"Why doesn't the rain forget to fall?"

Tuesday.  Another rainy day, but that didn't stop us from going out and about this time.  (Fortunately, I learned my lesson from the day before; I wore my raincoat, had my umbrella in my purse, and wore my slightly more waterproof hiking shoes in lieu of my soaked sneakers.)  I got up at 8, even though I didn't go to sleep until around 1am; old habits are hard to break ;]  Breakfast was burek and kiselo mleko again, but this time a different kind (of burek); more like a pizza made with flaky dough, two pieces placed on top of each other with the filling (cheese, today) in the middle.  I ate with Aca because Nikola didn't get up until 10 (as usual, he was up even later than I was).
Our first adventure of the day was to go to Nikola's college, the Fakultet za Medija i Kommunikacija (a fakultet is somewhat analogous to a university department, although usually somewhat larger) in order to get his English grade.  He had already seen it posted online, but the way the grading at his university works, he has a small red grade book in which the final grade for each of his classes must be recorded and signed by the professor of that class.  I think he keeps the grade book through his entire time at college, and I'm not sure whether all of his grades are recorded anywhere else.  Grading in Serbia works on a 10-point scale, with 10 being an A, 9 a B, and so on.  6 is still passing, but just barely.  The grades are actually taken from a 100-point system, so in reality 91-100 is an A, etc. but when talking about or recording their grades students will say they got a 10 or a 9 instead of an 87 or 91.
I was rather impressed with his college; everything seemed quite new and modern, although not as well-endowed with technology as, say, Princeton (but where else is?)  I didn't see very many classrooms because Nikola said there were quite a few classes or finals going on, but the rooms that I did see were quite open and bright.  (Actually quite a contrast to the ancient halls and classrooms at Princeton :P).  I also got a chance to see the radio studio where Nikola works in collaboration with several other (all older) students to produce the university's radio show; it was a surprisingly small space consisting of only the soundproof acoustic room and the soundboard and equipment outside.  Apparently, this is also the place where English cartoons are dubbed into Serbian for Belgrade TV; when we walked in, one of the staff was working on an episode of "The Magic School Bus" which made me smile (it's one of my favorite childhood cartoons).
After leaving his college, Nikola took the opportunity to show me around the neighborhood; we saw the train and bus stations and walked along the bank of the Sava River (one of the two rivers which meet in Belgrade; the other is the Danube).  Nikola stole my camera and became my photographer (to tell the truth, I was just waiting for this to happen.  He loves taking pictures, although as my mom would say, he takes different pictures :]]).  We walked over to the Belgrade Fortress, Kalemegdan, and climbed to the top of it, from where we could see the intersection of the two mighty waterways (and neither of us could remember for the life of us what the intersection of two rivers is called.  Not a delta, not an estuary... help me out here, guys?)  The fortress reminded me somewhat of Fort Knox in Bucksport with its arches and steps and ancient brick, although I'm sure it's much older.  We stumbled across an outdoor art exhibit of sorts - a display of many different paintings of the fortress from across the decades, as well as other European art and some fantastic photographs of traditional Serbian life.  Nikola was pleasantly surprised, as he didn't know about the art - I swear, it's always an adventure with that man.  I would prefer to plan things and go places with a purpose, but as he would say, "Where's the fun in that?"
Unfortunately, it was raining pretty hard by 2pm and the wind had picked up, especially on the promontory of the fortress, so we both decided that any more sightseeing would have to wait for another day.  We took a bus back to Nikola's apartment (thankfully, we didn't have to walk) and I got my first taste of crowded public transportation.  It wasn't so bad, we could still move around, but comparable to a New York subway.  I know it will be much more crowded in St. Petersburg.
When we got back to Nikola's apartment, we had lunch, which consisted of a chicken and pineapple casserole and rice.  It was very good, especially after having been wet and cold.  Immediately following our meal, we each took a (much-needed) nap - it was just that kind of day.  When I woke up after an hour (a perfectly adequate nap in my mind) I went with Aca to see his school (grades 1-8) that he had just graduated from.  It was a large multistory building with a courtyard in the middle which contained a playground for the younger children; and the interior looked much like elementary schools in America.  After a quick tour through there, we again tried visiting Divna, whose apartment is right up the street from Nikola's, and this time she answered the door.  Her apartment had the distinctive old-lady feel to it; the old family pictures on every shelf, the antique furnishings, the doilies.  Aca showed me her loom - apparently she is a fairly skilled weaver and she made the fabric of her couch covers herself; she also quilts, crochets, and does all of the other things you would expect from a woman of 88.  In fact, she reminded me strongly of Grammy in every point, from her apartment to her mannerisms.  It made me miss her greatly and so glad that I had visited her before I left :]
Back at the apartment once again, Nikola finally woke up and we watched a documentary together entitled "The 7 Ages of Rock".  He showed it to me because it featured Queen and Bruce Springsteen, both artists that I have begun listening to under Nikola's influence.  It was very enlightening to see the way it showed the evolution of stadium rock from heartfelt music to extreme showmanship and back again.
Supper was at 8pm and consisted of "sandwiches" (buterbrodey in Russian) made from meat and butter or kaimek on pieces of bread.  Both the meat and the kaimek comes from a local 'specialty' store that buys them from villagers on a particular mountain.  It's about as 'organic and local' as it gets :]
After supper, Nikola needed to get to some hardcore studying, so he selected a few books for me from his library and 'banished' me to Aca's room for the night (I didn't mind.  I understand the need to study and I was proud of him for making it a priority.  It can't be easy juggling finals and a friend who needs almost constant supervision :]]).  Although I climbed into bed at 8:45, I devoured four books (over 400 pages) before actually going to sleep at 2am.  Guess I can't complain about not getting enough sleep this time :P