dear friends and family:
okay, here is my very long overdue update on our time here in serbia so far. i hope you don't mind the lower caps, but i've gotten lazy in my old age (and i want to be like my friend, holly lu!!!) anyway, things here continue to go very well. we finally got our plates for our car (the old saab that we bought from the lady who used to live in our house here), and went to turn it on today, but the battery was dead! we have a friend coming over in a little while to give us a jump. can't wait to go out and drive with the crazy eastern europeans!!
we went to another birthday party last night (our second kids' birthday party since we've been here), this time for one of wes' school friends. it was at a disco randomly located in the back of a movie theater. the kids had a ball -- while the party was going on, i walked the main pedestrian shopping street in downtown belgrade with the mom who had given us a ride, and she showed me some fantastic shops, including the world's best sweater shop, at which i bought two gorgeous sweaters made here in serbia. for any of you fashion afficianados, you may want to google the store -- it's ivkovic, and i hear that anthropologie occasionally carries a sweater or two from there (and charges three or four time what you would pay here in the local store in belgrade). anyway, that was fun, and i can't wait to wear the new sweaters -- will probably have a chance this weekend, as it is supposed to rain and/or snow all weekend.
i finally got out yesterday for a belgrade experience sans kids, and it was really great. i rode the trolley into city center and walked the pedestrian street. i had heard that there was a mcdonald's nearby, and i wanted to get graham some of his beloved mcdonald's chicken nuggets, so i ventured into the restaurant, only to find that it was totally amazing -- huge and beautiful and really sleek, with a separate coffee bar. i decided to eat lunch there, and had the world's best "dubli cheeseburger" and some good old mcdonald's french fries. what a treat! not to say that the serbian food isn't good -- to the contrary -- it's amazing. i felt really dumb eating at mcdonald's, but in a way it was a really novel experience because the mcdonald's itself was SO much nicer than any mcdonald's i've ever seen in the states. from lunch, i walked back through downtown past the u.s. embassy where eli works, and then caught a bus, didn't get off at the right stop (went way past where i was supposed to get off), and then ended up walking several miles back to our house. in the end, i figured that there was no need to feel too guilty about the greasy lunch since i had walked so far. it was a great day!
the kids continue to display signs of great happiness here in serbia. they cannot wait to get out the door to go to school in the mornings. we walk to school, along with many other kids in the neighborhood, so that's a lot of fun. graham seems to have adjusted beautifully to his new home, school, schedule, etc. we finally got our air freight earlier this week, so we were able to get his therapy room set up. he was so excited to get back to work -- i mean really happy. he seems very happy with jamie (his therapist) and she is doing very well with him. we scaled his school hours back, but have worked out a schedule that seems to be working really well for him. he will do his aba in the mornings, and then have a little break, and then go to school for a few hours in the afternoon. his school is about 1.5 miles away from our house, and jamie thinks that she will walk it most days (we have a great stroller for graham in which he loves to ride). she enjoys the exercise and he enjoys seeing the sights, so that works out well.
i have been spending a lot of time taking care of unpacking, organizing, and doing daily chores such as shopping, cooking and laundry. we have hired a wonderful housekeeper who will be here with us two days per week. her name is connie and she is from the phillipines originally, but has lived in serbia with her croatian husband for more than twenty years. this past week, she taught me how to make these to die for meat pies and apple pies -- i hear from other embassy families that she is an amazing cook, so i am hoping that she can continue to teach me how to make some local specialities. the kids, eli, jamie and i all loved the little pies and i am going to try to replicate the recipe over the weekend.
eli is staying very busy with work and is really enjoying his new position. he reports that there is tons going on at work, that the relationship with the serb nationals is very positive, and that his experience so far with the embassy personnel and staff has been great.
one last bit of news -- we finally met our serbian neighbors yesterday, and as it turns out, they have two boys, aged 14 and 12, and a 5 year old daughter. as partial as i am to virginia, i would say that this little girl rivals virginia in cuteness. she doesn't speak a lick of english, and virginia can only say two or three things in serbian, so there was a bit of a language barrier, but that didn't stop the girls from spending several hours together yesterday and running around outside and in the house holding hands and giggling nonstop. funny how kids can figure out how to communicate and to enjoy one another's company even if they aren't able to speak the same language!! i think there's something to be learned by watching these little girls play together. meanwhile, the three boys were outside hitting tennis balls (against the perimeter wall of the japanese ambassador's home, which is across the street from our house!) and then kicking the soccer ball in our neighbors' yard. it was a great afternoon, and the kids are happy to have some playmates in the neighborhood.
we hope that everyone back home is doing well and look forward to keeping in touch. by the way, through vonage, we have our local nashville number here in serbia -- so please call us at 615-297-8673 when you get a chance (just remember that we are 6 hours ahead of you -- so try to remember not to call after 4 or 5 in the afternoon). missing everyone and looking forward to hearing from you soon!
erin
okay, here is my very long overdue update on our time here in serbia so far. i hope you don't mind the lower caps, but i've gotten lazy in my old age (and i want to be like my friend, holly lu!!!) anyway, things here continue to go very well. we finally got our plates for our car (the old saab that we bought from the lady who used to live in our house here), and went to turn it on today, but the battery was dead! we have a friend coming over in a little while to give us a jump. can't wait to go out and drive with the crazy eastern europeans!!
