Purgatory

I now have my answer for the question that all teenagers hurl at their parents at some point 'What did you ever do for me anyway?'

All last week Adam's nursery has foregone normal morning nursery activities and headed down to the ice rink that opens every winter in Tuzla's central park, Slana Banja. I wasn't sure how he would take to it, he's not a big into making a fool of himself, falling over or doing things that he doesn't already know how to do. Ice Skating ticks all of these boxes, I was not expecting a success. To my enormous surprise he loved it. Adored it. Couldn't wait to get back onto the rink. He harrassed, harangued and battered his beaten down mother over the head until I agreed that we could go en famille at the weekend.

So en famille we did. Outdoor gear on, skates on, a relatively small amount of money parted with (a massive 3KM (£1ish) per person) and we were off. Well, sort of off. More gripping onto the side of the rink in sheer terror (me) as I try to support Luke who is jumping up and down shouting 'wheeeee wheeeee' and then 'faster Mummy faster!' as Dave and Adam disappear gliding gracefully over the ice. Then we swap children, Adam grabs my hand and pulls me straight off balance.

It led to 20minutes of sheer purgatory for me. Holding up Luke who was clearly having the most wonderful time, as we tottered around, it was all I could do to pray I wasn't going to fall down squashing a small child and slicing off his fingers in the process. That position, the slightly hunched over incredibly uncomfortable one known to all mothers, is a killer on the old, not too good at the best of times, back. The cold toes, the crippling boots, the aching muscles, good Lord I hated every minute. The boys adored it, can't wait to do it again. Obviously, we will go again. But I will remember this, and when they ask me what did I ever do for them in that teenage-ery huffing pouting fashion, I'll be able to say - I took you ice skating.

Tick Fever

We were right to be worried about ticks. Despite regular Frontline applications, constant grooming and total obsessing about ticks, it looks as if our dog, Jessie, has contracted Lyme's Disease. The symptoms started to show yesterday after our walk when she couldn't jump into the back of the car. I knew it was serious when I put a piece of bread in the boot and she still couldn't get into the car. She seemed not so much lame, but stiff, and there was no obvious reason why, nor any particular clatter that we could remember that might have caused stiffness.

One trip to the vet, 3 injections, 2 thermometers up her bottom and instructions to get a urine sample later we are wondering how we are going to cope with the ticks. We are not even into the tick season proper yet; everyone says it is going to get worse. Already the boys are starting to look like they are beekeepers when we go on a walk as I take tick paranoia to new levels. But, I can not work out how Jessie is going to get her walk AND we are to remain tick free. There are ticks everywhere from the woods on the hills behind Tuzla (to be expected) to the more manicured central park of Slana Banja in the middle of town (more surprising).

In the meantime, Jessie is visibly improved after her vet trip and almost has a bounce in her step. Lyme Disease is a nasty disease but very treatable so fingers crossed that that is what it is. She has most of the symptoms, except for the one which involves not eating, neatly demonstrating that our tales of her food obsession are not exaggerated.

I spent an interesting morning trying to obtain a urine sample from a female dog whilst attempting to hold a form of conversation, in patchy Bosnian, with a neighbour curious to know what exactly I was doing. It can be difficult to maintain any form of dignity in these situations. The life of a mother, nothing but glamour.

swimming, splashing and building

It may be winter in Tuzla, so swimming in the outdoor lakes is out (even for us hearty Brits), but that doesn't mean that there is no swimming at all. The Hotel Tuzla, a communist beast of a hotel if ever I saw one, has got a pool that really isn't bad at all. 25m, not too busy, not too chlorinated, it is a pool that you could do laps in no trouble at all (pictures of pool and associated bevy of beauties here - but a heads up for those surfing the Hotel Tuzla website, don't be fooled by pictures of lovely clay tennis courts - they are in Tuzla, but are not a part of the Hotel Tuzla complex).

We took the boys there on Sunday. Sadly, no laps for us, more standing in the shallow end getting cold while the boys in their armbands splash around having a splendid time. It does tire them out though, to the extent that both boys had a nap in the afternoon at the same time - a state otherwise known as nirvana to us fraught mummies.

We hadn't been swimming for a while as the hotel has been undergoing pretty extensive renovations which have now reached the changing areas of the pool. These are much needed and I'm looking forward to seeing the end result.

