Una goes back to her roots (Part 2: South Africa) *** Una se vraca korenima (Deo 2: Juzna Afrika)

As usual, I am late with this post, but I promise to hurry up with the Christmass post :), well, with Christmass 2.1. as we have Christmass 2.2 coming up!

South Africa was great, for all of us. Una was a real trooper, handled the flights really well, didn't complain about sleeping in different beds, prams, car... She got spoilt loads by Mark's family, especially ouma and oupa. She got to meet Granny (her great-grandma) and play with the other two babies, Tristin and Nikola. She enjoyed running around barefoot for three weeks (something she rarely experiences in NL) and gave me a look of disgust when I tried putting a pair of socks on before the flight back. Mark and I left Una with his mum (this was the first time since she was born that we left her with someone else over night) and went to Swaziland for a couple of days. The two of us greatly enjoyed some time alone and Una had so much fun with ouma and apparently was so good to her, no whining, no fussing - not Una.

We also went to a lion park where she got to play with the lion cubs, saw a few lion packs (including a few white lions) and witness a kudu fight. Our friend Christelle took us all for a weekend away to Buffelspoort, a resort north of Johannesburg, where a group of very unusual guests joined us for breakfast - a troop of monkeys came so close to our rondavel that you could practically touch them. So Una got to see real, wild monkeys too. Lucky little brat, I only saw all this when I was a good couple of decades older (no, zoos do not count).

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The main reason for going to SA was Louise&Deon's wedding. It was held on the Vaal river, with a beautiful outdoor ceremony followed by a nice reception with yummy food. Louise did an amazing job of making almost all of the decorations and wedding planning in general herself.

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Saying goodbye was difficult, but it always is...

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As always, a few photos to back up my story...

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Kao i obicno, kasnim sa opisom naseg putovanja u Juznu Afriku. Obecavam da cu da pozurim sa Bozicem 2.1 i 2.2 :).

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Sve u svemu, super smo se proveli u Juznoj Africi, svo troje. Una je upoznala ostatak Markove porodice i prijatelja, i igrala se sa malom Nikolom i bebom Tristinom (dobro sa njim se nije bas igrala ali nemojmo cepidlaciti :)). Upoznala je i Markovu baku, njenu prabaku, koja ima 84 godine i koja je bila presrecna da je docekala da upozna Unu. Una je uzivala u trckaranju bosonoga i tako me zbunjeno pogledala kad sam prisla da joj obujem carape pred let nazad. Mark i ja smo je ostavili na 2 noci sa Markovom mamom i otisli u Swaziland. I svima nam je bilo sjajno, Marku i meni je definitivno prijalo da budemo malo sami posle toliko vremena, narocito kad smo se culi sa Markovom mamom i ona nam rekla da je Una super i da je sve OK. Unu su ouma i oupa naravno potpuno razmazili iako su nam rekli da je bila sjajna ta dva dana, da ih je slusala, nije se bunila itd.

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Za te tri nedelje, Una je sa godinu i po iskusila ono sto sam ja tek sa 25 - mazila lavice, prisustvovala borbi antilopa, doruckovala u prisustvu majmuna (Christelle nas je odvela za vikend u Buffelsport, odmaraliste oko 100km od Johannesburga i jedno jutro smo doruckovali na stolu napolju i ugledali copor majmuna kako trckaraju oko bungalova).

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Svadba Louise&Deon je bila na reci Vaal, 60km juzno od Johannesburga. Ceremonija je bila napolju u preslatkoj kapeli a proslava je bila u restoranu pored toga. Klopa je bila super i sve u svemu fino smo se proveli. Louise je napravila manje-vise sve dekoracije sama i super je ispalo.

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I naravno, nekoliko fotografija...

