Eli and I went out to dinner last night, and had a uniquely Serbian/Eastern European experience. While dining outside at our favorite neighborhood restaurant, I was visited repeatedly by a relatively cute macka (Serbian for "cat" -- and I should say that since cats have the ability to make me extremely miserable -- I'm allergic -- I'm generally not a big fan and it takes a lot of cuteness for me to concede that a cat actually qualifies as such!)
In any event, after about the fifth time that this kitty put his front paws up on my chair, I started to get a little annoyed. The owner came around, and asked about the cat (he said that some other customers had been feeding him food under the table -- ugh!! -- and that they were having a hard time getting rid of him), and I politely conceded that the cat was being a bit of a nuisance. Our waitress was apparently equally annoyed by the cat, and she disappeared for a minute, only to reemerge from the restaurant with a big pot of water. The cat had walked away from our table at that point (by the way, we were the only patrons outside at this point), and she proceeded to douse the cat in the water. Loved it! The owner was quick to point out that the waitress was from Bosnia, and a "tough girl." (As you know, the relationship between Serbs and Bosnians is complicated and not full of a lot of affection, so I can't say that I necessarily fully understood the implications of this comment). In any event, we all got a good chuckle out of the ordeal, and I'm guessing that the cat won't be coming back to Disina Koliba anytime soon. Ah -- the things we'll miss when we return to the U.S.!!!
Happy Saturday!
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It's like using a squirt gun to repel stray dogs!
ReplyDeleteHahaha! Allow me to try and explain!
ReplyDeleteVic is Serbia is a practical joke one always spurs on people when embarrassed! Many of them are based on stereotypes, e.g. South Serbians (where my family comes from) are considered stingy, Montenegrins - lazy, and blondes, cops and Bosnians intelectually challenged! Since she works in Belgrade, my guess is the waitress is still Serbian, even though probably a refugee from Bosnia... which leads us to another stereotype, being from Belgrade equals being arrogant! I guess you need a lot of prescience in order to understand all those little vic in Serbia. I am afraid people do not really understand that when they try to be funny with foreigners! The same thing is with the South I guess, whenever you see a movie, Southerners are the dump ones with an accent and a cap drinking beer on the back of their pick up truck, but when you come to the US South, you understand that though the stereotype exists, people are as normal as anywhere else, right?
Btw, great choice, Disina koliba!!! Take care :)