Black and White

Activities of the week

The past 5 days were filled with activities: seminars, coffee, mentoring, coffee, meetings, coffee -- there was a lot of coffee!

We had a great week with Bill and John and met lots of new people.

What's Going on in Montenegro

This is one of my favorite photos taken in FL at Chris's mom's house a couple of years ago.

What's going on over here -- well, we just got back from a vacation to Italy and thoroughly enjoyed our time there. We saw a LOT of different cities and learned a lot about the history of each city. Christian said on the way home that it was an awesome trip.

• This week we are working with a couple of businessmen from FL conducting a seminar in hotel and hospitality management. Today, Chris, Bill and John went onsite at three locations to meet and discuss different opportunities. This is happening down on the coast.

• Tomorrow, we begin a 3 day mentoring program. This is a free program to see if there is interest in something like this. We sent out a few emails to the universities and got 30+ responses. Needless to say, we are overwhelmed at the response and will have to sechedule about 1/2 of the students at a later time.

• On Monday evening, we are hosting a round table discussion at one of the universities here about good and bad decisions and what we learned from these situations.

So, that sort of wraps up what has been happening over the last few weeks.

Jump over to www.willekewanderings365.blogspot.com to see a few pictures from Italy. I have not had a lot of time to sort through the 1000's that I took, but will do so next week.

Picnic at George's Place

Here are just a few pictures of our Saturday at George's place in the mountains.  We had lots of fun and took LOTS of pictures.

Click on the collage to make it bigger. 

Beauty in Nature

On Saturday, we had the pleasure of going on a picnic with some friends at their house in the mountains.  Of course I took 100's (literally) of pictures and this was one of my favorites.  I will go through the others and post a collage of our day.  It was a lot of fun and we made some new friends. 

Spring is one of my favorite times of the year.  Everything is so new and colorful -- especially here in Montenegro.  Take a look around and see the beauty of God's creation.  Every time I look at a flower, I am amazed at the creativity, order and symmetry that is in creation.  I have been studying plants and animals with Christian in his science course, and even in the one celled paramecium and amoeba, there is order and a plan.  So, the next time you wander through the park, take a look around at the wildflowers and see the beauty -- now that is real "wild beauty". 

Seder #1

This was the set up for our first Seder -- Clay and Missy hosted it and we invaded their living room.  Their 4 year old daughter Emma stayed up for the big event and entertained everyone.  This was everyone's first Seder and I think that they enjoyed it. 

Seder # 2

This is our group shot minus me!  We had a great time, learned a lot, and ate a lot.  Valentina cooked a lot of meat, the girls brought salads and I prepared potatoes and the special stuff for the Seder. 

Enjoy the other pictures from our evening!  

Personal and Professional Devlopment Course

This Saturday we begin our 2nd Personal and Professional Development (PPD) course here in Montenegro!  We are excited about this course.  The course is taught in English, but for the first time, we have the workbook in both languages.  This is a huge resource that we look forward to using in the coming years in the Balkans.  One of the guys going through the course is in training to help begin teaching it in Serbian!  How great is that? 

Look for pictures and updates on how the course is progressing.  If you are interested in hosting a PPD course in the Balkans or in America, let us know and we will work it in our schedule. 

It will be an interesting few weeks as we balance work, holidays, and the visit of one of our dearest friends from Russia. 

Exploring Montenegro

Yesterday we went for a drive around Skadar Lake and we went to an old village named Godinje.  I wanted to explore the old town, but we only made it to the first house where we met this delightful gentleman.  He was born in the village.  He moved away and worked in Zagreb, Croatia.  Now he is a widower and retired.  He lives with his son in France, but returns to Godinje during the spring and summer.

We learned the history of the village and that it was never captured by the Turks.  The Turks actually threw rocks down on the village and tried to roll a boulder onto them, but it rolled back on them.  The Turks actually built a fortress out on a small little island in Skadar Lake near the village.

We sat and talked on his balcony for about one and a half hours.  It was an incredible view to watch the sun drop down behind the mountain and the different shadows that it cast on the lake.

He explained to us that long ago, each village was its own little micro economic system.  Everything that a person needed could be provided by the village.  I think that this explains a bit about why Montenegro stayed so independent and isolated from the rest of the Balkans.  One thing you can not help but notice when you drive through Montenegro is the mountains and the villages and how isolated that they are from each other.

I enjoyed watching this old woman working in her garden.  She was dressed in all black.  More than likely

this is a symbol of her mourning for the death of her husband.  Many people will wear black for many years after the death of a family member. 

