US Congressman Pomeroy: friend of Kraljevo

I have decided to consolidate all my blogspot into this one to make it easier for people to learn more about Kraljevo. This post was originally on another blog. It highlights the fact that Kraljevo is an international city.

After searching the archives of the website 'Serbia's Ambassador to the World' for articles on Kraljevo, I discovered a post for July 6, 2009, by Karl Haudbourg, which got my mind running. Essentially, it was a good news story about a group of American college students who enjoyed their stay in Kraljevo during the summer of 2009.

This post got me wondering whether American college students often visited Kraljevo during their summer vacations as a Must-See place on their Balkans itinerary, or maybe even as their base camp - maybe not in their hundreds, but perhaps a steady trickle of people. So I typed "American college students in Kraljevo" into Google. One of the first results refers to a US congressman. Kraljevo was a destination in 1973 for a young Earl Pomeroy, US Congressman for North Dakota, where he stayed with his 'host family' as part of the 'Experiment in International Living' programme. Earlier this year, Congressman Pomeroy visited Kraljevo for a reunion with his host family - find out more at http://worldlearningnow.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/congressman-pomeroy/. Watch a video of the reunion (in Serbian and English)



This story linked in with something I read two or three months ago about Kraljevo in the travel section of the B92 website. A waiter at a restaurant near the famous Zica Monastery commented that international visitors often visited Kraljevo before the Balkans conflict, although there are now few who visit. At the time, I thought he was referring to visitors from Greece or Bulgaria, but now I wonder if Kraljevo was a favourite beauty spot for those wanting to explore further than the beautiful beaches of Croatia.

Kraljevo in Serbia was, in 1973, a part of the federal republic of Yugoslavia. The 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics gave Yugoslavia's international status a massive boost. There must have been considerable groundwork prior to the selection of Sarajevo as a host for the Olympics, since the London 2012 Olympics bid was won in 2005. Each republic within Yugoslavia and each district in each republic would benefit from the Olympics and, therefore, there must have been a certain level of promotion of culture in all parts of Yugoslavia.

The image of Serbia is tarnished by the Balkans Conflict and the Kosovo Conflict of the 1990s. The peace and harmony of previous decades between the Balkans nations seems like a forgotten story. I hope to provide enough proof over the following weeks and months to suggest that the cultural identity of Serbia has never changed - it remains a region known for its warmth and friendliness, always promoting positive cultural exchange.

My research will be based largely on the experiences of international visitors and local people as found on the Internet.