closing out 2010

I'm sitting here in the airport for my New Year's trip and decided it was a perfect time for a little update. For those of you who don't know my plans (although I'm sure I've told each and every one of you because I'm so excited), I am going to Berlin for New Years, then Dresden and then meeting up with the volleyball tour in Prague (where I'll end in Maribor) to get my new teammate and bring her back to Bar! It'll be very different to have another American around, but I'm looking forward to the change of pace. I hope she appreciates how well I cleaned my apartment! haha

Срећан Божић!

It's Christmas Day in the 382! (and that's the country code, not area code) and it has proven to be an awesome one, even though I'm away from my family. The title of this post obviously means Merry Christmas in Serbian which is said somewhat similar to this: srechan bojeech. Fun, right? Gotta love serbian!

Last night, I had my christmas party (refer to the previous post) and didn't go to sleep until around 5am. I was woken up by SANTA!! I repeat, SANTA came and rang my doorbell today!

Ok, so maybe Santa looks a little different this year, but this is him!! 

Juuuuust kidding. This is my owner Nikola (you know, like Saint Nikola --told you he was the real deal) and he brought my packages that have been lost in the mail. TWO HUGE PACKAGES from my family for Christmas! I was so excited...it was such a surprise!!

yessssssssss!! As I opened them my apartment was immediately Christmasified. It was nice to have some comforts of home, even if most of them are silly things like Oreos, Luna Bars and new socks! I still have some wrapped presents but I'm waiting for my parents to Skype me to open them with them. But check out the little Christmas corner I've made:

Precious, right? I think so too. I hope everyone is having a great Christmas!! I'm off to Berlin for New Years on the 30th, so I see many more updates in my future!

Christmas Eve!

First of all, I realize I REALLY should start posting more so I don't get carpal tunnel as I write these ridiculously long updates. They aren't necessarily fun to write, and I bet they sure aren't fun to read. Maybe the first paragraph, but perhaps you lose interest quickly. I'll try to keep it lively and throw in some jokes  to keep you on your toes!

Last night was christmas eve!! Because most people in Montenegro are Orthodox (don't ask, I don't know details), they celebrate Christmas on January 7th. At first I thought would be awesome because I have a biological christmas and an adopted one, but au contraire my friends. It really just means that my real Christmas, that I have known and loved for 22 years of my life is just another normal day in Bar. Businesses are open, people are busy, there are volleyball tournaments, and other things that would never happen on a REAL christmas!

Luckily, two of the volunteers Laura and Renata were in town (one is from France, and the later from Poland) so they were here to celebrate with me. They also had a friend from Kosovo staying with them for a few nights so we decided we were going to throw a Christmas celebration. Unfortunately I had practice until about 10:30 so I hurried and got there as soon as possible. They had all already eaten because the tradition is to eat when the first star appears in the sky. When I got there I was greeted with many foreign foods that are customary for Christmas.

First, I had some foie gras. This alone was an experience I wasn't expecting. For any of you who don't know what it is (I thought no one knew, but apparently I'm in the idiotic minority) it is fattened duck liver. Apparently it's all the rage in France and other parts of the world. It comes in all forms like a meat, a mousse, and a patee. YUMMMM, right?! I had recently heard how this little concoction was made and let me tell you it was NOT enticing. But, in the spirit of adventure I took a huge first bite!

yummmmm foie gras (said like fwah graw)

Do I look excited?! (I was trying really hard to put on a great face). I knew it was a very expensive delicacy so I ate it and loved every bite...but never again will that body part of ANY animal enter my mouth. The other thing on the plate is some tuna with pavlaka and vegetables maybe? Not sure...just tasted like tuna. 

After this I had some Polish soup that Renata made. It was made from plums soaked in hot water, cold water, etc. Definitely hard work! It was good and kinda tasted like warm applesauce...the color at first creeped me out (and it didn't help that I was still thinking about the fact I had just ingested foie gras). Here it is: 

After this, we had dessert that Laura made. I was a little skeptical, but it looked really good! It was her first christmas cake to make on her own and she wasn't very enthused with how it turned out (which is why she is holding the knife...she wanted to stab it), but I was very proud of her! It was like an ice cream cake with chocolate frosting and something called Scottish cake on the bottom. It was delicious!! 

Next we played a game. It was a lot of fun...it was played in partners and consisted of three rounds. We all wrote 10 items and put them in a hat. The first round was like catchphrase where you talk someone through it. The next round you can only say ONE word for the person to guess, and the third round is like charades. All of these rounds are with the same words so by the end you are very good at guessing because if you have any sort of memory you can figure it out. Laura was my partner and lets just say things got a little out of hand. 

sidenote: everyone knows how competitive I am, and in volleyball this is a great thing. In a fun Christmas game with non-atheletes from much more modest countries this is probably NOT the best attribute to have

Laura and I ended up winning in the last round!! Needless to say I was super excited because of how much I hate losing. We then played one more game and I said I needed to get home because Santa was coming!! 

Slava

Wow, I am terribly sorry to my four dedicated followers. It has literally been forever since I've last posted. This post is dedicated to the Serbian holiday called Slava. Each family has a patron saint, which is passed down from generation to generation on the male's side. So, if you're a male you have the same saint your whole life. If you are a woman you celebrate your father's saint while you're young, and once you get married you take the saint of your husband.

