Once again, despite the US’s gutty effort yesterday against England, the big match took place in the morning.
Yesterday the boys participated in a tough game against FK Dribbling. Oliver got into the game a few times and played well, despite being the youngest player. You can see him in the middle of the play above. Owen scored 3 goals and his team won easily.
Summer has finally arrived and temperatures were near 100 F yesterday. We brought plenty of water for them to drink. The heat did slow everyone down a bit, but they play was exciting as usual. Owen is shown below congratulating one of the opponents on a good game.
I had a nice day with the kids yesterday. We went to Kalemegdan Park while Nadia got her hair cut. We played a lot of hide and seek and in the parks. It has been a very rainy spring in Belgrade and the rains continued yesterday. It did clear up a bit to allow us to get outside.
In the morning I went for a run after making breakfast for the kids. Last night, Nadia and I went to the B.E.A.T., the Belgrade Expat Adult Theatre group’s performance. It was held at the school’s performing arts center and it was very entertaining.
Getting ready to go to soccer practice with the kids. Ocean is shown above running after the boys in the park. Below is the “Roma Recycling” program. The Roma collect old appliances by driving through the city streets on these tractors. Sometimes they collect them from directly from people and sometimes from the garbage receptacles. The Roma are very fascinating and I would like to post more about them.
Last week I turned 43 years old and we celebrated together as a family. It was a beautiful spring evening and when I came home from school, the kids were waiting with a cake and cards. We then went out dinner. The hugs and well wishes I received from my family were the best gift ever. We are shown above about to go to the restaurant. I share my birthday with Tito, the deceased leader of Yugoslavia and I payed homage to him by stopping at his museum.
An amazing game last night at the 2010 Sajam Fudbala (Football Expo) in New Belgrade. The boys’ football club, Atacante had the honor of opening the Expo by playing a friendly “U-10” game between Serbia and “The Rest of the World.” Owen and Ollie and the international students of ISB that belong to the club played against the Serbian kids of the club. The game was played on a mini-soccer field inside the ExpoCenter, which is a big exhibition hall next to the Holiday Inn in New Belgrade. The Sajam is going on all weekend with exhibitors of soccer camps, professional clubs, sports television, and sporting goods, all having interactive booths.
The Rest of the World lost 2-1 in the game. Both Owen and Ollie played well and I’ll be posting video of the game tomorrow. The highlight was getting to meet the Serbian National Soccer Team coach, Radomir Antic. He is the guy in the center of the photo. A big thanks to Atacante coach Mihailo for organizing this for the club! It was an unforgettable experience. The city is getting excited for Serbia’s World Cup games. They open up against Ghana on June 13.
Ollie on the AttackOwen Gets Ready to Enter the Game
Nadia and Ocean made a delicious strawberry dessert yesterday and we enjoyed some after our soccer game. The cherries and strawberries are coming into season. We stopped at the Green Market in Senjak last night and stocked up.
We’ve had dreadful weather this week with cold temperatures, overcast, with occasional showers. I haven’t seen the sun since Saturday and that was only for a short time. This is a hugely busy time of the school year and I haven’t spent enough time with my family lately. I hope to change that this weekend.
Friday Owen had his first public musical performance. The Lower School held a Talent Show on Friday and Owen showed off his guitar skills by playing versions of “Frere Jacques.” He did quite well and we are proud of him. We need to buy him a smaller guitar this summer. This follows on Oliver’s violin performance this past January. It makes me want to learn to play the piano. I see the start of a Kralovec Family band, ala the Partridge Family.
Owen, Ollie and I are playing our version of the World Cup in the back yard. We make a 32-team knockout version of the World Cup, similar to the college basketball championships. Each night we play a game. In photo, Owen holds the Algerian flag, who played the opening game against the USA. Ollie is holding the brackets. It is usually Oliver and I against Owen. Ollie getting quite good!
We are also collecting the Panini World Cup stickers, although with over 600 stickers to complete the album and the only option to buy packs of 4 at a time, I don’t think we’ll complete it. The boys are learning about the world and soccer and we are having a good time.
The biggest game for me this weekend was Sunday’s FK Atacante taking on FK Tempo. My son Owen plays for Atacante and he made his debut yesterday. He started the game very tentative and when the coach told him to play left defensive back, he stayed out too wide and did not get into the game. I was instructing him from the sidelines and he told me not to tell him everything to do. The second time in, he played much more aggressively and did very well. I learned the lesson to film his play and discuss afterwards or find a quiet time instead of shouting during the game.
They lost but the kids had a good time. Oliver played with Mihailo and Ocean kept diving into my arms. It was a great morning and the highlight of my weekend.
I have plenty of video and photos from the game on my flickr.com account.
We really enjoyed the wedding we attended last weekend. Balkan cultures have similar traits and the party reminded us of the 2002 film, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Bojana’s family really treated us well and we ate and drank to the point of bursting. It was a great atmosphere and the Montenegrins really know how to have a good time. There were shots of rakija as toasts and lots of dancing. The party carried on well into the night.
We were made to feel as part of the family and it was an honor to be treated so well. Nadia enjoyed the pork and the lamb melted in my mouth. It really was different from a North American or Australian wedding. We are very subdued compared to the Balkan cultures. It is more Latino than American. We want to thank Bojan and Bojana for their hospitality – it was an experience we’ll never forget.
This past weekend we took advantage of Monday’s Labor Day holiday and visited Serbia’s neighbor, Montenegro. We went for my assistant’s wedding. On the first night, we stayed near the Durmitor National Park. This is a mountainous area in the far north of the country. The scenery reminded me of my time in the Rockies. It was a nice day so we decided to hike around Black Lake (jezero crno) which was about 1 kilometer from the town of Zabljak. The lake was full of frogs and there were several trout fishermen. The kids enjoyed catching the frogs and exploring the nearby forests and streams. There were many small waterfalls with spring run-off and it was a challenge to get the family through the streams around the lake.
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Owen Catches His First Frog
The area was used in World War II by Tito’s Partisan’s to evade and attack the Nazis and Italians. There were several monuments to the places of significance in the Resistance. The park is a long, 6 hour drive from Belgrade, but I thought well worth the views and fresh mountain air.
The land near the Tara River that encompasses southern Serbia, eastern Bosnia, and northern Montenegro is my favorite place so far in the Balkans. Our visit here as well as last fall’s trip to Mokra Gora, has whetted my appetite to explore the region more. You can visit my flickr photo site to see more of the photos of the trip.
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