Puppy #1

This morning as I was eating breakfast, I heard a crying puppy next door.

I thought to myself, "Please, please...I hope that they caught both of the puppies this time."

As I walked across the parking lot, I spied one of the tiny puppies tied up next to the guard shack. It was a new man there who had caught it, but he must have heard of me and gave me the puppy. I could not understand what he was saying, but the gist of it was that once he caught the second one, he would give that one to me as well.

One guy there knew an English word. "Present," he said with a smile.

Present...yeah, right! I wish but there is no way I can keep these two puppies as much as I would love to! Present for the shelter, more like it. My friend knows of an animal shelter here that takes in strays, gives them their vaccines, and then finds homes for them. I think that I will make them sign an agreement that whoever adopts these puppies must pass a "wonderful human being" test.

For now, Puppy #1 is sleeping in a box in the guest bedroom...

Puppies galore

This week the hubby and I have a house-guest. Her name is Angie...

Friday night was the Independence Day Community Party at the U.S. Ambassador's residence. Hamburgers, hotdogs, drinks, ice-cream, brownies, sack races, live music, and good times with friends...doesn't get much more American than that! It is strange to be overseas on American holidays as I feel so removed from the festiveness. But the Embassy was able to make it feel more like "home."

(That is Ambassador Moore with his back to the camera in the picture above.)

This past weekend was so nice outside so we took a little roadtrip yesterday with a friend...and Angie, of course! We went to a small village called Rijeka Crnojevica. The river in this town flows into Skadar Lake (from this post, remember?).

It was very quaint and peaceful. Angie enjoyed cooling off in the river, and us humans enjoyed some drinks and conversation near the river before we headed back to Podgorica.

Also over the weekend while I was walking Angie, I noticed that there are two tiny puppies living under a big stack of bricks at the construction company site next to our apartment. They can't be more than a month or two old. You see so many stray dogs here so I try not to feel sorry for every single one I see...but these are little puppies! So helpless on their own!

Since I could not just ignore them, I decided to take some water over to them. As I made my way over to them, I noticed that a man who works for the company was trying to take care of them as well. Of course we cannot communicate with each other but we have the same goal of helping these puppies! Later I decided to take some food to them and also the hubby decided to check out what his bleeding-heart wifey was up to. Luckily, since we have Angie right now I have access to dog food. I soaked a handful of food in water as I didn't think that they were big enough to handle adult food. Those poor little things were starving and scarfed down the food so fast. They are so skittish of humans...for good reason as they have not been treated nicely up until this point! I called a local friend who is also a fellow animal-lover, and she talked to the man to get the story. Evidently some cretin who is not worthy of being called a human being dumped these poor puppies at the site.

Since this weekend, Operation Puppy Rescue has been in full force! There is a group of guys who work there who are now also engaged in trying to catch these puppies. This morning I took breakfast to the little ones, and they again were so happy to see food. I have been able to feed them out of my hand and scratch their tiny heads a little but that is all. They stick their little heads out just enough to get the food and then duck back under the bricks. One of the guys grabbed one of the puppies while I was trying to pet them...oh my goodness, what a commotion! He passed the puppy to me and it was just trembling in my lap...and his sibling skidded back under the bricks and started crying for him. It was so pitiful! The guys got a box to put the one puppy in, but of course, there was no way we could lure the other one out. They both were scared to death!

I had no idea that this is what the guy was planning to do; a major downfall of not being able to speak the same language! My plan was to take it easy and build up the puppies' trust. So much for that although I know he meant well! In the end, they realized the mistake and released the captive puppy back to his sibling. Now the idea is to catch them at the same time to avoid any more trauma!

The puppies are getting some rest now. As I walked across the street to the grocery store just a bit ago, I saw the original man I met sitting in a lawn chair near the puppies. At least I know that they are being watched over while I am not there. Maybe this evening I will be able to regain some of their trust at suppertime!

Happy July!

A couple of weekends ago, we had quite the adventure...


One of the hubby's co-worker's dad owns and operates this "adventure course" just outside of Podgorica. We were not really sure what we were getting in to (just kind of suited up and took off!), but it turned out to be a blast!



Rockin' the Beckham shirt....

We even got to zip across the Moraca River...whee!

There are also tennis courts at this place so we got some tennis lessons too...fun times!

And some other big news...I was offered a job! As you know, I was substitute teaching at the international school for the last several weeks of the school year. I met with the director the other week, and he offered me a part-time position for this next academic year. I will, in essence, be co-teaching in the 3 and 4 years-old classroom. The preschool teacher will have an academic period in the morning and then I get to do arts and crafts with the kidlins in the afternoon. I filled in one day in this classroom, and to be honest, it is exhausting...both physically and mentally. It is a lot of management and discipline but should be plenty of fun too!