When I had dinner at Sandra's house a while back her mom asked if I would come to their Slava which was Nov. 21 for Archangel Michael (I think...although I could be way off). When I arrived at her house I realized it was much like our Thanksgiving. Her family had cleared out all of the furniture in their living room and instead there were tables. They were obviously expecting a lot of people to come eat and I was nervous I would be overwhelmed by Serbian and customs that were completely new to me. True, there were lots of Oluic family members greeting me in Serbian and asking about me, but they made me feel at home. I sat at the end of the table with Sandra, her sister, and her cousin who was studying to get her PhD and go into medicine. She spoke perfect english so we had our little english corner and that made me feel much more at ease.

One custom of Slava is to bake this "cake" (to me it was more like a loaf of bread) and they cut it into quarters and Sandra's father lit a candle while other family members cut the cake into quarters and spooned red wine onto the bread while they said a prayer. It's fun to see other customs that are so foreign!

After that happened, we ate! (and ate and ate and ate!) The first course was a platter of cold cuts with salami and cheeses, marinated peppers called paprika, and bread. It was good, but I knew more substantial food was coming up so I held out. Next was soup, which is super typical of a Serbian meal. They always have soup of some sort before eating a big meal. Next came a platter of roasted beef. It was good, but it seemed like no one ate that. Next was the sarme, which were DELISH! It was a leaf of sauerkraut filled with meats, spices and rice rolled up and cooked in broth. Kinda like a cabbage roll. Yum! I filled up on those because they were SO good. After that there was a huge platter of lamb and pork. My pants were bulging at the seams so I tried a few bites, but just to taste it. Then last, there was a huge plate of various cakes, cookies, sweetbreads etc. They were all delicious and made with fruits. We ate our fair share of those and then realized we had to go to practice.

Practicing when I was that full was beyond difficult!! I felt like I literally could NOT jump...and of course all we did that practice was hitting reps. Ooof. I think it was punishment for eating like a piggy!

After practice I went back because Sandra explained to me that it was a party that lasted the entire day. And she was right!! When we went back there were even more people there and they broke out the homemade wine and were definitely indulging. This part of the night was a lot of fun. The man that drives our bus to our matches made some wine and he definitely wasn't shy about sharing it with me. I guess I can check having homemade wine off of the list of life's experiences. All of the older Montenegrin men were singing old national Serbian songs (at the top of their lungs) and were having a great time! They sang one about America and then looked at me searching for my approval so I gave them a round of applause and said "Bravo, bravo!", which they liked a lot. It was a great night with authentic culture!

My Short-lived Time in Fondi

When I got to Heather and Lynnea’s apartment, I realized that I was definitely not in Montenegro anymore. It looked much more “European” with little windy cobblestone streets lined with old Italian apartment buildings, complete with little flower-pot lined balconies and tons of old world charm that is so apparently lacking in Bar. 

The girls live in a building that is rented as a bed and breakfast when they aren’t living there. It was four floors and they lived on the third floor technically. It was strange to think about how they have daily interactions with roommates. I’m so used to living by myself at this point, that it seems strange to have a language barrier with someone you have to share your personal space with. 

Anyway, after I dropped off my things, they told me that there men’s club had a match that night. I was excited to watch and see what they do for entertainment (they always go watch their men practice and play so they seem to know that team pretty well). When we got there it was really apparent that Heather and Lynnea are really well-liked by everyone involved in the club. Many old Italian men seemed very excited to see them (it was mostly coaches, owners, and members of “the society”).

doing our fan duties! 

       After the match we wanted to hang out with some of them, but they all seemed to be going home or out with their families, so instead we went to a little pub to grab some dinner. There was a soccer match playing so it was PACKED (i forgot how into futbol they are!) with people yelling at the tv when something good--or bad--happened. The restaurant didn’t necessarily serve Italian food so we got chips and salsa, french fries and little sandwiches. It was really good food and SUCH nice company. I really forgot how nice it is to be able to speak as quickly and informally as I want to hand have people not only understand me, but speak back the same way. I think they were also happy to have a little dose of familiarity. 

After dinner we went to this place that Heather had been raving about all day. It was this little pastry bakery (I forgot the name) that sold these italian pastries that are injected with whatever filling you want such as custard, cream, chocolate or all of the above. I just got chocolate and with the first bite I knew why she had been bragging about how good it was. YUM! I wanted to turn around and buy about 20 more for the walk home. They were so good, and they’re now on the list of things my family will try when they come over in the summer. 

The next day Heather and I walked around and I got my tour of her city. It is about double the size of Bar so there was a lot for me to see. It’s funny because when they were telling me about it at the beginning of the season they were like “its soooo small!” but compared to Bar, it was a good-sized area with a lot to see. For some reason all of the stores are closed on Mondays in that town so we just went to get a cappuccino and pastries. 

Apparently in Italy the mindset while drinking coffee is much different. For example, when we went to get coffee the first time they didn’t even want to sit down. I thought this was entirely too strange considering in Montenegro they can sit with the same cup of coffee and talk and waste time for a solid hour.

 I made Heather sit down and actually enjoy her coffee rather than inhaling it and then we continued on our way stopping in the few stores that were actually open. Once again, it was nice to be spending time with someone I’ve known for a while. 

you WILL sit down and you WILL enjoy your coffee! 