Four generations - Granny, Ouma, Daddy and Una

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Cetiri generacije: prabaka, baka, daddy i Una

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Touching a lion for the first time

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Una dodiruje lava prvi put

A meerkat, even cuter than on Discovery

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Surikat (pripada porodici mungosa), sladji nego na Discovery kanalu

A royal gemsbok

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Kraljevski gemsbok, vrsta antilope, pojma nemam kako je preveden na srpski

Buffelsport - in the pool with Daddy

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Buffelsport kompleks - u bazenu sa daddy

Mama Monkey and Baby Monkey

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Copor majmuna je dosao skroz do nasih bungalova

In front of our rondavel with Christelle

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Ispred nase kucice sa Christelle

The best friends with their offspring - Martin&Nikola, Mark&Una

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Najbolji drugovi sa svojim cerkama - Martin&Nikola, Mark&Una

Torturing Daddy

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Cemu sluze roditelji...

Driving on the wrong side of the road

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Voznja na pogresnoj strani puta

Probably the closest Una will ever get to playing rugby

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Ragbi - jedan od sportova kojima se Una sigurno nece baviti

The siblings with their offspring - Linda&Tristin, Mark&Una

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Brat i sestra sa sledecom generacijom - Linda&Tristin, Mark&Una

Tristin was so tiny, I was scared to hold him. Mark, on the other hand, handled the two like a pro - maybe he is ready for number two, ha!/

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Tristin je bio toliko malecak da me bilo strah da ga drzim. Mark je, kao sto vidite, bez problema drzao oboje istovremeno - mozda je spreman za broj dva? Ha!


Louise&Deon's beautiful wedding chappel/Kapela u kojoj su se vencali Louise&Deon

Dancing the night away with ouma and oupa/Ples sa ouma i oupa

Friends - people who come to see you even though they would rather travel somewhere else...

Living in a foreign country brings along all sorts of cultural shocks - food, climate, fashion (or the lack of it :)), mentality, values... I could go on for a while. Give it a year or seven (in my case) and you get accustomed to most of it. I make stampot for dinner and drink karnemelk; I cycle to work in the rain (yes, go ahead, throw back at me the statements from a few years ago); we had beschuit met muisjes when Una was born... One thing I can not (and will not) get used to is being far from my family and friends. Now, for family, it is kind of expected that they come and visit you, similar to - well, they have to love you even if you are not the most likeable person there is :). Friends on the other hand come if they miss you and want to spend time with you and the less likeable the place you live is the more certain you can be that they are really coming because of you :).

My friends from university Irena and Nebojsa and their 5.5 year old boy Milos who is by the way the most well mannered yet lively kid I've ever met (well done the two of you ;)!) visited us a couple of weeks ago. We all had a great time, Irena and I played yahtzee until our eyes got blood red (old days addiction, don't ask), Mark and Nebojsa occupied themselves with various engineering talks, even Milos who we feared would be bored turned out to be rather entertained by Una's toddler clumsiness and the two of them seemed to bond in a really cute way.

Yay for friends' visits, we hope to get many more in the future!

In front of the city hall


Misa seriously impressed with the giant clog

A walk in the park - the left half 2/3 of the Panjevac family, the right half 2/3 of the Gerbers

Misa (a.k.a patience) & Una (a.k.a impatience)

Now, who's next? Jasmina&Zoki&Velja? Maja&Milos&Ema? Martin&Santi&Nicola? Just give us a shout and we'll be waiting with fresh kibbeling and stroopwafels!

Until then, it is our turn to be visitors. The day after tomorrow we are off to sunny SA, collecting material for the second part of the post "Una goes back to her roots". Stay tuned!

Brother and sisters/Brat i sestre

I am more than two weeks late with this post and the photos but lately things have been kind of hectic around here (lately? yeah, right). The title says brother and sisters which might be confusing at first. As appealing as that might sound, no I am not pregnant with twins or triplets. Or pregnant at all for that matter. In Serbian we refer to first cousins as brothers and sisters (by aunt/uncle) so the title refers to my sister's visit a few weeks ago with her two kids and tons of fun that the three of them, Jana, Pavle and Una had together. They visited us last year about the same time but this visit was way more relaxed and easier on everyone since they are 3.5years, 20months and 15 months old now instead of 2.5years, 10 months and 5 months. Jana is now the sweetest little girl who left toddler tantrums behind (well, almost completely), Pavle is the gentlest little boy you've ever met and Una is, well, still Una :).

