STRANGERS IN BELGRADE Belgraders with strange names A Mexican guy called Carlos and a Chilean girl called Valentina, both ballet dancers of the National Theatre, found their second home in the Serbian capital, where the thing that bothers them most is the košava wind and the thing that brings them the most joy is the Belgraders who accepted them like their closest relatives T he love of ballet led to Carlos Rene Alvara- do (22), a Mexican guy born in Washington DC, and Valentina Abarzu (23), a Chilean girl born in Santiago, meeting in Ecuador in 2019 during tours of their then ballet troupes. Their meeting was fateful: they fell in love at first sight, and life - with its unpredictable ways - brought them to Belgrade, straight to the stage of the National Theatre in the Serbian capital. “It was in March 2019 that I found myself in Bel- grade for the first time, for an audition. I felt great ex- citement as I travelled from the airport towards the city. I was delighted by the wide fields beside the highway and Branko’s Bridge as a ceremonial entrance to the city centre, with many stylistically different architec- tural structures,” says Carlos. Valentina notes that Belgrade is the first European city she’s ever experienced. “When landing at the airport in Surčin, at the end of February last year, I was a little nervous at first, but everything turned out easier than expected. And already
Valentina is also of Latino blood and comes from a climate where there are no strong winds and frosts, so she says that our wind is like a new form of endur- ance training for her. Spring is their favourite season in Belgrade for now, because they both like riding bicycles along the Danube quayside and familiarising themselves with the city that has become their second home on foot. “Here I found a similar rhythm of life and mentality to the Mexican one of mine. I’m glad that people here are happy to find ways to help foreigners, even when they do not know English or some other language. I often see tenderness towards children, and that reminds me of my compatriots, who have many children and large families,” says Carlos, while Valentina also says that she finds the emotional side of Belgraders the most beautiful. “The first thing I noticed about the Serbian mentality is the way people care for their loved ones and their com- mitment to the family, especially children. You nurture the tradition of marriage and strong family ties. I like that. In our Latino mentality we all communicate informally, we greet cordially with almost all the people we meet on the street, even when we don’t know each other well.” Carlos speaks English better than Valentina, while he’s started putting together short sentences in Serbi- an. And Valentina, alongside English, is learning ever more Serbian words: “I learnt to say good morning, good evening, thank you, rakija and ćevapi in Serbian. I love fruit and vege- tables, so I regularly visit Zeleni Venac Market, because I like the atmosphere and the colourful stalls. The lan- guage barrier isn’t a problem – I easily reach an under- standing with the traders using smiles and pointing,” says Valentina. “I like red bell peppers with onion in a juicy vinegar sauce and veal stew. The name of that dish is among the first things I learnt in Serbian, because it’s irresistible to me, just like ćevapi! Valentina loves prebranac baked beans the most, because she’s a vegetarian,” laughs Carlos. This beautiful Chilean girl claims that it
when getting off the bus that brought me to my first stop in the city, Slavija, I was delight- ed with the roundabout located near my resi- dence. That day I took a walk past the beauti- ful building of the National Assembly, because I was going that way to the National Theatre for my audition.” Despite the Coronavirus Pandemic and breaks in the repertoire, ballet dancers re- hearse every day except Sundays. They pre- pare for performances with all the precaution- ary health measures. “More than a year has passed since I ar- rived in Belgrade, and everything is more beau- tiful for me, especially since I’ve had Valenti- na with me. I like it here, while I’m still most bothered by the košava wind I can’t manage to get used to. I grew up in California, with lots of sunshine and little wind all year round, but I can’t wait for snow to fall.”
was only in Belgrade that she discovered how much she is relaxed by the ritual of drinking cof- fee, which she didn’t do in her home country. “It’s difficult for me to choose my favour- ite cafe, because many of them have a pleas- ant ambience and atmosphere, but for now I like it the most when I drink coffee at the cafe-bar Kofein. They chat with their families almost every day, telling them about Belgrade and waiting for them to visit. “The happy circumstance is that ballet dancing connects us to the whole world, and you actually never feel like a stranger wher- ever you dance. That’s why the two of us feel like locals with foreign names in Belgrade. We also attend opera performances, listen to Ser- bian ethno and tavern music. Belgrade is now our home.”
On voli teleću čorbu i ćevape, a ona prebranac. Oboje vole da voze bicikl duž Dunavskog keja i peške otkrivaju sve lepote Beograda He likes veal stew and ćevapi, while she likes prebranac baked beans. They both like riding bikes along the Danube quayside and discovering all the beauty of Belgrade on foot
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