Our last day in Belgrade was relaxing, stimulating and creative. Our morning discussion centered on critical perspectives on discourses of Serbia's EU integration, led by Dr. Jelisaveta Blagojevic. She is not opposed to the EU membership, but feels that Serbia needs a public discourse space to examine this decision and how it will affect the country going forward. Two key issues are modernization and the economy, especially in light of the country's socialist history. (See photo of us in the SIT Office -- I love their slogan!)

We spent our lunchtime at Mikser House, another hybrid concept space, bringing together food, music, art, retail and neighborhood collaborations. The place was buzzing with preparations for the upcoming Mikser Festival, the largest regional festival on creativity. None of us have experienced this type of space in the U.S. and we found it to be very intriguing and energizing.

After lunch, we hopped on one of Belgrade's downtown trolley trains and made our way to the Youth Initiative for Human Rights. The mission of this NGO is to protect the victims of human rights violations and to establish new connections in the region among the post-war generation. Two very passionate staff members shared information on their work, especially their efforts to connect Serbian and Kosovar young people on weekend exchanges. Hearing about their experiences was good preparation for our travel to Kosovo tomorrow.