I left Belgrade on December 20th for Romania. It was after an amazing night where all of the students on the program, all of our professors and our homestay families and our friends got together one last time. That morning I packed my bags and hugged my homestay mother and cried. I was only gone four days (I went back for a night before leaving to the States) but it was incredibly sad to leave for even that short amount of time. I cried ridiculously as yy homestay father packed me a bag of snacks for my bus ride and helped me lug my suitcase down the stairs. I am so thankful for my homestay family. My ‘mother’ would get up every day at six am just to make me breakfast and pack me something to eat for lunch, she asked me about my day and tried to teach me as much Serbian as she could. Connecting and building relationships is a huge part of what SIT is about; immersive learning and really living in the culture was one of my favorite parts of the program.
It’s strange to think that I’m no longer there. My entire life abroad happened in what felt like a blink of an eye. One minute I was studying at an outdoor cafe in Republic Square, the next I was boarding a plane back home. I wish more than anything that I could have extended my stay. Just under four months is not nearly long enough to spend in a place as historically significant and interesting as Serbia.
There’s so many things I could talk about: all of the excursions, the classes, the people, the food, the architecture, the driving… but I don’t think I could ever do any of it justice. I urge people who are looking at the program, or who have any interest in Serbia, Bosnia or Kosovo to join the SIT Balkans program.
I know that I’ll go back. It’s just a matter of when.