This morning I contemplated going for a run...instead, I made brownies.

All things in moderation, people.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Well, more like the most wonderful time that happens every 4 years! Why?

Because....

So happy to see these boys play....

And these boys too...

When we moved in to our new place, our landlord told us that we would be getting a new TV in "10 days." Then it became "7 days." And then it reverted back to "10 days." Then it was in "a few days." Sigh. But thankfully, three months later and during the week of the opening match of the World Cup, it arrives! The hubby is happy to be able to watch all the matches in style.

On a related note of how to translate Srpski with cultural undertones, I went downtown to an educational bookstore with the sole intention of buying some grammar books for my ESL student. Singular. Yet to be plural. Anyway, I arrived at the bookstore and there was a sign on the door that I took to read, "Be back in 5 minutes!" "Hmmm, 5 minutes," I thought to myself. "I can wait around for a bit since it is my sole purpose to visit this store." So, I waited. And waited some more. After 15 minutes, I decided to slowly wander around the block. No one was home upon return. I decided to go kill some time at a nearby beauty store. I aimlessly wandered the aisles for awhile and thought to myself, "Surely by now someone is back at the store from their extended lunch/coffee/smoke break." Hahaha...how silly of me. When I returned, there was evidence that someone had been there as there was a new sign that I took to say, "Be back at 2:45 p.m." It was currently 2:00 p.m. and I had been doing this dance since 1:00 p.m. I was not going to give up so easily. I would not let this little bookstore best me! So, I wandered over to American Corner, chatted with my friend who works there, and explained to her my predicament. Thankfully, AC carries a small section of ESL books for teachers so I was able to check a couple out. By now it was 3:00 p.m. One last shot at the bookstore....and that's right, when I returned to the scene for the final time, no one was there. Sigh. I threw in the towel and grabbed a taxi back home as I was in no mood to walk a couple of miles in 90+ degree heat.

I don't think that in any other country would I devote so much time to one little bookstore outing with such persistence. Better luck today, I hope??

I'm melting!

Whoohoo...summer has arrived in Podgorica with a vengeance! From what I can tell from weather.com, we will be pushing into the 90s from here on out.

I wanted to snack on my chocolate covered cookie while sitting here at the computer and this is what I discovered...



Mmmm....melty.

And please do not misconstrue the above "whoohoo" as an exclamation of excitement...because it's not. Rather, it is one of defeat and resignation.

Foodie with time on her hands

Day 2 without substitute teaching. SAT tutoring student cancelled afternoon study session. Rainy, dreary day. What am I to do?

Let my inner foodie loose in the kitchen, of course.

Baked Salmon and Green Bean Packet(s)


2 small salmon fillets
1 c. frozen green beans
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 t. honey
1 t. soy sauce
1-2 t. evoo, plus extra for drizzling
1/4 c. walnuts, chopped
S&P to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Line baking dish with a large piece of aluminum foil. Place salmon fillets on foil and green beans around salmon. Season all with s&p; drizzle beans with evoo. Mince garlic and chop walnuts. In a small bowl, combine garlic, honey, soy sauce, evoo. Eyeball measurements until it "looks right." Spread the honey garlic mixture over the salmon. Sprinkle all with chopped walnuts. Bring together the edges of the foil and crinkle up to form a packet. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the salmon flakes easily with a fork and the beans appear to no longer be frozen.

If you are to use this recipe, please refrain from calling it Baked Salmon and Haricots Verts Packets. I know that it may sound fancy-schmancy and that you may be alluding to a longer, thinner type of green bean, but you are just saying "green beans" in French. On a related rant, don't use "sans" and pronounce the "s" at the end. If we are to use another language, let's try not to butcher it on purpose.

And yes, the salmon will have a more intense flavor if you let it marinate for 30 minutes or so, but who has time for that?

On that note, I am going to go eat my salmon sans haricots verts.

Now what?

This may be my first free day from the international school. The director was going to call me if he needed me to fill in today. As it is now almost 8 a.m. here, I am going to guess that they have their regular staff back in full force today. I must say that I am a bit surprised that I enjoyed myself as much as I did; it was nice to have somewhere to go when I got up in the morning. I think that this state I now find myself in is a preview of what the summer will be like here; I hear that the city shuts down and everyone hightails it to the coast. And who can blame the lovely citizens of Podgorica? Given that they have gobs of vacation time (the hubby mentioned something about a mandatory 28 days of vaca in the summer alone...someone please tell me if this is true/false!) and this city becomes a veritable heat trap, I would head for the hills (or beach, take your pick) too!

Must....find....something.....to do.........