Milica's Chronicle

Short guide to Serbian Mentality

Many of PRIMA's students happen to be in Serbia due to their parents' jobs. Although it's not really their choice, these students have to get accustomed to living their life in a foreign country. Not any foreign country, though. Serbia is, for good and bad, a very unique country with even more unique people. What makes Serbs different from the rest is their mentality. Serbian mentality is, indeed, quite an abstract idea (even for us who have spent our whole lives here). I will do my best to briefly explain what Serbian mentality actually is.

Serbs love to party. Birthdays, Slavas, weddings, weekends, baptisms... They will invent a reason for celebration if there is none. This goes against the fact that Serbs are always moody and unhappy with their circumstances. However, if you think about it, it's quite logical. Serbs are considered to be a very depressed nation. We all know that living in Serbia is not a fairytale due to a poor economic, political and historical situation. People in Serbia, however, get through their struggles, major or minor, by partying and celebrating. Especially if the celebration is excessive. No wonder Belgrade is the world's capital of night life! Here, there is something for everyone; from splavovi with turbofolk music, bohemian kafanas and Irish pubs to ordinary cafes on every single corner.

Speaking of cafes, have you noticed that even though there are infinitely many of them, somehow most are frequently full? This is because Serbs love wasting their time in them. Although they are constantly in some kind of a hurry, Serbs always find time to slowly sip fifth coffee that day while chitchatting about reality TV shows and politics (these two topics are well known to every common Serb). Cafes are like temples of oblivion. There, Serbs escape from their everyday stress caused by money shortage, lack of jobs, family issues...

Serbs and superstitions – a bound which is hardly breakable. The beliefs that you should not sit at the edge of a table if you plan on getting children, that whistling is strictly forbidden in households (unless you want bad luck, of course) and that hiccups suggest that someone is thinking of you all derive from the beliefs of ancient Slavs. Many of traditions which we consider as Christian in Serbia are actually pagan traditions, some older than a millennium. Even if their common sense tells them otherwise, Serbs will, in many cases, still go around ladders instead of going underneath them because, well, bad luck. However, the most mythical conception in modern Serbian society is - promaja. That is a wind current created by having a window and a door open at the same time. Promaja does not really have a proper translation in any other language, since only Serbs find it relevant enough to have a special term for it. It is considered as one of the biggest threats to the everyday Serb and is commonly blamed for back ache, fever, and in the extreme cases, death.

Although Serbs are very funny (by this, I don't really mean they have a great sense of humor), they are one of the most hospitable nations. We consider foreigners as our own guests and treat them with great respect. Since Serbia is experiencing one of the biggest population declines in the world (birth rate is getting lower and an increasing number of people are moving out of the country), it is very fascinating for us that foreigners come to live here, even if it's for a short while. Therefore, I hope that all of you, international students, feel safe and welcomed here. To me, Serbia is the most beautiful country in the world with the most interesting people, with all their flaws and strengths. If you are not able to fully experience Serbia and visit other parts of it, take the advantage of living in Belgrade, the city which New York Times considers as a must-visit-city in 2018. Trust me, Belgrade is more than glad to have you as its resident.

Till next time,

Milica