Brad Woodruff is shown telling a story to the boys while preparing for a BBQ. We roasted chicken, bacon wrapped around chicken (a Serbian special prepared by Vera, our nanny), and vegetables. It was a delicious meal and some of us ate it outside despite the cold weather.
The morning was fantastic as the sun came out for a few hours. Nadia and I ran along the Sava River all the way to Ada Ciganlija and back. We then had a BBQ for lunch and played with the boys in the yard. I went into school for a bit to close up the office.
Watching a Movie
In the evening we went to the Delta City Mall and bought presents. I took the kids and we played in the playland. We had a great time as they really were sweating from running around so much.After putting the children to sleep, we wrapped presents and put them under the tree. We debated about the concept of Santa Claus. I am in favor of not propagating the myth of Santa Claus. It is a lie and not worth the “magic” is brings to the holiday for the kids. Next year we will celebrate the feast day of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children on December 19th. That is a big slava here in Serbia that many families celebrate and he is the figure that Santa Claus is based on. We still have a Christmas tree and gifts from us. We’ll also talk about the birth of Jesus and the original holiday of the winter solstice.
Lots of people ask me how much gas costs in Serbia. I took a photo of the meter when we filled up yesterday at Beopetrol gas station in our neighborhood. I put in 50 liters (13 gallons) into Edelweiss and it cost 3,900 Serbian dinars. That comes to $63 at today’s rate of 62 dinars per 1 US dollar. Doing the math then, that comes to $5.80 per gallon. Much higher than anything in the USA! The “dinara” is the plural for the Serbian currency the Dinar.
We don’t buy a lot of gas as we live very close to our school. Most of our driving consists of a weekly trip to New Belgrade for grocery shopping. We are trying to do more on weekends and that will also mean more gas consumption.
To put the $5.80 into perspective, the average gas price in the USA this week is around $1.60. It is about average for Europe with Norway $7.76 being the high and Estonia being the low $4.30. I sure miss the 12 cents / gallon of Venezuela.
Lil’ angel Oliver sure looks holy in this photo. We stopped at the St. Sava’s Cathedral with his grandfather, Hermes Chavez (affectionately known as “Popa” by the boys) to show him the scaffolding. Hermes owns a scaffolding rental and sales business in his hometown of Santa Cruz. The cathedral is under restoration now that is is finally peaceful in Serbia.
The girls (Alejandra & Nadia) went with Brad & Ocean to the big outdoor market downtown while Hermes and I took the boys the cathedral. We then visited the 25th of May Museum. The museum holds memorabilia and the mausoleum of the former Yugoslav leader, Josip Broz “Tito”. The museum is named after his birthday. The day used to be huge in Yugoslavia. One of the events was the annual running of the baton across the country by socialist youth. The boys were fascinated with the different batons.
They wanted to know which baton was the oldest (1945) and the newest (1985). The first was right after WWII when the Partisans rid the country of the Nazis, and the final one was five years after the death of Tito. There was a wall display of different batons that were gifts to Tito. The boys were picking their favorites. Most had very cool socialist themes. There was the heavy industry factory baton, a red star on top of a standard screwdriver, another with a JNA tank, a rocket missile, etc. Perhaps I’ll have them make their own batons in the Communist Style of the 60’s and 70’s. A big part of the complex is showcasing the gifts Tito received from Heads of State and Yugoslav citizens throughout the years. The current exhibition were a display of all of his hunting rifles and equipment. He was a big-time hunter and there were antler trophies mixed in with the guns, and photos and videos of his hunting trips. Tito started the Non-Aligned Movement and the museum housed many gifts from developing countries including an elephant tusk gong from Burma and a devil carnival mask and costume from Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. My only criticism of the museum is I would have liked a bit more information about his career and personality. I envisioned the place like the Carter Center or Clinton Library, that would be a place to for scholars to study the writings, photographs, etc. of Tito. It was more a showcase of his gifts more than anything else. It does hold his remains. Owen asked should we say a prayer when I explained that his remains were probably buried under the big marble tombstone. I replied that he was an atheist and didn’t believe in God so we shouldn’t.The museum is close to our house, located between Haid Park and the Partizan Football Stadium.