On the way home it struck us that there really is a lot of renovation and innovation going on in Tuzla at the moment. Squares in the centre of town which were car parks are becoming places to sit with cafes and benches. Dilapidated buildings are becoming brand new, smart attractive buildings. The saltwater lakes now have a series of waterfalls with pools in which you can sit. The old, tired zoo is becoming a cracking playground. The football stadium has got renovations going on all around it. There is talk of putting a part of the ring road underground, which would allow a huge green park to connect the centre of town to the Panonica Lakes and Slana Banja. I almost want to ask "Is Tuzla becoming "up and coming"? I may have to completely revise my perceptions of the city.

The citizens of Tuzla are proud of their mayor, who does appear to be doing a great job in improving the city. They are also proud of their non-nationalistic attitude and Tuzla is one of the few cities in Bosnia that doesn't elect nationalist politicians, one of the major reasons why Bosnia has got itself stuck in a bog of political fug (see article here for more on this if interested). I hope other Bosnians look at Tuzla for an example of what can happen when effective politicians are elected to power.

Playgrounds! In Tuzla!

Although there is a great playground in Sarajevo (see earlier post), the rest of the playgrounds in Bosnia leave a lot to be desired. In addition to the limited, poorly maintained and broken equipment I now have a new gripe - mud. The mud would do a trench in The Somme proud. In Tuzla it is that especially thick, stick to your shoes and make them 3 times heavier type of mud. And it is everywhere. Of course it then goes all over the limited, poorly maintained equipment making any play that might have been possible messy.

But, but but. Someone, somewhere has heard my whinging about the state of playgrounds in Bosnia and has done something about it. Now, near Slana Banja park and the saltwater Panonica Lakes, there is a whole army of bulldozers, diggers and trucks. We've been watching with interest for a while (trucks! diggers! bulldozers! Small boy heaven!). But at our last visit I realised, with a lifting of the heart and a soaring choir of angels, they were building a playground. And what a playground it will be. There are climbing frames with tunnels. There are climbing walls and things to climb all over. Slides. Swings. A load of other stuff that hasn't revealed itself yet, but looks good. It even looks as if it will have that spongy blue stuff on the floor to stop everyone hurting themselves when they inevitably fall down.

I have no idea when it will open, but we are likely to be first in the queue. Just hope they have managed to sort out the mud.

winter sports and fun

Whilst we were gallivanting around in Sarajevo over Christmas, they were busy updating the amenities in Tuzla. Most obviously is the new ice rink (on top of a rather nice clay tennis court) by Slana Banja park. It's proving to be quite a hit with the general population and at 5KM for an hour is great value for money. Adam is very keen to try it out, I'm less keen and have put off the moment of truth until the weekend when Daddy is also on hand to deal with bruised bottoms and tears. Yesterday, he was satisfied with watching some friends of ours, Amel and Ivana, have a go. Amel was a reluctant skater, most happy when clinging to the edge of the rink.

"Amel!" shouted Adam "you're not very good. I don't think your ice skates are working very well".

Next door to the ice rink they've put up 8 big trampolines. Oh my goodness me, how much do the boys love trampolines? Our daily routine has a whole new element to it. Now I pick the boys up from nursery, drive to the park for an hour of dragon fighting and exploring through the woods (otherwise known as a dog walk) which is then followed with a big long bounce. It's terrific. Who am I kidding - I love the trampolines too!

MORE ON GAS SITUATION
The temperature this morning when I dropped the boys off at nursery was -12C. There is still wrangling going on between Ukraine and Russia about the gas pipeline which has left about 100,000 homes in Bosnia without heating, mainly in Sarajevo, Zenica and Zvornik. I read an interesting blog comparing the situation in Sarajevo today to that during the 1992-95 conflict (click here). Fortunately for us, Tuzla doesn't rely upon gas supplies at all so we are toasty warm but watching the electricity supply carefully.

a bright, bright sunshiney day

Tuzla has been basking in some very unseasonal weather. This time of year is usually freezing cold and full of drizzly, ongoing rain and cloud. This Sunday however, saw us all in our t-shirts heading down to Slana Banja park. Here were the Tuzlans at play. There were people doing t'ai chi. Teenagers in lycra were sprinting up and down the trails throughout the park, their trainers standing with stopwatches and encouragement. Dancers were limbering up, stretching the legs before displaying snippets of their routines. The clay tennis courts were full of people who are really good at playing tennis (the regional excellence in tennis has certainly not passed Tuzla by). Many people were walking with their families, all making the most of the unseasonal sunshine higlighting the rich autumnal colours of the trees.

As we settled down on the terrace of a restaurant for a coffee with the boys playing happily in the sandpit provided for children, we reflected that this felt more like an American brunch moment than the middle of Bosnia.