Whilst skiing a couple of
days ago, I received a text from my other-half (who I had left at home) asking,
'where are the scales'... to which I replied 'why'?! He had decided that he
wanted to make crumpets, again one of those lovely wintery tea-time treats
which you can’t pick up in the supermarkets here. So, I provided the required
answer and did not think anything more of it! I got home a couple of
hours later to find a huge mixing bowl on the side and a strong smell of yeast
coming from it! He had actually made crumpets! This did come as a slight surprise,
but I was delighted. As with my hot-cross bun experience back at Easter,
crumpets are the kind of things that you can just get from the shops in the UK
and I had never given much thought as to how they are made. Anyway it turns out they
are cooked by frying them on the hob in a biscuit cutter and then they can be
eaten fresh from the frying pan, or
saved until later and heated in the toaster. Even the homemade batter makes the
little crumpety holes and the texture was absolutely spot on! All in all, they were a
triumph and I am going to encourage him to bake more often (especially when I
am off skiing)!!
So, as I mentioned a few weeks
ago, I have recently been involved with the organisation of the Diplomatic
Winter Bazar, which took place on Saturday 1st December.
Having had some time to recover
and more importantly count the cash we managed to raise, it has become evident
that the event was an unprecedented success and we have raised more than we
could ever have imagined.
Drum roll please... the grand
total is 46'411.78KM (approximately 20,000GBP).
This is a huge amount of money
anywhere, but especially here and is going to go a long way to help the four identified
beneficiaries.
The day itself was slightly
fraught, and it was a learning curve for me working on such a huge event as a
volunteer (as your approach to everything has be slightly different compared to
if people are being paid)! All the usual on-site event stresses came to the
fore, the main issue which occurred was that the floor plan we had been given
was not correct and there we had huge challenges trying to get all the tables
in the space we had available.
The venue we used is the French
School, initially we thought it would be big enough, however it soon became
evident that this was not the case and with over 100 Embassies, vendors and
NGOs it was a squeeze and then add over 1,000 guests... and it was a squash!
However this is all a learning, and next year the venue needs to be much bigger
(I am holding out for Zetra Stadium)!
However, aside from all of the
challenges, everyone had a good time. The Embassies all laid on amazing spreads
of food, from paella from the Spanish, fondue and raclette from the Swiss,
cheese and wine from the French and Carlsberg from the Danish! The UK table
sold a selection of delicious homemade jams and chutneys, along with some mince
pies!
The debriefing meeting will take
place in the New Year, which gives us all some time to reflect on everything
and we can then regroup and identify what we can do to make it an even bigger
and better event in 2013!
So, as I mentioned a couple of months ago,
myself and my partner have both been involved in a British Panto, which thanks
to a number of international and local volunteers we successfully executed last
week.
Jack and the Beanstalk was the third offering
from Sarajevo and London Mature Dramatics Society (S.A.L.A.D.S) and went down
an absolute storm (even if I do say so myself)!
We put the production on in the Dom Policije
theatre, which is an impressive state-run building which houses a beautiful
theatre. Sadly, the venue itself has not had much TLC over the last few years,
so when the curtain jammed shut at the start of the first dress rehearsal we
should not really have been surprised!
However, apart from a few inevitable
challenges and technical issues (all of which we overcame) the production was a
massive success with around 600 people attending over a three night run.
In true
panto style, we encouraged plenty of audience participation and ensure that the
adults were suitably lubricated with alcohol and the kids with sugar! This
ensured that the shouting, booing and hissing was as loud as it needed to be! We
had frightful panto dames, who spent much of the show trying to show off their ‘unmentionables’,
we had a trio of baddies who have since become included on the most wanted list
for the under 5’s throughout Sarajevo. And a formidable performance from the
Hen who lays golden eggs… this performance was worthy of any Olivier
Award!