It was wonderful to watch them bond, play together, tease each other... When I see that it always makes me sad that they will not be growing up close to each other. And it was wonderful seeing my sister again and this time actually being able to spend some quality time just the two of us. We realised how much the kids enjoyed each other's company when Jana threw a tantrum the day before they left (one of few during the whole visit) that she didn't want to go home and when Una spent the whole day after they left looking for the two of them in every room of the house.

So here is to brothers and sisters and many many years of love, friendship and mischief that lay ahead of them.

And some photos...

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Srpska verzija ce biti znatno kraca jer ne moram da objasnjavam sta su braca i sestre po tetki/ujaku/stricu... Tina, Jana i Pavle su bili kod nas pre par nedelja i bilo nam je sjajno. U istom sastavu su bili i skoro godinu dana ranije ali je razlika izmedju tog dolaska i ovog bila ogromna. Tad su svo troje bili prakticno bebe i ma koliko nam je bilo divno sto smo svi zajedno, ruku na srce bilo je i jako naporno. Ovaj put je bilo potpuno drugacije, Jana je izrasla u divnu, razumnu devojcicu, Pavle je najpitomiji deckic koga ste ikad upoznali a Una je, hm, i dalje Una :). I stvarno je bilo divno gledati ih kako se igraju, zadirkuju... I bilo je sjajno sto smo Tina i ja ovaj put provele par kvalitetnih sati zajedno, bez neprestanih "nemoj", "sidji sa frizidera", "ne cupaj lutki glavu" itd. I ukapirali smo koliko im je bilo super zajedno kad je Jana dan pred odlazak pocela da se buni da nece kuci i kad ih je Una posle odlaska danima trazila iz sobe u sobu.

I obavezne fotografije...

Aren't we just the coolest? / Zar nismo cool?

Love Jana's way/Ljubav na Janin nacin

Behaving in the coffeeshop/Mnogo smo dobri u kaficu

Red or green crayon?/Zelena ili crvena boja?

Thinking hard or Like mama and daddy like daugther :)/Ne ide iver daleko od klade

Celebrating Tristin's birth with blue and white muisjes (Dutch tradition)/Slavimo Tristin-ovo rodjenje na holandski nacin

In front of De Nieuwe Kerk (The New Church) in Delft/Ispred Nieuwe Kerk (nova crkva) u Delftu

Tristin is here!

Una's little cousin, Tristan Jason Swanepoel made his grand appearance yesterday afternoon weighing in at 2.7kg and 49cm long. Both Mummy (Linda, Mark's sister) and Tristan are doing great and are expecting to be released from the hospital tomorrow.

Welcome to the world baby Tristan! We can't wait to see you in a few weeks time! Congrats Linda and Quintin on the arrival of your bundle of joy!

P.S. I apologise in advance if I spelt his name wrong. I thought it was Tristan (as in Tristan and Isolde) but got an email from Mark this morning that says Tristin. We'll see who was right ;)!

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P.P.S. TristIn it is! Uncle Mark was right!

Long time no write...

Things have been incredibly hectic on our side lately. In between my parents' visit, buying a house and mastering the incredibly complicated Dutch morgage system, my sister's visit with her two kids and busy times at work no wonder we are not getting to updating the blog as regularly as we should. But there you are, we'll try to do better in the future.

My parents' visit was short and sweet, they were here for two weeks and had a great time with Una. She warmed up to them very quickly and enjoyed the fact that with them she could do anything she is normally not allowed to do. A step back in our discipline path but that is granparents' privilege, right :)? Other than just enjoying their company, Mark and I definitely enjoyed not cooking for two weeks and going to the movies after oh has-it-been-that-long-ago. We went to see Mama Mia (yes, we are the last people on Earth to have seen it) and came home singing. There were a few heavy moments too. One was when we went to a forest/picnic area called Delftse Hout and Una threw a tantrum because she only wanted my Dad to hold her and he is not allowed to do that (he had a massive heart attack last year and can't not lift anything heavy), you could see that this same heart of his was suffering in a different way. The other was when my Mom came to take Una from our room one morning so that Mark and I could sleep in a bit. Due to my Mum's condition (possible primary lateral sclerosis) her walking/balance/talking is severely impaired and even the simplest of actions can be difficult. She bent to pick her from our bed, lost balance and fell backwards with Una in her arms. Mark jumped up, she got up as quickly as she could and started reassuring us that nothing happened to Una as my Mum hold her on her chest. I just felt my eyes filling with tears as I looked at Mark because neither of us was worried about Una, she has suffered much worse self-inflicted falls before and bounced right back, it was my Mum we were worried about. But such is life, I am glad that both of them are here (my Dad's health prognosis after the attack were not good) and are well enough that they can play with Una.

