Twelve years ago we landed at JFK. Started from Budapest, because that's where we had to go for the visa and the airplane. The embassy in Belgrade was closed, and no international flights operated from Belgrade. I had to borrow the office car, buy a couple of coke bottles of gasoline from a friendly dealer on the corner, and went about all those last minute chores.
Twelve years later, the weather is different. We had rain then, now we're recovering from a six week draught. The nearest supermarket isn't 20m away, it's 200, but at least it's large enough to have pretty much anything I may want (except parmesan - can't find that anywhere). Our street finally got asphalt, after 25 years since we paid the city for infrastructure. We got high speed web, about as fast as we had in the US three years ago. I could pay for a faster one, but this does the job and is already pulling faster than the servers I frequent can push.
Do I miss something from the US? My old Toyota Matrix, that was a nice car and I enjoyed driving it. And maybe the roads.
The small car I'm driving now is just good enough for the distances here. Got bicycles, and got places to walk to. Life is good, and I eat good tomatoes and drink good beer. But that's the answer to the other question - was there anything that I was missing while in the US. The third thing is just the rest of the food: cheese with some life in it (American cheese is dead, and that's not my definition, picked that from that French marketing expert), vegetables and fruit with real taste, and did I mention beer? And yes, loitering! I can just stand anywhere and talk with anyone I meet for as long as I want, just as long as we aren't blocking the way or view to the shop windows; out of courtesy, not any legal obligation. And I make my own brandy - moonshine is also legal.
Life is good.
Twelve years later, the weather is different. We had rain then, now we're recovering from a six week draught. The nearest supermarket isn't 20m away, it's 200, but at least it's large enough to have pretty much anything I may want (except parmesan - can't find that anywhere). Our street finally got asphalt, after 25 years since we paid the city for infrastructure. We got high speed web, about as fast as we had in the US three years ago. I could pay for a faster one, but this does the job and is already pulling faster than the servers I frequent can push.
Do I miss something from the US? My old Toyota Matrix, that was a nice car and I enjoyed driving it. And maybe the roads.
The small car I'm driving now is just good enough for the distances here. Got bicycles, and got places to walk to. Life is good, and I eat good tomatoes and drink good beer. But that's the answer to the other question - was there anything that I was missing while in the US. The third thing is just the rest of the food: cheese with some life in it (American cheese is dead, and that's not my definition, picked that from that French marketing expert), vegetables and fruit with real taste, and did I mention beer? And yes, loitering! I can just stand anywhere and talk with anyone I meet for as long as I want, just as long as we aren't blocking the way or view to the shop windows; out of courtesy, not any legal obligation. And I make my own brandy - moonshine is also legal.
Life is good.
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