Finding Christmas

It's been difficult to get into the holiday spirit this year. Part of it is being a bit unsettled. But an even larger part of it is the fact that the Orthodox don't celebrate the holiday for another two weeks. As I strolled around town yesterday afternoon, searching for a little Christmas Eve magic, it was quite clear that I was the only person looking forward to a holiday the next day. Everyone else was facing a normal work week and all its drudgery. Don't get me wrong, decorations are up all over town. Many more than I had expected. But the ambient and never ending barrage of Christmas music, it turns out, is actually a fairly critical element for evoking the spirit. And, I suppose it really needs to be a collective event. It's an environmental thing.

I kept walking, looking for some last minute gifts to add to the Amazon boxes under the tree. A protest downtown had brought traffic in the city to a complete halt. Rather than Christmas bells, the sounds on the street were honking horns. And a lot of them. It was gridlock akin only to Tysons Corner or the Mall of America on....the 23rd or 24th of December. Perhaps I could find something to relate to after all. 

When I got to the large green market down town I found trees, wreaths, holly baskets and all the trimmings needed to Christmas-up your home. I hadn't seen any of this just a few days prior. Usually stall after stall of carrots and parsnips, the new sights got me feeling like it might really be Christmas Eve.

Bolstered from the market, I stopped in a few stores and bought supplies to make a little Christmas breakfast, and some walnut covered cookies. Somehow those seemed like a necessity. Then, before Bob came home I wrapped the "exposed" presents under the tree in moving paper (some of the Amazon boxes had been busted open in transit and we just left the items out). We don't have tape so the gifts ended up looking like a pile of hoagies. But at least it would give us something to do and feel Christmas-y about the next morning.

In the evening we got together with friends, ate good food, wished each other a Merry Christmas, got updates from the kids on Santa's location (thank you NORAD), and finally went home ready for Christmas to arrive. Not a moment too soon.

Santa Claus Came to Town

Several weeks ago Bob was asked to help bring some Santa magic to our little community here in Belgrade. We were both several martinis into the night at the time of the request (yes, we were blowing off some steam, ok?). I started giggling and Bob failed to say no fast enough. Deep down, I think he was looking forward to the opportunity to dress up as a large, happy man in a giant sweat suit who hadn't shaved in years. 

Initially, I did not realize that this event involved Santa's arrival at a party for 30 children via a horse-drawn carriage and the distribution of presents for these children. Not only that, but a professional photographer would be capturing the magical moment when each child sat on Santa's knee and received his or her gift. This was not just a smile and wave kind of gig. This was a full-on performance.

Luckily, Santa had the perfect words prepared for each little one who gazed into his eyes, "Thanks for being good this year. Keep up the good work, kid."

According to the parents, Santa caused far fewer tears and many more children were willing to sit in his lap. All in all, it was a successful visit. Hopefully, Santa will be visiting you soon too.

"I Don't Speak Serbian"

To date, that one phrase of Serbian has been sufficient to complete every necessary transaction in my new home town. I don't say it well. "Ne govorim srpski." I usually say "no" instead of "ne" and for all I know, the verb isn't even in the right tense. I'm probably saying it like man would say it, not a woman but it gets the point across and elicits one of two responses:

1. A large, toothy grin that, to me, seems the equivalent of a pat on the head. This is usually followed by a lot of Serbian that I don't understand and enough hand gestures to get us through the rest of the conversation.  Or 
2. "That's ok" and English that is as good as mine.

Today, however, I have decided that it is time to add a second phrase. "I don't know". Apparently I have spent enough time wandering the streets now that either I look like I know what I'm doing or I'm starting to blend in. Or, maybe I just look like a nice person. But, twice today I was stopped and asked for directions. My go-to line did seem to do the trick. But I think I could do even better with a good, solid "Sorry, I don't know."

There's always room for improvement.

Anyway, during today's long walk I was quite please with myself  - even in a town that is covered in soot and smells like coal, I was able to sniff out the most beautiful bakery I've seen in quite some time. I spent a while looking in the windows. They had gorgeous looking breads and desserts. If it wasn't 10:30 am and I wasn't going to be walking for another hour and a half I would have gotten something. Luckily, it isn't far from our eventual permanent place.  I will be back.

And, even though I don't speak Serbian, I think I understood the woman sweeping the sidewalk outside the place when she said something along the lines of, "It's nice looking chocolate, isn't it?"  "Da."