Serbia is participating in the qualifying rounds for the 2009 European Basketball Championship. The tourney takes place a year from now in September of 2009 and it is hosted by Poland. Sixteen teams will participate in the championships, with half the teams already set. The host Poland plus the seven teams who qualified via the Olympic qualifying matches. 17 other teams are competing for the final 8 spots, one of which is Serbia. They are in Group A and they have have a record of 5-1 in their first six games. They play Wednesday against Finland here in Belgrade. That is their only loss, so they will be looking for revenge. The Serbs finish up their schedule against Bulgaria which will probably be the deciding match for supremacy of the group and direct passage to Poland and the European Championships next year.
Serbia’s top player in the qualifying is Nenad Krstic who is averaging 13 points and 5 boards a game. The 7 footer played for several seasons with the New Jersey Nets and now plays in the Russia. Hopefully I will be able to go to the game Wednesday.
Krstic goes for two against Bulgaria earlier this month.
We visited the Chinese Market today over in New Belgrade. It was a cold, rainy day but we braved the elements and headed over in a taxi. We met our friends, Tim/Janna, and Jennie and their children. The photo above was taken in between the buildings of the market.
I was expecting something a bit more “Chinese,” something like Chinatown. A place where you could buy Asian spices and there would be an old Chinese man with a noodle shop. Instead, it was a like the market Barrio Lindo in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Yes, there were plenty of Chinese salespeople manning the stalls. The market was filled with cheap merchandise. It was mostly clothes and houseware. Everything was of very low quality. The only thing I found I liked was bee-bee guns that looked like M 16 US military rifles. I was tempted to buy two for the boys, but they are a bit too young for those. We did buy them plastic guns and transformer masks. We also got a pair of shoes for Oliver. Nadia was really bothered by the smoke and the crowds. I guess if you combine Chinese (heavy smokers) and Serbians (also heavy smokers) you get a lot of smoke. There were thousands of people there. New Belgrade is full of huge Communist era apartment buildings. The low prices probably attract the locals.
Nadia considers the bok choy.
We then went grocery shopping at IDEA, a mega-store like Wal-Mart. The chain is out of Croatia and it was a very nice store. You can buy in bulk there so we stocked up on the essentials. We had some excellent bread, a whole wheat with other nuts and grains.
Nadia and Owen move through the produce section of IDEA.
We took a short nap in the late afternoon and played football in the yard with the boys. We were loving the cold weather! It will be so different to experience the changed of seasons. Our mudroom is full of jackets, something foreign to us.
Ocean is standing next to the lion statue on our doorstep. We have the lion theme with our front entrance. There are two lion statues
and then a brass lion door knocker. I guess being a Detroit Lion fan it is appropriate. The statues are a bit battered as you can see and that is appropriate also considering the Lions NFL history. After last week’s opening week loss to the Falcons, it looks like it will be another long year.
Ocean’s birthday is coming up in two weeks. She is developing quickly and comes up with a new mannerism or habit every day. She stands quite a bit but does not walk yet. Both the boys didn’t walk until after their first birthday. We shall see. She is so smart and figuring out how the world works. She is also quite demanding and knows what she wants.
It was a super hard week at school for me. I had four night events Monday – Thursday. On Monday I helped Liz with the senior college application process talk, Tuesday we had the middle school open house, Wednesday was the high school open house, and on Thursday the PTA had a wine and cheese evening. I didn’t get to bed at my usual 9:00 PM and it showed. I learned that the next time that happens, to take a nap in the afternoon. I will be able to function better and make less mistakes.
Oliver is doing better at school. He is getting along well with his classmates. Owen is a superstar and liked by everyone. His reading level was tested at 2nd grade. We have him in kindergarten this year and it is good because his social and maturity level is at kindergarten. We would prefer him to be one of the top students at his level rather than in the middle of the pack in a grade level ahead.
Nadia is feeling more comfortable in her classroom. She was a bit intimidated with the IBO program, but has found out that it gives her structure and pushes her, but she is still able to do things that have been successful in the past.
We finally got our house deed notorized. It was tough to find the time to go downtown to the embassy, especially with such a busy week. The papers went off DHL on Friday so hopefully they will arrive in Iron Mountain and we can close. It will be sad to lose the “house of our dreams” but glad not to have the burden of mortgage payments and upkeep. I’ll post more on the house later.
Well, it was a cold, rainy weekend. Temperatures were in the 50’s and there was a steady rain. Friday night we walked down for ice cream and we passed out at 8:30 PM exhausted. Saturday morning I cut the grass before the rains came. We then went to the embassy commissary but it was closed. We then went to Delta City and walked around the mall. Nadia cooked a good meal for us at night and we went to bed. Sunday morning it is raining again. I did some paperwork and cleaning around the house. I cooked breakfast for the kids and we had a nice morning together!
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