We came back and decided to cook lunch. (does it sound like I was constantly eating? I’m pretty sure I was...) Heather cooked herself some pasta and pesto and recruited her Italian roommate to make me some carbonara. Words cannot explain how delicious that dish was. It had pancetta and was awesome. Heather said she was glad she didn’t make it because I wouldn’t have had the same experience. Well mark that one off the list: eating pasta cooked by a true Italian...I recommend everyone find a way to make this happen at some point in their life. 

        There was a little bit of down time before the girls had practice, so we took the time to just talk and compare different aspects of our lives and we found that even though we were in different countries, dealing with different people, and doing different things, we really have so much in common. Every time they would say "oh it's weird...here they _____" I found myself saying "I KNOW!!". After we wasted some time (much like my typical down-time in Bar) we headed to practice. The gym was FREEZING and since I was getting sick I thought it would be best to rest, although they all wanted me to practice. As a whole, their practice was very comparable to mine. When they finished, we went to an "american food" stand. This was clearly NOT american food, but more what they envisioned us to eat. Obviously Italians think Americans have HORRIBLE eating habits (which I don't completely disagree) because what we ordered was a hot dog, french fries, mozzarella, mayo and ketchup all in a baguette sort of thing. It was called a wurstel, and I will gladly admit it was delicious. 

delish. look at those innards...

heather has obviously been around the block a few times. she doesn't have the excitement in her eyes like I did. 

Lynnea's was subpar from the beginning. She opted for her french fries on the side. 

After we waddled home, it was just another relaxing night at the house. I had to wake up early to get to the train station in the morning (told ya it was a short trip!) Nothing exciting to report from the trip home, just lots of traveling, which was uber tiring. I had to get an early train to make sure I caught the plane on time to get home for practice that I had that night. Eeeek, I hope this post wasn't just a lot of rambling! 

it's not about the destination, it's about the journey

     When I got to Rome it was still surreal that this trip was really happening. I even kinda had a thought about my plane crashing because I just couldn’t picture myself actually making it to Italy (weird, I know..) Anyway, I made it safely to Rome and met an awesome lady in the airport who helped me to navigate my way through the train station and airport shuttle tram to get to Fondi. I didn’t have a train ticket so by the time I bought one, I had only a few minutes to get to the next Naples train which was on the same line as Fondi. Perfect, I bypassed a long line, got to the station, and walked right onto the train. I snapped a picture of the big “Roma Termini” station sign and I thought to myself “haha. I win at life. I am going to put this on facebook with a caption that says ‘I am the navigational queen. I mastered Roma Termini, what next?’” (refer to the first picture below) Then, I asked the lady next to me if she knew approximately how long of a ride it would be to my stop so I could rest and know that I wasn’t going to miss the stop. Her response? “Um, this train doesn’t stop in Fondi. You’re on the wrong train” (obviously this cued a panic attack as I pictured myself alone in Naples). She then said “you needed to be on a regional train because that is a small stop, but don’t worry... you can just go one stop further and come back to Fondi”. PHEW! At least it wasn’t as bad as I originally thought, but still. The theory of being the navigational queen was clearly out the window. I went to Formia which was the next stop and planned to take the next train back to Fondi, but fortunately Heather’s manager said they would drive to Formia to get me. This was a relief because now my train confidence was a little bit deflated. We drove about 20 minutes along the sea and arrived at her apartment in Fondi

(this is the part where I'm still optimistic about my transportation skills)

(......and this is the part where I realize my skills have failed me)

better luck next time, layney!

Best (Last-Minute) Decision I’ve Made in a While

The second I found out I had pretty much three days to go somewhere, the cogs in my mind went into overdrive. I went home and abandoned showering, eating, and pretty much everything else while I searched frantically for flights. (Note that by the time I got home it was about 1a.m. and I was hoping for an early early morning flight to maximize my time off).

So for this little trip, my realistic options were to either head somewhere within driving distance and splurge on a few nights in a hotel so I could really explore the area, or head to a few places around Montenegro for little day trips. Even though these are both great ideas, I think you all know I usually think on a bigger scale than this...and also like to create ridiculous situations for myself. So, step one was to think of all of my connections I had with girls playing throughout Europe. The most logical of these were the girls in Italy. They are close enough to be able to get in and out in only three days, but also far enough to be going on a true vacation and getting a few stamps on the passport, which is always an awesome feeling. There are two girls playing in Fondi, which is about an hour and a half out of Rome, and also two girls playing in Reggio di Calabria, which is much more southern and in my neck of the woods. Fortunately, I didn’t have to choose. It was impossible to get down to Reggio Calabria because there was no flight or ferry service. Although I wish I could have seen those girls too, it will give me another reason to get down there on a separate trip. 

There was a flight to Rome that left early the next morning, but because it was such short notice I was supposedly unable to book it. This had me in a panic because I was soooo close. I could taste the gelato and pizza and now I was determined to make this happen. (I think it runs in the Brosky blood that when we get an idea, even if its on a whim at first, we can’t stop obsessing until it becomes a reality). Lynnea, one of the girls in Italy was helping me look for flights and we finally found one. PERFECT! I was leaving in 5 hours for my Italian weekend. I couldn’t have been more excited and I felt so accomplished. Booking a last-minute flight for a little bit less than outrageous...I call it success.

