Today dawned gray and rainy, but that was o.k. Eleanor was up and ready for dance on time. I went back to sleep until about 11:30. I think I need this time with some extra rest and so I feel absolutely no guilt.
Lynda, Amanda and I went to the center square and found a bread and pastry shop where we each had a brunch/lunch and then made our way toward the dance studio to check on the girls. I met the modern dance teacher. She is really nice. Lynda told me that her husband is a film maker and she met him in New York while dancing there. He is Serbian as well and they decided to return home. Their piece is "interesting"...as all modern pieces seem to be....to me at least.
While the girls were dancing, Lynda and I went to find the "Kineska" (Chinese) shops in search of an inexpensive umbrella. It rained all day, by the way. I had found these shops last year as an inexpensive alternative to "mall" prices. It should be no surprise to anyone to know that the Chinese will probably eventually own the world. They already make everything in it from what I can tell...even here. She did find an umbrella and I bought Will a souvenir tape measure--all metric. It's pretty sturdy too. He should be able to actually use it.
After dance, the girls headed back and Eleanor promptly hopped on the internet. Lynda, Amanda and I meandered back more slowly. Lynda wanted to look in a souvenir shop for something for Caleb, her son, and so we wandered into a little alleyway that had a shop advertising "suvenirs". Across the alleyway from the souvenir shop was a sewing shop. I wandered in there and had my most charming encounter so far. I browsed around, looking at the ribbons, buttons and embroidery thread and then found the back room with the yarn. The shop owner knew absolutely NO English and I know almost no Serbian, but we communicated beautifully. I asked her if she had knitting needles. It is amazing what a smile and a little pantomime can do to increase understanding. She led me to the knitting needles and I selected a pair and then wandered back to find the yarn I wanted. While she was going back to find the prices to place on the hand-written sales ticket, I looked around some more and found the circular knitting needles, which I prefer. I told her to wait and exchanged them. Something obviously clicked with her when I made that preferential choice. She asked me if I was the knitter; I said yes; and a world of understanding flowed between us. It was lovely! Those are the kind of moments that I will always remember--I still remember sitting in the hallway last summer, knitting, and having one of the ladies there stop to comment and then show me her knit-work. It was also a wonderful exchange!
We went to dinner as a large group tonight--Me, Lynda, Amanda and all 4 girls who are in the group from the US. The girls chose an Italian restaurant which was quite good, but also quite smoky. We have managed to avoid the smoke by eating inside up to this point since the weather has been lovely and most people have chosen to eat outside at the tables under the umbrellas and the open sky. Since it was still rainy and quite cool, people moved indoors today. I feared that and would have been willing to eat outside myself (to avoid the smoke), but I was the only one who felt that way. I had to take a shower after we returned home because the smoke was in my hair and quite strong.
Eleanor finally gave up the computer to me just a short while ago and is anxiously awaiting my finishing up and stopping the pecking on the keyboard. I told her she would have to be patient with me--as it is, she turned out the lights on me. I hate to tell her, but I'll have to turn on the bathroom light in just a bit. She said I snored and woke her several times last night, so I guess I'll attempt the CPAP machine again tonight. I haven't been very successful with acclimating to the darn thing on this trip and don't know whether I will be able to do so now either, but I'll try for her sake. I still have to finish getting it set up though and that will definitely need a light! Actually, I don't know that I can make the darn thing work. The plug is at the foot of my bed and I would have to lay the machine on the bed to try it. I don't think that is a very safe thing to do, honestly.....
Today's revelations:
1. A smile and an honest effort at communication is all you need to get by in the world.
2. There is much more English spoken in Serbia this year compared to last year; not sure what that implies or the reasons why
3. The 106 temperatures of last year apparently really were an anomaly; today was half of that (although I think this temperature is an anomaly too).
4. This is still very much a nation of smokers.
5. The girls commented that they had seen no black people here. That doesn't surprise me, based on location, but it did them.
6. Staying up late and dancing all day will eventually even take its toll on my 14yo daughter--she is asleep and breathing hard (almost snoring) herself already--it's been about 10 minutes since she turned off the light!
P.S. I'll add a picture in the morning. I downloaded the pictures on Eleanor's computer log-in last night and I can't seem to access them from my login at the moment. I will add one in the morning by logging in as Eleanor! Changed my mind--the computer did one of those weird reboot things that it does and I wasn't finished checking email, so I just logged back in as her. I'll post a picture now!
