My first Rip-off

Today was the first day that I have officially been ripped off for being a foreigner (or stranger as they call it here). Two coworkers and I headed out for dinner as we have a three day weekend and needed some way of celebrating Thursday night. On the way home, we noticed that the meter in the taxi cab was skyrocketing and was on level 3. We had never seen it before--1 is for daytime 2 is nighttime, 3 is ?? We tried to ask, even using the few words in Serbian that we thought might make sense, but the driver acted completely oblivious. Finally, Jamie leaned towards the front seat and tapped on the meter. The taxi driver immediately switched it to level 2--we aren't totally dumb Americans! The worst part was, as we left the cab, he started talking with us in PERFECT English--he totally knew what he was doing. Not to worry though, we showed him.... the total fare was 348 dins, and we only gave him 340- a difference of about 20 cents. That will teach him to mess with us.

On a much better note, last weekend, some friends of friends in Seattle were biking through Serbia (you may be asking who does that, but apparently these people do) and stayed with me for two days. They are on a year long biking trip around the world. We showed them how teachers live in fancy apartments and have country cottages. A couple of my coworkers bought a country cottage a few years back and had a pig roast for his birthday. They have adopted the custom that to celebrate your birthday, you pay for all of your friends to party. The country was beautiful and the food was fantastic (all but the pig head with an apple in the mouth). I think the bikers enjoyed being able to speak the language. Check out their trip at http://erck.org/.

This weekend, we are heading to Montenegro for some beach action and hiking. Too bad it is almost winter, the water looks beautiful.