billkralovec

Book Review: Srdjan Valijarević “Lake Como”

January 11, 2012billkralovec

I just completed reading Serbian author Srdjan Valjarevic’s book, Lake Como. I was very curious to read the book because so few contemporary Serbian authors are translated into English. I’ve read a lot of Ivo Andrić and Daniel Kis, but no more recent authors. I would like to thank Geopoetika Publishing Company for translating a series of contemporary Serbian authors. I will definitely read others in the series.

Lake Como is the story of a Serbian writer who wins a month’s refuge at an expensive Villa on Lake Como to work on his novel. The author however, is not really working on the book and a friend helped him fill in the application to receive the grant award. He is a part-time writer and full-time alcoholic. Not much happens in the book and he describes his month at the lake. He does a lot of drinking, sightseeing, eating, and observing the other guest scholars in the villa. He also mingles with the local townspeople quite a bit and is a bit of a ladies man.

The unnamed antihero, or hero of the book I guess represents Serbia and the people of his generation. Valijarevic is my age although the book was written 5 years ago. It made me think about what it would have been like to lose your country (Yugoslavia) and living standards that went with it after years of war and embargoes. It was quite traumatic for people his age who were just starting out in their careers when the whole thing went to pieces. The best review I read on the book is by Daniel Kelleher and here are the other books in the series by Geopoetika.

Titles that fall within the Geopoetika Serbian prose in Translation series under review include: —

Basara, Svetislav – The Cyclist Conspiracy —
Novaković, Mirjana – Fear and Servant —
Ognjenović, Vida – Adulterers —
Stanković, Slavoljub – The Box

Friendship Park – Prijateljtsva Park

January 8, 2012January 8, 2012billkralovec

While waiting for my wife to come out of the movie at the Ušče Mall earlier this week, I explored the Friendship Park. This park in New Belgrade was established in 1961 to commemorate a big meeting of the Non-Aligned Nations Movement. Through the years, when foreign statesman visit Serbia, a tree is planted in the park in their honor. I walked around and noted some of the famous names. These included Fidel Castro, Moammar Gaddafay, Leonid Brezhnev, Hafez El Assad, and of course the first one, Tito in 1961. My favorite is from 1976, Jimmy Carter planted a California Sequoia which must have died because there was a large bush near his marker that certainly didn’t look like a 35-year old Giant Redwood. One of the latest trees planted was by current Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mohamed Kemel Amr in September next to the Serbian Foriegn Minister, Vuk Jeremić in September of 2011.

The other interesting part of the park is the Soviet-style monument erected by Slobodan Milosević after the NATO bombings in 2000. It used to contain an eternal flame. In the background of the photo to start this post, you can also see the former Central Committee building. It was destroyed in the NATO bombing campaign, but is now office buildings.

Christmas Eve Service: A Serbian Orthodox Tradition

January 7, 2012January 7, 2012billkralovec

St. Sava’s Cathedral, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Last night we went to Saint Sava’s Cathedral here in Belgrade for the burning of the badjnak and the Christmas Eve Service. As you can see from the photos, it was a beautiful and culturally enriching night for my family.

Each of the kids had a “badnjak” which is like a yule log. The word badnjak may be derived from the verb, bdeti, which means to stay awake or keep the vigil. The tradition stems from pagan times and the man of the house (domaćin) or sons on Christmas morning went into the woods and cut down a young Oak tree. The yule log is kind of like a ceremonial sacrifice to bring health and happiness to the family for the coming year. The log was burnt over the family hearth. Today, an assembly of twigs with Oak leaves, corn, pine sprigs, and straw is tied together with a red ribbon and sold in markets and street corners around Belgrade. Every church has a bonfire on its grounds where people can come and throw their badnjaks in the flames.

There were hundreds of people there and outside the church a mini-market was set up selling religious and holiday crafts and mulled wine. We went inside the massive cathedral to watch a bit of the service and light candles in memory of lost family members. The service, shown below, had a lot of priests singing and waving incense. There were also lines of people waiting to kiss various icons.

Afterwards we went to have some Lebanese appitizers at the Byblos Restaurant and the kids played in the park.

Happy New Year

January 5, 2012January 5, 2012billkralovec

Ale, Diego, Nadia, Bill, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

I have not been posting much over the holidays. I am spending lots of time with the kids and enjoying the unseasonably warm and sunny temperatures in Belgrade. We have extended holidays in Serbia because the Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the several orthodox churches that recognizes the older Gregorian calendar. Hence, their Christmas is January 7th and new year is January 13th.

Above, Nadia and I are pictured with Alejandra and Diego on New Year’s Eve. Diego left yesterday and Ale will be staying for another few days. It is great to see them and my nephew Sebey. Below is a sample of some of the things we have been up to this week.

The girls get some sun while biking and skateboarding with the kids.

The boys last night made their own fire in the backyard.

Backyard Football

December 29, 2011December 29, 2011billkralovec

We continue to play North American football in the back yard with the kids. I wish I had video of my playing when I was a kid. We played all the time in the Caspian School Field next to my house. Great times following the NFL and NCAA in the 1970s and playing with the kids in the neighborhood.

