On this day 25 years ago, I became a pionir.
It was 1988, Tito was long dead, Yugoslavia was on the verge of an economic and political collapse that would cause a decade-long turmoil and various wars. But one of the most important rites of passage in a young Yugoslavian's life still claimed a lot of attention from teachers, parents and said young Yugoslavian.
I was six and a half years old and in 1st grade, bored out of my mind in school because I already knew how to read and write and reading and writing was basically what I was supposed to be learning at that time. The annoying insufferable knowitall in me was having a smug moment, while my teacher was kind of furious.
Joining the Pionir organization was a huge deal and almost as big a milestone as starting school. It blows my mind how much things have changed since then.
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A pretty navy blue pleated skirt, cool red neckerchief, a pin, a solemn oath and delicious cake were involved. Parents were proud and there was no homework that day. It was so cool.
"Danes, ko postajam pionir, dajem častno pionirsko besedo: Da se bom pridno učil in delal, spoštoval starše in učitelje, da bom zvest in iskren tovariš, ki drži svojo obljubo;
Da se bom ravnal po zgledu najboljših pionirjev, da bom spoštoval slavna dejanja partizanov in napredne ljudi sveta, ki žele svobodo in mir;
Da bom ljubil svojo domovino, samoupravno Socialistično Jugoslavijo, njene bratske narode in narodnosti in gradil novo življenje, polno sreče in radost."*
So tonight, I'll briefly celebrate.
Cheers.
Jules
*The Pionir oath. In Slovenian, obviously. The message is actually pretty positive and there's no brain washing. Google translate to learn a piece of our history if you will, my dear non-Slovenian readers.
