Confirmation of a Belief

Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016--Belgrade

We had some surprise drizzle this morning, but it went away by 11:00.  Then we headed to the Tesla Museum.  Nikola Tesla was the inventor of the applied use of alternating current among many other electrical concepts.  He is most popular, however, for demonstrating the creation of electrical lightning bolts with what is called a Tesla Coil.  It's something that is so popular with people that everyone seems to get excited by seeing them in action.  Although Tesla lived much of his life in the US and got his patents for his inventions there, he had family ties to Serbia.  The government here fought to get his possessions sent to Belgrade after his death.  The museum includes clothing items, working models of some of his inventions, and demonstration models of various kinds including a Tesla Coil.  There were crowds of people going through the museum while we were there.

We wandered through a few more parts of town after leaving the museum, then we came to the apartment to await the call from Gea Tours about my ride to Sarajevo tomorrow.  They called just before 17:00 to tell me the van would leave their location at 7:00 and would call me 10 minutes before it arrives at my apartment to pick me up.

We spent some time downtown in the evening, exchanged some extra Serbian money, and returned to the apartment to pack and get ready.  Wes leaves for home tomorrow morning a couple of hours before I leave for Sarajevo.

There was an interesting event tonight, though, that confirmed a suspicion of mine and removed some guilt from yesterday.  When we approached the Fortress yesterday, a young man who looked like a student with a small backpack, a scraggly beard, and long hair pulled into a topknot on his head approached us out of breath and asked if we spoke English.  He told us a story that he had missed his ride and didn't even have money to get to the bus station.  He asked us if we could help him by giving him 7 Euros to get there and buy his bus ticket home.  My response was, "We don't even have any Euros."  He replied, "Dinars would be okay," as we walked away and I worried that his story might be true.  My feeling is that most active beggars are not telling the truth and that "helping" them just perpetuates a problem.

Tonight, as we stepped out of our apartment to head to town speaking English to each other.  A young man just in front of us turned around and, out of breath, asked, "Do you speak English?"  Then just as he was about to explain his problem, we mutually recognized each other.  He turned away and out toward the street.  I saw him throw up his arms in frustration (or embarrassment) and then proceed across the street and up the other side.  I should have said as he left without even asking, "We don't have any Euros."  I didn't think that fast.  But seeing that it truly is a con this young man is trying to pull on others made me feel better about yesterday and to feel justified in my philosophy of extra cautious with someone who is actively trying to get money from others.