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The Frozen Deputy, et al.
Feb. 27th, 2011 07:00 amBoss, who went to Vienna on Thursday, said I had to go to the opening of the 38th Sharplaninski Cup, which is a skiing race hat takes place on the Popova Shapka, Macedonia's second-highest mountain.
Why, one might ask, did I have to do that?
The answer is that the main sponsor of the event is ELEM, Macedonia's electricity producer, with whom EVN, the Austria-based electricity distributor, is still engaged in an ongoing court case, and so EVN needs the Embassy's support when- and wherever they can get it. Apparently support is also shown by being present at events such as this.
The one good thing I can say about it is that it didn't last long, only an hour. There are, however, many bad things I can and want to say about it, first and most of all that the stupid effing bastards didn't bother to clear the space where the opening was being held of ice and snow. This means that had to stand on ice for a full hour.
I swear I haven't been this cold in years. And it's really, really lucky that my bladder is made of leather or something, because if it wasn't I'd be down with something bad by now. As things are, the only thing that happened was horrible swearing on the way home, because my thawing toes were hurting something awful, and shivering (also horrible), because I was chilled to the bone. Had to pay Lola another visit, but luckily Alexandra has a bottle of rakia, so I could make some tea with honey and rakia, which helped. More of that at home, plus lots of warm, fuzzy clothing, comfort food and boyz.
Compared to Friday's ordeal, depositing flowers yesterday at the cemetery -- anniversary of the death of Boris Trajkovksi, president of Macedonia, who died in a plane crash some years ago, still during his tenure -- was a piece of cake. Just 40 minutes' standing n the cold, which wasn't as cold as the cold at 2000m, though every bit as wet. And Stelios, my Greek colleague, was standing next to me, so we could crack jokes in a very discreet fashion, taking care not to grin too obviously. That might not have one down well with the widow.
After cemetery duty was over, I went to the gym to warm up.
Then home, to have something to eat (hadn't had anything so far, just coffee and juice).
Later on, after watching the first 45 minutes of the Zvonareva - Wosniacki final, back to Lola for another visit, and then off to dinner with the girls. It was Irene's birthday, after all.
We went to a rather simple place and had the typical Macedonian fare: salad (OMG the cabbage salad!!!), grilled peppers, cheese and bread for starters, grilled trout with epically fantastic potato wedges for main course. Wine, rakia. Talking and fun.
Why the body decided it wanted to wake up at 6 today is a mystery to me, but I'm not feeling tired. Not right right now, that is. Let's see how I feel after playing tennis from 11 to 1 with Stefanie and the merciless Elena. Lola before and after, of course. Crazy cat - you should see her race after balls. So sweet. And, most importantly, completely healed and fit.
On a completely different note: I usually have some biscuits or similar stuff at home, because sometimes I just need something sweet. Last week, however, I found myself without, and so I had to improvise on Friday, i.e. after having thoroughly defrosted myself. So I melted some sugar in a pan, added a splash of rakia and one of cream. Put thin slices of white bread into this rather thick and heavenly-smelling mix, let heat and soak through, put on plate, strawberry jam on top and the rest of the sauce on top of that. OMG yummy!!! So I think this might atually become a decent dessert, if one uses cake instead of bread -- imagine caramelized cake at bottom, thin layer of jam over that, cake over that, topped with fresh fruit and chocolate sauce. Not bad, huh?
Need to get coffee now.
Good Sundays to all and sundry!
Why, one might ask, did I have to do that?
The answer is that the main sponsor of the event is ELEM, Macedonia's electricity producer, with whom EVN, the Austria-based electricity distributor, is still engaged in an ongoing court case, and so EVN needs the Embassy's support when- and wherever they can get it. Apparently support is also shown by being present at events such as this.
The one good thing I can say about it is that it didn't last long, only an hour. There are, however, many bad things I can and want to say about it, first and most of all that the stupid effing bastards didn't bother to clear the space where the opening was being held of ice and snow. This means that had to stand on ice for a full hour.
I swear I haven't been this cold in years. And it's really, really lucky that my bladder is made of leather or something, because if it wasn't I'd be down with something bad by now. As things are, the only thing that happened was horrible swearing on the way home, because my thawing toes were hurting something awful, and shivering (also horrible), because I was chilled to the bone. Had to pay Lola another visit, but luckily Alexandra has a bottle of rakia, so I could make some tea with honey and rakia, which helped. More of that at home, plus lots of warm, fuzzy clothing, comfort food and boyz.
Compared to Friday's ordeal, depositing flowers yesterday at the cemetery -- anniversary of the death of Boris Trajkovksi, president of Macedonia, who died in a plane crash some years ago, still during his tenure -- was a piece of cake. Just 40 minutes' standing n the cold, which wasn't as cold as the cold at 2000m, though every bit as wet. And Stelios, my Greek colleague, was standing next to me, so we could crack jokes in a very discreet fashion, taking care not to grin too obviously. That might not have one down well with the widow.
After cemetery duty was over, I went to the gym to warm up.
Then home, to have something to eat (hadn't had anything so far, just coffee and juice).
Later on, after watching the first 45 minutes of the Zvonareva - Wosniacki final, back to Lola for another visit, and then off to dinner with the girls. It was Irene's birthday, after all.
We went to a rather simple place and had the typical Macedonian fare: salad (OMG the cabbage salad!!!), grilled peppers, cheese and bread for starters, grilled trout with epically fantastic potato wedges for main course. Wine, rakia. Talking and fun.
Why the body decided it wanted to wake up at 6 today is a mystery to me, but I'm not feeling tired. Not right right now, that is. Let's see how I feel after playing tennis from 11 to 1 with Stefanie and the merciless Elena. Lola before and after, of course. Crazy cat - you should see her race after balls. So sweet. And, most importantly, completely healed and fit.
On a completely different note: I usually have some biscuits or similar stuff at home, because sometimes I just need something sweet. Last week, however, I found myself without, and so I had to improvise on Friday, i.e. after having thoroughly defrosted myself. So I melted some sugar in a pan, added a splash of rakia and one of cream. Put thin slices of white bread into this rather thick and heavenly-smelling mix, let heat and soak through, put on plate, strawberry jam on top and the rest of the sauce on top of that. OMG yummy!!! So I think this might atually become a decent dessert, if one uses cake instead of bread -- imagine caramelized cake at bottom, thin layer of jam over that, cake over that, topped with fresh fruit and chocolate sauce. Not bad, huh?
Need to get coffee now.
Good Sundays to all and sundry!