Oh, yes, this is actually Una's blog, so enough of my random rambling. Una is getting cuter by the day, if this is even possible. We have recently discovered her not so gentle side too, in the form of her teeth mark on her cousin Pavle's cheek :(. Her daycare teachers are assuring us that this behaviour is perfectly normal for her age, and they call it something like "fighting for power" which could be the case as Pavle is only 5 months older than her and is the gentlest soul ever. She definitely does not dare doing anything similar to Jana, who is 3 years old and would most certainly fight back :). Other than that, they are really enjoying each other's company and even though it is sometimes challenging for Mark, Tina and I to stay sane or hear each other through all that yelling, it is wonderful to watch them bond, especially knowing that they will only have 2-3 weeks a year to spend with each other :(.

In the spirit of this utterly incoherent post, here are some photos from my parents' visit. The circus photos (a.k.a. Jana, Pavle & Una) are coming soon!

What is this blonde head doing in my deda's and my photo?

High tea for Mama's birthday

Delftse hout

Walking with baka and deka

As though there was ever any doubt.../Ono sto ste vec svi znali...

Mark - ca. 1978

Una - ca. 2008

Mark - ca. 1978

Una - ca. 2008

She will have my charming personality though, right :)?

To be honest, this is what worries Mark and I most. Mark deems that one of me is more than enough in this world and I dread my Mum's predicament that it will all come back to me when I have a daughter just like me...
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Bitno je da ima moj karakter, zar ne?

Iskreno receno, toga se Mark i ja najvise i plasimo. Mark misli da je jedan primerak mene sasvim dovoljan a i ja se plasim maminog prorocanstva da ce mi se sve vratiti kad jednog dana budem imala cerku kao ja...

Tagged!

I was tagged by Janine and since I don't really have a blog of my own (yet!), I am going to have to hijack Una's blog. So here are my answers:

1. My uncle once: flew across the world to be the Master of Ceremonies at my wedding.
2. Never in my life: did I think I would marry a foreigner and feel I have more in common with him than I would with someone from my own country.
3. When I was five: I asked my parents to buy me all the books in a bookstore.
4. High school was: worthwhile, this is where I met my best friend.
5. I will never forget: the moment I held Una for the first time
6. Once I met: Branko Kockica
7. There’s this girl I know: who I admire for going through something very difficult, handling it in the best way possible and coming out of it so much stronger.
8. Once, at a bar: I lost my voice from singing loudly.
9. By noon, I’m usually: starving.
10. Last night: Mark and I found a few houses we liked.
11. If only I had: I have to steal Emily's answer here: free flights for life.
12. Next time I go to church: will be for Louise's wedding, looking forward to it!
13. What worries me most: is my parents' health.
14. When I turn my head left I see: my new shiny laptop.
15. When I turn my head right I see: my colleague.
16. You know I’m lying when: I don't look you in the eye.
17. What I miss most about the Eighties is: my perception of the world, I thought it was a much better place.
18. If I were a character in Shakespeare I’d be: can't think of any I would like to be.
19. By this time next year: we will hopefully be settled in our new house.
20. A better name for me would be: absent-minded.
21. I have a hard time understanding: politics.
22. If I ever go back to school, I’ll: study pure mathematics or classic literature.
23. You know I like you if: I argue with you instead of just smiling politely.
24. If I ever won an award, the first person I would thank would be: my family (old and new).
25. Take my advice, never: say sleep like a baby.
26. My ideal breakfast is: Mediterranean.
27. A song I love but do not have is: You Bring the Sun Out by Randy Crawford.
28. If you visit my hometown, I suggest you: go to Kalemegdan in April.
29. Why won’t people: stop trying to convince the world that their way is "the" way.
30. If you spend a night at my house: I would chat with you till late at night.
31. I’d stop my wedding for: illness of a loved one.
32. The world could do without: wars, guns and greed.
33. I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: press the start button of a nuclear bomb?
34. My favorite blonde(s) is/are: my mum, my sister and my best friend.
35. Paper clips are more useful than: folders.
36. If I do anything well it’s: learn.
37. And by the way: I tag Maca and Joyce.

