Art Workshop/Dunno why *I* don't paint pictures at work.

Took a break from the office today to check out this Art Workshop called "Praise to Hand," which is a day center for kids with Down syndrome.  The workshop played host to part of the "Nas Beograd/Our Belgrade" volunteering actions the other weekend, when a group from PricewaterhouseCoopers helped them repair their fence and renovate the walls of the ex-toolshed it is housed in.

I took a cab from the office down to Senjak where the Workshop is.  I don't really like taking taxis, especially not alone--it makes me feel like a City Boy business type or something, which I don't really like.  Also, sometimes cab drivers make conversations with you, and I rarely want that.  The first cab driver I had was one of those, a talker, despite my being (I would have assumed safely) in foreign territory.

He knew a fair amount of English though, having lived in Halifax.  We talked about how Serbia is like London because of Football hooligans, of which he is presumably one (the impression I received from his tattoo).  It all went pretty well until we passed the old bombed-out defense buildings, and conversation shifted to NATO, and a'that.  This turned into "Albanians are bad people.  They are all terrorists.  You know, like Osama bin Laden."  Um, yeah.  I said as few words as possible, noting that I had already mentioned that I work for an NGO.  Eventually we reached my destination though.  And I will say, he wasn't at all hostile to me, despite the whole "being an American" bit.  But my return cab ride was mysteriously 50 dinars cheaper.

The Workshop was a really cool place.  The woman who runs it, Katarina, is a painter who started it 10 years ago.  It's always a struggle to finance the workshop, and the local community isn't particularly supportive, which is a shame,  But she showed me some of the  art they do, like mixed-media pictures including paint, fiberglass, and clay components (they have a kiln, among other things), or art books the kids made from scratch, paper and all.  There was only one kid there at the time, because school's out for summer.  Katarina demonstrated to her how to introduce herself, ask how are you, say her age to me in English.  I talked with Katarina for awhile about the workshop.  When I left, she asked me about the time and location of my birth, the whole astrological bit.  That's the second time that happened to me here in a week.  Cooool.

(I'm a Scorpio, and I don't remember all the subtler signs.)