MS School Girls’ Soccer Team Wins in Sofia

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We had a great trip to Sofia, Bulgaria this weekend. It was my first CEESA sporting event. The Middle School boys’ and girls’ soccer teams traveled the 7 hours to visit the Anglo American School of Bulgaria. We played two games, one on Friday afternoon and the second on Saturday morning before heading back home to Belgrade.

The girls arrived in Belgrade moments before the game. After a long bus ride due to traffic on the “Ring Road” in Sofia, the girls were a bit lethargic. Yasemin however, scored the first goal of the game within seconds of the kick off. AAS then proceeded to reel off 5 unanswered goals. ISB played much better in the second half after some adjustments were made. Striker Natasa scored a goal and we ended up tieing the second half, 1-1. That was a portend of things to come.

The players then went with the host families and spent the night in Sofia. They made some good friends and saw a different way of life. That is a big part of the CEESA sport exchanges.

On Saturday morning the ISB Dragons were hungry for revenge. The combination of Yasemin as sweeper and Natasa as striker paid off as they combined for four goals. Johanna was incredible in goal making numerous stops, allowing only one goal. ISB won the game 4-1 and evened the goal differential between the two games at 6 goals apiece. A fitting end for two well played games.

All the girls showed improvement during the season. The dedication to practice and games really showed. Standouts on defense were Ana Maria and Natasha. They continually frustrated AAS by clearing the ball out of bounds. Midfielders Tamar, Charlotte, and Vanessa, although being small physically, were big in performance and really played well. ISB played both games without substitutes and a much younger team than AAS. They are to be congratulated for their fitness and teamwork.

 

Most Valuable Player (Girl of the Match) Yasemin G. clears the ball.
Most Valuable Player (Girl of the Match) Yasemin G. clears the ball.

 

 

I would like to thank the parents of the players, Coach Jamie Van Drunen, Athletic Director Will Clowney, and AAS Athletic Director Murray Te Huti for their efforts in making the season and the trip a big success!!!

Oliver Takes After His Uncle Andy

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Oliver is showing off his two stitches. Yesterday he fell going up the steps in school. When I got over to the Lower School, he was on the bus with a crying mother, the school nurse, and our head of security. We headed down to Bel Medic. Oliver has a half circle shaped deep gash on the bridge of his nose.

At the clinic, the doctor sewed up the cut without local anesthetic. I thought the doctor was going to do it, but he just started stitching. Oliver was a tough little guy. They have a tendency in former communist Serbia not to use anesthetic. It hurt both Nadia and I to watch him go through that. He was wailing, but he stayed still. He went home after, took a nap, and then later that night was up again and playing soccer in the yard.

He was doing fine today and went to school. I guess Oliver learned from his Uncle Andy

Family Journal: October 21, 2008

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It was an absolutely glorious day today! A bright sun had temperatures up in the high 70’s. Nadia and I took advantage of this and the fact we had the nanny with the kids and went for a run. Nadia is shown above running up Košutnjak Hill. It is a big wooded area behind our suburb of Senjak. She made it up to the top. We ran all the way through and back to town along the railway. It is one of my favorite runs I have in Belgrade.

In the afternoon I took my bike down to the shop to get a new tire and took the boys out for a long ride at Ada Ciganlija. Owen and Ollie both are tough little guys and rode for a long time today. All in all, a glorious day. I always say that any day I spend more time outdoors than indoors is a good day. The boys went straight to be tonight as they were good and tired.  

We had a nice fall break that came at the perfect time. We just finished the first quarter and we needed the downtime to refresh ourselves. We didn’t leave Belgrade, but slept in, played a lot with the kids, and took care of some things around the house. We got Nadia’s treadmill set up and also made an offer on a car. More details on that coming up next week.

Well, it is back to school tomorrow. I am looking forward to taking the girls’ soccer team to Bulgaria this weekend.

