Culture Exchange in Serbia has been open for four years
I came back for the celebration, taking the time to appreciate and respect the project that we started all that time ago. Clearly so many people have contributed to make this place what it is.... and i feel great pride in it, how we have grown up from the kids that opened it...we are still kids inside but we learnt a lot. There is a strong energy of love and teamwork here. I am such an emotional person and i know its only the love that i felt for this place and from this place that kept me working tirelessly on it for 3 and a half years, and to work so hard last summer to keep it open, reinvest and reinvent. Just being here a few days brings my energy up again, i feel the strength of all that we did here.
What a beauty it is...for what it is.
It never made money, but it made an impact. It brought us through so many highs and lows, and it squeezed us all and pushed us inwardly and outwardly. It may not be success in a definable way, but its successful in the most natural way. It's still open, it still works. 4 years.. i could have never imagined in the beginning that we would be around this long. I have seen almost every local in the area around us change owners, places close and open here so fast. It may seem not a big deal to be open for a mere four years, but anyone who has lived and worked in Serbia will understand, its pretty outstanding.
The setbacks that CE experienced and all the things that could have closed us were many. We even had almost all the owners (apart from me) deported from the country, our name smeared with negativity in the public newspapers, our window smashed by right wing nationalists, and death threats. The story got better with each turn, as we survived against the odds and thrived in our own unique way. The support from Novi Sad and from the people that loved CE kept it afloat in moments of doubt. Last year I had to close CE for 3months because of the financial problems, it was a hard moment to see the windows covered with papers stating that we would reopen in 3 months, clearing out all the furniture, drinks and other things, cleaning it for what could have been the last time and trusting the future would somehow be OK. I remember all the sleepless nights wrestling with what to do from that point..should we just close it? One year later and we succeeded to keep it open. The next chapter of CE is going to be interesting.. i will be writing about what the plan is,but for now you can know there will be some changes. One thing we all have to accept is that nothing stays the same, everything changes and we can always choose how we see these things. Whatever happens in the future, we can always look back on the last 4 beautiful years, and deeply appreciate the wonders of life and all that transpired here in little Novi Sad in Serbia.
I want to express deeply the thankfulness I have for all our friends here and the staff who have worked in CE. guys...i am so grateful to know each one of you and to have had the privilege to be close to you. You are the secret ingredient that made this place wonderful, and everyone added their own special ingredient. Every single one of you is priceless and i love you all a lot. I will never forget this country and each of you, and i treasure it.
Here are some of my favorite moments from CE in pictures
I came back for the celebration, taking the time to appreciate and respect the project that we started all that time ago. Clearly so many people have contributed to make this place what it is.... and i feel great pride in it, how we have grown up from the kids that opened it...we are still kids inside but we learnt a lot. There is a strong energy of love and teamwork here. I am such an emotional person and i know its only the love that i felt for this place and from this place that kept me working tirelessly on it for 3 and a half years, and to work so hard last summer to keep it open, reinvest and reinvent. Just being here a few days brings my energy up again, i feel the strength of all that we did here.
What a beauty it is...for what it is.
It never made money, but it made an impact. It brought us through so many highs and lows, and it squeezed us all and pushed us inwardly and outwardly. It may not be success in a definable way, but its successful in the most natural way. It's still open, it still works. 4 years.. i could have never imagined in the beginning that we would be around this long. I have seen almost every local in the area around us change owners, places close and open here so fast. It may seem not a big deal to be open for a mere four years, but anyone who has lived and worked in Serbia will understand, its pretty outstanding.
The setbacks that CE experienced and all the things that could have closed us were many. We even had almost all the owners (apart from me) deported from the country, our name smeared with negativity in the public newspapers, our window smashed by right wing nationalists, and death threats. The story got better with each turn, as we survived against the odds and thrived in our own unique way. The support from Novi Sad and from the people that loved CE kept it afloat in moments of doubt. Last year I had to close CE for 3months because of the financial problems, it was a hard moment to see the windows covered with papers stating that we would reopen in 3 months, clearing out all the furniture, drinks and other things, cleaning it for what could have been the last time and trusting the future would somehow be OK. I remember all the sleepless nights wrestling with what to do from that point..should we just close it? One year later and we succeeded to keep it open. The next chapter of CE is going to be interesting.. i will be writing about what the plan is,but for now you can know there will be some changes. One thing we all have to accept is that nothing stays the same, everything changes and we can always choose how we see these things. Whatever happens in the future, we can always look back on the last 4 beautiful years, and deeply appreciate the wonders of life and all that transpired here in little Novi Sad in Serbia.
I want to express deeply the thankfulness I have for all our friends here and the staff who have worked in CE. guys...i am so grateful to know each one of you and to have had the privilege to be close to you. You are the secret ingredient that made this place wonderful, and everyone added their own special ingredient. Every single one of you is priceless and i love you all a lot. I will never forget this country and each of you, and i treasure it.
Here are some of my favorite moments from CE in pictures
