Saturday

Woke up this morning in 6, as usual. It is not a woking day for me, but I like to get up early. I like to say I am morning person. But, besides that, I have an extra reason to be early this morning. My friend asked me few days ago to help him something and I am expected around 8 at his home. Drinking coffee, reading comments in Opera, looking outside my window into a gray morning.
I leave my flat in 7:40 and walk to his place. It is nice to feel freshness and cool breeze on my cheeks. Streets are almost empty, this part of Zemun is quiet and I can hear familiar sounds that remind me on times when I walked to a nearby school… so long ago.
My friend and me know each other for about 30 years now, we were in the same primary school (but different classes) and also in same secondary school. In the same class. I was his best man when he decided to marry his wife back in 1993. and our friendship was sealed with that. This is considered as a serious act in Serbia. Well, sort of, but it is supposed you will not choose someone you don`t know well for being your best man. He is realist, hard working man with both feet on a ground. Father of two daughters. Decided to make a house of his own, about 17 years ago. Of course, I was the one that helped him a lot about it – despite the fact we didn`t know anything about building a house. But he learnt a lot during the process and he payed proffesionals for things he couldn`t do by himself.
Of course, house is not finished yet, but it is a place where a family of 5 can live with full comfort. I said "of course" because there is a saying here that a house is not supposed ever to be completely finished – there is always something to do. That makes a house, and a family who live there, a safe and healthy. As long as there is someone to work around house, a family is prosperous and has a bright future. This is what people here believe in.
There are a lot of debris and trash around and behind the house, left after the process of building: pieces of brick, grouth, wires, old metal buckets, sand mixed with dirt. This is what we are supposed to remove out of his place. He ordered a big orange container, placed in front of his house now. There are four of us, my brother is already there and one of the neighbours came shortly after me.
Whoever did something on a building site, knows that ground works are among the hardest ones. All of the dirt stayed there about ten years by now and it is not easy to remove it. We are sweating a lot, I feel pain in my hands and back, but it is important not to stop until at least half of the cleaning is done. That way a lot of job could be acomplished in short time, before tiredness and pain in muscles start to slow us down. We make a short pause after 2 straight hours, drinking coffee and juices. Herbal mint tea for me because of my coughing – I drink 3 cups, enjoying the taste, relaxing. My hands are dirty, t-shirt and trousers dusty.
After one more hour a job is done. We are sitting in chairs on his porch, sipping mineral water and juices (mint tea for me again 😀 ), talking about everything and nothing. My back start to hurt more so I take a painkiller and decided it is time for me to go.
Walk back home and decide to go to barber and shorten my hair. He is an retired barber, still working from his apartment, nearby place where I live. I am an old customer there and he is always happy to see me. Maybe it is because I leave him more money than he asks, but I don`t care, it is not expensive at all. As usual, he is bragging about how much customers he had this morning, working on my hair and talking. Folk music on the radio and scent of some meal from a kitchen. Reminding me how hungry I am. At the end he is offering me a shot of plum brandy (šljivovica), a product of his own from some village at the south of Serbia. He is explaining that he keeps his brandy in three kinds of barrels – one made of wood of black locust, another of morus and third of elm. He is giving me a small glass from a third barrel. The colour is like a black tea and taste is undescribably nice. Never tried anything like that. I was already on my way home when I remembered I took a painkiller less than hour ago.
At home I tossed my dirty clothes in basked near washing machine, took a shower and ate enormous amount of food for lunch. Painkiller, supported with a shot of a plum brandy is warming my body in a most beautiful way and I lay in bad, spending the rest of the afternoon reading and sleeping.
In 5 p.m. I decided it is a time to get up. Washed some grapes, plums and a peach, I sat by computer and decided to write this post 🙂