Food for the journey

Haven't posted for a while as we have been entertaining a run of guests.
Things are ticking along as normal really and we are looking forward to Christmas when we can have a bit of a break.

An interesting cultural observation as far as our children are concerned. Abi overheard them playing playmobil the other day and they were talking about how their playmobil people needed to take enough food with them for their journey. Quin then said "We need to make sure we take a goat and a cow. I think that will be enough!!" How strange it will be to return to packaged meat in the grocery store rather than heading to the local "Mishtore" - butcher - and pointing to the part of the hanging carcass that you require.

Lazy, hazy Summer days???

So Summer has finally hit us and don't we know it?? It has been 40 degrees + (in the hundreds) for several weeks now. We definately prefer this to the Winter weather but you do feel like your skin is sliding off your body!!! With no air conditioning and sporadic electricity to run the fans you do feel like you are chocolate melting pretty much constantly!! The down days are those when there is no electricity or water so sitting in front of a cool fan or being able to have a cold shower is not possible. On those days we head to the pool!!

The swimming pools here are an interesting cultural experience. If you arrive when they open you can pretty much guarantee a few hours of tranquility with only a few people around. By the time you hit noon it is nothing short of unpleasant with bodies everywhere and children begging for food at the tables all around. A couple of the pools have filter systems which we have decided is a positive step forward. We favor those frankly. If the water is clear and you can smell chlorine then you are more than excited!! If the water is green and sludgy looking we tend to bypass the pool altogther!! The great thing is you always bump into people that you know (generally young children who are mostly there unaccompanied or with a slightly older sibling.)The other good thing for us as Internationals is that the pool is extremely affordable being 1.50 for us all to get in and then 75 cents for ice creams for everyone. It makes for a cheap and pleasant way to spend the morning.

Where we have been in the world!!

create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Guns and Rose

We are recovering from the wedding flurry this weekend. We are glad to say that it was a huge success!! Organising a wedding here is certainly an experience. Where else in the world would you be able to book a banquet hall 48 hours to "I do"??
Abi was concerned when the wedding rehearsal ended in rain, especially as there was no back up plan - the ceremony and the reception for 120 guests were both planned to be outside. The stressed out couple were strongly advised to come up with an alternative venue, which they thankfully did. It was decided that the reception would be inside regardless of weather, but we were still planning to try to hold the ceremony outside. On Friday night we were frantically dipping strawberries in chocolate and trying to make 20 floral centrepieces for the tables with a few wilted flowers and lots of random greenery cut from equally random gardens around the neighbourhood. Thankfully, Ben, one of our gap year students had spotted a pink wild rose bush earlier in the week and thought it might come in handy so we despatched a crew off to the river to "hunt and gather". They came back with tales of wading in sewage and revolting smells which made them wretch but it was all for good as they returned with armfuls of very prickly pink wild roses!!! We immediately set to and filled the holes in our oasis which had been soaking in the bath all day!!
At 9am on Saturday morning there were grey clouds looming but we were still optimistic. The wedding wasn't until 4pm so we decided to wait for an hour until we made the final decision. Primrose and Abi took off to the vegetable market to buy the fruit and Abi was soaked to the skin whilst buying the bananas in a total downpour!!! At that point there was no alternative but to mobilise the forces and decorate an inside venue. With the help of the guests from Northern Ireland and the missionary community we were ready to go with a few minutes to spare. As the bride drew up in the car the heavens opened once again, confirming it was the right decision to hold the ceremony inside. It was a wonderful service and there were many tear stained faces. Snacks, drinks, photos and tray bakes were the order of the day and a small crew took off to get the tables filled with appetizers for the hungry guests at the reception venue. The final guest count came to about 130, but there was more than enough food and lots of traditional dancing into the night. We arrived home, shattered but amazed that we had pulled it off at such short notice and very thankful for God's grace. Ezzie was delighted to have her photo taken with the bride and thought the pepto-bismol pink cake with silver glitter all over was like something from Cinderella!!!!!



















Meanwhile, the day after the wedding a motley assortment of people from all over our region were taking to the mountains for a camping/hiking trip. The weather continued to be brisk and rainy at best but they were not to be deterred. Our gap year guys were among the crew and Matt somehow found himself in the possession of an AK47! How he managed it we are still not sure but it makes a great photo. They are pretty much standard issue here so it is hardly surprising, but not something that you would find behind a bush in Harpenden that's for sure!!

Cultural Observations

We have been learning about money in homeschool this past week. The initial confusion was - what currency do we learn in??? Dollars, Euros or Sterling?? We settled for euros as that is what we use here.
Using my education training I decided that a practical role play situation would be the best way forward!!! (Also more fun for all involved.) We now have a shop set up in our school room, although all the items in our store cost either 50 cents or one euro!!! We will progress on to more complicated transactions in time. The shop is constantly being depleted when Tate is around as he tends to consume items before purchase and sits in the middle of the floor happily eating whatever he has managed to open!! He is fascinated with money in general and always has some in his pockets. I am constantly finding it in the bottom of the washing machine as it has fallen out of pockets I have missed.

One day when I returned I noticed the cheque book slipped under the cash till. I looked in it to see how it was being used and saw a long list of names with numbers beside. When questioned Quin looked at me as if I was completely stupid and said "Mummy, that is the book that you write the I owe you's in. People who don't have money to pay today write their names here. They come back another day when they have money!!!" This is acceptable practice here in most stores. We take advantage of the system if we need to buy something but don't happen to have the cash on us. The honor system lives on here. Our children think this is common practice and will certainly be shocked when they realise in the Western world the "honor system" is long gone.

Photos from our time away

The children loved taking part in the performance at the end of the week. Ezzie is in the center in red.













Not to be deterred we took in the sights!!! The view from the Fisherman's Bastion is ordinarily spectacular!!




Spirits were high regardless of the weather!!

Smoking but not Hot

Living in the Balkans has its challenges. Heating the house can be a test of patience. We have 2 wood stoves that heat the whole house and I have been trying for over 2 hours to get one of the stoves lit to heat the main living area of our house. It has finally taken off but I smell like a campfire. During the winter we always smell of smoke, like we've just been sitting out roasting marshmallows over an open fire. Oh that we were. Also, because the country we live in has limited energy resources, we currently are on a 3 on, 3 off schedule for electricity. Strangely though someone at the power station is smiling on us as we have currently had power for 3hours 42 minutes in this cycle.