It was a historic day in the Kralovec family Saturday because Owen asked me for money and took it and spent it on his own. This occurred at the PTA Garage Sale held at the school Saturday. It is an event that gives a chance for people who are leaving to sell their stuff. Owen purchased a pop and a brownie with the 500 dinara I gave him. I thought to myself this is the first time I am giving him money directly out of my wallet and letting him spend it on his own– when will be the last time I do this for my children? As you can see with my youngest child in my arms, it will be far into the future.
Owen also came back and asked for more, but I said no. I wonder how often that will happen?
Serbia defeated Austria 1 – 0 Saturday evening in a World Cup Qualifier at Red Star Stadium in Belgrade. Serbia got an early goal through a penalty kick and the rest of the game was scoreless. Both teams hit the goal post, with Austria having a few more chances for a goal than Serbia. Serbia was lucky to get the three points, as they were not as explosive offensively as in past games. They will need to play better to win the group. The win takes them to 18 points in 7 games. They play the Faroe Islands this week in their last game until September. On a side note, I think it is a joke that a group of “autonomous” islands that belong to Denmark can have a World Cup Qualifying team with a population of 50,000. What a waste of money for Serbia to have to travel there! The Faroe Islands have absolutely zero chance of ever qualifying for a World Cup.
Serbian and Manchester United Star Vidic Comes Off With an Injury
We didn’t get to enjoy the game because of the over crowding in the stadium. The game was sold out and then some. I should have known something was up when I noticed fans arriving to the stadium two and 1/2 hours before gametime. I am used to having to do this from my many years in Latin America, especially Colombia. Many Latin American countries have problems with counterfeit tickets, seats being sold twice by corrupt game officials, poor crowd control and security in the stadium. This causes fans to have to show up hours before a big match to guarantee a seat. It seemed like a similar situation in the stadium here. We unfortunately arrived 15 minutes before kick off. I had Owen with me as well as my friend Eric. There were lines to enter the stadium, and funny thing was they never even checked our tickets. We got to the tunnel leading to our seats and it was tightly packed. As we were walking in and down the steps, we felt pushed from behind. It was quite crowded and Serbs are big people. I put Owen on my shoulders and I was concerned that I was going to fall. Eric put out his shoulder and braced himself against the wall as I eventually passed Owen to a soldier that was there. Luckily the press box was right next to the exit and the soldier kindly passed Owen up over the plexiglass wall and a cameraman helped him over. After he was safe, Eric and I made our way out of the aisle in into the row beneath the press box. It was standing room only all the way down the aisle and next to the aisle. It was this way for all of the tunnels leading to the field around the stadium. People were shouting “polako” (take it easy) and as game time approached, they all got settled in. One young boy was a bit shook up as he also escaped and stood by us. I don’t think we would have been trampled, but it if we would have fallen down, it could have gotten ugly, especially for Owen.
This brought home to me that stadium officials need to be more organized. It will keep me away from the stadium because I don’t have 5 hours to waste at the stadium and it was not comfortable to watch the game. They need better control at the gates and entry tunnels. I was surprised at this because of all of the other events I attended here, have been well done.
“Young people, you have the ability to remake or re-imagine this world.”
“It is easier to start wars than to end them.”
“It is easier to blame others than to look inward.”
“It is easier to see what is different about someone, than to find the things we share.
“We should choose the right path, just not the easy path.”
“Do unto others as we would have them do unto us.”
Obama's speech in Cairo - June 2009
Obama spoke on June 4, 2009 at Cairo University in Egypt. What an honest and inspiring speech! I put some pearls of wisdom above that are very applicable to our International School of Belgrade community.
You can listen to the speech in its entirety here.
The kids are growing and changing so quickly that I like to put photos of them on the blog for grandparents and friends and family to see back in the USA and Bolivia. Ocean is shown above climbing up a small hill in Košutnjak Park. I had the kids while Nadia was running in her Girls On The Move 5km run. GOTM is an after school club that Nadia and Janna run that helps girls with self esteem, etc.
Owen
Owen is shown above needing a hair cut. He has lost many of his baby teeth and the new ones are coming in all over the place. He is starting to form his own opinions and voice them with us. He is really looking forward to going to Michigan to see Grandpa and ride his bike on Caspian’s Apple Blossom Trail. I don’t have a good recent photo of Oliver, he is moving around too much. I wlll do a blog post on his early years exhibition next week.
