Basketball-Go Budućnost

Last night we went to the basketball game between the home team Budućnost (which means the Future) in white and Olympia (from Serbia) in green. Except for having to walk through pouring rain (an incidently flooded streets), it was a wonderful evening. Since it was the first game of the season, everyone got in free. The sponsors for Budućnost (a phone company) gave each fan a small paper flag with the team's name on it, and two of the inflatable "clapper" balloons to use for really rousing cheering. The arena was heavily guarded. You might see the guards just outside the tunnel where the athletes enter. There were also several stationed throughout the seating area.

The rules of European basketball aren't always quite the same as American, it is decidely more physical, which seemed to make the two obvious Americans (Wallace and Crawford are not Eastern Block surnames) on the Olympia team mad (Steve googled and found that both guys had played for Georgetown in college). The best part is that most of the players were really tall, so we got to see a number of slam dunks, and the no-hanging-on-the-rim rule doesn't seem strictly enforced.

We've noticed from watching European Football (soccer) and now in basketball, that professional teams in Europe tend to wear their sponsor's name on their jersey (sometimes more prominantly than their team name). Even the refs last night had a sponsor logo on their shirts.

On Sunday evenings, we've discovered that one channel plays American Football (with the annoucing dubbed over in Serbian) and so we have been able to watch the end of two games so far. The instant replays are sponsored by a local bank! It seems sponsors have found a way to capitalize on everything. In American, I've only noticed this on Nascar vehicles and the driver's jumpsuits. I'm sure that it's only a matter of time before other sports embrace this trend if it means making more money.

This is the first successful shot of the game. "Our" team won :) After finding out that Crawford came from Staunton (less than an hour from our American home), we wish we would have had an oportunity to talk with him.

Cijevna Canyon

There is a road sign on our main path into town that points the direction to Cijevna Canyon. We figured it must be nearby, and rather impressive to have received such touting. So we asked about it, and were told it was probably two or three kilometers away. Yesterday, we decided to give it a try. We started walking in the direction the sign indicated. There was sidewalk at first, and so it was relatively easy going. Then the sidewalk ended. Soon after we came to a gas station and asked directions. We were told that the canyon was four kilometers farther down the road, about two mintutes driving. When we motioned that we were walking, along with funny looks, we received the information that it would be about 20 minutes by foot.

Eventually we crossed a bridge that went over a small canyon. We wondered if that was what we'd walked all this way for. We asked some people and they explaned that yes, it was the canyon, but it stretched in both directions for quite some ways. So we went back to the road above the canyon and turned left, following until we could actually find a path down into the canyon. There was no park like we were expecting, but maybe it was even better.

We were able to get right down in the canyon. We ate a picnic lunch on a rock that jutted out into the river. There were no other people, just a friendly flock of sheep nearby.

The water is so clear that you can seen the river bed quite easily.

So, you decide, was our 5 km walk worth it?

Yo Adrianne!

They have the funniest signs here in Montenegro. This Rocky sign is on the side of an apartment building which also houses a small store. We haven't yet figured out if the store's name is Rocky or something else.

Don't you think Steve really has the "eye of the tiger" though :)

Sports in Crne Gora

We enjoy sports. Steve likes to play some and watch some, Laura is really mostly a spectator. In the US, Steve routinely played ultimate frisbee on Sundays, and volleyball on Tuesdays, and Laura would tag along with book and chair and "watch." Here, other than a few rousing games of table tennis (they are very passionate about ping pong here), Steve's main exercise so far has been walking, and one day of volleyball at the beach. Laura gets a lot of walking in too, so that's a plus-it's hard to be a spectator at walking-especially when it is your only means of transportation.

On TV we can watch football (soccer), basketball, handball, water polo and futsal (or something like it). Steve uses the internet to keep us caught up on baseball and American football.


We have frequently seen the Sports Center Moraca (there should be an accent on the c, making it pronounced Moracha-Moraca is the river that runs through Podgorica), and know that basketball games are played there. We have been invited to attend one in the near future. I'm sure that this will be a wonderful cultural experience. I hope we don't learn the "wrong" Serbian words :o

PS. Kudos to anyone who guessed that Crne Gora (pronounced Tserneh Gora) is Serbian for Montenegro!

Our Parking Place

There is a small park near our apartment where we have gone several evenings to just sit and soak in the language and culture. One evening we also saw an auto accident at the intersection just before the park. Last evening we strolled to an unlit area and were about to go down stairs to a small gazebo area when we realized that there was a canoodling couple there, so we moved along, and I don't think we were noticed. This is the fountain at the entrance.

Rainy days

It has been rainy the past three days here. This is wonderful, because it hadn't rained for quite some time prior to that. Outside our window it looks like the beginnings of a small lake. Tomorrow we will start taking language training with a tutor. Since we've been here we have picked up several words from friends, songs, TV, signs, etc, but it will be good to be more intentional about it.
Maybe then I'll start posting in Serbian :) Just kidding.

Shopping in Montenegro

When it comes to buying fresh fruits and veggies, you can't beat the piatza! We have found every imaginable sort of produce, as well as dried figs and dates, fresh spices (mostly paprika and that dried tomato stuff you see at Italian restaurants), cheese, eggs and fish. We have a vendor who particularly seems to like us.


The prices are also amazing here. We bought a kilogram each of tomatoes and peppers, as well as four onions and three cucumbers and paid less than three Euro total!



Upstairs there are many vendors who each have their little booths which sell a variety of things. Some focus on one item such as shoes or clothes, others have pillows and curtains, and there are ones who concentrait on plastic goods, then there are ones who seem to have a little bit of everything.


I want to try and make something like chocolate chip cookies. This is more complicated than you would imagine. Here is everything but the flour, eggs and white sugar. We had to buy the baking soda and powder in individual packets. The vanilla is either a powder or a dried bean (I'm not sure what to do with that), they don't have brown sugar, so we got unrefined sugar, and no chocolate chips, but we can break chocolate bars for chips. (I know that you don't use baking powder in chocolate chip cookies, but I just wanted you to see what it looked like here-it's in the orange packets).

UPDATE: Okay, so it is a dried vanilla bean. I guess we're gonna have to get some vodka and make our own extract? What fun! I wonder just how important vanilla is to chocolate chip cookies. Do you think I could skip it and they would still taste okay?