For a man that believed in communist ideals, he sure lived a life of luxury.
The boys yearned to be good socialist youth!
Oliver, Owen, and Sebey loved running around the complex. The grounds were nice although a bit neglected. They were running up and down the hills and stairs and in between the many trees. We then went home and played soccer in the yard with Brad. Nadia is cooking a delicious soup while everyone else is playing Wii.
Where he came from, of course, is Iron Mountain, Mich., in the state’s Upper Peninsula. Where the men are men, and the women are, too, as Izzo likes to say.
It’s hard to come out of the snowbound, sparsely populated UP with either a soft streak or a sense of entitlement. Izzo has neither.
What he does have is an abiding loyalty to the place. Every season, he invites a busload of locals — Yoopers, as they’re affectionately known — to a Michigan State home game, providing them with tickets and even entertaining them at his house. The trip is so popular that there’s a waiting list to get on the bus. (Either that, or there’s just that many people dying to visit civilization for a couple of days.)
Sportswriter Pat Forde wrote a nice article on the ESPN.com website about MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo (below). He is from the same part of Michigan as I am. He is shown below dressed as a hippie on the first night of the practices. It was open to the public and the evening was the anniversary of MSU’s 1979 national championship, hence the 70’s theme. If you recall, that team was lead by Magic Johnson. I can still remember the starting lineup, Terry Donnelly, Ron Charles, Greg Kelser, and Jay Vincent. Amazing how Magic could make his teammates so much better. That is a sign of a great basketball player. Izzo has been the coach at MSU for the past 13 seasons and also won a national championship. You can learn more about him from his recruiting website.
Iron Mountain native and current Michigan State University basketball coach Tom Izzo
Nadia and Alejandra Thursday evening did a midnight run to Tempo, the big supermarket here in Belgrade. They decorated the house, buying plants, rugs, etc, and they also rearranged the furniture. What a difference! The girls were getting the house ready for the arrival of my father-in-law, and Alejandra’s boyfriend. It is good to have a full house of family for the holidays. Pictured above is the living room, with Sebey, Owen, and Oliver playing with their bionicles, a present from Uncle Jack.
We wrapped up school yesterday with high school’s last exam and the middle school Christmas party. It was also the big slava of Saint Nicholas. It is cool and rainy this morning as I write this. A bit disappointing as we are all hoping for snow! This morning we are going to the police station to register our guests, as all people visiting Serbia in private homes have to do.
Today is the final day of the first semester. We will be starting on Monday January 12 with Day #1.
I have an interview at 8:30 AM. Ana will be distributing exams and be the contact person this morning as Bojana will be away. In the afternoon I will be at the Middle School for their Christmas celebrations.
Final Exams:
Today is the final, final exam mathematics.
The Daily Bulletins this semester have been posted on the secondary chatterbox. It will be good to check them next year to see how we can improve.
Things I have learned for the next time we do exams.
• Give explicit instructions for the students who have accommodations. Separate their exams from the others immediately. Make a separate schedule for them.
• Remind students to take their calculators to the science and math exam days.
• Do not schedule exams on big slava days.
• Put the major Slavas on the school calender for 2009-2010.
• Use Independent School Management’s 10 Commandments for Exam Scheduling when making the exam schedule.
• Identify and remember the students who are taking HL exams. Do not make announcements during the HL exams.
• Make a form to put on the envelope with all of the information. Student list, HL students, proctor name, classroom, date, session, etc. can be put right on the envelope holding the exams to make it easier for the proctor and administrative assistant.
• Meet with the students who take school transport to set changes in times with the bussing.
• Remind HOD’s to estimate the time of their department’s exams. We had several that ran a bit short.
• Meet briefly with teachers before the start of exams to review the proctor guidelines and discuss clarifications.