Budućnost Match

The other night we had our last match of the first round of the league. It was against a team we had previously had a friendly match against, but both of us were undefeated entering into the official match, so naturally there was a lot of hype and speculation. Apparently everyone in Podgorica thought they would end up winning, but it was really a toss-up. When we played them in the friendly match, we won 25-12, but then lost the second game 25-15. That meant it was clear that both teams had the potential to win depending on which team was having a good day. 

The girls told me that there were going to be a lot of people because everyone was very excited to see how the teams matched up. We played in a sport center that held about 200, and it was completely full. There were tons of younger members of their clubs that were (ridiculously) loud and were very excited to use their vuvuzelas. (you know those obnoxious horns from the world cup? yea, those). It was pretty crazy. The first game seemed like we had it in the bag. We were up 24-19 when Luka decided we should take a timeout “to relax”. I thought this was a little unnecessary, but knowing how euro coaches ALWAYS take all of their timeouts, I didn’t really think too much about it. In the huddle he said that we just needed to relax and make one more strong play. Wellllll, that didn’t exactly go according to plan. They ended up coming back and tying the game 24-24, but we won 26-24...thank goodness!

The second set we won pretty handily, and then the third set we lost--bummer. The fourth set was an exciting one. It went back and forth and was tied at least a million times. Late in the game we were up 22-21 and there was a weird discrepancy with a substitution. Luka wanted to send someone in, but the other coach thought he had passed the time window and it shouldn’t be allowed. This led to LOTS of arguing, game delaying, referee conferences etc. and eventually he got a yellow card for a delay of game. This put us up 23-21 and you would have thought he would have learned his lesson and let his team come play and hope for the best. But no no, this would have been the easy way out. The coach’s reaction was to go to the scoreboard, try to flip it back a few points, all the while yelling at everyone. Solution? RED CARD! Which once again gave us a point. Now his arguing had cost him two points, and had also given us game point. (Even though he was delaying the game which annoyed me, he was also giving us free points, which was awesome!) We ended up winning the next point when yours truly solo blocked a back row attack, which I was pretty pumped about and of course we were all really happy to have won the match. On the way home, Luka said something that I didn’t understand --naturally-- and everyone seemed really happy. Then, Bojana told me that we didn’t have practice until Tuesday, which was a full two days off, a Galeb first. My mind started RACING trying to decide how best to use my time and how I could go to so many places with this kind of time. It really seemed like an eternity to me and I was really excited I had a chance to finally get out for an entire weekend. So I went home and bogged down the kayak.com server while I created a master plan! 

halloween

Unfortunately Halloween isn't a holiday here. Not that I really celebrated it at home (although it was fun in college!), but it was kind of sad that there was no one here to do the usual activities with. The girls on my team knew about Halloween because they have seen it in american movies, on the disney channel etc. I was planning on just having a relaxing day for my day off, but then I got a message from Sandra (a girl on my team who speaks very good english) and she told me her mother wanted to prepare something for me. I WAS PUMPED! Her mom had driven me home a few times from the gym and always told me (but she speaks absolutely zero english she she really told Sandra, to tell me) that I am welcome in their home and she wants me to come spend time with their family. I never really thought too much of this because often times people offer things to make someone feel welcome but it's never acted upon. So needless to say, I was more than happy to accept the offer and come over.

I asked Sandra if she wanted me to bring pumpkins to carve. She agreed that this would be fun, so off I went to the farmers market to buy some pumpkins. Clearly they are not growing pumpkins to carve, so I had to make do with a pretty meager selection. I ended up buying three pumpkins: two were green, and one was so lopsided it could hardly stand on its own). I knew her younger sister would be there so I wanted to make sure she had one to carve too. Hauling these things home was not the most pleasant experience I've ever had (it was 28 pounds of pumpkins!) and since Sandra's house is about triple the distance from the farmers market to my apartment, I decided to take a taxi. This is the silliest thing ever because I swear I was only in the taxi for about 1 minute (including stoping at a light)...but SO worth it.

I met Sandra at the corner and she walked me to her house because I wouldn't be able to find it on my own. She explained to me that she is originally from Croatia, but was displaced because of the war when she was younger. Her house was in a little community of houses built for displaced Croatians. I thought this was really interesting When I got there her house was adorable! You could tell they really took pride in their house and everything was very neat and tidy. I received a warm welcome from her mom (in serbian of course) and she seemed very excited to see me and have me as a guest. She was making palačinke slani, which is different from the palačinke I always rave about which is slatka. The difference is that the former is salty instead of sweet. So follow me here: it was these thin crepe-like things rolled and filled with ham and cheese and then rolled in bread crumbs and cooked. They were delicious!

In the meantime of her cooking, Sandra showed me picture albums, her sister's drawings and some mementos from trips she's taken. Her and her sister (who is 12 and speaks excellent english thanks to the disney channel and it's lack of subtitles) took this time to ask me about the customs of Halloween. After her mom was done cooking she sat down and joined the conversation and we talked about various things  and she said I was invited to their house anytime I wanted to come! She also offered to do my laundry every week and other chores (such a nice gesture) as well as invited me to their family's Saint Day which is coming up on Nov. 12. It is a Serbian holiday that celebrates the family's patron saint with an all-day party and feast with friends and family. I will definitely be in attendance but I think I might be overwhelmed with the lack of english.

