Clocking Up Bus Miles

30th April 2009

What a shame we cannot get bus miles. Over the last couple of days I've managed to collect a few.

My first week back in Serbia was spent doing alot of travelling. I had arranged to stay with Marija in Knjazevac for a couple of days. I had to postpone us going because my cold I came back with went to my chest. I wasn't sure I'd be able to go at all. On the day I was meant to be travelling I was finding it so hard to breath. I had to re-register with the Police because I went with Sonja to collect her mum and it meant I hadn't got a visa. On the way back home Vlada dropped me off at the Pharmacy to buy some drugs. I wasn't sure how quick they'd work. On the way bus stop one of the taxi's was trying to get my attention. It was Mihailo. I was so relieved to see him. He took me home free of charge - thank you. I wasn't sure I'd be able to walk from the bus stop. I just about made it upstairs and went straight back to bed.

On waking up Tuesday I felt a bit better - not completely well but able to breath alot easier. I made a decision to go away. Marija said the town was very small with not much to do so I thought I'd be resting alot of the time.

We went by train to Knjazevac. When I say train, it was 2 carriages. Marija cannot travel by bus. The train took over 2 hours. I have never been on such a slow train journey! It only takes an hour by car!

The first night was awful. I'm not sure if it was my sinus' making me so rough or a migraine brewing so I took myself off to bed to hopefully sleep it off. I woke up on Wednesday in a hyper mood and very relieved to be feeling much better. I could tell Marija had been worried about me.

The next couple of days were spent walking around town, visiting her friends. Some of them spoke english, others didn't. It was good getting to see a little bit more of the country.

On Saturday I went to see my dear friend, Vesna and her family in Aleksinac. I managed to buy a bus ticket – and without the help of a piece of paper. I was very excited to be going to see her and meet her family. We've been talking about meeting up for months and I cannot believe it has happened.

Vesna was waiting for me at the bus station. Vesna showed me around town – doing her tour guide duty. It felt about the same size as Knjazevac, but I may be wrong. It was interesting walking about the town.

We had to walk through a park to get to Vesna's house. The park was on the side of a hill. From near the top you can see across the valley – can see for miles. What a view, so beautiful.

When we got to Vesna's I was introduced to Dajan (Vesna's son) and her two nieces. They were all very shy and didn't want to speak english in front of me. After a while Slaviša (Vesna's husband) and her sister came (I'm really sorry, I cannot remember names!).

Vesna and her sister prepared some krompir pite (potato pies) and showed me how to make them. I cannot believe how simple it looked to make the pastry and roll it out – I think it's because they've been making them years and it won't be as easy for me! I was really pleased to learn how to cook something. Apparently it is a Bosnian version of potato pie – yummy.

Vesna was a fantastic translator. I tried to understand the Serbian conversations and questions as much as I could be still have a problem with constructing a sentence. Slaviša kept telling Vesna to speak in Serbian – that way I'd learn quicker. We tried to communicate with him speaking English and me replying in Serbian. We didn't get very far!

Vesna's cousin, Violet, and husband came over to see the “English”. They have returned to Serbia after living in Luxembourg. When they arrived I started to speak in French which confused them a bit until they realised what language was being spoken. It was very strange speaking to Vesna's cousin's husband (is there a bg there?). His english is very good – only a slight accent. He uses alot of slang phrases. I couldn't stop laughing at him. He, like many people, learnt english via films.

The family couldn't believe that I was spending time with them. Vesna is in her first year at Faculty which the family are surprised at. Then to have a “real life english person” in the house spending time with them was fantastic. They were surprised how much english Vesna speaks and how we get on. I'm not sure what their ideas of an english person are but I'm nothing like that. Looks like I've left them with a good impression.

Vesna and I hadn't made firm arrangements as to when I'd go home. I thought that about 8pm would be a good time to leave. This came and went and then started to get dark. Hmm, what was I to do? No problem, I'd stay over. Thankfully Naomi and Miloš were planning on coming to church and had to come through Aleksinac so they picked me up.

Vesna had lots of questions that we hadn't managed to cover so we arranged to meet up in the week.

On Tuesday I went to see Naomi and Miloš in Sokobanja – another bus trip! Last year Naomi and I had arranged to meet up on 30^th April this year to praise God for the amazing 12 months we had (at the time we were having an amazing time and thought it'd be good to catch up). We needed more than a day. I think we had only managed to cover 3 months. We have met up early because 1^st May is Labour Day in Serbia – a big holiday and N&M were going to Novi Sad. Next year we may have to a few days to work through. It was amazing to read about the prayers which were answered and how amazing the answers were – exceeding what we thought may be the answer. It was so inspiring to talk about things and praise God and look forward to the next part of our adventures with Him. We were wondering where we'd be in 12-months and we haven't got a clue. Last year we never thought we'd both be in Serbia, a bus ride away from each other. Isn't God amazing how he works things out?

What a horrible bus ride home. I was fine until just after we left Aleksinac. We went a strange way home. I had a flash back to the last time I got a bus from Sokobanja (last year). We had to change buses and I was starting to panic in case I was meant to get off the bus. That's what I get for listening to other travellers conversations and trying to work out what they were saying. I must have got it wrong. I kept praying and tried to keep calm. I decided not to ask any of the passengers as it wouldn't have helped if I had known I was not going to Niš. I was trying to work out what to do if I was heading to Leskovac. I've been there before and know Vlada & Sonja know people there. The worry I had was if my phone charge would last to explain what I'd done. I eventually decided to enjoy the rest of the ride and deal with things if/when they happened. I was watching out of the window and started to get a bit excited. Was this the approach to Niš? The more I saw the more excited I became. Yes, it was. The bus had gone the long way round all the villages. Wow, I was sooooo happy to reach the bus station. Such a relief.

We have a team arriving from Attleborough, Norfolk on Saturday. I'm sooooo excited. I cannot wait for Amy to come over. It feels like years since we last did a Friday night youth outreach in Dereham and I'm so excited to show her and the rest of the team Niš. I think there are 6 on the team. It's been fun getting the rooms ready.

I went to see Vesna again on Wednesday afternoon. She is part of a choir but unfortunately I'm going to miss her next concert so she wanted me to attend one of her choir practices. We had a few hours before choir practice so we sat in the park on the hill. She brought her questions with her. It was very strange listening to some of her notes. Some of the information is out of date – I was being grilled about different aspects of UK life. It made me realise how little I know about different regions in the UK. I hope my answers are accurate and she gets a good mark! (did you?).

Choir practice was good – amazing to hear how powerful their voices are. Wow, I could imagine them doing their concert. One of the songs, a Serbian hymn, knocked my socks off. Fantastic. I got goose bumps! After we went into the cafe but quickly had to leave to catch my last bus. I just about caught the last bus. They made sure I got on a fast bus home this time!

Thursday – how wet can a day get? I was soaked getting to church. When I arrived I saw a huge yellow lorry. The Humanitarian Aid had arrived. It was pouring with rain and lots had to be unloaded. I managed to help a little but didn't want to get too wet in case it made my chest worse – didn't want it to get any worse. I set up refreshments for Coffee Pauza. Only one lady arrived. It was a shame as I had saved some of the cleaning and bed making for the ladies to help. There was lots of activity downstairs – some of the Humanitarian Aid was taken to Aleksinac and another place – Niš is the drop-off for this area of Serbia. I have never seen so much. How is this going to distributed? Where do you start?