Learning Serbian (Part III) “The Verbs”

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It is really nice to already have learned another language besides my native language. I am finding Serbian to be easier than Spanish. When I learned Spanish starting back in 1992, I had no idea what it meant to “conjugate” or “inflect” a verb. That is because in English, the verb basically stays the same. For example in English, the verb “to run” is – I run, you run, she runs, we run, they run, you (formal) run. Run is run no matter who is running.

Not so In Spanish and now once again in Serbian, the verb ending changes.

For example, the verb imati which means “to have”” is conjugated like this:

  • I (ja) imam
  • you (ti) imate
  • he (on) ima
  • we (mi) imamo
  • they (oni) imaju

That is not too bad. The most frequently used verbs like biti (to be), hteti (to want), moći (to be able, can) have irregular forms, but the rest are pretty straight forward. I can remember that the “I” is usually ends with “m”, the you with “š” which sounds like “sh”, we is “mo” and he/she/it and formal you with a vowel “a” or “e”.Now it is just a question of learning more infinitives. Of course it does not get into the future or past tense. Hopefully Serbian will not have two different past tenses like Spanish.

“Leap of Faith” Family Journal: October 19, 2008

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It was another great family weekend for us. We continue to enjoy the 5-day fall break from school. We are staying in Belgrade and not traveling anywhere. Without a car yet, it is tough to travel with young children.

The video above was filmed on the Vase Pelagica, a street near our house. There is an apartment building with a small ledge the is irresistible for the boys. We often walk by there on the way to the taxi stand.

Yesterday I went for a long run with Ocean to the Kalemegdan fort. In the afternoon, we went to the Dacho Restaurant for a great traditional Serbian meal. I also cut the grass in the late afternoon and we put the kids to bed.

Ocean is on the Verge of Walking
Ocean is on the Verge of Walking

Family Journal: Autumn Break Friday October 17, 2008

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Yesterday was the first day of holiday and what a glorious day it was. The photo above was from Tuesday when we had dinner in our back yard. If you can believe it, I did not take a single photo yesterday!

It was nice because our nanny came. The weather was cool and gray. Nadia and I went for a run together in the morning while Vera stayed with the kids. We then went to Home Center to buy some household things like a sandwich maker and coffee machine. Later I actually took a nap!!! and then we hung out with the children. Nadia made a delicious pumpkin soup. After putting the kids to sleep, we watched a The Dark Knight, the latest batman film. I must be getting old because I really don’t enjoy watching movies anymore. There are very few movies that I think are worth my time to watch. Most of what produced is silly and a waste of time. It was a pirated version and the movie was a bit interesting to see one of Heath Ledger’s final performances.

Our children are so precious and cute! Tucking them into bed is such a privilege. Author Milan Kundera once wrote about people re-living their experiences an infinite number of times. I will probably wish I could go back to these times when the kids are grown. It is so funny to see their blond heads running around the house. Ocean is very demanding and on the verge of walking. She lets us know exactly what she wants loud and clear!

We continue to have 4 more days of holiday. It is great to refresh the soul and reconnect with each other and our children.

Autumn in its full glory
Autumn in its full glory

Roma Girl

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This beautiful little girl was begging on the side of the road a few weeks ago. Our taxi was stopped in traffic on the entrance ramp to the bridge that spans the Sava River here in Belgrade. She came up to our car and so we gave her some coins. Broke my heart to see such a lovely child living in such horrible conditions.

She is a member of the Romani people, otherwise known as gypsies. There is a settlement of around 400 families that lives near the Gazelle Bridge. We see them as we go to and from New Belgrade to our suburb of Senjak. The Romani of Serbia are known as “Machvaya” and they are quite numerous here. You see them often collecting card board and garbage from the receptacles in the streets. They eek out a living by collecting refuse and recycling it.

A Gypsiemobile cruising by with a load of cardboard.
A "Gypsiemobile" cruising by with a load of cardboard.

