Srbi na neobičnim tačkama planete / Serbs in unusual places
I n the summer of 1993 I found myself in Greece with two friends. We had so little money that we, like poor guys, crossed the Greek border on foot. The customs officer smiled sweetly. For a pit- tance we found two weeks of well-paid work as labourers in the Port of Piraeus on the repair of an ocean liner. At the end of that season, we picked grapes in Crete – recalls Radovan Miletić. His mother advised him during a tele- phone conversation that he should not rush back to Serbia, due to hyperinflation. His choice was reduced to Portugal, the on- ly country in Europe that he didn’t need a visa to enter at that time. - From 1993 I lived in the nice tourist small town of Praia do Carvoeiro (Algarve). In Lisbon I changed jobs 20 times in the first fewyears.ForamonthIwasanaccomplished olive picker, then I spent eight months work- ing in construction. I progressed in the job by fulfilling the condition – I made a solid wall and lifted a man on a shovel – says Radovan. He was also a barman. He worked for two weeks in a donut factory and then spent a month as a shipping agent, supplying ma- terials for ships and crews, and even help- ing as a translator for a Russian sailor who had health problems. The road to residence documents was not easy. He recalled his work experience at Belgrade radio station“Pingvin“ and after a few days of wandering and sleeping on the street he went to radio“Renascença“. He met a journalist who had barely escaped from Mozambique with his life as a twenty-year- old 20 years earlier, and who had spent the ‘70s trying to get a job. - He resolved to help me through an acquaintance and a humanitarian organi- sation. A month later I received a residence card – he recalls. As a construction worker he had access tothe“coachman’s”substrateofthelanguage. He claims that it was interesting, especially when they“taught”him how to“knock the ladies off their feet”. Now he uses Portuguese and English on a daily basis. He also tries to speak Serbian with his two daughters and Serbian “guest workers”. - My move to Lisbon has something to do with my decision to“get serious”a little. I also worked on my education. After the first months and years, I noticed that I constant- ly made the same or similar linguistic errors, and that I had difficulty with certain gram- matical structures – says Radovan. After eight years of being resident in the country, he successfully applied for a place at the ministry of health. That meant a lot to him financially at the time, but also as an opportunity to repay the society that had accepted him.
HE GRADUATED IN PORTUGUESE IN PORTUGAL Radovan Miletić, aka Raša, (45), origi- nally from Kuršumlija, has lived in Por- tugal since 1993 and has been resident in Lisbon since 1997. After comple- ting a higher Portuguese language co- urse at Lisbon University, he graduated in Portuguese language and literature at Aberta University. He earned his Ma- ster’s degree in Portuguese as a foreign and second language at the Nova Uni- versity of Lisbon. He continued his rese- arch in his Ph.D. studies. Since 2016 he has worked for the Instituto Camões as a researcher at the linguistics centre on the project for the progressive testing of knowledge of the Portuguese language.
In late 2012 Radovan received a four- year scholarship in the field of linguistics from the Portuguese National Foundation for Science and Technology. He worked as a researcher at the Linguistics Centre of the Nova University of Lisbon. - It is said, in jest, that the idea of re- search is to try to reach original conclu- sions on the topics that you deal with, with- out having to turn away from your mind. I spend most of my time in solitary dialogue, analysing authored works, along with my ideas. On better days I discuss those same ideas with my colleagues and professors, as well as participating in projects, con- gresses and conferences. I don’t have fixed working hours – he says. He says that Portuguese people per- ceive most criticisms as insults. They are quiet and reserved, often characterised by foreigners as being distrusting and melan- cholic. However, that only applies to older generations. Like all Southern Europeans, they like to relax and like a good time. Ar- riving on time for meetings is not a strong point for most of them. During the 24 years that he has been resident there, he has socialised with Bra- zilians, Dutch people, Belgians, Canadians,
Brits, Indians, Angolans, Mozambicans, Guin- ea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe natives, East Timorese, Cape Verdeans, Slovenes, Croats, Spaniards, Italians, Romanians, Bul- garians, Russians... Several hundred Serbi- an citizens are registered as resident at our embassy in Portugal, but he has only met around 30 of them. - I live in the central part of the city, very close to my work, which takes me about 20 minutes of slow walking to reach. In winter it’s not easy to handle the temperature of +12. My wife is Portuguese of Cape Verde origin. We have two daughters aged eight and two – says Radovan. Last year he had the opportunity to spend six months as a guest at the Univer- sity of Sarajevo as part of a research team that works with students of the Portuguese language in Belgrade and Zagreb. He comes to Serbia with his family once a year. - When you can leave you can also re- turn, and that’s even better if you manage to bring back with you knowledge that you did not take... If that knowledge and experi- ence is wanted by someone, I remain avail- able. From Serbia I mostly miss my family and my friends from primary and secondary schools... And I miss my youth the most.
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