Back Home

I've been back in the State now for over two weeks. The journey back was long and arduous, but much better than it could have been (I guess one can almost always say that). As I was leaving things were really heating up in the war between Israel and Lebanon. A lot of people were trying to leave there, so I was very conscious of how much more difficult my travel could have been.

I left Rijeka on Sunday morning, 16 July. Getting my two heavy suitcases and my heavy knapsack (with computer inside) from my apartment down several flights of stairs to the street was the first challenge. I took it bit by bit and bag by bag. Once on the street I realized that I was only 50 meters from the bus stop, so rather than wait for the taxi that might not come (in a half hour), I dragged everything down to the bus stop. This was easy since the bags both roll. Getting everything onto the bus was more of a challenge, and then getting it all off the bus was another challenge, but I did it. I took the big Greyhound type bus (Autotrans as it's known in Croatia) to Zagreb. It's about a two and a half to three hour ride and costs about $22. Once in Zagreb I took a taxi to my hotel, the only hotel near the airport. I received the embassy rate there, but it was still $130, the most I paid for a night's stay anywhere in Croatia. Since my flight was early Monday morning, it made sense to get there the day before and be in Zagreb to ensure getting to the airport on time. The hotel was fairly generic and in an industrial area with no restaurants or anything around it. I was supposed to go into the city to meet a friend that evening. But I was so tired and feeling out of sorts (I guess because of leaving), that I couldn't drag myself into town. I ended up sleeping for several hours and then just eating food I had with me instead of a proper dinner.

The next morning I was up at 5:00 am and left the hotel at 5:45 to get to the airport (by taxi). I had been warned that the Zagreb airport can have really long lines in the summer tourist months. And during previous days I had been seeing reports on Croatian television of long, long lines of cars backed up on the highways in Croatia because of the influx of tourists. They also showed long lines of tourists at the airport. But I must have gotten there just early enough, so in fact I got through the check-in process quite quickly and smoothly. My flight (Croatian Air) to Paris was delayed for some reason, but not for too long. So we got into Paris a half hour late. Luckily I had a three and a half hour layover. Charles de Gaulle airport was undergoing construction or remodeling or something, so I had to take two busses and walk quite a distance to get to my gate. It took almost two hours just to do the transit from my arriving flight to the departing one. But I made it on time and even had an hour before boarding the second leg of my flight. On the flight into Paris I had good views of the town and picked out the Eiffel Tower.

On the long flight between Paris and Detroit, I had a very good exit row (first row) seat, near the galley between business class and coach. It makes all the difference to have such a nice seat on such a long flight. Also, this Northwest flight happily had personal viewing screens at every seat, so you could watch whatever you wanted to continuously. I saw three full films, which made the time seem to go by faster. Once in Detroit (where I went for a few days before heading back home to Georgia because the flight was cheaper that way), I got my luggage and made it through customs pretty quickly. But unfortunately my mom misunderstood (or didn't listen) about where to pick me up. So after two days of tough travel (lugging around heavy bags, etc. from bus to taxi to to bus to taxi etc.), an eight hour transcontinental flight (producing jet lag), and a six hour time zone change, I was left waiting for someone to pick me up for two hours. It was not pleasant. My flight arrived around 11 pm Central European Time, 5 pm Eastern Standard Time. And I got picked up finally at 7 pm EST (which was now 1 am in the time zone I'd been living in). It was a truly miserable couple of hours, not only because I was so exhausted, but also because I was standing outside in 95 degree heat and in car exhaust (since so many cars pull up and idle in that arrivals area). Anyway, I was very happy once my mom and brother finally pulled up. Once I got to my sister's house (where my mom also lives), the whole family was there, and it was a nice reunion. I was still exhausted but I managed to find a second wind and stayed up to visit until about 9:30 pm (3:30 am in Europe).

In general I find it much easier to travel long distances going in a westerly direction, as time is gained rather than lost. I hate flights from America to Europe where you essentially completely lose a night. But on the other hand, I have such a strong internal rhythm that I tend to wake up around the same time no matter what. So as always when coming back from Europe I can't get myself to sleep in past about 4 am (10 am in Europe). Even that requires me to force myself to stay asleep. So the next morning in Detroit I was awake very early, by about 4:30 am. I forced myself to stay in my room and try to relax as long as possible because I did not want to wake up everyone else. My brother and his family were visiting from Arkansas, so there were people sleeping all over, in every room downstairs as well as all the bedrooms. But finally I went down to the basement, where my sister has a computer, and did some work on email. After about an hour of that, at around 6 am (Detroit time -- noon by my body's time), I was feeling the low blood sugar quivers. So I went up and rummaged as quietly as I could in the kitchen (which was open to two rooms where my brother and his wife were sleeping). I finally found some crackers and some guacamole and had a nice "lunch/breakfast" in the dark. And guacamole tasked pretty good--not the most common food in Croatia. It's light by 5 am in Croatia, but it was still mostly dark at 6 am in Detroit. Here in Georgia, it doesn't get light until almost 6:30, which I hate. I am an early riser and like the sun to be up as early as I am.

