Eva and Jesse’s Dobro Life

We've been in Bar, Montenegro for a week now. We've got a general lay of the land, enjoy observing the progress of the big apartment complex under construction, know all the local street dog gangs, have tried bread from the bakeries (there's only a few), frequented the super markets and have even checked out the blasé selection of clothes at the "outlet" shops.  Bar is a tiny harbor town with ancient history but over the past decade has become modernized under the restoration of Russian affluence. Bar has the general vibe of some other European harbor towns I've been to like a minuscule version of Athens, Greece or a smaller Salerno, Italy sprinkled with a Balkan flavor and nowhere near the size of either of the aforementioned. We like it here. Eve is experiencing cleansing dreams and the physical redeeming qualities of the sea and mountain air. I am thrilled every time I look outside and see mountains, trees, sun and the shining sea.  Howev...

Those who know me know I adore bottled water. I get dehydrated very quickly and don't drink much alcohol so water has always been my trust companion. The water in the Balkans is good but diva, extracted from 1400 meters high in the Montenegrin mountains, is heavenly divine.  So crisp, so clear, it's durmitorska izvorska voda!

To reiterate, in Autumn of 2016 Jesse received his TEFL Certificate, a  190-hour QCF Level 5 TESOL training course through the International TEFL Academy in Barcelona, Spain. It enables him to utilize his teaching skills and instruct English learners internationally.  Here are some pictures of him and his graduating class in Barcelona:

So...what exactly is Serbian cuisine? Well, a plentitude of cabbage, a plethora of paprika and an extravagant amount of eggplant. I know, very acidic, but it should be mentioned Eva makes me incredible tonics of sage, chamomile and other plant-based redeemers that grow in the fertile mountains here. Again, quite restorative!  Iva:  "Everybody's mother has a different taste but the sarma , kupus and podvrak  are the main dishes. So, some dishes are the same, it depends on the mixture of what taste is, how close the country neighbors places like Hungary, Italy and Greece. Since Serbia was once invaded by Turkey a lot of the dishes originated from middle eastern food. But the thing that Serbians use in the kitchen is that they grow free, healthy and in abundance such as garlic, onion, paprika and other vegetables. Paprika is the most delicious...I don't know..."

 We are in Bar. Off season, see us sea side. Food, love and quality weather. Quite restorative!

After a serious fright over my visa, we managed to leave Serbia without much damage done and at the end of March 2017 took a 12 hour train ride from Belgrade to Bar and found ourselves in a charming, mountainous, harbor town in a country named after a Black Mountain AKA Montenegro.  An old granny in our cabin mistook us for siblings and told us not to worry about the long journey for when we reached home our mother would have prepared pigs legs in jello for us.   They speak Eva's native language here but it is much warmer and the vibe is infinitely more tranquil. Needless to say, we are both quite content to have departed Belgrade. The picture above is of a sign that reads proslave (which means celebration in Serbian) that we saw while leaving Belgrade. We are well aware nothing is permanent yet after moving 11 times since August of '16, we would love to settle for at least another month here amongst the mountains. The flat we are staying in has ...

It was a brutally cold and arduous winter in Belgrade but we survived it. Eva continued to craft creative and tasteful dishes, I soldiered on being a bearded guy (shaving is expensive), we saved lots of money, Eva worked hard editing weddings, commercials and the rest. My mom, who loathes facial hair, always asks me if food gets stuck in my beard. I made sure to include the last picture to answer her pressing question.