Una's first birthday! / Unin prvi rodjendan!

It is hard to believe that a year has already flown by and our little girl is one year old. It is wonderful watching her change and learn new things by the day, but I must admit I am also a tiny bit sad that her baby days are gone (according to the books, this is the point where she is no longer a baby but a toddler).

We had a nice birthday party on Sunday, July 6th. Despite the gloomy weather forecast, the day was mostly sunny and warm enough to have a bbq outside our building. Una really enjoyed being the centre of attention, and of course opening the gifts. I must say she did not enjoy cutting her birthday cake as much as we had hoped, maybe she thought that it was incredibly cruel to kill the pretty teddybear?

And as usual, a few photos to support the story.

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Prosla je vec jedna godina od Uninog rodjenja, neverovatno brzo. I moram da priznam da je radost gledajuci je kako raste i uci nove stvari svakog dana pomalo pomesana setom da vise nije nasa mala beba (prema knjigama, prvi rodjendan je kraj bebeceg perioda).

U nedelju posle rodjendana smo organizovali Uninu prvu rodjendansku zurku. Iako je prognoza bila zastrasujuca, mi smo bili hrabri i ipak isplanirali rostilj, sto se pokazalo kao odlican potez jer je dan na kraju ispao uglavnom suncan i topao. Uni se dopalo da je u centru paznje, a narocito su joj se dopali pokloni :). Nije bila preterano odusevljena ceremonijom secenja torte, mozda joj je proslo kroz glavu "neee, ne ubijajte medu"!

Evo i nekoliko slika...

What do I do now? / A sta sad da radim?

I am still confused... / I dalje sam zbunjena....

Una's first Lego set!/Prve lego kockice!

Teddybearcake, proudly made by Mama&Daddy :) / Medatorta, by Mama & Daddy svojerucno ;)

Don't kill it!/Ne koljite medu!

If there are South Africans, there is a bbq (sorry, braai!)/ Gde su Juznoafrikanci, tu je i rostilj!

Hm, have to look for a rocking rhyme in English... /"Djiha, djiha, cetiri noge..."

Here comes a reallllly big present!/Ta-da, evo ga i najveci poklon!

The best part of this gift is that the guys (Ivan, Aleksandar i Dalibor) have made a small printed circuit board for Una, with "my first PCB" made of tracks. Brilliant! Will take a good photo and post it later

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Najbolji deo poklona je stampana plocica koju su Ivan, Aleksandar i Dalibor napravili i na kojoj pise "moja prva stampana plocica" (dvojezicno naravno). Fenomenalno! Slikacu i postaviti sliku uskoro!

I will open and assemble it all by myself! / Sama cu ga sastaviti!

Birthday hat no. 1./Rodjendanski sesir br.1

Frederik, Una and birthday hat no.2 (made by the kids&teachers at daycare)/Frederik, Una i rodjendanski sesir br. 2 (koji su napravili klinci i vaspitacice u obdanistu)

This is soooooo much fun!/ Narode, ovo je super!

Unin prvi odlazak na more / Una's first beach holiday

Ono sto je najbolje na Rodosu/ Rhodes at its best

Prvi put u bazenu sa Daddy/ First time in the pool with Daddy

Mark i MiniMark - spremni za jutarnju setnju/ Mark and MiniMark - ready for a morning walk

Sad ja moram njih da hranim... /My turn to feed them...

Ponovo se vidimo sa cika-Martinom/ Nice to see uncle-Martin again

Borba oko kasike/Fighting for the spoon

Prvi put u moru/ First time in the sea

Stari grad Rodos/Old Town Rhodes

Zar nisu preslatki?/ Aren't they just gorgeous?

Spremna za ronjenje/ Snorkeling time!

Zovem inostranstvo/ Making a long distance phone call