ANYWAY, there were some still some festivities I was able to engage in. There was a school holiday concert on the 29th to also mark end of term. As I shared already, the twins played piano, and there were multiple groups/grades who did traditional Montenegrin dance in costume, various other sketches and musical pieces - including a festive one of 10-12 year old girls, all dressed in white with tiaras doing a dance along to Mariah's "All I Want for Christmas" (suck it, haters!).
Of course by the time I arrived for this concert, the Cultural Center was packed, so I stood in a doorway - which was fine with me, as more air, but I was spotted by one of the teachers from my school and she insisted I come sit in the front row with the school Director and other local "dignitaries." Such is the life of the American celebrity in town. Ha!
The day after that, there was a small, semi-impromptu gathering in the apartment building courtyard where, again, the twins played piano, in addition to some other kids playing, in appreciation for this generous dude in the building who bought Christmas gifts for every child in the building! I would say there was about 20-25 gifts in all. So pretty cool. Also got to meet a fair number of neighbors, who seemed too shy to chat up the American - to my host mom's distress.
On New Year's Eve, I was out with the host family at their weekend house which is where/when we did Secret Santa (New Year's is almost equal in importance to the locals as Christmas). I had drawn Dmitri and was hoping to find some Harry Potter related thing but no luck for our given price range (no more than around 10 euro). They had a nice copy of "The Little Prince" so I snagged that - only to get home and discover they already had it! PLUS, what I thought was wrapping paper for just under 3 euro turned out to be a poster of the night sky/constellations that was just under THIRTY euro and I was too dumb to notice until leaving the store, then felt too embarrassed to try and go back and communicate it with my crap Montenegrin, so I kept the receipt and decided I'd have a "fun" dumb foreigner story for Secret Santa and I could tell him if he REALLY liked the poster, he could keep it, or return both to get a nice Harry Potter encyclopedia which was about the same cost as the poster! Duh!
WELL, it turns out Dmitri is an astronomy buff, and the twins were psyched to have the poster to put up in their room (fun fact, the twins were born under the sign of....wait for it, Gemini/the twins). AND he also wanted the copy of "The Little Prince" just for himself (as opposed to the older, smaller, family copy). So it all worked out for the best even though I spent WAY more than I should have. But then THAT part is totally normal Christmas for me! LOL
And of course I did go check out the TINY Christmas market they had in the town square - 6-8 little traditional brown cottages, most all serving drinks. There was a small stage, as well, where singers performed and even a small carnival ride and grab games for the kiddos. Small town life in Montenegro! Here is a pic of the lights/market - I really need to get my google fi fixed, as this local phone/camera I bought is crap.
Finally, have I mentioned how much they LOVE fireworks here? There were quite a few set off around town for New Yea'rs Eve, of course, and then there were more the evening of New Yea'rs Day. And THEN they had to have some on Christmas Eve. And THEN of course on Christmas Day/evening, as well. Then even a few the day after that just coz! :)
Disclaimer: Any thoughts, observations, opinions, etc. are of course mine and not necessarily the views of Peace Corps.
Sorry you were missing your lil monster. Presence always seems to be an important factor. This experience seems like a blessing in disguise...you may have been lonely, but you brought joy to everyone around you. I hope your New Year is fantastic.
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