There is not a single AEGEE member who went to an event in Serbia and did not have a great time. Now imagine one single event that combines the best organisers of the AEGEE antennae in the four biggest Serbian cities. Places which are very different, but are all awesome. That’s what will happen when you join the Travelling Summer University “Live, Love, Laugh Serbia”. Milos Tisma, member of the Advisory board of AEGEE-Beograd, told the Golden Times more about these spectacular two weeks.
Golden Times: Why will the TSU of AEGEE-Kragujevac, AEGEE-Beograd, AEGEE-Niš and AEGEE-Novi Sad be one of the best Summer Universities this year?
Milos Tisma: Coming to Serbia, you’ll discover and feel something different, something memorable. You will be amazed by the stunning beauty of Serbia. It`s mountains and rivers, modern cities, authentic villages and monasteries spreading all over this unique country. Well, we give you the cities of four antennae. Cities, that are largest and totally different: Novi Sad as the Serbian Capital of Culture, Belgrade as the nightlife capital of Europe, Kragujevac as the centre of traditional Serbia and Nis, the gate to the East and city of Roman emperors.
Golden Times: The title is “Live Love Laugh Serbia”. How did you get the idea to make such a big journey from north to south of Serbia?
Milos: Well it was an idea for some time, but finally we gathered all at Agora Budapest and said that we are people who have a lot to offer, we are capable to show Serbia in the best way. We all agreed and said: let’s do it!
Golden Times: Another famous Balkan Summer University was born at an Agora in Budapest: the legendary Via Egnatia TSU from Skopje to Thessaloniki and Istanbul in 1996. Back to your SU: Serbian AEGEE members are best known for their hospitality and crazy spirit. So people should prepare for a very rich program day and night?
Milos: Well, the whole culture is in that way. We never stop enjoying life, it’s with a lot of emotion, jokes and laughter. There are even some special feelings, which can only be found in our parts, like merak and sevdah. So yes, be prepared, be very prepared for the programme, because it is going to be very active for participants, physically, mentally and most important: full of soul!
Golden Times: Next to travelling and sightseeing, there will be many cultural activities. Can you name the ones that the participants will love most?
Milos: All of them. From traditional dances, learning Serbian language, exploring Serbian culture through wine, rakija and food tasting, to treasure hunts, history workshops, aqua parks, breweries and many, many more activities… We offer a huge diversity of great activities.
Golden Times: You just mentioned the language course. How much Serbian will the participants learn?
Milos: Well, Serbian as any language is for some people easy, for others harder to learn, but the important thing is that they take it with passion. The best pupils will know to communicate and charm the local people, and the less talented ones will learn at least to sing a song.
Golden Times: You will visit the four biggest cities in Serbia, which all happen to have an AEGEE antennae. They all have a very rich history, don’t they?
Milos: Yes. The history of these cities started a long, long time ago in the wonderful golden ages of ancient Greek and ancient Roman societies, with so many fluctuations of people, Greeks, Romans, Dardans, Ilirians, Celts, Serbrs, Turks, Austro-Hungarians and us again. We were an Empire, do you know that? Yup, a big one! So you will get to know them better in person, over our domestic coffee.
Golden Times: Where will the participants spend the longest time?
Milos: In Novi Sad and Belgrade. The programme offers so much variety that you are going to go from cities through the forest, museums, lakes, boats – name it!
Golden Times: Let’s go city by city. What will be the highlights in Novi Sad?
Milos: It’s hard to say what will be the highlights in Novi Sad, because the programme is really great. We are going to have orienteering in the national park of Fruška Gora and for sure it will be fun. Also we’ll learn Serbian traditional dances, we’ll cook together and we’ll explore the historical heritage of Novi Sad. The participants will enjoy the wine tasting in a small town nearby. And not to forget: we’ll have our European night in Novi Sad. And all this will take place just after the Exit festival, when the atmosphere in town is still hot.
Golden Times: I can only confirm that Novi Sad is great. I also went hiking in Fruška Gora – amazing place! What will be the highlights in Belgrade?
Milos: Also there will be too many highlights. It’s the centre of our night life, it’s historically rich – it even changed its name for a few times. During the day our highlight would be the Kalemegdan fortress. Today it is a wonderful park, with an open-air military museum with canons, a fort which was built and destroyed many times, a former bastion of various golden ages of various nations and countries. It offers one of the most beautiful views on the rivers Danube and Sava, while hosting the Belgrade zoo as well. In the nights we will go to a Kafana, our traditional places for drinking rakia, dancing and singing our songs, and then afterwards continue to the river where you can find everything for everybody in terms of party, on special rafts called splavovi.
Golden Times: What will be the highlights in Kragujevac?
Milos: In Kragujevac the participants will have the opportunity to learn the Serbian language. We will teach AEGEE people the Cyrillic alphabet and learn about our literature. Kragujevac is also the centre of Sumadija, and Sumadija is best known as a place where Serbia’s best Rakija is being made, so you can suppose the effect on having fun in Kragujevac.
Golden Times: What will be the highlights in Nis?
Milos: Its fortress. This fortress has a historical significance ,it’s one of the most beautiful and best buildings of its kind in the Balkans. During the night you will have great parties there .So, you should see that place with two faces, one historical and another for party maniacs.
Golden Times: How is the atmosphere in your organizing team?
Milos: We are friends for some time and are very happy to do this big quest together! We are on phones all the time, and see each other while passing by. We will all make a big barbecue soon to celebrate the beginning of spring, with a big roasted pig and lots of rakia!
Golden Times: Will you try out programme elements together before the participants arrive?
Milos: Yes, we will, although it is a well-known route we like to take when we have free time, so I can say it is astonishing.
Golden Times: How much is the participation fee?
Milos: 180 Euro plus 40 Euro extra fee. That’s cheap for this great adventure!
Golden Times: What else should potential participants know about the event?
Milos: We are all very experienced members, active for more than a few years, so the participants are going to be in good hands! All participants should know that they have a privilege to see all different parts of Serbia in one trip. Since Serbia has diversity of its own kind, you will have the feeling that you visited several countries. We hope you will join us in dancing wild Kolo, drinking all kinds of Rakia, understand our powerful feelings merak and sevdah, live and laugh with us for these two weeks, meet us and love!
More info:
Facebook page of the SU: www.facebook.com/SULiveLoveLaughSerbia
The SU website: serbiasu2013.wix.com/livelovelaughserbia
