I have one wonderful little family of friends in Cambridge. We call the father of the family on this blog Chris and so far, I haven’t told him he chose the wrong pseudonym because he always reminds me of one late friend. Chris is a Croat, born and raised in Paris, but his roots are from one of the Croatian islands. Because of that Croatian affiliation, we met some 7-8 years ago at the University where we both work. I met Chris' wife, whom I will call here Klara, a little later. Chris mentioned to me that Klara had learned French very well, but also Croatian. I immediately believed in French, but in Croatian I sceptically thought, "Yeh, of course." But Klara pleasantly surprised me when she spoke Croatian fluently and correctly with a few words here and there pronounced in the dialect from Chris’ Island which always sounds charming. When I asked her in which language she wanted us to communicate on WhatsApp, she answered "Let's go Croatian."
Klara is Polish and I, together with my daughter, attended her and Chris’s wedding in Warsaw. The wedding was in the Croatian-Polish style with the music of a Polish band that learned three Croatian songs for the occasion. We danced all night and when I told my daughter at 4 a.m. that we could go to sleep, she told me "What's the matter with you mom, we have the hall until 5." The band left at 5 am, but the songs continued. At 7 am I watched my Sara sing Croatian songs in the company of Chris, his brothers, and nieces on the dance floor.
Since then, Chris and Klara have had two wonderful children, Laura (3) and Filip (5). Filip is fluent in four languages, he speaks Croatian and French with his father, Polish with his mother, and English at school and with his sister. Laura is also slowly grasping all four languages, she still mixes them up a lot, but the most important thing is for her to speak, it matters less how.
While I was a smoker, Klara, Chris and Klara's brother, regularly brought me much cheaper cigarettes from Poland. I knew that Klara was bothered by the fact that I smoked, but she was still a friend to me and continuously helped me out. I consider Chris a great man and a true friend who helped me a lot during some difficult times caused by illness. I once told him, "If you ever killed someone in your life, I would find and visit you in jail." Chris also has a wonderful brother who is at the very top of the current Croatian government, and because of him I look at the entire government with more sympathy.
Recently Chris, Klara, their children, and I went on a trip to Hever Castle in London, which is where these wonderful photos are from.
Love,
Kristina
Thursday, December 9th, 2021
Prijateljstva za život
U Cambridgeu imam jednu krasnu malu obitelj prijatelja. Oca obitelji na ovom blogu zovemo Chris i do sada mu nisam rekla da je izabrao krivi pseudonim jer me uvijek podsjeća na jednog pokojnog prijatelja. Chris je Hrvat, rođen i odrastao u Parizu, ali korijeni su mu sa jednog od hrvatskih otoka. Baš zbog te hrvatske pripadnoati smo se prije nekih 7-8 godina upoznali na fakultetu na kojem oboje radimo. Chrisovu suprugu, koju cu ovdje zvati Klara, sam upoznala nešto kasnije. Chris mi je napomenuo da je njegova, tada djevojka, jako dobro naučila francuski, ali i hrvatski. Za francuski sam mu odmah povjerovala, ali za hrvatski sam si skeptično mislila “Da, svakako.” No Klara me jako ugodno iznenadila kad je progovorila hrvatski, priča tečno i točno sa tek tu i tamo nekom riječi hrvatskog nariječja sa Chrisovog otoka i to uvijek jako simpatično zvuči. Kad sam ju pitala na kojem jeziku želi da se dopisujemo na WhatsAppu odgovorila je “Ma ajmo na hrvatskom.”
Klara je Poljakinja i na njihovo vjencanje u Varšavi smo bile pozvane i ja i moja kćer. Vjenčanje i svadba su bili u hrvatsko-poljskom stilu uz muziku jednog poljskog benda koji je za tu priliku naučio tri hrvatske pjesme. Plesali smo čitavu noć i kad sam u 4 ujutro mojoj kćeri rekla da bi mogle na spavanje u čudu mi je rekla “Šta je tebi mama, pa imamom salu do 5.” Bend je zaista otišao u 5 ujutro, ali pjesma se nastavila. U 7 ujutro gledala sam svoju Saru kako u društvu Chrisa, njegove braće i nećakinja na plesnom podiju, zagrljena pjeva hrvatske pjesme.
Chris i Klara već imaju dvoje divne djece Lauru (3) I Filipa (5). Filip tečno priča četiri jezika, hrvatski i francuski sa tatom, poljski sa mamom, a engleski u školi i sa sestrom. Laura isto hvata polako sva četiri jezika, ali ona ih još dosta miješa i nekako joj je najvažnije nek’ je rekla, a malo manje kako.
Dok sam bila pušač Klara i Chris, kao i Klarin brat su mi redovito nosil znatno jeftinije cigarete iz Poljske. Znala sam da je Klaru smetalo to što sam pušila, ali ipak bila je prijatelj i konstantno mi pomagala. Chrisa smatram velikim čovjekom, mi bi još rekli ljudinom, i istinskim prijateljem koji mi je tokom nekih teških trenutaka uzrokovanih bolesti puno pomogao. Jednom sam mu prilikom rekla “Ti da nekad u životu nekog i ubiješ, ja bi te našla i došla bi ti u zatvor.” Chris ima i divnog brata koji je po funkciji pri samom vrhu trenutne hrvatske vlade i zbog njega na čitavu vladu gledam sa više simpatija.
Nedavno smo Klara, Chris, djeca i još neki prijatelji bili na jednom izletu u dvorcu Hever pored Londona pa su od tamo i ove krasne fotografije.
S ljubavlju,
Kristina
Četvrtak, 9. prosinca 2021.
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