shooting carol with friends in the balkans
Because naming this post as something like “Road trip with friends in the Balkans” would be too ordinary for my taste.
But it’s true! Remember when Carol and Therese took a very long road trip to the east side of the US? We did the same, but there no one was in a relationship or anything. Just us girls, driving for a long time for like a week or so. Finally, this driver’s licence is being used after sitting still for two years.
This trip actually altered my brain chemistry, since I always thought that the Balkans were mostly Muslim and barely Christian. I am not sad to admit that I was completely wrong, but my perception was altered with what I was told.
The Balkans has their own unique, homogeneous way when it comes to religion. It feels like they accept everyone and everything.
I am sad to admit that after 5 years with my Leica M6, I (sometimes) suck at loading film. I realised after 8 or 9 shots that the film was not advancing, so I had to reload it and take some dummy shots just to be safe. I was ashamed of myself but then I just realised that I am a human after all (enter that music here).
A road trip with friends is something else. I like talking non stop and looking away from the car seat to the beautiful and natural scenery of the Balkans. I wasn’t so close with one of the friends in this group but now we are besties. A week-long road trip can make people get to know each other better and grow closer. And cutting your toe in the Adriatic Sea and losing so much blood that one friend has to help you bandage it, that really makes you closer. Not recommending this tactic, but it works.
Airbnb is… interesting. Everyone was so nice to us, we stayed in Belgrade, Trebinje, Ohrid, Kotor and finally in Sarajevo. Every land…person(?) was helpful and kind in their own way. It was funny because we stayed at an apartment in Belgrade which was the main household of a French family. There were many French books and since your girl is francophone, she took notes. It was eye-opening to see what people are reading in French. The other houses were mostly empty.
We did some stupid things. When we were at the Albanian border, my friend decided to get out of the car to play with the police dog who sniffed our luggage to make sure that we weren’t smuggling any drugs. She was warned by the policeman to “please get seated in the car”. Meanwhile, my other friend who was in the car wanted to take a picture of the dog, who was now standing in front of the police booth. So the police came and asked her to delete the photographs that she had taken. She did it, but I saw her hands trembling.
I decided that I would buy a car someday because it felt so comfortable and freeing to just drive somewhere we wanted, anytime we wanted. I felt like a wild horse, speeding up while being surrounded by nature. That’s when I played “Crack Baby” by Mitski in my head.
To be totally honest, it was very tiring to be in the car for around 8h a day, but a shorter version of this road trip would be better. I would not exclude the places that I had the chance to see, but I would separate them as Balkan Tour I and Balkan Tour II. That would be much better.
And… that’s that. The funny thing is, there’s a big lie in this text, one that I won’t be explaining. Try and guess and… good luck!