We woke up to to rain in Belgrade this morning, but in many ways we welcomed it, especially after the extreme heat in Jerusalem. The weather did not slow us down! Our morning started at the SIT Office, just a few blocks away from our hotel. Dr. Orli Fridman (director and professor at SIT) provided an engaging lecture and discourse on post-war/post-Yugoslav Balkans and how we might think comparatively about the situation here with the Israel-Palestine conflict. This was an excellent opportunity for us to take what we heard and learned in Jordan and Israel and make the transition to another similar conflict. Both conflicts are multi-layered and there are common misconceptions from those looking in from the outside. Simplistic explanations do not work with either situation.

After a short break, Dr. Vladimir Pavicevic joined us for a discussion on "Serbia after Milosevic" , where he outlined the various political and internal struggles in Serbia since the late 1990s and the ongoing emergence of democratic principles. We also benefited from a short, one-hour course on Serbian Language and its relation to politics and identity in the Balkans.

We then had a 4-hour city tour of Belgrade where we visited several sites, including the Belgrade Fortress, which offered dramatic views of the city and the Sava and Danube Rivers. Other stops were made to Tito's memorial and grave and to the beautiful St. Sava Orthodox Cathedral. Our day ended with another great meal at the Comunal restaurant, overlooking the Sava River.