football, first steps in roma tongue and cough

The weather is really terrible here. Plus five, rain, dark, cold... Yesterday was raining the whole day. It was really the best day to experience Shutka. I was there already 2nd time but the first time it looked quite nice. Yesterday one of our guys compared it to Vietnam. The family we were visiting this time was living deep inside the barrack house district, we had to take small flooded streets, jump on broken bricks among mud and water and old muddy, slippery blankets. When we finally reached the right house, there was a really cool, new motorbike standing outside and the guy we were visiting were taking care of it. He had just bought it. Also inside the small house was quite cozy, quite clean carpets and blankets on the floor, corner sofa, big TV. And the view from both windows was nice - to the front it went on a green football field, and to the back - just to a green field. You could not really seen the misery on the sides around the house. Quite smart.
We met lots of people and lots of kids. I did not really understood which kids belonged to whom, but what's the difference anyways. Some of them were really dark and some of them were blond with blue eyes. But what's the difference anyways. They were all very cute and really nice kids.



I learned my first few words in the local Roma tongue.
amari (stress on i) - my?, ours
tumari (stress on i again) - yours
paradi (i again) - broken
jek - one
After Shutka we went to the now dark, flooded, and empty Bit Pazar to have something to eat. We had kjebapci with shopska sallad and greesy, petrol smelling bread (from the grill) in an empty skara place with a leeking roof. I was joking that I am not from the Baltics, I am from Sweden and one guy appeared who started to talk Swedish to me. We exchanged a few words in Swedish and I explained to him that I am actually not from Sweden.
We met other volunteers in the square to go to the football match Macedonia - Croatia. We were rather late because some guys had decided to take bus instead of a taxi. The stadium was full and there was not much chance to find our seats anymore. I lost other people at the entrace and watched the first half in solitarity, sitting on the wet concrete steps, on the old towel I had taken from our place. There were a group of croatians in our tribine guarded all around by police. Some guys next to me were all the time shouting and showing signs at them. A fight in the Northern tribine where croats were sitting and one crazy croat in Block 1 in the Southern (big, Macedonian) tribine were the most exciting events of the first half.
At the end of the first half we found out that Israel had won Russia, so Croats started the second half with a lot of energy and some very good attacks. It really looked that now the real game starts and they will show who is who. But surprisingly that did not last long and soon Macedonia was winning with 2:0... I really had the feeling that this tribine can break down under thousands jumping. It was moving indeed. Hmm... and it is kind of strange watching football live. On TV because of close-ups and repeating of good moments and goals, it looks much more serious.. hard to explain. It is just different.

After the game we had a few drinks in Sagafredo place. Trying to make a conversation by the loud music did not do much good to my already irritated throat and today I sound like an old man who smoked too much of his self-grown tobacco. But it is healing as today it is terribly itchy and after saying a few words I need to cough for 5 min.
Today is the birthday of Latvia, called my mom and talked a bit about things here and there. I miss my cat, would like to see her now in her brand new winter fur coat.
Today was a lazy Sunday. I had the feeling that I have finally earned it. No shower, sweatpants, coffee and Russian bojevik.