Krsna Slava Sveti Nikola: Congratulations to the many Serbians who are celebrating today. On the staff, Nevena, Katarina, and Bojana are home today with their families. Sveti Nikola died on this day in 343 AD. He was the Greek Bishop in the city of Myrna in Turkey for many years.
Humanitarian Organization Divac: The Christmas Card Drive is ending today and Vladamir reports between 50,000 and 60,000 dinars have been sold. He will be coming out with the exact amount later today. Congratulations to him and the CAS students for their work. The visit with student leaders to the Collection Center has been postponed until next year. Second Semester Schedule / Report Cards: Our IBO Coordinators Liz and Branka have been hard at work with schedules and report card preparations. Branka will re-send the report card schedule. SPACES: Paul McKenzie has done some excellent work on the SPACES Interdisciplinary Project on the Moodlic web page. Teachers involved in the project are now asked to set deadlines for turning in the students’ material for posting. The big SPACES exhibition will be January 30th. Mark your calendars. Also, I would like to congratulate Natasa Skoric and the Grade 10 students on the completion of their epic film for the project.
ISB IB Theatre Arts DP Class and The ISB International Thespian Society 7335 present: 24 HOUR THEATRE
Saturday January 17, 2009 7:30 p.m.
Tickets RSD100. On sale from Thespian Society Members or at the HS Reception from January 12.
The students will arrive on Friday January 16 and begin to work on original theatre pieces. The audience is asked to join us on Saturday evening the 17th to see the presentation of their original work that they devised over the 24 hour period (with sleep in between).
This is a curricular event enabling IB theatre students a chance to combine numerous components of their IB syllabus into a real production experience, supplemented by the ISB Thespian Society.
Yesterday afternoon we attended Oliver’s Early Years Christmas program. It was held in the afternoon for the Early Years (Age 3) and Pre-Kindergarten (Age 4) classes. Oliver did a great job demonstrating dancing, singing (Yellow Submarine), and acting. He also got a chance to talk to Santa Claus (above). He told Santa that he “was going to Serbia” for the Christmas holidays.
I’ll be uploading video this evening when I get a chance.
Wow, I can’t believe he is six years old! With the new haircut he got yesterday (along with Sebey and Oliver), he looks so much like a boy. We had a nice family day yesterday. The girls went shopping in the morning and bought some Serbian sweaters “All the Swedish moms love them.” while I was home with the kids. We then went and got their hair cut and then to the Delta City Mall to buy a Wii for his birthday.
Messages to Owen from family:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Big Guy!!
I hope you have a nice day and that you
enjoy your company. We hope to see in the
new year.
Love, Grandpa & Grandma
Happy Birthday Owen!!!!!!
Just sending you a big Birthday wish from all of us. Six years old already—-where does the time go. We hope you did something very special on your Birthday. I hope you get to see this and it is not too late over there. Tony and I just got back from the movies. The hospital had a children’s Christmas party and they got to see a movie, get popcorn and a pop for free. We saw Madagascar 2. That is a cute movieyuyuy8y8u888uyy9y89y8yy9y8y88888u(Thats from Tony)
Tony is having so much fun in hockey. He is using a stick now. I will have to send you some video. All is well here. Just waiting for Andy to get home on the 20th.
Owen have a great day buddy—-we love and miss you! Hope Santa is good to everyone.
Owen is shown dancing in his christmas musical at the school. Thursday the kinders and grade 1 students put on “December Nights”. Owen had an acting role as the Chief Mate and along with a first grade student, they were narrators for the program. The elementary music teacher compared Owen to a young Robert Redford! I would tend to agree, of course. He memorized a lot of lines and was a cool customer in a packed house of expectant parents. Congratulations Owen!!!! You did a wonderful job!
The musical was very good. The stage was a yellow submarine (Owen sang “yellow sumbarine”) and the children were dressed as pirates. Kinder and Grade 1 have around 60 kids so it was a challenge to get them all on stage and a starring role. The school is really lacking a proper auditorium! The parents and kids were quite crowded. Lower School events feel so crowded, such as the Halloween night. They definitely need more room. I uploaded several photos and am in the process of putting up video of the performance. Please check them out in my flickr.com account. Oliver’s performance is next week. He got an early start by running up on stage in the classic elementary school Christmas show style, when the little brother or sister storms the stage! I was preparing my camera and a girl next to me pokes me on the knee and I look up to see Oliver trying to grab the microphone from his brother. Hilarious!I ran up and got him off the stage.