Last Friday evening we attended an ISB Board of Trustees dinner at the Hotel Zira here in Belgrade, Serbia. Making a surprise visit was US Ambassador to Serbia, Cameron Munter. One of the board members who works with the US Embassy was leaving Belgrade and the board, and he was there to honor his work with the school. He was very nice and down to earth, even being happy to take a photo with us. Also in the picture is our friend Hido (far left), a husband of a colleague at work.
The Ambassador has only a few days left in his post in Serbia. He is off to Iraq to work on special projects. He was there in 2006 heading up the Reconstruction team. Munter is a career diplomat working in various European posts, such as Deputy Head of Mission in Prague and Warsaw. He is an intellectual also, having a doctorate in European History and being a former professor at UCLA. Everyone at the Embassy tells me he is great to work for and is a decent man. He has a tough job here in Serbia, especially when US government policy on Kosovo is in direct opposition to the opinion of the majority of Serbs.
Tim is in the foreground as we ham it up for the photographer
It would be tough to be an Ambassador. His time is really not his, with so many events that he attends, he is often going from one engagement to another. The night he came to our function, he had two more that evening. It must be difficult on a family! He meets so many people and attends so many dinners, conferences, meetings, etc. Well, Ocean is up and crying, so I need to attend to her. It will be interesting to see who will replace him. It is a long process so we may not know before the year is out.
Last week we gathered together to say thanks to our support staff. These are the secretaries, administrative assistants, receptionists, and others, that help the school run smoothly. I am pictured below with my administrative assistant, Bojana Borovic. I’ll do a post on her later. She is from Montenegro, and has a Montenegrin father and Serbian mother. Bojana works with me and our curriculum coordinators in the high school.
I am pictured saying thank you to the lovely Bojana.
It is a nice tradition to recognize the people who handle much of the daily activities that happen in the school. We dined at the Zaplet Restaurant located downtown. The Belgrade Eye describes the restaurant as follows:
Zaplet – Belgrade Restaurant
Address: Kajmakcalanska 2, 11000 Belgrade Location: Center – Vracar – find this restaurant on Belgrade map Telephone: (+381 11) 240 4142
Our Rating:
Restaurant Description
Very nice and cozy restaurant in Vracar municipality – and one of the favorite places for many Belgraders. This Belgrade restaurant offers wide rage of meals from Serbian specialties all the way to asian cuisine. The place is always packed so advance reservation is a must here. The place offers intimacy, modern interior, great ventilation, and as such it is ideal for relaxing and feeling the benefits of really professional service. The menu includes: classic food, salads and starters, risottos and pastas, soups, national meals, main courses, fish and sea fruit. The specialty of restaurant is one of the most comprehensive wine list where you will find all sorts of domestic and imported wines. Besides this the restaurant offers 15 different kinds of deserts and one of the finest coffees we have tried in Belgrade.
Belgrade versus Seattle Appetites?
I highly recommend the restaurant. I’ll definitely take Nadia back there sometime soon. The Independent of the UK ranked it as the best restaurant in the city.
It was an extremely busy week for us at school. I am shown above speaking at the commencement for the seniors on Saturday. 24 graduates said goodbye to ISB, and it turned out to be a beautiful day for a ceremony in our courtyard. A lot of work went into making the ceremony go well. It was a special day. The only hitch was our keynote speaker did not appear. We asked Belgrade Mayor, Dragan Djilas to speak and he canceled out last Thursday. In his stead, his people said former mayor and current deputy mayor Hrustanovic was speaking. She never showed or gave us word of now showing. Oh well, our Board President, Marcel Grogan gave a nice impromptu speech for the graduates and no one seemed to notice.
With Prom, Girls on the Move, Parent-Principal Coffee, Rehearsals, Board Dinner, and Support Staff Dinner, it was a hectic week.
Eric, Marcel, and I (left to right)
The transcript of my speech is as follows:
On behalf of the faculty and staff I would like to say to the seniors…
Thank You
Hvala
Merci
Dank U
Shookran
Da zhen kuje
Dankschen
Did I recognize all of the languages you speak? That is one of the nicest characteristics about ISB, is the international nature of the school and the variety of languages one hears throughout the day. All of you have brought a bit of your culture to the school.
