Billy Kralovec – circa 1972?

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Memories, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

We went to the US Commissary in the Embassy last weekend and bought some US processed cereals for the kids. We usually have pancakes, eggs, or porridge and not cold cereal. Growing up in the 1970’s, my brothers and I ate a lot of processed cereals. My favorite was Cocoa Puffs, and I also fondly remember eating Fruit Loops, Frosted Flakes, Apple Jacks, Count Chocula, Booberry, Cheerios, etc. People seem to have more of a health conscious today and are eating less processed foods, but in the 70’s, it was acceptable.

When Oliver asked for his second bowl and started reading the box while slurping his Cheerios, I had to laugh. It looked just like me over 30 years ago.

Belgrade’s Cultural Opportunities

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Belgrade Philharmonic Performs “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Mussorgsky, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

It is one of the things I most appreciate about life in Belgrade are the boundless opportunities to enjoy the fine arts and cultural and intellectual stimulation. Belgrade is a city with high percentage of “cultural elite.” There are loads of book stores, lectures, art exhibitions, music concerts, theater, etc. that one can experience.

Last weekend we attended a performance of the Belgrade Philharmonic. Nadia and I are season ticket holders and I’ve blogged on them before. The video above is a snippet of the Russian composer, Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” It was originally a piano piece, but Ravel expanded it to an orchestral work. While listening, I couldn’t remember where I heard it before. Nadia reminded me of the “Baby Einstein” video series. Yes! Mussorgsky wrote it shortly after the death of a good artistic friend. He went to an exhibition of his works and was inspired to write this piece1874.

Last night I convinced Nadia to go see a film in the International Documentary Film Festival, “Bel Docs 2011.” The documentary film festival features international and Serbian films showing in various locations in the city for the next week. I would love to see many of them as I love documentary films, more so than regular movies. However, with three young children and a busy job, I have to pick and choose my spots. We got a babysitter last night and headed down to the Dom Omladine, one of the venues of the festival. The Dom Omladine, which means “youth center” in Serbian, is a government-owned building in downtown Belgrade that is a “center hat promotes programs for youth in the sphere of contemporary art and culture.” The building has been refurbished and we were impressed with the theater and lobby. I’ve made a link to the website on the blog because they hold many events.

We watched “An African Election” a film by Jarreth Merz. It is about the 2008 presidential elections in Ghana. We have family living there so it was interested to see the life there in Accra. I loved the character of Jerry Rawlings, who was the long-time dictator and president of Ghana. He ruled 12 years as a military dictator (’81-’92) and  another 8 years (’93-’01) as the elected president. His party lost power peacefully in ’01 and it was nice to hear of a change in power in Africa without violence. I won’t spoil the film’s ending, but his party ran again in 2008 and he played a big part in the campaign again.

I’ve always been interested in the lives of dictators. In the countries I’ve lived in or visited, there always seems to be a historical figure who ruled the country for a long time. It would make a great book – comparing the lives of various strongmen in different countries. I would have a section for how many people they killed, jailed, exiled, along with subjective biographies looking at things that are not usually covered in standard histories.

Skateboard Fever Hits the Kralovec Boys

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New Belgrade Skate Park, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

We are entering a new stage in the life of the boys. Owen has become interested in skateboarding. He goes out just about every night to skateboard down our street. He is shown above at the New Belgrade Skate Park. I took the boys over there during the Spring Break holiday. We had a wonderful afternoon of biking through Friendship Park and then boarding at the skate park. If you go to my flickr account, you can see videos of the boys in action.

Oliver is shown below. He always tries to keep up with his older brother. Ollie is getting quite good with the bicycle. He is almost ready to ride to school with us. A couple of more weeks of practice and he’ll be on his way. Ollie is not yet ready for the skateboard as you can see.

Ocean is also getting into the act with her tricycle and no-pedal bike. She always asks me to carry her bike back up the hill on the street near our apartment. She then races next to me up the hill.

The only issue with our street is dodging the secret service vehicles leaving from the back entrance of the Serbian President’s residence. They come out of there like there is an emergency of national concern every time.

Weather has taken a turn for the cool side. It felt like winter yesterday.

Happy Birthday Oliver!

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Oliver’s Birthday Party, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

We celebrated Oliver’s Sixth Birthday on Saturday. Below is the video of us singing happy birthday and Oliver showing off his birthday gifts. The little guy is so cute! He loved his “spiked” soccer shoes, bicycle, and set of plastic army men.

Visit to the Karadjordjevic Family Mausoleum

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St. George’s Church, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

In the spirit of Britian’s Royal wedding this week, we visited the Serbian royal family’s Mausoleum and museum complex in the small town of Topola, Serbia. Topola means “poplar tree” in Serbian and is located in the heart of Šumadija, the forested center of Serbia. This is the place where the founder of the Serbian Royal Family,  (Karadjordjevic), the famous “Black George,” started the first uprising against the Ottoman Turks in 1804.

A later descendent of Black George, King Petar I, began construction of a church in 1910.  The project was interrupted by World War I, and he died before it could be finished. His heir, King Alexander II, oversaw its completion. The church was dedicated to St. George in 1930. The church is on the peak of a small hill called Openlac near the original homestead of Black George. Masses were held there until 1947, when the Yugoslav government declared it a cultural landmark. Underneath the church is the Karadjordjevic family mausoleum. There are 19 members of the royal family buried there, including Black George himself.

It is an amazing building! There are 725 mosaics on the walls with a surface area of 3,500 square meters. The 40 million pieces provide the whole continuum of color, and the scenes depict either Bible stories or Serbian history. We were in awe walking through the place, with light striking at different angles. I highly recommend visiting the church.

