That’s What’s Up

I had an unintentional week off from blogging. Since it is cherry season, and the harvest is in about a month we will be busy with that and all the other village work. There will probably be other lapses in writing.

The village has had us most of the last week. Weeding, pruning, planting, and even avoiding snakes! Just a little one, he was less than 3 feet long.

Just a little constrictor

He was sunning himself on the road when the little munchkin and I were returning from the Greats. (The Great Grandparents.) Fortunately, the neighbor lady I was walking home with saw him. I was busy driving a new kiddie contraption that needs a little adjustment. The steering was a little off…. but we avoided the slithering sunbather by a few feet. He or she was so happy to feel the heat, the stones I threw to shew it away were not headed. not a few minutes later, the hubby came alone in the tractor and a stick at his back side made him move reluctantly on to the side of the road.

In my blogging absence I have come across lot of things to share, most of which I cannot recall. But one that does stick out is the load pop I heard yesterday. I was in the apt with Mama and the baby. The loudest bang you can imagine out of now where startled me. Now, normally I am not unnerved by such things. But, since our first trip to Serbia 5 years ago, when a bomb went off in our building at 6AM, I am now a little weary of loud bangs and pops!

Mama said it was a car tire popping because of the heat. Another new thing to learn about in Serbia. Apparently, it is not uncommon for tires on old cars to pop on hot days. Interesting…

We have had a few summer type thunder showers in the past week. The lightening show was fierce on the the earliest. and the sun cam out while it was raining on both. There is a saying here when the sun shines during a rain storm here in Serbia, they say bears are getting married. 🙂  Cute, huh?

On our day in town of “rest” we had coffee with a friend on his rooftop!  The view from the top of the bank at sunset was stunning!

I love sunsets!

Plants and so many chimneys covered the roof for the myriad of wood stoves that heat so many rooms.

This was the coolest chimney I saw.

 

The little monster ran around the roof with joy at finding a new place to explore. Avoiding the many hands of friends, she laughed, giggled and fell a few times too. Eventually all the running and laughing turned to fussing and we had to get back home to put the munchkin down for the night. I love how excited she gets when she is tired and she sees the bed. It is just how I feel sometimes.

Our slava, Sveti Nikola

Today is our families Slava. I am not looking forward to it. It is a fasting slava with fish and beans. I hate the fish, and the beans are made with no oil. so they stop up the plumbing. I am going now to eat some non-fasting food so my body doesn’t lead a revolt later that will put me in agony!

The early morning tradition for the day of slava.

Wish me luck!

I will post about the slava  when I can.

Dobar Dan!

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strong coffee and cigarettes 365-40

I went to have coffee the other day. A cappuccino is 60 dinars here. It is about 80 dinars to a dollar, so it is less than a dollar.

Strong coffee and the smoke from cigarettes fills the air

The thing about cappuccino here is, it is more like espresso with a dalup of foam from milk on top. There is no milk inside. Maybe that is why they are cheaper.  I stole some milk from the munchkin’s bottle to make it a real cappuccino. I may have to remember to take a bottle with me every time. 😉

I read, not long ago that Serbia is the number one country in the world. I googled that and found the article from the Washington Post. Sad news there. Very unhealthy. I am lucky to have found a Serbian non-smoker.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/10/19/who-smokes-most-a-surprising-map-of-smoking-rates-by-country/

Smoking and drinking coffee go hand in hand. Finding a place to relax without coming home and needing a shower from the smoke lingering in my clothes and hair is impossible. Can’t wait for the alfresco cafes in the warmer months to make drinking coffee outside an inviting possibility.

Getting used to the non-smoking laws that swept the U.S in the last 15 years wasn’t difficult. Its like going back in time here in Serbia.

*For those of you who don’t like reading about what I don’t like. My apologies. Mostly, I write about what I like and the differences. But it just struck me yesterday how strange this is for me. Take the good with the bad. That is what I do.