seeing people walk by and kids

too. I remember going to uh Manacea

Monastery. Uh it's in like the Spotats

and uh it was just one of the days like

I wanted to get out of the city, go see

somewhere new. So I think I don't know

somebody was visiting me at the time,

maybe my brother or my mom cuz I've had

family come to visit me here in Serbia.

But we went there and there was like a

school trip of kids and they were

probably I don't know 10, 11, 12 year

olds and they were all like walking out

of the monastery. They were crossing

themselves and like going up to the

church and I I just thought I was like

this is like I thought about like what

kids in the US would be like on that

kind of trip and like the teacher would

be running around trying to get them to

like behave and all these kids like I

was amazed. It's uh the certificate from

when I jumped off the old bridge in

Mustar. I was there

last summer, I think, and I saw the

bridge and I knew people jumped off it.

And I've been cliff jumping before, so

I was determined to jump. And they they

pay like you have to pay to do it. It

was like, I don't know, €40 or something

cuz

>> €4.

>> Yeah. Because what they do is they have

like a practice platform. So they take

you to the practice jump and they like

teach you to make sure that you're like

you know what you're doing before they

let you jump off the big one. And so

then once you do it then you like write

your name in a book and then you can go

back and jump anytime you want for free.

So if I go back there I would definitely

jump again. It was so much fun.

>> Are you going out here

>> some? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I when I

first moved here I was living with uh

people who are now good friends with a

guy from Italy and a girl from Greece

and I was introduced to techno.

>> Wow.

>> Yeah. Yeah. So, it was like maybe my

first or second weekend here and there

was something happening down at uh maybe

Hungad or Luca Belgrad or drugtore, one

of these places. And he was like, "Oh,

do you want to like come out? We're

going to a club." And like I had in my

mind like what an American club is,

which is just like a bar with lights and

some dancing and it's open maybe an hour

later than everywhere else is. And you

know, I remember just the first thing is

I was like, "Okay, when are we going

out?" out and he's like, "Oh, we don't

need to leave until like midnight." And

I just thought in the US you like you

start if you're going to go out for the

night, you go at like 8:00 and you're

done by midnight. Like cuz I mean most

of the US, at least like the state that

I'm from, everything has to close by

2:00 at the latest. So like the whole

night is earlier. And so then we went to

the techno thing and I it was so cool.

Like I loved it. I fell in love with the

music. Like now I listen to it at home.

I don't go out that much like on the

weekend, but if I do, it's often if

there's like a DJ or something that I

want to see, I'll go to that. But

otherwise, it's just

I don't know, social stuff with friends

like how you know having people over to

the house for dinner or going to a bar,

having a few drinks or something like

that. And there's good live music and

stuff here too. I found that's really

good. Satinska is a great place that I

love, which to me it's it's in a strange

way one of the most American things in

Belgrade, I think, to have a bunch of

bars around a parking lot. Like

>> because in the US you have to drive to

the bar. Like [laughter]

this is really bad, but like I had a

friend in uh college and one of the

things he used to joke about is he said

if you weren't supposed to drink and

drive, they wouldn't put parking lots at

the bars.

>> Yeah. [laughter] Totally.

>> So, like having a a parking lot here

with a bunch of bars around, it's really

funny to me because like

>> that's a weird thing here, but not that

weird for Americans. [laughter]

>> What do you think how Serbs are in their

social socializing life in in their

night life? Are they different from

Americans?

>> I think there are a lot of differences I

think and some of them are more obvious

and some of them are more like nuanced.

I think in the US, and I don't think

this is a good thing, but I think in the

US often when people go out, like the

reason that they want to go out is to

get drunk. Like that that's the goal is

like, "Oh, we're going out to drink and

to get drunk." Whereas I think here it's

like it's not common, I don't think, to

see people that are really drunk in

public. Like of course you see it but

not not nearly the way that you see it

in the US because I think here it's more

like we're doing this activity to

socialize and to be around friends and

to be around people and it just happens

we're like having drinks while we're

doing that but it's not like the point.

Not to say that that's always true in

the US but it's definitely common. So I

think that's a big one. I think also is

that it's more normal for people to

interact with strangers. I guess or like

talk to strangers, especially in it

depends on the I mean so much depends on

the setting cuz the kind of bar you're

in or the kind of place that you're in,

but like I think about like if we're

talking about like the most Serbian

thing like I've gone to like a night at

like a kafana or something with Serbian

friends and then it's like you know by

the end of the night like you feel like

you're best friends with everybody in

the room and I've never had an

experience like that in the US. Like I

remember the first time I ever went to

that kind of thing. Um you know it was

like Serbian traditional music live and

there was some guy in there celebrating

the birth of his child.