The settlement under the bridge has been there for decades. As you can see from the photo below, they live in absolutely horrendous conditions. I just imagine what it will be like in the winter. There is an incredible amount of stuff they have collected. More Roma have recently come as there has been talk of the city government will relocate them and provide them with housing. The problem is no one want them as a neighbor. There are plans to renovate and expand the bridge, and the settlement will have to move. Although this has been planned for years.

Main Street on the Gazelle Bridge Roma Settlement
Main Street on the Gazelle Bridge Roma Settlement

The Roma are fascinating. I don’t understand why they cannot be helped and integrate into society. I really want to help them! They look different that the Latinos of South America and I am interested in learning more about them. You will probably see more posts in the future.

Typical House in the Gazelle Bridge Settlement
Typical House in the Gazelle Bridge Settlement

Family Journal: October 15, 2008

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I have not been able to post lately, just too busy with everything. Above is a photo of Ocean and I last Friday night. We went downtown with the family and really had a nice time, walking around the old city and all the shops and restaurants.

The weather the past two weeks has been beautiful. We’ve been enjoying being outside as much as possible. Will blog more as we have a holiday coming up for fall break.

I have been uploading plenty of photos, so check them out on my flickr.com site.

The Eternal Derby

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Sunday Oliver and I attended the “Eternal Derby” in Belgrade. The derby is the game between the two biggest teams in the Serbian Professional Soccer League, Red Star and Partizan. The game was held in the Red Star Stadium (Crvena zveda in Serbian) in front of over 20,000 spectators.

Both teams are known for their fanatical hooligans, and I was a bit tentative from attending the game. But the father of one of my students kindly purchased tickets in the VIP section of the stadium for us which was safe. The father happened to be former NBA basketball star Vlade Divac. He hand delivered them to me on the morning of the game. You can see him behind Oliver’s head in the background of the photo above. He is known for his kindness and humanitarian service and it is true. It was a very nice gesture and I want to give him a huge thank you! Please donate to Humanitarian Organization Divac. Vlade is a big star still here in Serbia. I guess the equivalent of this in the US would be Magic Johnson giving us tickets for a Laker-Celtic game. Very cool!

The stadium had an amazing atmosphere! The fans of Partizan especially sang, had banners, fireworks, etc and were on their feet the entire game. We went to the game with my colleague, Luiz, a science teacher in the secondary school. He is from Brazil and used to this kind of rabid fans, but even he was impressed.

The Partizan Fans Celebrate A Goal
The Partizan Fans Celebrate A Goal

Partizan won this 134th edition of the derby, 2-0. There were many goal opportunities for both teams and the action was non-stop. This is Partizan’s sixth straight win in six rounds of the league and they are in first place. Red Star is in eigth place out of twelve teams, with 2 wins, 2 ties, and 3 losses.

Red Star is the biggest and most popular team in Serbia. They were formed in 1945 shortly after Tito took over, hence the communist red star symbol. They won the forerunner of the European Champions League in 1991, the only former Yugoslavian team to do so. Since the breakup of Yugoslavia, they have fallen on hard times, as most of the top Serbian players go for the higher salaries of other European leagues. Oliver is a big fan of Red Star and so am I.

Partizan is more of a working class team and the second most popular team in Serbia. They were also … (time to go to school, I’ll finish this post later.)

Family Journal: Saturday October 4, 2008

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The video above is kind of a follow up to the previous “destructo” post. Ocean is shown eating at the kids’ table as she no longer enjoys sitting in her chair. Of course, we just purchased a new one. She is also heard saying her name, which is new.

Ocean is in the full-on “destructo” mode. Her favorite hobby is to take dirty diapers and papers from the garbage can and put into the toilet. She also enjoys playing with the toilet water, opening up any drawer and spreading its contents on the floor and throughout the house, and eating table scraps from the floor. I also caught her one time sucking on a earthworm in the yard.

She is adorable however and we love her!