Gypsies of Serbia

by Jerry Guo on

I’ve recently been in touch with a Serbian anthropologist who studies the Gypsies there. Chatting with her has given me an intriguing glimpse into everyday life and culture of these mysterious folks.

She mainly focuses on their reproductive behavior. In short, they have lots of sex and kids, and in general put less investment into each offspring. In biology, this is known as classic “r-strategy.” In comparison, most humans practice (I would hope) k-strategy, which is to say, you fritter away your working life saving up for your kid’s college tuition (high parental investment).

The Gypsies there are essentially forced to pursue this counter-intuitive strategy, because of high infant mortality rates. They also happen to be one of the most marginalized Gypsy groups in Europe–many drive these Citroen cars that are stripped down to just wheels and the engine, and go scrounging for scrap metal. The good news they’ve managed to maintain a rich culture, by marrying only within their clan and stressing their oral tradition (particularly in poetry and music).

The backdrop is dramatic–a country quickly recovering from the 1999 bombings, and moving away from its communism roots towards lucrative privatization, with GDP growth this year at 7% compared to 2% in 2003. They’ve even been thinking about EU membership. But like everyone else, Serbia has forgotten about the Gypsies.

Here’s a BBC slideshow.

MelodyTrip: The Easy Way To Visit Your Favourite Music Festival

by Brett Atkinson on

The rise of iTunes and the occasional use of LimeWire (go on, admit it…), means that we’re being exposed to a wider selection of music than ever before. It’s a diversity that’s being reflected in a growing number of very cool music festivals from Coachella in California to Exit in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Now MelodyTrip makes it easy to locate and book tickets to the best festivals around the world. The MelodyConcierge function even provides recommendations where you should go based on your musical tastes and your budget.

Now about that rocking gypsy music festival in Bulgaria I’ve heard so much about…

Also check out Gadling’s Massively Huge Summer Music Festival Roundup.

Thanks to mister twist on Flickr for the pic of the great Gypsy band Fanfare Ciocarlia

It’s Raining Frogs in Serbia

by Jonathon Morgan on

Did you ever see the movie Magnolia, where it rains frogs at the end?** I thought that the filmmaker was just being clever, but apparently it actually happens.

At least it does in Serbia. That’s where thousands of frogs descended upon on a village of understandably terrified citizens.

“We were all wondering what it was when suddenly frogs started to fall from the sky. I thought maybe a plane carrying frogs had exploded in midair,” Caja Jovanovic told Ananova.

While, at first, you might think this signals some drastic problem — like the end of the world, for instance — the phenomenon is apparently recognized by the scientific community. A local climatology expert, Slavisa Ignjatovic, said it happened because “A whirlwind has sucked up the frogs from a lake, the sea or some other body of water somewhere else and carried them along to Odzaci where they have fallen to the ground.”

So I guess this could happen anywhere. Sure makes me want to visit Serbia, though.

**Note: if you haven’t seen Magnolia, don’t worry, the frog falling scene doesn’t have much to do with the rest of the movie, so I haven’t ruined anything for you.

[via Spluch]

Statue of Rocky Balboa Might Turn the Luck of a Serbian Village

by Jamie Rhein on

There is a village in Serbia with such bum luck that they are hoping for miracles-and if not a miracle, then perhaps a statue will do. Rocky Balboa is hopefully coming to the rescue. That’s the general idea anyway. As another indication of the power and far-reaching influence of Hollywood, consider this: When Bojan Marceta resident of Zitiste, the town with the no end of weather induced natural disasters recently saw the newest Rocky movie incarnation, Rocky Balboa, he thought a statue of this underdog who never quits is just the solution the town needs. A metaphor for not giving up, if you will.

I looked up Zitiste just to see where this town is and what it’s dealing with. Landslides and floods abound it seems. There is one motel listed that I could find. Located just north of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia and a cultural center, perhaps Zitiste’s residents can hook into some tourist travel from there. If nothing else, the statue may work to keep the land from sliding.

In case you’re wondering about Rocky Balboa statue history (I know I was ) here is a link to Total Rocky.com Fast Facts that gives info about where they are and why they ended up where they did.

Visit Kosovo!

by Neil Woodburn on

I ended up visiting Kosovo almost by accident last summer when I found myself in the north east corner of Albania with only one road out that made any sense: across the border into Kosovo.

I only spent a couple of nights in the amazing town of Prizren, but quickly learned that this small, politically troubled region has so very much to offer. Unfortunately, the recent horrific events which occurred in Kosovo have scared many tourists from visiting.

In an effort to reverse this mode of thinking, Kosovo’s Department of Tourism has launched a webpage promoting their little slice of Europe. VisitKosovo is a nifty little site which addresses the area’s geography and cultural heritage. The site also offers travel tips and a photo gallery to give visitors an idea of the richness one can expect–just check out that photo above!

If you’re looking for somewhere utterly unique and off the beaten path, take a moment and look over the site. Visiting Kosovo was a fortuitous accident for me last summer; I wish this site was around back then so that I would have been better prepared.