People in Yugoslavia continue to enjoy their large open plazas and side walk cafes. They afford this by only purchasing a single beverage and spending an hour to drink it.

The only common items to eat are pizza and sandwiches, both of which are mostly bread to make them affordable. Pop corn is another favorite.

In Novi Sad, a city of 250,000, we only found a few restaurants that served meals, and then with only a limited menu.

Refineries are destroyed, auto and rail bridges are down and water lines are broken. The economy is grinding. Much of Belgrade is heated by steam produced at centralized generating stations. Many of these were destroyed. There are serious concerns with the approach of winter.

Food production is faltering due to the lack or expense of agro-chemicals and the shortage of petrol.

Most have seen their families savings wiped out. Most are eeking out a living by having several jobs. All blame Milosevic for the last 10 years of misery but do not see how to remove him from office.

Now they have been bombed, demonized by the western media and are denied visas by other countries.

Despite their panache and attention to personal grooming, the people in Yugoslavia lack gaity and their eyes have little sparkle. Even resentful glowers are heavily subdued with resignation.

Almost everyone I talked to feared the future and felt that things were going to get worse. Milosevic would not be leaving without a fight and few trusted the democratic opposition.

Their only real hope was to somehow leave the country.

Here is a link to a BBC article that may also be of interest: Eyewitness: Serbia after the war