I also want to say thank you for making my first year at ISB easier, by rarely being sent to my office. You were great role models for the younger students. As seniors, you had the highest grade point average in the high school, the best SAT scores in our school’s history, and most importantly, you were the embodiment of our values of excellence, open-mindedness and global responsibility. All the teachers will remember you fondly. Your time and effort spent in learning and improving our school community was appreciated and you will be missed. You have set the bar high for future students and for the first time in our high school, you developed a strong community school spirit. It was small things like organizing the student agendas, a remarkable HOSIC performance, anchoring the defense on our soccer team, to big things like collecting toys for the orphans, bringing joy with your visits to the children’s hospital, and many of you graduating with bilingual IB Diplomas.
I would like to mention one student in particular, who started here at ISB last century and is ending her school career today. I would like to call up to the podium, the kindergarten teacher from the 1997 school year, Dr. Draginja Jeftic and her former pupil and current senior, Sonja Ilic.
In conclusion, I would like to thank Mr. Joostens for the generous donation of refreshments for the reception afterwards. I would also like to thank Suzanne, for giving the seniors the opportunity to complete their school career here, on our beautiful campus. She stood up for what she believed in and that is one of the lessons we try to teach here at ISB.
I would also like to thank the parents and families that played a large role in your development. It must seem like just yesterday that they were crawling and in diapers, and here they are today, ready to make their mark on the world. Do us proud graduates, I wish you all the best in finding a career, love, and happiness.
We will now hear from the ISB Choir, featuring senior singer, Alexandra Von Tersch.
Last night I went to two parties. The second was our school’s Junior & Senior Prom. It was a big night for the kids. Very nice to see all of them dressed up! The prom was held at the IN Hotel in New Belgrade. I stayed for the first part, and thanks to the help of the chaperones, I left early.
The hotel had a great terrace where we took these photos. The students organized the whole thing, and they had music, food, etc. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the students acted in a mature manner. We are blessed to have very good students.
On Monday I celebrated my 42nd birthday. I share a birthday with the former Yugoslavian leader, Josip Tito Broz. The theme of the night was “2 Great Men – One Birth Date”. People still recognize Tito’s birthday here, even though he died almost 30 years ago. Older people have nostalgia because then, Yugoslavia played a bigger part in world affairs. Their position between the Soviets and West in the Cold War years, gave them a special status. They also had a better economy than the neighboring Eastern European nations. Since his death, it has all been down hill, although, things seem to be turning around.
The Boys
We invited friends for dinner at Biblos restaurant, a Lebanese place we discovered awhile back. We then had a “Bito” bowling tourney. Sean and Lekisha won the tourney and Tim and Janna won the “Sportsmanship” award. All in all, it was a good night, especially for a Monday. Lots of laughs and exciting sports action.
I want to thank Nadia for her efforts in organizing everything. She went all out this year, considering last year she forgot my birthday. It was really nice in the morning, when all three of my kids came up and gave me a big hug and said happy birthday. Nadia got me cologne and a wallet and my friends brought me a lot of alcohol (wine and rakija).
The Girls
I think we’ll continue with the Tito – Bito theme next year. I hope to perhaps splurge and rent his blue train. I’ll see how much it costs.
Earlier this month, Owen and I were riding our bikes to Ada Ciganlija Island. Along the bike path, we stopped and watched the huge cranes as they were building the support for the new bridge. This is a much needed project, as there are not enough bridges in the city. The Sava River is a tributary of the Danube, and both rivers divide Belgrade. On our side is the older part,and the other side has New Belgrade. We cross the bridge to go grocery shopping, etc. Last night, we went to the Enrique Iglesias concert at the Belgrade Arena which is also in New Belgrade.
The bridge closest to our house, the Gazelle Bridge, is the main freeway through Belgrade. It is constantly full of traffic and this new bridge will relieve this.
I was a bit worried that the bridge would ruin the atmosphere of Ada, my favorite spot in Belgrade. I don’t think it will as you can see below, it just touches the tip of the island. There are private rowing clubs on that side and I never go there.
A Model of What the Bridge Will Eventually Look Like
I wonder if “Sava Bridge” will be the name of it. The official web site calls it Sava Bridge Project.
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