Page 35 - AWEMAINTA

AMERICAN SRBOBRAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2018 9

MEMBERS ONLY

MELANIE DESPINICH TAKES ODYSSEY TOUR
Melanie Despinich of Elmhurst, Illinois, daughter of Milo and Too-
tie Despinich, embarked on January 5, 2018 for the trip of a life-
time. She boarded the MV Odyssey ship in Ensenada, Mexico,
for a 105-day voyage around the world for which she received a
semester of college credit.
“Semester at Sea” takes a global approach to study using the
ship as a traveling campus. It attracts 600 students and profes-
sors from renowned universities throughout the world. The voy-
age covered 11 countries, 15 cities across 4 continents. Some of
the highlights of her adventures included climbing the Great Wall
in China, exploring the Tulan Cave system in Viet Nam, snorkel-
ing in Mauritius, skydiving in South Africa, riding a camel in Mo-
rocco and visiting the Taj Mahal in India. The original plan was
to disembark in Hamburg, Germany but due to rough seas the
ship changed course and went to Lisbon, Portugal, where they
disembarked on April 19, 2018.
The adventure continued as Melanie traveled through Europe,
visiting another 15 countries with new friends from the ship. They
just happened to be in London for Prince Harry and Megan Mar-
kle’s wedding! Her final stop was Belgrade, Serbia where she did
a summer internship with Deloitte. While at Deloitte she attend-
ed a reception hosted by Kyle Scott, American Ambassador to
Serbia. The World Odyssey Tour At the Great Wall
She was joined in Belgrade by her mother and brothers Nico and
Mikey. They met with relatives from the Despinich and Bajagich
families, and made a pilgrimage to Valjevo where their maternal
great-grandfather is buried. Capt. Milos Bajagich was a fighter
pilot in the Royal Yugoslav Air Force and gave his life for his
country on April 12, 1941 in the bombing of Belgrade. They also
went to Montenegro, Dubrovnik and Trebinje where their mater-
nal, great-grandparents were from, even finding the house where
their pra-baba grew up!

Melanie came home to Elmhurst before returning to the Univer-
sity of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. A lifelong SNf member,
Melanie was enrolled at birth by her grandparents Dragan and
Nada Bajagich. We thank Baba Nada who reported this story,
and we understand can now relax since Melanie is back on terra Boulders Beach, South Africa Skydiving in Cape Town
firma in the greatest country in the world.

Taj Mahal On Table Mountain, SA

SAVE THE DATE 3-Day Weekend July 19-21, 2019