Belgrade Day 2:

Well today was my last full day of lectures and activities here in Belgrade, and I have learned so much today that there could be multiple classes on for a year.  There was one place that we went to that I learned the most, which was the U.S. Embassy. We started off our day with a tour of the U.S. Embassy here in Belgrade. The first speaker that we heard from was Drew Giblin who was a cultural affairs officer. He went on to talk with us about why public affairs are such an important staple in society. I could not agree more with what he said about this topic. What he deals with is trying to develop ways for people to engage themselves and be able to connect with the Americans and Serbians. The reason that I agree with this is because by doing this it will build ties and bring people together culturally. I really did like hearing how there were so many programs that help develop this bond that people can create for themselves. One of these programs is a sports program. Through the sports program, it takes different sports and activities and people can participate in them and also learn valuable lessons that they can use in everyday life. Another program that really interested me was the exchange program that they have set up. The purpose of this program is to send either students or professionals and send them to another country like the from Serbia to the U.S. in order for them to be trained in different fields basically ranging from anything that they want to learn. Once they return back from their studies they are encouraged to then proceed further and develop a way that they can continue to their profession, and possibly if they want help get the funding for a non-profit of their own started. They couldn’t stress enough that when the participants got back from their programs, they were heavily encouraged to continue to expand on what they had learned and apply it to their profession. We also discussed the funding for such programs and how that it is all “one way.” By this I mean that the only thing that the embassy is promoting is the American culture and everything that follows it. They are by law not allowed to spread any other ordeals than that. There was one thing that I found very interesting about what was done to build the strained trust up with the police of Belgrade. This was done by creating a soccer game mixed with red light green light, and by doing it showed many people that the cops aren’t all corrupt like people thought. Also while at the Embassy we got to meet the ambassador. This was really interesting to me because I had never met with one and he also had a lot of interesting points about Serbia joining the EU. One of the things he touched on was the benefit that could be obtained if Serbia joined the EU. He discussed that if Serbia successfully joins the EU then it would be a good segway into them being able to be part of the World Trade Organization. If is this is done it could lead to a lot of foreign investment and that is what Serbia needs to prosper economically. But also for that matter they cant always be going after the big investors. There needs to be an encouragement to develop small business and then by doing this it could lead to the big heavy hitting investors to come follow. I mean there was a lot of talk throughout the meeting at the embassy that potentially Serbia could end up being the silicon valley of the Balkans. But the overarching theme to the entire meeting as well as the meetings from yesterday was that the EU could only save Serbia if Serbia does the work. Also the EU is being looked at as a club with requirements. The two requirements that are needed for Serbia are rule of law meaning that there needs to be a set of policies towards how things will be handled in the country, and the second is that Serbia will not be let in without a stable economy. Which means getting unemployment rate down. Lastly one thing that above all else needs to be done in order for Serbia to fully develop is to build on a sense of pride and not dwell on the past like what has been happening. Following the speech from the ambassador, we leaned about the security of Belgrade. By security I mean just how the crime rate is and what you should and should not do. Basically we were told while we are here even for the short time that we are here we should just use common sense and know when to just get out of what could end up being a sticky situation while here. Like I said today is my last day of lectures and tomorrow we have a meeting in the morning followed by time to share what we are taking back from the trip. I have a good idea of what I am going to say and cant wait to post it tomorrow