Stilettos & Silicon

Ex-Yugo fashion is something else. I literally don't fit in here, be it style or size, especially in Belgrade. I've heard the girls admit that they'd rather have a new pair of shoes than eat. Hence, they are skinny minis and are dressed to the nines. I wonder, as I ride the bus or wait to cross the street - do they know I'm foreign? It's socially acceptable to stare here and so, I feel their eyes on me as we all check each other out. I am still trying to figure out how they navigate the uneven streets and cobblestones with their teetering stilettos and painted-out jeans.

Fashion is just one of many layers of [pop] culture in the Balkans. I hesistate in identifying a mainstream, but there are definite underground/sub-cultures. The early 1990s brought not only sanctions to Serbia, but also the music phenomenon of turbofolk. It's traditional Balkan folk music themes mixed with techno, with many associations and stigmas, such as Serb nationalism, objectification of women, etc. Here is a sample video (viewer discretion advised, it's not G-rated!). The video is of Ceca's hit "Nevaljala" (meaning "rascal").

Enter: Glam power couple.
In 1995, Ceca, the goddess of turbofolk, married Arkan, who was the leader of the Serb paramilitary group "Arkan's Tigers." A notorious criminial, Arkan was assassinated before his trial in 2000 - about 20,000 people attended his memorial. Ceca was later arrested in 2003, for her allegede connections to the assassination of Serbian prime minister Zoran Đinđić. Ceca's wild popularity, especially her fan base in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, is often criticized because of these ties/allegations.

Silicon Valley
The street adjacent to mine, Strahinica Bana (Страхиница Бана), is densely populated with cafes, bars, and nightclubs - it is the place to see and be seen. It's widely referred to as "Silicon Valley," because of all the cosmetic surgery visible on the patrons at places with names like "Insomnia" and "Plastic." As I walked through the Valley the other night with some friends, my friend Bojan kept a running commentary about the money on the street: the golddigger girls, and their "wannabe gangster" boyfriends. There is organized crime here - I want to know is if their boyfriends are actually gangsters. Walk Strahinica Bana at night and in just a few blocks, you can see Jaguars, Ferraris and the rest... contrasting starkly to the Yugos, Trabants and other exhaust-spewing, socialist-era vehicles typical on the streets of Belgrade.

Living on one of the most beautiful streets in Belgrade, I feel at home. Skadarlija reminds me of quiet tree-lined streets in Washington (although the hundreds years old cobblestones throw me off a bit). Our rent, while outrageous in Belgrader terms, its comparable to rents in DC. I can afford to get coffee in the cafes and could dine alfresco a few times a week in any restaurant. But when I see the cars, the girls and the "gangster" boyfriends, I'm reminded of this glamorous, intriguing league in which I'm trying to coexist.