>> And so the first thing that I thought

was weird is that everybody was going up

and ripping his shirt. Like I guess

that's a thing here they do

>> that you know I might butcher the what

it actually is but at least my

understanding is that like when you have

your first kid or something it was

explained to me that they rip the shirt

of the new father and so everybody was

coming in saying hi and then like

tearing a bit of his shirt and so by the

end of the night I tore a bit of his

shirt like we were all like you know

hugging and singing blah blah blah and

like never had anything like that happen

in the US so I think just people's 's

openness

towards strangers maybe is more and I

think especially depending on where you

are in the US that's more or less like

there are certainly places where that's

not as the the the people's suspicion of

strangers is as strong but like I think

about if you go out in like the city in

the US or something like people are

always a little bit of suspicious of

other people's motives like why are they

talking to me what do they want from me

or you know especially if you have

interactions between men and women

that's a whole like there's so many

layers of just like

that being complicated, you know, but I

think here it's a little more a little

more simple.

>> Are you dating Serbian girls here?

>> I've been on a few dates, but uh like

not, you know, not regularly, not all

the time. Um I think I've I've

discovered with my friends, I think I'm

fairly picky when it comes to that. But

yeah, no, I've been on some dates and

it's definitely

it's interesting because dating in the

US is really it's really weird. Like I I

really didn't didn't like it. Don't like

it. And I think here it's more

traditional maybe like the expectation

that men pay on the first date or like

buying her flowers like that kind of

thing. There are some people in the US

who do it that way but there's also a

lot of people who don't. And then also

just seeing from my friends who are in

relationships and like one of my best

friends here, he's uh German guy but

dating a Serbian girl. And I remember it

was so funny cuz when they first started

dating like it, you know, he kept saying

he's like, "Oh, we're not like in a

relationship yet." Whatever. Like she's

not my girlfriend. We like, "Oh, no,

she's your girlfriend." And then we're

like, "Okay, well, how many dates have

you been on?" He's like, "Ah, four or

five." Or like, "Dude, if she's your

girlfriend, she thinks she's your

girlfriend. You need to get with the

program. like things are more I think

people take it more seriously here it

seems like even when I've been on dates

with people it's you know there's more

it's more intentional I guess like

people are more trying to we're looking

for something you know more strong or

long-term or lasting

>> more meaningful

>> yeah more meaningful which I think is

nice so you know I'd like to meet

somebody and whatever but I'm also not

like

out there looking every day whatever

What do you think about Serban girls in

comparison to American?

>> They're very opinionated and that's not

necessarily a bad thing, but like I

think they they a lot of them and this

is, you know, not only just from my

experience with going on dates, but also

just from like interacting with them as

friends and things.

>> What do you mean by opinionated? They

like

>> like they know what they want. They have

their their views on like this is what

you know I want in a man or this is what

I want in a whatever. And like and I

think also more which I appreciate. Like

they expect more out of men than I'm

used to. And like they expect to be, you

know, to have doors held for them, to be

paid for, to have like flowers brought

to them, things that maybe in the US

might be considered more old-fashioned.

Not to say that it's not a thing at all

in the US, but like there's a more of a

a view of a difference between the roles

of men and women. Women don't want to

carry things if there's a man there to

carry them. Like it's his job to carry

them. And I think that makes sense. Like

I'm not I don't have a problem with

that. But like that's not that's

different than American women and very

attractive. I mean people here I think

are generally attractive looking people.

What is the most valuable thing that you

found here in Serbia?

>> Community, I guess. Like I have friends

and like the people that I know through

my church. Connections that mean so much

to me and that are that are so deep. You

know, I do miss my family back in the

US, but like my friends that I did have,

they're all over the country. There was

nobody nearby and now it's here. Like I

have people I see people who I know just

walking down the streets most days if I

walk down a public area I'm going to see

someone that I know and that I say hi

and we catch up and like that there's a

genuine like we genuinely care about how

each other's lives are doing cuz in the

US when you greet people or you see

people it's always hi how are you but

that doesn't really mean anything like

people aren't actually interested in how

you're doing but like when I see people

here like the how are you it's like

because we actually want to know you

know and I feel that people actually

care about how I'm doing and what's

going on in my life and I care about

what's going on in theirs. So, I think

community