I took video of the games and you can follow the game by clicking on the links below.We are playing a mock NFL tourney. We have everyone’s favorite teams. Oliver likes the Pittsburgh Steelers, Owen likes the Green Bay Packers, Diego likes the Patriots and Dolphins, and I asked for the Lions to be included in the tourney.The first game is the Baltimore Ravens against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

There is North American football in Belgrade. The Central European Football League has five teams including the Belgrade Vukovi (Wolves). They play their games from April to June down at Ada Ciganlija.

Merry Christmas

December 26, 2011December 26, 2011billkralovec

I would like to wish all of my readers a Merry Christmas. With four children in the house, we had a great time making the holiday memorable for them The kids were up early on Christmas morning to open their gifts. We also played a football game in the afternoon with the boys. Nadia and Ale enjoyed a bit of art before preparing a delicious traditional turkey with all of the fixings. We finished up the day by having a dance contest and watching the Christmas classic, Love Actually. Overall, a wonderful day.

Family Holiday Journal: Football!!!

December 25, 2011December 25, 2011billkralovec

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve! It was relatively warm and sunny day and we took advantage of the unseasonably like conditions. The video above is of the boys and Uncle Diego playing football in our backyard. Owen is totally into football and is constantly carrying around a football and he is following the NFL and college bowl games. Oliver is a tough little guy and Sebey showed some athleticism. You can watch some other highlights on the Flick page.

We also went for a long bike ride at my favorite place in Belgrade. There were not many people there and we enjoyed showing Diego the beauty of Ada Ciganlija. We stopped for a hot chocolate before watching the NFL games for the evening. We had a Skype call with my Dad and brothers and their families.

All in all, it was a fantastic day.

Family Journal: Three Countries in One Day

December 23, 2011December 23, 2011billkralovec

The Kralovec Family did the Central European Tour on the way home from Vienna. We stopped in Bratislava and Budapest for more Christmas shopping. When we leave Europe, we will miss the different languages and currencies within a few hour’s drive.

The kids are shown above in the Ikea parking lot in Bratislava. There was snow on the ground and we took time out to have a mini-snowball fight. Bratislava, Slovakia looked and felt much like Belgrade. It is only about an hour from Vienna. It also marked a new country for all of us. I am up to 45 countries as a lifetime total. We then spent the night in Budapest, Hungary. Of course we had to visit another Christmas market! We all found it better than the markets in Vienna. I did notice the global economic crisis in Budapest however, as there were lots of buildings for rent and I see they are raising their sales tax to a whopping 27% to generate more revenue for the government.

We made it home safe and sound and are looking forward to re-joining the Wells/Chavez family for Christmas and New Years Celebrations. We put up more lights around the house last night and bought a turkey for our Christmas Eve dinner.

Mumok: Museum of Modern Art

December 20, 2011December 21, 2011billkralovec

We visited the Mumok, the basalt-rock building behind Nadia and Ale. Note that Ale is my sister-in-law and she maintains an amazing art blog for kids. The tagline for the site is “Inspiration for Parents, Teachers, and Anyone Who Loves Teaching Art.” The museum is part of the Museums Quartier, district rich in museums and cafes. We dropped the kids off at the Zoom Children’s Museum while we visited the Modern Art Museum.

Although I found the art pieces interesting, I don’t agree that these works should be valued and thought about by our society. For example, there were canvases with just a single color or geometric figures that anyone can do. I understand there may be a story behind them, but they should not be considered art. I thought it was a waste of such a great space. There were classes there however and as i wrote, I did try to attach meaning to the works and it did make me think a bit about what is aesthetically pleasing in my life. I liked the intellectual part of each work, the history behind the piece and what the artist was trying to say.

The highlights for me were a painting by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. This is the first time I saw actual live works by those two icons. The piece below by Warhol, is a print screen of a car accident.The repeating of the image is supposed to make it less tragic and more mundane, simulating the effect of modern media. It also has the deeper meaning of a luxury item for someone, (it is a convertible) instead of bringing them pleasure, brought them death.

Today is our final day in Vienna. It was good to see family and the sights of Vienna. I understand a bit better the Hapsburg Empire and Austrian culture. The city is much larger than Belgrade and the Austrians much colder and almost bitter when compared to the warness of the Serbs and the Balkans. Every empire brings its culture to the forefront and exposed to the world, and the Austrians gave an order and attention to detail to the their sphere of influence.

Today is also the shortest day of the year. It gets dark around 4:00 PM and doesn’t get light until after 7:00 AM. We are driving back to Belgrade and will meet up again with our family. They are staying with friends for an extra night in Vienna.

Christmas Market Frenzy

December 20, 2011December 20, 2011billkralovec

Nadia found the Christmas Nutcracker she was looking for as we visited even more of Vienna’s famous Christmas Markets yesterday. In her opinion, the best market was found in front of the “Rathouse” or Town Hall. It had the biggest variety of products. I still can’t get over how much the Viennese love Christmas. They have decorations everywhere, including hanging Santa Claus lights in the many trees around the city, Christmas songs playing on the radio, markets all over the city. I thought Americans went overboard Christmas!

I was impressed with the opulence of the Hapsburg dynasty. The number of huge palaces around the city is amazing. Both Budapest and Vienna have some great architecture.