Its success
hinged on a great group of people, from actors and the production team, through
to the volunteers. It really was a team
effort and something I have been so very proud to be a part of! Since the panto
has ended, it has been great to catch up on some sleep, but I still seem to be plagued
with the words from various songs, which I cannot seem get out of my head, so
to share the love, here is a tiny snippet of the opening song:
As a result
of the ticket sales and the nightly bucket collections, we have managed to raise
over 4,000KM which will be going to Helping Hearts and Hands Foundation, who
are an active volunteer group here in Sarajevo within whom I am a trustee.
So, the
Christmas season is well and truly underway… oh no it isn’t… oh yes it is…. Until next
year ;-)
So, yet another post about the weather...
After a beautiful, if somewhat short autumn, December arrived and... It snowed!
One of the many things I love about living in
Sarajevo is the clearly defined seasons and moving from autumn to winter was
certainly this. It was only 6 weeks ago we were enjoy a BBQ on our balcony with
temperatures in the high 20’s!
Over the past 12 days, we have had several
inches of snow and temperatures have already dropped well into the double minus
figures. More importantly, I heard rumors that the ski resorts have started to
open (a little earlier than planned), so fingers crossed we should get some
good skiing in, over the Christmas break!
So whilst the town itself is not particularly
Festive, the thick snow on the ground, the freezing temperatures and a
beautiful Christmas tree up in our flat, there is certainly a Festive feeling
in our household! I am certainly looking forward to our first Christmas in
Sarajevo!
One of the
projects I am involved with is sitting on the organising committee for this
year's Diplomatic Winter Bazar. Winter bazars are big events here in Sarajevo
and provide the chance for the community to get together and raise a lot of
money for a variety of local charities.
This year's
event promises to be bigger and better than ever, thanks to the united efforts
of the Diplomatic Wives Club, Helping Hands and Hearts Foundation and the
International Women's Club.
Embassies are
all invited to attend and sell food, drinks and good all relating to their
county. So there will be a wide range of delicious things on offer, from wine
from the French, raclette from the Swiss, Carlsberg beer from the Danish and
homemade jams and chutneys from the British.
In additional
to the various stalls (there will be approximately 200 exhibitors), there will
be a kids zone, so parents can leave kids for an hour or so, whilst they go off
and shop (and try the wine), Father and Mother Christmas will also be making an
appearance and kids will be able to have their photo taken with him (and Dads
can have their photo take with Mrs C)!! There will be entertainment throughout
the day, including the local International choir singing a selection of much
loved Christmas Carols.
And there
will also be a Grand Raffle, with some amazing prizes on offer, which have been
donated by a large group of wonderful sponsors. This year the
funds raised will go to four beneficiaries:
Helping Hearts and Hands Foundation, Sarajevo
EDUS in Mjedenica, Sarajevo
Association for Children with Special Needs, Doboj
And under the umbrella of one NGO in Gorazde;
Primary School
“Fahrudin Fahro Baščelija“
Association for
Helping Persons with Learning Difficulties
So, put the
date in your diary:
When: Saturday
1st December, 11:00 - 18:00
Where: Collège
International Francophone Sarajevo (CIFS), Paromlinska 66,
Tickets cost
5KM for adults and kids under 12 years old.
Tickets can
be bought in advance on Saturday 24th November between 11:00-15:00 in front of
the BBI or on the door.
As
the temperature has dropped marginally, I have dug out the baking tins. There
is the most wonderful selection of fresh berries in the markets at the moment.
Whilst we an abundance of strawberries earlier in the summer, the raspberries
are still going strong and the blackberries have just started to come into
season.
We
have been eating these fresh every morning, either in fruit salads or smoothies
- when a one kilo of raspberries is around £1.20, it would be rude not too!
This
week it was our language teacher's birthday, so I knocked up a batch of
Blackberry, Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins. The result was perfect, tasty,
fresh and moist, ideal for breakfast with coffee or mid-afternoon with a nice
cup of tea.