The area surrounding the church is also beautiful and a perfect place for a picnic. Openlac in Serbian means the wooden pieces of carts. The wooded hill was used for centuries for wood collection by the locals. It is all preserved, including the vineyards of the royal family. It makes an ideal day trip from Belgrade. We also made the obligatory stop at the Aleksandrovic Winery, located 5 kilometers south of Topola. We tasted and purchased some of their wines, although we were a bit disappointed in the higher costs of the bottles. They used to be half the price of what you could buy in the supermarket in Belgrade. They are now 2-3 Euros cheaper and not worth the drive.

Ric Elias: 3 Things I Learned While My Plane Crashed

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I was truly inspired after watching this short video by Ric Elias. He was in the front row of the plane that crash landed in the Hudson River, New York a few years ago.

The three points he makes in this talk were as follows:

  • Have a sense of urgency on what you want to do in life. “It can all change in an instant.”
  • Eliminate negativity from your life. Your main mission should be to be happy and spread that to others.
  • Be the best father you can be!

Yesterday I also listened to a podcast interview on the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) with Paul Cox, an Australian filmmaker. He survived cancer with a literally last-minute liver transplant. Both Paul and Ric’s near death experiences brought out much of the same feelings. The possible ending of their lives, brought to the forefront, the beauty of life and instead of religious feelings, feelings of sadness at the loss of being able to experience life. It is the daily small things that we have to appreciate. I agree with Paul – believe in the clouds,  family, friends, trees, etc. How wonderful life is!

Spring Break Continues

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Ocean, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Yesterday it was the girls’ day as I supported their shopping. While they were in the stores, I played with the kids in the park. Ocean is shown above in Pioneer Park in downtown Belgrade. It was a bright, sunshine-filled day and we enjoyed time together.

We ended up with a game of bowling at the Usce mall. Owen is at the point of not needed the railings to prevent gutter balls. Ollie is shown below firing away.

Family Journal: Spring Break 2011

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We are enjoying 12 days of holidays in Belgrade for Spring Break. For the first time in a long time, the Catholic Easter and the Orthodox Easter are on the same day. I love just being with my family and the weather has been so nice, so far.

We are not a religious family, but we did pay homage to Easter by visiting St. Sava’s Cathedral. We lit candles in honor of loved ones. After hearing of our Easter lunch at McDonald’s, our friends invited us over to their home the next day for a traditional Romanian Easter lunch of lamb with prune sauce. Oliver was a bit sick on Easter so we took him to Bel Medic. The little guy rarely gets ill, and as you can see below, he wasn’t feeling up to his usual self. The antibiotics prescribed did their job and the next day we was back to normal.

Ocean also photographed us in the back yard playing basketball. We have such a nice garden and neighborhood! We play basketball, soccer, and skateboard/bike ride several times per day. Owen is shown below driving to the basket. We are playing out the entire NBA playoffs with games up to 20-40 points, depending on the time. I have little practices for them before each game to teach a fundamental. Lots of fun.

 Just for the record, I am predicting a Miami Heat – LA Lakers final in the real NBA Championship, with the Lakers prevailing in 7 games. We are done with the first round in ours and I’ll keep you updated.

Gasoline Prices In Serbia

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Filling Up This Winter at the local gas station

I’ve been hearing many complaints from Americans about the high price of gasoline in the US. Gasoline averages $3,84 per gallon in April in the US. Experts suspect it will go even higher this summer when the “driving season” comes. President Obama even commissioned a task force to investigate the oil markets to see if there is any price manipulation.

Well, here in Serbia, I would love to pay $4.00 per gallon! The other day I filled up my car and for unleaded, 95 octane, gasoline, the cost was 123 RSD (Republic of Serbia Dinara). 123 RSD is the equivalent of $1.78 US which works out to a whopping $6.74 per gallon!!! Experts in the US are reporting how people are curbing their travel plans or not traveling at all because of the high prices. I wonder what will happen when it reaches Serbian levels.

Europe for a long time has had more expensive gasoline than the US. Public transport here is more accessible and things are closer. Most Serbs I know have only one car, and it usually not the big S.U.V. that Americans drive. I am not that bothered by gasoline prices here because we do not drive much. We live 1 mile from school and seldom venture downtown or across the river for shopping or entertainment. I do feel bad for those people on fixed incomes with long commutes.

I am not sure why gasoline prices are so high in Europe, especially Serbia. I miss those days of living in Venezuela. We lived there from 2002 – 2007 and the government subsidies (photo below of the Venezuelan National Petroleum Company Compound) and exchange rates, made Venezuela to have the cheapest gasoline in the world at 12 US cents per gallon.

PDVSA Natural Gas Headquarters - Anaco, Venezuela

Spring Break Begins

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Owen and Ollie, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

It was a fabulous day yesterday as we began our Spring Break! We have 12 days off of school. It felt like a long time since Ski Week, especially for me with the basketball season and the accreditation visit. We are staying in Belgrade for the time off and enjoying our new apartment and the spring weather.

The boys are shown above playing basketball. They love playing hoops and with the smaller ball, Oliver can make baskets. Besides playing a lot in the back yard, we did some shopping for more plants and did somethings around the house. I am growing flowers, herbs, and vegetables on our balconies.

We wrapped up the day with a great meal at the Sheher Restaurant (Park Cafe) with friends Claudiu, Vesna, Per, and Maria and families. It is located in our neighborhood and it has a big outside area for the kids to run around while the adults can socialize in peace. The food was delicious and a great ambiance outside on their patio. I highly recommend the place.

I’ll try to blog as much as I can for the holidays. Today we’ll begin dyeing the Easter eggs. We are trying to have a full Serbian Orthodox Easter this year.

Nadia with Tulips from Kalenić Pijaca