We have our Christmas tree up. We bought a fake one from Home Center here in Belgrade. Ornaments have been all over the house as Ocean and Oliver both take them off and play with them. I can see why my Dad put the television on top of large wooden box when we were kids. We then could not break the dials.
Ocean "undecorating" the Christmas Tree
Ocean this week was battling a cold. She kept vomiting in the night due to choking on mucous. Nadia had to have Ocean sleep between us. Ocean kept kicking me in the head. It was a rough week for both of us with limited sleep. Finally, we called the local private clinic, Bel Medic and they have a children’s doctor that make house calls. Brilliant! No more waiting in the crowded room with sick and crying kids. It is amazing how much better Nadia and Alejandra feel after they see the doctor. I think the doctor does more good for them than the children. I don’t think there is much a doctor can do for a virus, but they can do a lot for an upset and worried Latina mother.
Nadia, Ollie and Owen are pictured with Alejandra and Sebey at the Christmas Fair in the center of Budapest, Hungary. They arrived from Bahrain on Friday afternoon and the next morning we left for the 4 hour drive north to neighboring Hungary.
Edelweiss, our new car did extremely well on its first excursion out of Belgrade. The countryside north of Belgrade is reminiscent of central Wisconsin or Illinois. It was extremely flat, lots of agriculture, and decent highways. We had no trouble crossing the border. It was nice to go through the Diplomatic Corps line and not have to wait. I got Diplomatic plates through the US Embassy which is very kind of them.
Budapest is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and I can see why. The Danube runs through Buda on one side and Pest on the other. We stayed at the Marriot Hotel right on the river. It was a nice hotel but I would not stay there again. Great breakfast and views, but no swimming pool and they charge for overnight parking in their garage ($40). We used the GPS to find the hotel and other places we went and that was great. The first day we took the kids for a walk over the Széchenyi Chain Bridge shown in the picture below.
Budapest at Night (Wikipedia Photo)
We also stopped to throw some rocks in the Danube. We were with our good friends the Moynihans.They are shown to the left. We finished the night at the famed Budapest Christma
s Fair. It was crowded and in my opinion, overrated. But after a couple of mulled wines, we ended up having a great time. I half learned how to say Merry Christmas in Hungarian, Boldog Karácsonyt
We were not impressed with the Hungarians. We found them to be very different from the Serbs. They were cold and borderline mean. For example, Ale and Nadia asked two people to take a picture of the family and they refused. I guess it is the culture, as the Hungarians have had a long history with the Germans and Austrians. I know one can’t judge a people with just one day in the country, but we did feel a difference. I was also comparing the cities of Budapest and Belgrade. Both are beautiful and similar although Belgrade was mostly destroyed during WWII and does not have all of the beautiful old buildings of Budapest. Although Belgrade has its charms, and if they would clean up the Sava and Danube rivers, it would be nicer. I like the fact however, that Belgrade has virtually no tourists and it is more authentic and vibrant. I hope it doesn’t change, but in the future it will as it looks to join the European Union. I also noticed it was more expensive in Budapest.
The next day I took Ollie and Ocean to the city park. They had a great time feeding the ducks and in the playground. The girls did some more shopping. We were thinking of doing some ice skating, but once again, the rink was crowded. I did enjoy the the Heroes Square. This was next to city park and had statues of all of the Hungarian Heroes. It was similar to the Venezuelan Panteon.
We do plan to return to Budapest as there is lots to explore. We hope we run into a friendlier bunch of Hungarians however.
Ollie & Ocean in Heroes Square in Budapest
Ocean is getting cuter every day. What an angel! She is so cautious and calm and she cries like a girl. Below is the most recent photo for Grandma.
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