Pros:
Freedom
Living in a house with a front yard, back yard and a garden, I feel like I have a lot space that is mine. So I can pretty much do whatever I want which always gave me a certain feeling of freedom. Living in a rented place in a city often comes with limitations, for example maybe the owner doesn't allow you to have pets or to paint the walls. You are also often limited to an apartment and balcony, have to be careful when it comes to noise, music and you have to keep in mind if someone is living in an apartment below you or right next to you.
Nature
Some people think I'm overexaggerating when I say that I can notice a difference in the air here where I live and in Novi Sad, even though the two places are not that far. In the village, where I am surrounded by land and grass, without buildings and concrete, air is a lot more fresh. In the summer, when I step out of the bus on the concrete in the city, I can literally feel the heat and heavy air from it.
About 7km from my house, there is a Danube river and a lot of trees. Now, during the spring, there is so much flowers and birds are singing, bees are buzzing around and cats are sunbathing. :D
Neighbors
I live at the the of the street, there's only one house after mine, at the back where our garden ends, there are no houses, just land. In front where our property ends there are two football playgrounds. Pretty lonely and silent, except when the playgrounds are full. :) We have a great relationship with our neighbors, we always invite each other for coffee, we help each other and share - when someone is making a cake or pastry, it is normal for us to bring some to the neighbors. We also invite each other to celebrations and of course, kids are always playing together.
Animals
I don't even know how many cats there has been in my neighborhood over the years. Most of them don't have an owner but everybody feeds them.
We also have chickens and it's common to have all kinds of animals in the village. About 10 minutes walking from my house, there is even a pony farm. Unfortunately, I don't have a dog even though I would love to have one since I think that having a yard and a house with 7 people would be a great home for a dog, but none of my family members agrees with me, lol.
Gardening
As long as I can remember, my parents always had a garden in the back of our houses - in Croatia and here in Serbia. I got so used to it that it's hard for me to imagine having to buy everything from the supermarket. Having a garden also means that you know exactly what you are growing and what you are eating which for me and my family is very important. Even though it can be hard work sometimes, it also can be a great activity and kind of relaxing and enjoyable.
Sunsets
This has to be one of my favorites! I love watching sunsets, it is my favorite time of the day, so calm and peaceful, gives me that feeling of being in touch with myself and nature. I am so grateful to have this open space where I am able to have a view of the sunset the moment I step out of the house. I'll never get tired of it!
Cons:
Transport
Even though I consider my village well connected to the city, compared to some other small places in Serbia, it still can be a struggle sometimes. I always have to keep in mind my bus schedule and plan everything according to transport. Let's take Zumba classes as an example: my best friend lives 5 minutes walking from the fitness center where Zumba is and I need to leave the house 1 hour and 30 minutes before it starts. This also mean I am waiting half an hour in the fitness center because if I take the next bus, I would be late for the class. It was the same with my University, always being early or chasing buses.
Activities
I already mentioned Zumba classes so I'll continue with that example. In my village, there's not that many organized activities. In school kids have the possibility to train some sports: football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics I think. Outside the school there is folklore (Serbian traditional dance) and maybe some kind of aerobics/pilates. So if you're in the high school and older and if you are interested in some other activity, you will have to go to the city for that. This can be a little bit complicated especially for parents who's kids want to go to swimming classes, let's say - they would have to drive to the city or catch buses and with job and school, sometimes it's hard to combine everything. The solution might be choosing some activity in a lot bigger village next to mine, it's only 10-15 minutes away and has a few different things to offer.
This is a photo from the entrance of the dance studio where I used to go to Dancehall classes in Novi Sad
Entertainment/Events
Same as the previous one, for entertainment, different kind of events, parties and such things, city is offering so much more. In my village there are no cafes, there is a small restaurant next to the river and not far from there something that is suppose to be a cafe and it's opened only during the summer. Close to the school there is a tiny ice cream shop, again working only during the summer. When it comes to events, every now and then there is a small culture event: books presentation or local artist's painting exhibition.
I don't think I have to mention that Novi Sad is offering a lot more of all kinds of events and entertainment, especially during the spring and summer - there is always something going on.
Volleyball game in Novi Sad
Shops/Salons/Shopping
In the past few years there has been some progress in my village when it comes to this category: we got one more pharmacy, a private dentist office, health food store, "a random store" as I like to call it because there's many different things there mostly related to crafts, materials, tools, mechanics, all kinds of paints and similar stuff, then we got an ATM recently which comes in handy for a lot of people... Opening hours are quite different from the city: post office is opened on work days until 1:30pm, library in the morning hours on Tuesday's and Thursday's and in the afternoon hours on Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's...
For any kind of shopping, buying gifts and such or for some specific food items (exotic fruits for example) the city is again the place to be.
Gossip
Living in a place where there is 3500-4000 people, it's not unusual that you know a lot of people from your community. When we moved here, everybody knew we were the "new people". You are also most likely to know pretty much everyone from your generation. So I guess village talk and gossip is something quite normal, like it or not. While in some cases the strength of community can be a big plus, this other side is always present.
Another thing is if you have a unique, specific style that doesn't match "the standards" of elders, they will not hesitate to give you the look and put a label on you.
I would love to hear from you and your experience, dear Steemians. How big or small is the place where you live and what are some of the advantages/disadvantages in your opinion?