Another interesting thing we have discovered in village life of Montenegro is the circular structures.  These structures were used for "official business"  gatherings of the leadership of the village.  Sometimes they were rallying points for the rebels as they were meeting and making plans to protect the village.  This circle has been refurbished, but you can see old ones as well.  Usually they are at a high point in the village or on top of a hill.

Montenegro -- The Black Mountain

Interperting Christian

If you are around our house there are a few phrases that you need to know in order to understand what Christian means when he answers:

When knocking on the door to the bathroom when he is taking a shower (he LOVES to take long showers), if he answers, "Just a minute."  Interpretation:  Even though I have been in the shower for 15 minutes, I still have not washed my hair and I need one more minute.

If he answers , "OK, ok."  Interpretation:  I have really enjoyed my shower, finished washing my hair and I'll get out now.

When asking about homework:  Have you completed your homework?   I think so.  Interpretation:  I started it, but probably did not finish it and don't want to get caught in a lie if it is not all done.    "Did you finish your math?  I can't remember or I though I did. " Interpretation:  Not a chance that it is completed 100%. 

"Did you put on deodorant?  I can't remember. " Interpretation:  Slight chance, need to reapply in order to be sure.  

Now you can understand our almost teenager (2 more months), there are a few more things to know.  Christian loves to play basketball, the guitar, go to youth group and draw.  
He is a super wonderful kid and we are so very proud of him!

Photo Trek Road Trip!

Yesterday, we decided to explore the "Wild Beauty of Montenegro"! We invited some friends to go along and hit the road. Our first stop was Virprzar - a quaint little town on Lake Sakdar. Then we took the back roads to another little town Rieka Tsnojevicha (phonetic spelling) and had lunch. I had the best fish soup in the world! Christian even like it and ate the left overs.

Here are some of the pictures of our journey.  Christian had a little fun with post processing on a few pictures.  It is all a learning process. 

Sunshine and Signs of Spring

he first sunny day of spring is upon us in Podgorica.  New snow fell on the mountains, but there are blue skies and sunshine in the valley!

Christian made his way to basketball practice and I took a walking tour of down town Podgorica.  It was a bit on the windy side, but I enjoyed the sunshine and signs of spring.

Happy Baba Marta (Grandmother March)

The first day of March is an important day in Bulgaria.  It is sort of like Ground Hog's Day in America -- the coming of spring just around the corner.  The week prior to March 1, you will begin to see 100's of little kiosks and stores begin to sell decorations for martinica -- the March 1st Celebration of Baba Marta (Grandmother March). 

The roots of the celebration go back many years and there are several different stories that explain the red and white colors that are used.  There are many different explanations. 

We enjoyed our trip to Bulgaria and received bracelets from the hotel as we were leaving!

Happy Baba March!

You always buy the bracelets for your friends and loved ones, and never buy one for yourself.  On March 1, you will see men, women, children and animals wearing the bracelets.  It signifies the coming of spring, health and happiness.  Older traditions say that when you see a tree blooming, you hang the bracelet on the tree branch. 

Willekes back in Podgorica

Today was a beautiful sunny day in Podgorica.  It was 63 degrees and the skies were blue!!  Spring is just around the corner.  There are even some flowers blooming - daffodils and little white flowers.

We spent last week in Bulgaria teaching a Personal and Professional Growth conference.  We enjoyed our time there and met some great people.  We are looking forward to returning there sometime in the spring or summer. 

Chris has several interviews next week with different magazines and television stations.  He will be speaking about SLS Consultants and different training courses that it offers. 

Christian and I will be working hard to catch up on school; Bulgaria put us a bit behind.  We did enjoy learning a bit of the history of Bulgaria by touring the Archeology Museum and the Art Museum.  It has an 8,000 year history. 

Dubrovnik

Yesterday, we went to Herceg Novi and Dubrovnik.  We were trying to "kill two rabbits with one stone."  Our car is registered in Herceg Novi, a town on the coast of Montenegro, and we are trying to get it unregistered, title transferred and re-registered in our name.  I am not sure what we were thinking, obviously we were not, because we thought it was a simple one day procedure.  We did begin the process and hopefully, it will get completed sometime in March.  We are very thankful for the nice man in Herceg Novi that helped us out.

The second "rabbit" was a border crossing for visa purposes.  Our language teacher, Vera, went with us.  It was the first time she had been to Dubrovnik since before the war.  She really enjoyed the day and we had LOTS of practice with our language.  I, for some reason, had difficult putting together a full sentence in Serbian.  So I did a lot of  da, da, da (yes, yes, yes), and I understand.

Here are a few more pictures from the day.  We left about 9:00 am and returned home at 9:00 pm -- needless to say, we were exhausted and ready for a good night's sleep!