Next in the order of events was pumpkin carving. At first I wasn't too sure how they would like it. I mean it's kinda hard work if you don't know what you're doing (not to mention the pumpkins were difficult to cut because they were underripe). I explained to them how to cut off the top and when that mission was accomplished they were so excited. They had never seen pumpkins in Bar and were confused at where I had purchased them. They were also surprised that the inside was goopy and fleshy and that it had seeds. Montenegro has pumpkin seeds in the grocery store, but I guess they had a disconnect of where the seeds actually came from..it was pretty funny. Then I showed them some examples of typical jack-o-lantern faces but told them to be creative. We all drew our faces and started carving. I finished mine in literally two minutes as they were on their first eye so I decided to carve the other side to say "CRNA GORA", which is the local translation for Montenegro. They really liked that I carved this and their mom especially was impressed by my pumpkin carving skills (although its not fair...I've had plenty of years of practice)

Once we were finished Sandra and her sister were SO SO happy with their creations. They were beyond proud that they had successfully made something so "american". We didn't have any candles so we made do with birthday candles. Once they were lit, we turned off all of the lights and they were shrieking with delight. It was cute. Here are some pictures of the adventure:

Sandra after coring the pumpkin and moving on to the face drawing. She went with triangle eyes and a mouth that resembles stitches. 

 Maja is pumped! I gave them the two green pumpkins because I thought that was better than having a severely deformed one. She ended up also choosing triangle eyes and a jagged smile.

 HAHA check out the tilt on that pumpkin! Clearly not picked from a pumpkin patch, but it'll work

 Finished product: Sandra's on the left, Maja's in the middle and mine on the right. They both chose scary vibes while I clearly chose silly.

 They decided we weren't getting the full experience unless we put them in the front yard. Once again, there was lots of excitement

Maybe now they'll carve pumpkins every year? The Oluic family has now been officially initiated into an american tradition. Perhaps I'll continue something they expose me to

Prijatno!

The word prijatno in serbian, roughly translates to "bon appetit". It means enjoy the experience of eating your meal and have a sense of comfort. As you all know due to my countless facebook posts/tweets/all other forms of notifying technology, I have spent lots of time cooking for many reasons: a) there's nothing better to do b) it is so cheap to buy all natural, local foods c) it's fun to have a certain challenge of roping up all of the ingredients (some of which aren't here) and making a good meal. Here are some of my favorites:

These honey pretzels KILLED me! I could not for the life of me get that dough to rise. It is truly an art. I had all but given up until I went to practice and came back to risen dough. It was awesome. It may have taken two failed attempts, but they were awesome.

This is potato and kale soup with sausage. It's delish

The "fruits" of my labor! hahah, get it? haha. Anyway, this is what I got from Rose one day. Doesn't it look delish?

 Whole wheat banana bread and homemade pear applesauce. Proud to say that Maja likes both of these. Of course she had to smell them before putting either in her mouth, but I got her approval. Score!!

My beer bread. You are all aware that I am NOT a beer drinker. It doesn't sound appealing to me...EVER! But there is a beer here that supposedly is the best. beer. ever. (although I'm sure they're just a little bit biased). It's called Nisicko, (pronounced nishichko). ---I should have taken it as a sign that in English its called ni-sicko!---I figured I would give the beer bread a go and see if this was a way that I could enjoy the taste of beer. Turns out I don't particularly like it, but maybe I'll try adding some herbs and cheese next time to try to jazz it up a bit.

Not the most exciting of posts, but just trying to keep you all up-to-date on the goings on of my life

A quick little update

Nothing new to report, but I have a few little tidbits that might be worth sharing?

• In my first ever match I was super excited and trying to pump everyone up and everyone just laughed at me because my jersey was on backwards. AWESOME layne, you're an idiot
• So far in our season, we have won both of our matches. The last one was pretty crazy and was against our rivals (who are the only other club in Bar). We pulled out the win in 3 sets, but the scores were 25-23, 28-26 and 27-25. PHEW! 
• I'm starting to plan my New Year's trip!!! This is exciting. As of right now, I'm leaning toward Egypt  but the destination changes daily. 
• I now have insomnia. I go to bed pretty much when the sun is rising everyday, which is clearly not good. I think I need to use more energy during the day!
• I have mastered the train system. Even though there is only one train that goes to one place (haha), I can successfully order a ticket, find my train, and converse with the trainman (do they have official names? conductor, maybe) completely in Serbian. This is a huge step forward.
• Eat, Pray, Love comes out on November 4th here. Yea yea, laugh it up for all of you who saw it like a million years ago. But I am very excited and will be making the trek to the capital to go to the cinema.
• Tomorrow is Halloween and I am going to skype with some girls that are playing in Italy because they will also be alone...in their apartment...dressed up. I think it's going to be a great time. My striped sweater is going to make an awesome Where's Waldo, now I just need to locate a cane. 
• I am ready to do some serious traveling. I'm getting antsy to see new things! Bar has become pretty "normal" to me and I've explored every square inch. The other day on my run I came to a dead end that overlooked some train tracks and literally about 75 sheep. I thought they were going to attack.
• Rose and I have become BFF. I go to her fruit stand and I am greeted with a kiss and showered with edible gifts. It is awesome and she continues to mention that I need to meet her son who works at the pizzeria (there are about a million in Bar, so I don't think I will realistically run into him)

I think that's about it for now. I have a match later today that I should start getting ready for, It's about an hour away and I promised my team I would make them banana bread for the drive (they're obsessed). Cao!

boredom

So.... I always wish that people would post on here so I have something to do to pass the time, but then I realize I am just as guilty. I have nothing significant to say. It has been raining like crazy here, which is accompanied with power outages and leaky floors so I have pretty much been cooped up in my apartment. It could be worse (like no cable or internet), but it means there is no new adventure to blab about. The weather is starting to cool off, which makes me bust out a cheery pair of socks to sleep in (my favorite thing about winter: sleeping in socks) and make a daily cup of coffee and/or tea. Both are very exciting things that come with cool weather.

Lately I have been reveling in boredom, and have subsequently made alterations to "the typical day" that everyone (still!!) asks about. So here is the updated list:

wake up
go for a run (refer to footer 1)
go to the fruit stand (refer to footer 2)
whip up a healthy meal
kill 5 hours via facebook/twitter/skype/tv
practice
socialize
sleep

how awesome is it that my blog now officially has footnotes?! That's a definite upgrade in my opinion.  I wish I had some more exciting news to share, but unfortunately my life right now is kind of a stalemate. Just lots of the same....and when you thought it could get any more repetitive, I wake up and do the same thing again. Tears, people, tears of boredom have been shed. Don't get me wrong. Still a great experience that I'm so thankful for....just hoping for a much-needed day of breaking the cycle (hopefully that will come on my day off Monday). For now, lets get to those footnotes!

is this small enough? I'm going with it. Prepare the magnifying glass (the sad thing is I know my mom will actually take that advice to heart and use the one that is conveniently by the computer desk)
1. When I go for a run I am CONSTANTLY stared at. I think the only time they've ever seen a human being run is during a futbol game. I am constantly stared at. It doesn't help I'm wearing tshirts in english, using my iPod, and occasionally singing along. One man (bless his Montenegrin heart) clapped for me as I passed him, but for the most part people look disgusted that I am running...voluntarily. 
2. I have met the most wonderful fruit vendor named Rose, a ~55 year old Montenegrin woman. She is awesome and pimps the fruit that her husband grows on their farm. She is constantly giving me whatever she has a surplus of and winks at me while saying "for free" and stuffing it in my bag. I made her some applesauce a little while ago and she now loves me. She even dropped a hint that she wants me to meet her son by telling me he works at the local pizzeria, his name, and that I should "stop to see him". Rose speaks English very well and is always sharing her cooking tips with me. My goal in life is to someday eat a meal in her home...with her farmer husband whose labor I have very much appreciated, Rose, and her son. Unrealistic? Not sure, but I have high hopes this will happen by the end of the year. 

power outage

So the past couple days (excluding today) we have been having CRAZY storms, complete with flooding and power outages. It started out as a typical lazy day, knowing I didn't really want to leave the house because there was a decent amount of rain. I spent my time just laying around watching some TV and surfing the internet (typical daily activities). Then, around lunch time I raided my food cabinet and found absolutely nothing. ----you know those times you have been meaning to go to the store for days but just haven't gotten around to it, so you only have bits of everything you dislike? I think there was one pack of saltines, and these really gross oatmeal crackers and some spreadable cheese in the fridge---- BUT, the I remembered Jaci left me a box of funfetti cake. Her parents sent it to her as part of a thanksgiving meal, but she never got around to making it and I inherited it when she left. All of the sudden I was super pumped, because I rounded up some eggs and oil. LET THE BAKING BEGIN! I prepared the batter and put it in the oven...only 30 minutes until I was enjoying a little slice (literally) of home.

ERRRRRRRR... (that's the sound of my cooking coming to a screeching halt) THE POWER WENT OUT MID-BAKE! Great, now what was I supposed to do? I had sudden flashes of me holding a candle lighter under the pan, hoping that it would help bake. Anyway, I took the cake out of the oven and the sides were done (a little doughy, but edible) but the middle was a complete disaster. Complete liquid in the center. NOOOOO! I ended up salvaging the little slivers of edges and consumed them. The power came back on, but only for about ten minutes before I had to leave for practice. Tears almost came from my eyes as I had to throw away Funfetti. I think that's a crime in some states.

So Maja and I take a taxi to practice...you can't imagine how hard it was STILL raining. When we got there, I peeked inside the gym because I remembered we have leaks in the roof and wanted to assess the damage. I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I saw about ten buckets and twenty towels strewn all over the court. Are you serious? How were we going to practice?! Luka said it wasn't leaking anymore because the rain had slightly died down, but we still could only practice on one side of the court where the leaks weren't so major. It was business as usual (for them, for me I was thinking this was the craziest thing ever. Can anyone in the states imagine a half-court practice due to a leaky roof?) and we were doing a hitting drill. The ball was set to me and BAM literally out of nowhere the power is once again cut off. AWESOME! the ball ended up hitting me in the face because I was seriously mid-air when this happened. We were instructed to go put our jackets on and run around to stay warm. We were going to wait it out for 15-20 minutes just to make sure we really had to end practice. Of course, the lights never came back on (and apparently the power was out in the entire city) so Nikola and Luka drove all of the girls home so no one had to walk. It was an eventful night to say the least.

Stari Bar

Yesterday was my day off, so I decided I was LONG overdue for a little outing. Everything in Montenegro is so close because it's such a small country, so I was feeling ashamed at how little I've seen considering how long I've been here. Stari Bar is Old Town Bar and is situated in the mountains that are right behind Bar. I'm not quite sure of the time frame of when it was built, but most of the buildings said they were constructed between the 12th and 14th century.

The bus schedule in Bar is the worst thing ever. There is no such thing as a timetable (you know, the easy thing to do) so in order to find out what bus is going where and when, you have to call the station and find out. Of course they don't speak english, and my serbian is less than conversational, so I decided it would be easier to take a taxi up to Stari Bar. The taxi fare was 4 euros and 50 cents. As some of you may know, I'm trying to limit myself to spending 5 euros per day so I can save the rest for traveling on my breaks. This left me with only 50 cents to survive for the rest of the day! When I got to Old Town excitement consumed me because I finally felt like I was getting out and seeing something exciting. Its been awhile! I immediately saw the walls of Old Town that towered over a few little caffes situated on the outside. To go in and explore, it cost one euro (bummer!) so I gathered up some changed and headed in. It was AWESOME! I definitely didn't expect what I saw. Old Town Budva was full of people and stores and bustling with activity. Stari Bar on the other hand was just lots of ruins with only a few buildings intact and even fewer people. It was completely quiet and it was a nice atmosphere to reflect on what this town once was. 

It looked like lots and lots of rubble, but in it you could see that there was so much history dating back to so long ago. I learned that there were over 600 buildings when it was in its prime, but now there were only hulls of what this town once was. It originally looked something like this: 

and now its something like this: 

much different, right? Anyway, so I explored the ruins for a while and found it really relaxing. Stari Bar is located in the mountains. You can't see it (obviously), but there is a HUGE mountain behind me. Pretty much the only structures still standing were the clocktower (in the picture), the citadel, and the church. Here are a few more pictures:

Montenegrin flag waving proudly

After looking around here for a while, I had seen everything (or so I thought) and decided to head home. I took it as a sign that the taxi ride was just under 5 euros and thought it would be a good opportunity to walk home. It only took about 10 minutes in a taxi and was all uphill, so I thought it would be a breeze to walk all downhill for max 30 minutes. Once I got about 10 minutes into my walk, I realized I forgot to see the world's oldest olive tree, which was back in Old Town. I knew I would be back eventually, so I decided against going back and kept trekking. A cab pulled up beside me and said "Bar?", offering his services. I said no thanks, (but then was instantly disappointed in myself for not saying "ne hvala")and continued down the hill. Literally ten seconds after this, it started pouring. AWESOME! The total walk took me about an hour and a half. I'm not so sure why it took so long, but it was nice (it eventually stopped raining). I got to see the more residential side of Bar instead of the center and I also found the cemetery. I'm not sure why I love them so much, but I'm always completely fascinated by each culture's take on funerals and cemeteries (like the parade of a funeral I saw in Nicaragua, or the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague) but its so intriguing. anyway, I finally made it back home safe and sound and changed into some dry clothes. Getting out of the house: check. Adventure: double check. Can't wait for my next one!

my first (active) tournament

I just got home from Makarska, Croatia, where my team spent three days playing in a tournament. There is so much to talk about and rehash, so I'll just go over some of the highlights...

First of all, I have good news to report: the ank held up like a champ! I played in all of the matches and it was so nice to finally get back on the court. I'm too competitive to just sit on the sidelines. By the last day it felt like I had run about 3 consecutive marathons. My ankles were swollen and stiff, but still better than how they were a couple weeks ago. I'm back in action!!

Anyway, back to the events of the weekend... the trek took us about seven hours including a few stops. When my family goes on a roadtrip, we are all about getting there quickly and efficiently. Maybe a stop for the bathroom here and there, but for the most part we're in it for the long haul. That DEFINITELY was not the case in this instance. We stopped two times for about a half an hour. Long enough for people to order coffee, stretch their legs and just hang out. I wanted to pull my hair out a few times because I definitely didn't think it was necessary to get coffee, but apparently they had plans of their own.

The drive was gorgeous! We headed north up the coast of Montenegro. Instead of driving around the Bay of Kotor, we took a boat ferry to save about an hour of driving. It took about five minutes, and was a fun experience.

on the ferry

view from the ferry. I think this might be the town of Tivat

The scenery just kept rolling and I was so glad it wasn't a boring drive. On the contrary, there were tons of little towns and awesome landscape that kept me entertained the entire drive. Because of where it was in Croatia, we had to drive through 3 countries: Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The border crossing went something like this: out of Montenegro, into Croatia, out of Croatia, into Bosnia, out of Bosnia, and finally back into Croatia! (it's insanity, check it out on google maps). Each of these border crossings required a stop. Now imagine having to hand the officers a huge stack of passports and getting it all figured out. It was quite the ordeal, let me tell you. 

So seven hours later, we were finally at our hotel. It was a nice little place (although the food was awful) and I had an awesome view of the Dalmatian coast. 

the hotel...it's typical of the style of buildings that surrounded it

the view...not too shabby, right?

My roommates were younger girls on the team and we were assigned by Luka. One was 16 and the other was 14. They were pretty fun and definitely brought me back to my high school days which are fun to revisit every now and again. 

