Monday, June 26, 2006

All Things Family

First, sorry for being MIA. I was almost washed down a drain pipe with all this record breaking rain (22 inches in May and June).

So, the weekend before last I went down to NY to meet Damir's family. I know! It has only been two months, but there ya go. I was really nervous since they really don't speak much English, and you all know about my Serbian. Da? I have to say in the end it went pretty well. I met the parents, and a cadre of other family members. But there are still many more left to meet down there; Damir is immersing me slowly into his familial culture. I have to say, thank god for the World Cup games that are taking place right now, we depended a lot on the international language of soccer. GOooooaAAlllLLLL!

I bought Croatian language CDs and intruction book this weekend and have already gotten through lessons I and II; a fun way to pass such endless rainy days. I practice my new funny sounding words on the phone with Damir and he laughs at my accent, but says its cute. Why couldn't they speak French or Spanish in Montenegro? This slavic language is not easy. But I am looking forward to greeting Damir's dad with a hearty, Dobar dan gospodin, kako ste? Jesam dobro, hvala. Croatian isn't exactly the same as Montenegrin, which doesn't have many language resources available, and it is easier to learn than Serbian which uses both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. It has been a long time since I really tried to get a new language under my belt, and the mental exercise feels very nice indeed.

I am heading back to see them this weekend and get to stay until Wednesday because I've extended the long 4th of July holiday. That should give me plenty of time to practice. How do you say 'fireworks' in Croatian?

In other news, a belated happy bday Twinner!


We threw E a rocking surprise party last Friday night. We got her good! Everyone loves a surprise party. Except people who don't like surprises. Screw them. By the way, she isn't really naked in the above photo, she was wearing a hot red strapless dress.

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