Mundane

First of all, I want to thank everyone for reading my blog - it's been about 4 1/2 months and I hope you have enjoyed reading about my life and adventures!

Second of all, thank you for your comments!  I am still working on how to comment back a response, so don't think I'm ignoring you.  I just not smart enough to use this blog site!

I have been struggling a bit lately here.  As you have read, I ended my Spanish trip by getting really sick.  I'm no longer on the brink of blechh, but I still am not feeling that great.  I have a sinus infection and can't seem to kick this stomach bug.  The good news is that not being able to eat is a great way to lose weight.  The bad news is that if I can't eat, I'm not getting nutrients, which isn't really helping my immune system kick either bug.  Plus, I don't really feel like working out (I won't get graphic, but let's just say that this stomach bug is not conducive to jumping around and elevating my heart rate).  So I haven't really been feeling like myself.  Being sick when you don't have a local support system is much harder than I ever realized.  I'm a pretty independent person, and I hate to ask for help, especially when I don't have any friends closer than 1000 miles away. 

Also, the weather has been glum.  It has been cold with 3 days of snow last week and some crazy winds.  But today the sun is out and it is probably close to 50F!  Plus my stomach is feeling a little bit better, and I actually have a little bit of energy; things are looking up!

I think that the other big thing is that I realize that my time here is almost over, and I worry that I haven't taken full advantage of the opportunity.  I would really like to stay here at least through the summer so that I can experience Belgrade during better weather, finish up some of my projects, and continue to knock off the cool places I want to visit on my travel wish-list that are significantly closer to Belgrade than to Plano.

On the other hand, life must go on.  I know that many of you might be curious about my everyday life in Serbia, so I wanted to capture some of that here.  Plus, I figure that in a few months when I'm back in Texas, I will be feeling nostalgic for Belgrade, so I'm capturing this for myself too.

Here is my office BEFORE cleaning

And AFTER - much better!

Here is a picture of my garage.  It is about 4 blocks from my apartment and everyday I stuggle to park my car in this small space without hitting anything.  It is especially fun in the snow when the streets aren't plowed.

Here is the street that I walk down to get to my garage

Here is where I do most of my shopping.  You grab a basket and go.  The place is pretty small, but they have all of the basics.

Here is my favorite meal that I eat almost every night.  Bread with avjar, red pepper flakes, and kajmak heated in the oven at 235C for 4 min. 

And here is my favorite drink - breskva sok and mineral voda (peach juice diluted with sparkling water). The juice is very thick and pulpy (thicker than a milkshake), but has great flavor.  So I dilute it with water to a more juice-like consistency. 

Here is my kitchen.  It is small, but functional.  There is no microwave or toaster, so all of my cooking must be done with the stove and oven.

Here is my "dryer".  I agree it is much better on the clothes and saves a lot of energy.  However, I miss fabric softener, I hate the fact that my clothes are generally wrinkled and require ironing (hated chore!), and the lint isn't removed. 

And finally, here is my main room where I spend most of my time while I'm at home and not sleeping. 

So now I have let you into the mundane details of my daily life in Belgrade.  Thanks for listening:).