... Taken by Surprise!

Well, it was a long trip. That is all I will say for now... No, wait a minute, I will also say that even though we ultimately took pity on her, there is a woman named Consuela who works for Air Canada in DFW who has no business doing what she does for a living. Oh Consuela, so slow, so incompetent! When we were checking into our flight, it took her forty minutes (10 of which were spent trying to find out if Natalija needed a visa to land in a German airport... the AIRPORT!) In the time it took for her to check only Natalija and me in for the flight, her smirking and infinitely more competent colleague took care of every other passenger on the plane. Poor, poor Consuela.

Anyway, when we arrived, we ate until we forgot how to talk. Then, other stuff happened, most of which we don't remember because we were so sleep deprived. Somehow, Natalija's aunt, Lela and mom, Vesna took advantage of our discombobulated state and convinced us to go see Natasa and her family at her house (we wanted nothing but sleep). When we got there, all of Natalija's closest friends were there to surprise us and we had a party! Needless to say, this did not help the already pitiable cognitive state we were both in, but it was a very welcome surprise, and a very fun time. Pictures below.

So here we are again in Serbia, having fun and adjusting from the jet lag. Hooray! Write emails or comments: I look for them regularly throughout the day and do a happy dance when my inbox is full! Hope all is well with everyone.

We're Going (going) Back (back) to Belgrade (belgrade)

Hello all, whether this message comes as a surprise, a bore, or a surprising bore to you, we wanted ya'll to know that we are going to Serbia**  for a month in two days. While there, we will be doing our best to maintain the connections we may have with our favorite humans (i.e. you, et al.).

For whatever reason I thought that now (in the midst of Natalija running around like some bizarre women's apparel Easter Bunny- stashing shoes, belts, and dresses in various pieces of luggage) would be a good time to let you know the blog is back!

The weight distribution game of How-Much-Shit-Can-We-Cram-Into-the-Airline-Baggage-Allotment began in earnest this evening and recently ratcheted up to a fever pitch. It seems that we will be able to somehow stuff a powerful amount of crap (much of which will ultimately be given away as gifts) into our bloated old bags. Hooray!

We are leaving Thursday morning... I won't bore or depress you with the rigorous itinerary, but don't be surprised if you don't hear from us again for a couple days. We'll be back: like Serbian Hair-pez, we will always make a reappearance. (But for real, if I get the Hair-pez again, I am gonna have a Come to Jesus Meeting with that whole damn country!).

Have fun with your droll, work-a-day lives while we recklessly frolic in the Serbian summer sun for a month, Ha ha!
(kidding)

We'll talk to everybody soon, stay safe, stay happy, and for God's sake keep your A/C blasting on high!

Love,

Natalija and David

**If you're the facebooking type, follow the link to an important Geography lesson!

Kopaonik '09/'010!!!!!

We went to a mountain in Serbia called Kopaonik for new year's... There are other pictures, but this is just priceless! Watch for the fall at the end!! See everybody soon...

It Never Gets Old!!!

Random and Out of Place

Yes. It's over a month late, but I thought we should upload at least a few pictures from Paris...

updating the scrapbook by the river

singing Serbian music with a couple of Slovenians from our hostel

Dylan, you should recognize yourself in this dance!

Brodie, this one is a sister of your jump!

Kris, your booty dance!

Brodie, again!

We got lost in the city on a rainy day and found a hookah bar

Sacre Coeur

Museum... one of many, many, many...

This one speaks for itself

Snow Day

It is cooooooooold over here! And, it has been snowing for about 36 hours non-stop now. Just last night, we got about a foot of snow. Natavid has been tramping around wide-eyed and giddy, with snow-angels, snowmen, and snowball fights gleaming in our collective mind's eye (that's right, we've achieved full telepathic communicative abilities with some help from a Serbian mystic). So, all you Texans who feel like hot stuff 'cause you got a measley couple inches, feast your eyes on our Winter Wonderland!!!!

Backyard. Pictured: Apricot Tree

Front yard, looking right

Front yard, looking left

Front yard, looking straight

David, Nata, Dijana, Iva and Mirko outside I Tako Dalje, a coffee shop owned by "Uncle John," the American who moved here from Philly about 30 years ago (they make delicious apple cider).

Here, you can see on the roof about how much snow has fallen in Surcin (some places, it's much more).

Nata, in front of her beloved kajsija tree.

And here is David's beloved rastan, covered in snow, again.

Natavid, in the snow.

Snesko Belic

November-December Mash-Up

Things have slowed down a bit here, partially because of winter weather, and partially because people are getting tired of us calling them up to hang out all day every day. Accordingly, we have snapped a lot fewer photos lately. Here is a brief recap of some things that we did these past few weeks though.

So we went to the "Etno Selo" park just across the border in Bosnia. Basically, it is like a really idealized version of what old Serbian villages used to look like. You got some water wheels, a church, a really pretty pond with swans and ducks, an ampitheatre, etc. It was a fun trip and a whole big group of us went for the day. Now, bask in the pastoral magnificence that is Etno Selo...

Top Row L-R: Olgica, Srki, Ceca, Nata, Iva, Mirko
Bottom Row: Ana, David, Sandra

This is apparently a five star hotel...

Church-on-a-Hill

Swan-on-the-Grass

In a picture right before this, Mirko and Srki were hugging... Then they struck this pose as soon as someone said anything!

C'mon, kids! All aboard the Uncle Mirko Express!!


Helloooo, Etnooooo Seloooooo!!!

Ana and Sasa, on a bridge

Ana, Nata, Sasa... not on a bridge

Iva, also not on a bridge

On our FIFTH anniversary, we went out to the only place that serves anything even closely related to legit Mexican food in Beograd. It's called Zapata. While it wasn't all bad (in fact, some was quite good), this was what an "enchilada" looked like (it was basically a pita) :

But, here is me looking very happy and somewhat not quite like me because I was just beside myself over the enormous flautas sitting in front of me:

Also, here is our Christmas tree. We just decorated this about an hour, hour and a half ago, while drinking a little champaigne (sp?) with Vesna...

Baba loves bananas (she eats at least four or five in one sitting) and hates having her picture taken. Hence, this interesting pose: