We were advised by the Serbian Seven (the previous team who went last fall) to learn some words and phrases in the Serbian language. They advised that it would help smooth the path of communication. We have learned several phrases and words and have trying them out to various levels of success.
One of us felt confident and/or audacious enough to work extra hard on learning the language. This Person (TP, appropriately enough) came out on Monday morning to greet all of the Roma pastors on the front steps of the Leskovac church before heading off to the retreat with equal parts audacity and pride to be the first one to speak to the pastors.
After greeting the entire group of twenty or so and then individual pastors with "Dovid Jenja" TP noticed that phenomenon we all see from time to time in the individuals' eyes when after hearing my greeting the eyes dart quickly to the right away from me and down before coming back to acknowledge me. The behavior seemed to indicate they were thinking "what in the world is this person thinking". Later this person found out that dovid jenja means good bye. TP was saying good bye to all the pastors at their first encounter. Smooth.
TP also learned koliko kosta which you probably can figure out means "how much does this cost?" TP failed to learn the Serbian number names beyond the usual 10 so any response from a merchant was completely worthless to them. TP had no idea about the price of anything.
One of us felt confident and/or audacious enough to work extra hard on learning the language. This Person (TP, appropriately enough) came out on Monday morning to greet all of the Roma pastors on the front steps of the Leskovac church before heading off to the retreat with equal parts audacity and pride to be the first one to speak to the pastors.
After greeting the entire group of twenty or so and then individual pastors with "Dovid Jenja" TP noticed that phenomenon we all see from time to time in the individuals' eyes when after hearing my greeting the eyes dart quickly to the right away from me and down before coming back to acknowledge me. The behavior seemed to indicate they were thinking "what in the world is this person thinking". Later this person found out that dovid jenja means good bye. TP was saying good bye to all the pastors at their first encounter. Smooth.
TP also learned koliko kosta which you probably can figure out means "how much does this cost?" TP failed to learn the Serbian number names beyond the usual 10 so any response from a merchant was completely worthless to them. TP had no idea about the price of anything.
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