Some impressions (linguistic, musical, literary)

Language
I am hoping to have the chance to take some Serbian language lessons while here. This would certainly help me with labels and signs, but also, I would hope, with elevating my nearly mute interactions with clerks and waiters (i.e. allowing me to order food). I currently know how to say 'please' (molim) and 'thank you' (hvala), 'yes' (da) and 'no' (ne). But I have no idea how to respond when people speak to me earnestly in Serbian. At least nodding means yes, and shaking the head means no, so mute interactions can still be effective -- unlike one memorable exchange in Bulgaria where my vigorously nodding assent caused a perplexed clerk to point to other products. I am somewhat especially sensitive to the language situation here, given that it was not so long ago that riots swarmed the American embassy. Despite American development aid to this region and the recent election of the less-nationalist of the two presidential candidates, I'm not entirely sure what the popular opinion of the United States is -- and am therefore reluctant to pull a "Hi! My country bombed your capital nine years ago and recently recognized the independence of the region you view as your cultural heartland-- now would you please speak my language so I can buy some bread?"

Music
I have heard a surprising amount of American and English music while walking through the city center. Rap emitted from one store, and delta blues from another; radios have played Green Day. Last night, a local band performed covers of American and British pop songs (including 'Sweet Child of Mine,' Robbie Williams' 'Feel', and -- by far the most popular -- 'I Will Survive') with energy, passion, and an impressively poor grasp of English. A number of stray dogs (there are fewer here than in Belgrade) were barking.

Books
Of the six books and two magazines I packed, I only have two more books and my Foreign Affairs. I am beginning to panic. While walking around town with another of my colleagues this afternoon, I noticed that there are no bookstores. I inquired about this and he sighed and said that it was true, the oldest (and apparently only remaining) bookstore closed recently, despite a petition that had circulated to try to keep it open. Now there are some books sold in street stalls. But they are all in Serbian (including a couple emblazoned with Danielle Steel's name), and most are for children. There are some newspapers and magazines, which are also entirely in Serbian. I feel as if my heart is dangling over a precipice -- there are bookstores in Belgrade, but that is an entire two-hour bus ride away. One of my colleagues mentioned a rumor about an American Corner at the local library, but in such a way that I'm not sure whether it exists, although I'm desperately clinging to the hope that it does, because the alternative is almost too horrible to contemplate.