The first day we had two matches: one at 9am and the other at 1pm. Waking up at 6:45 was definitely difficult considering that's usually when I'm finally getting into the grove of my night's rest! Our wake up call was the youngest girl on the team running around banging on our doors making sure we were awake (hilarious!). Four our matches, we played a team from Slovenia and a team from Croatia (the host team). We lost the first match, but won the second. 

I am playing OH, which for everyone back at home let me just explain to you how different this position is: First of all, the name for an outside hitter is primach, and the word for passing is priem. So basically it is in the job description to have good ball control and awesome defense. Outsides play in every serve receive and also play middle bak while the libero plays left back. So for someone with absolutely NO experience with either serve receive or defense this is quite the change! It will definitely take some getting used to, but it's been fun to learn so far.

After the matches, we walked through the town and looked at all of the little vendor booths on the boardwalk. it was nice weather and good company and overall was a really relaxing night. Then iI learned a little bit of Serbian with Radmila, one of my roommates (still not getting any easier by the way).

The next day, we had three matches (welcome back to the club scene: limited warm ups, too many matches in one day, and only playing 2 out of 3 matches). We ended up going 2-1 that day, which was pretty much what we expected because the teams were a lot tougher. I got to play right side in the last match of the day (for reasons that will be explained in my next post, so stay tuned!) 

Finally on the last day, we played one match. We won fairly easily and then showered and watched the final match. Then we went to lunch and hit the road. 

The scenery continued as we drove through croatia: 

a pretty typical view of Croatia...some sort of body of water, lots of greenery, and little mediterranean cities peppered along the mountainside

...and again...

here i am at our stop in bosnia. pretty sure this is the only time that i'll be in this neck of the woods so of course i had to document it!

Our next match is in two weeks where we play a team from Slovakia in the Cup. Both matches are in Bar and if we win rumor has it we will be going to Switzerland for the next round. Fingers crossed!

an ankle update

So for everyone who didn't already know, I've been injured for a while. It started out as a simple ankle twist, which I thought was no big deal at the time..and DEFINITELY not something I thought I would be resting for a month! We were doing agility ladders and as I was moving laterally it twisted. Assuming it was no big deal, I diligently did some ankle ABC's and got back in line. No biggie, right? wrong. 

A few days later it was still bothering me so I went to therapy. The physio never really said exactly what was wrong, just that it was nothing serious and that I would be back in action after I rested and received some therapy. The diagnosis pretty much equated to "too many little ankle twists have finally added up to be a big aggravation". Just like in America, I did some ultrasound, stem, and laser therapy, as well as deep tissue calf massages (part of me wishes my whole body was hurt so I could take advantage). 

During the time of treatment, we had our first tournament. Luka told me that I would be dressing out in my jersey, but only for the journalists that would be there. I ended up sitting on the balance beams that are on the side of the court, and cheering on the team. It was frustrating, but I was glad that the Luka and Nikola (the club owner) were allowing me to rest for more important matches and not overly exert myself with a possibility of making it worse. 

The next step in the diagnosis process was to go to a doctor in the capital, Podgorica. We ended up at the Klinik Crne Gore (the health clinic which is the free hospital for all citizens). Another girl on my team also had an ankle issue that needed an XRay, so Nikola took this opportunity to get me in to see a doctor. I was told that because my ankle was so tender there was a possibility it had a fracture. I was escorted to the XRay room. The plan was for the doctor to look at them as soon as they were done, but he was called in to surgery in the meantime. So instead, we took our XRays and went to lunch with the coach from the volleyball team in Podgorica.

We went back to the doctor and by this time I swear I had nubs for fingernails. Of course I was preparing for the worst and had already made up a plan of packing up and moving back to America (worrying too much is one of my character flaws, you all know this). Anyway, the diagnosis was good. He said the same thing the physio said, and the remedy was an injection. INJECTION?! IN MY ANKLE?! doesn't that just sound painful?? Anyway, the plan was that he would come administer the shot in Bar two days later. Well that day came and passed, with no injection. I was relieved because my ankle was starting to feel better on its own! I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I had already started practicing again, my ankle wasn't in constant pain. Things were looking up!

...until I was woken up this morning with the news that it was time to get the injection! NOOOOOO! I had to go back to Podgorica and the reason for the delay was because the medicine had to be shipped here from Belgrade (which made me feel pretty important!). Anyway, it was here and so it was back to the fingernail chewing. I could only imagine them accidentally shooting it into the bone, or something equally as scary. Ever since my ridiculous epidural experience I'm not too fond of needles that are serving any other purpose other than giving me a simple flu shot. I got two injections with a moderate amount of fluid in each, that will "repair the damage to the tissue" (so says the doctor). Then I was bandaged and sent on my way. Here's the aftermath:

beautiful, right?

Supposedly this is the end of my ankle problems! The medicine will help restore the tissue and knock out anything that is abnormal, like scar tissue. AWESOME! The final advice from the doctor was to use it like nothing was wrong. This was great timing because we have a friendly match in Podgorica tonight. (Kind of silly that I will be making two trips to the same city today, but sometimes I think the only way this country operates is in a confusing, backwards way). I wish I could have just stayed to check out the city (considering the only part I have seen is the hospital, and the inside of one restaurant), but there will be plenty of time for me to go on a day off...