we went to another birthday party last night (our second kids' birthday party since we've been here), this time for one of wes' school friends. it was at a disco randomly located in the back of a movie theater. the kids had a ball -- while the party was going on, i walked the main pedestrian shopping street in downtown belgrade with the mom who had given us a ride, and she showed me some fantastic shops, including the world's best sweater shop, at which i bought two gorgeous sweaters made here in serbia. for any of you fashion afficianados, you may want to google the store -- it's ivkovic, and i hear that anthropologie occasionally carries a sweater or two from there (and charges three or four time what you would pay here in the local store in belgrade). anyway, that was fun, and i can't wait to wear the new sweaters -- will probably have a chance this weekend, as it is supposed to rain and/or snow all weekend.
i finally got out yesterday for a belgrade experience sans kids, and it was really great. i rode the trolley into city center and walked the pedestrian street. i had heard that there was a mcdonald's nearby, and i wanted to get graham some of his beloved mcdonald's chicken nuggets, so i ventured into the restaurant, only to find that it was totally amazing -- huge and beautiful and really sleek, with a separate coffee bar. i decided to eat lunch there, and had the world's best "dubli cheeseburger" and some good old mcdonald's french fries. what a treat! not to say that the serbian food isn't good -- to the contrary -- it's amazing. i felt really dumb eating at mcdonald's, but in a way it was a really novel experience because the mcdonald's itself was SO much nicer than any mcdonald's i've ever seen in the states. from lunch, i walked back through downtown past the u.s. embassy where eli works, and then caught a bus, didn't get off at the right stop (went way past where i was supposed to get off), and then ended up walking several miles back to our house. in the end, i figured that there was no need to feel too guilty about the greasy lunch since i had walked so far. it was a great day!
the kids continue to display signs of great happiness here in serbia. they cannot wait to get out the door to go to school in the mornings. we walk to school, along with many other kids in the neighborhood, so that's a lot of fun. graham seems to have adjusted beautifully to his new home, school, schedule, etc. we finally got our air freight earlier this week, so we were able to get his therapy room set up. he was so excited to get back to work -- i mean really happy. he seems very happy with jamie (his therapist) and she is doing very well with him. we scaled his school hours back, but have worked out a schedule that seems to be working really well for him. he will do his aba in the mornings, and then have a little break, and then go to school for a few hours in the afternoon. his school is about 1.5 miles away from our house, and jamie thinks that she will walk it most days (we have a great stroller for graham in which he loves to ride). she enjoys the exercise and he enjoys seeing the sights, so that works out well.
i have been spending a lot of time taking care of unpacking, organizing, and doing daily chores such as shopping, cooking and laundry. we have hired a wonderful housekeeper who will be here with us two days per week. her name is connie and she is from the phillipines originally, but has lived in serbia with her croatian husband for more than twenty years. this past week, she taught me how to make these to die for meat pies and apple pies -- i hear from other embassy families that she is an amazing cook, so i am hoping that she can continue to teach me how to make some local specialities. the kids, eli, jamie and i all loved the little pies and i am going to try to replicate the recipe over the weekend.
eli is staying very busy with work and is really enjoying his new position. he reports that there is tons going on at work, that the relationship with the serb nationals is very positive, and that his experience so far with the embassy personnel and staff has been great.
one last bit of news -- we finally met our serbian neighbors yesterday, and as it turns out, they have two boys, aged 14 and 12, and a 5 year old daughter. as partial as i am to virginia, i would say that this little girl rivals virginia in cuteness. she doesn't speak a lick of english, and virginia can only say two or three things in serbian, so there was a bit of a language barrier, but that didn't stop the girls from spending several hours together yesterday and running around outside and in the house holding hands and giggling nonstop. funny how kids can figure out how to communicate and to enjoy one another's company even if they aren't able to speak the same language!! i think there's something to be learned by watching these little girls play together. meanwhile, the three boys were outside hitting tennis balls (against the perimeter wall of the japanese ambassador's home, which is across the street from our house!) and then kicking the soccer ball in our neighbors' yard. it was a great afternoon, and the kids are happy to have some playmates in the neighborhood.
we hope that everyone back home is doing well and look forward to keeping in touch. by the way, through vonage, we have our local nashville number here in serbia -- so please call us at 615-297-8673 when you get a chance (just remember that we are 6 hours ahead of you -- so try to remember not to call after 4 or 5 in the afternoon). missing everyone and looking forward to hearing from you soon!
erin
It is very interesting for me to read your blog. It sounds like the other side of the mirror for me. I moved to Raleigh, NC, a year ago and am trying to adjust here. You write beautifully! Am I wrong or do you live in Senjak? I was trying to picture your walks and MacDonals's. I used to work in a primary school in Senjak :) Take care
ReplyDeleteYes, good guess. We do live in Senjak. How is life in Raleigh. Great area. My husband went to Duke for undergrad -- we love NC!! So glad you're enjoying my blog. Keep in tuch. Erin
ReplyDelete:) I would recognize Senjak in any blog ;) Haha! But your kids probably go to an international school.
ReplyDeleteCan it be that your husband went to Duke? Haha! It is a small world! My husband is doing a PhD at NCSU. I also got admitted for Fall 2010, so we will stay for some time. Raleigh is beautiful indeed. We enjoy the nature and the lakes very much! I found your blog on Karl's blog, who also published mine. I was intrigued!
What is your blog address, Katarina?
ReplyDeleteSorry! I do not get these notifications! Here is my modest blog, not as close as good as yours :S
ReplyDeletehttp://serbianteacheronaforcedvacationinusa.blogspot.com/