Lynda, Amanda and I went to the center square and found a bread and pastry shop where we each had a brunch/lunch and then made our way toward the dance studio to check on the girls. I met the modern dance teacher. She is really nice. Lynda told me that her husband is a film maker and she met him in New York while dancing there. He is Serbian as well and they decided to return home. Their piece is "interesting"...as all modern pieces seem to be....to me at least.
While the girls were dancing, Lynda and I went to find the "Kineska" (Chinese) shops in search of an inexpensive umbrella. It rained all day, by the way. I had found these shops last year as an inexpensive alternative to "mall" prices. It should be no surprise to anyone to know that the Chinese will probably eventually own the world. They already make everything in it from what I can tell...even here. She did find an umbrella and I bought Will a souvenir tape measure--all metric. It's pretty sturdy too. He should be able to actually use it.
After dance, the girls headed back and Eleanor promptly hopped on the internet. Lynda, Amanda and I meandered back more slowly. Lynda wanted to look in a souvenir shop for something for Caleb, her son, and so we wandered into a little alleyway that had a shop advertising "suvenirs". Across the alleyway from the souvenir shop was a sewing shop. I wandered in there and had my most charming encounter so far. I browsed around, looking at the ribbons, buttons and embroidery thread and then found the back room with the yarn. The shop owner knew absolutely NO English and I know almost no Serbian, but we communicated beautifully. I asked her if she had knitting needles. It is amazing what a smile and a little pantomime can do to increase understanding. She led me to the knitting needles and I selected a pair and then wandered back to find the yarn I wanted. While she was going back to find the prices to place on the hand-written sales ticket, I looked around some more and found the circular knitting needles, which I prefer. I told her to wait and exchanged them. Something obviously clicked with her when I made that preferential choice. She asked me if I was the knitter; I said yes; and a world of understanding flowed between us. It was lovely! Those are the kind of moments that I will always remember--I still remember sitting in the hallway last summer, knitting, and having one of the ladies there stop to comment and then show me her knit-work. It was also a wonderful exchange!
We went to dinner as a large group tonight--Me, Lynda, Amanda and all 4 girls who are in the group from the US. The girls chose an Italian restaurant which was quite good, but also quite smoky. We have managed to avoid the smoke by eating inside up to this point since the weather has been lovely and most people have chosen to eat outside at the tables under the umbrellas and the open sky. Since it was still rainy and quite cool, people moved indoors today. I feared that and would have been willing to eat outside myself (to avoid the smoke), but I was the only one who felt that way. I had to take a shower after we returned home because the smoke was in my hair and quite strong.
Eleanor finally gave up the computer to me just a short while ago and is anxiously awaiting my finishing up and stopping the pecking on the keyboard. I told her she would have to be patient with me--as it is, she turned out the lights on me. I hate to tell her, but I'll have to turn on the bathroom light in just a bit. She said I snored and woke her several times last night, so I guess I'll attempt the CPAP machine again tonight. I haven't been very successful with acclimating to the darn thing on this trip and don't know whether I will be able to do so now either, but I'll try for her sake. I still have to finish getting it set up though and that will definitely need a light! Actually, I don't know that I can make the darn thing work. The plug is at the foot of my bed and I would have to lay the machine on the bed to try it. I don't think that is a very safe thing to do, honestly.....
Today's revelations:
1. A smile and an honest effort at communication is all you need to get by in the world.
2. There is much more English spoken in Serbia this year compared to last year; not sure what that implies or the reasons why
3. The 106 temperatures of last year apparently really were an anomaly; today was half of that (although I think this temperature is an anomaly too).
4. This is still very much a nation of smokers.
5. The girls commented that they had seen no black people here. That doesn't surprise me, based on location, but it did them.
6. Staying up late and dancing all day will eventually even take its toll on my 14yo daughter--she is asleep and breathing hard (almost snoring) herself already--it's been about 10 minutes since she turned off the light!
P.S. I'll add a picture in the morning. I downloaded the pictures on Eleanor's computer log-in last night and I can't seem to access them from my login at the moment. I will add one in the morning by logging in as Eleanor! Changed my mind--the computer did one of those weird reboot things that it does and I wasn't finished checking email, so I just logged back in as her. I'll post a picture now!
I think I'm going to open the window again too...even though we are on a very busy street and it sometimes gets noisy. Amazingly, considering how cool it is outside, the room has really gotten stuffy since we closed the window an hour ago.
1 comment:
Kellye,
It all sounds wonderful. Keep up the blog. We miss you guys.
Barri
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