Gradually I have readjusted to this time zone. I spent three and a half days in Michigan and enjoyed being able to visit with family there. My aunt, uncle, cousin, niece, and sister-in-law were especially interested in seeing photos and listening to stories from Croatia. I arrived there Monday night and returned here to Georgia on Friday morning. My friend Doug picked me up at the airport in Atlanta (the same Doug who visited me in Croatia). We stopped at Costco on the way home -- there is no closer Costco to Milledgeville (and Doug loves shopping there). Trips to Atlanta almost always come with some kind of shopping stop for those of us in the backwater, small town of Milledgeville. Hotlanta is quite exciting for us. And although there were some big supermarkets in Croatia that I shopped at, there really is nothing quite like Costco. Is there anywhere in the world? Huge quantities of food and everything in bulk. You can't buy 3 bananas, but must buy bundles of 10 or more. You can't buy six bagels, but must buy a double bagged combo of 12 bagels. You can't buy a half pound of cheese, but must buy a 2 pound block that a family of 5 would have trouble getting through in a week or longer. You get the idea, big quantities only! And the stores themselves are huge -- gigantic shelves reaching up to very tall ceilings, piled with large quantities of everything from automotive supplies, to dog food, to shampoo (large sizes only!) to flashlights, to pretty good wines and sometimes good books and cd's and so on.

Overall I'm happy to be back -- not for Costco -- but just in general. Of course I feel a bit bittersweet as I miss Croatia and my friends and life there. But I have a pretty good life here too. It's nice to be back in my house, surrounded by a green, flowering neighborhood where I go for walks everyday. It's a joy to be back with my cats, who I imagine are happy to have me back too. And it's good to reconnect with all my friends here, though quite a few are actually out of town. It's our last gasp of summer, seeing as the semester here starts quite early. Classes begins August 16, and meetings start a week before that. I have been coming to the office everyday and working on writing projects and syllabi. I have also been doing work on my house and garden everyday. Happily I persuaded my housesitter to plant some tomatoes for me, but they are not doing so well. So this morning I weeded, hoed, fertilized, and replanted a few of them. I have also been trimming bushes, repotting decorative plants, and doing a lot of inside cleaning. But there is always more to do.

Now that my actual "Travels in Croatia" (as this blog is titled) are over, I'm not sure how much more I will write here. But I will probably keep posting entries from time to time. Perhaps I will have to re-title the blog as time goes on. Thanks for reading.

Photo at Mrzla Vodica

Ancestral Village -- Mrzla Vodica

My final days here have been rewarding in terms of seeking out family ties. On Thursday my landlord called the church in Lokve for me (at my request) to ask if, since I would be there the next day, I could look through the registries of births, etc. to look for our family records. The priest told him that in fact all the records are held in the archives in Rijeka! So here they have been, practically across the street from where I work, all this time. If I had figured this out earlier I could have looked through many more records. As is, I only had time to look through the birth records up to 1902 before the office closed Thursday (at 1 pm). And since the plan was to visit Mrzla Vodica on Friday, which was my last day here when the archives are open, those three hours I spent in the archives on Thursday are the only ones I will have. I did not really know what I was doing, though my cousin Cathy, who works in genealogy, did help me somewhat through email advice. I found many of our ancestors’ births recorded, through the Milosevic and Kosmac lines. The people who work at the archives were very helpful and nice. The director gave me a collection of Croatian short stories in English and told me that one of the writers therein married a woman from Lokve with whom he had a daughter (Dora) who became Pablo Picasso’s lover.

Then yesterday, Friday, I finally made it to Mrzla Vodica, the ancestral village of my paternal grandmother’s parents. My neighbor Jadranka drove me there at my request (I paid her what it would have cost for a rental car). We both enjoyed the outing to the mountains on another very hot day. Mrzla Vodica, which means, little frozen (or very cold) water, is situated in the mountains. The houses all line up along a few very windy, mountain roads. And near the “center” is a lovely lake. Well, it seemed like two lakes actually, though they are connected. It is an extremely pretty place, a very green, resort type town. But it doesn’t have the infrastructure of resort towns, no store, restaurant, post-office, etc. There was a café right at the lake. And this seems to be something of a “center” in the village.

I asked Jadranka (the neighbor who drove me) to ask some men we saw outside the café about whether there were any Kosmac or Milosevic people living here, and they (the men we asked) were really nice. The first man wondered out loud about the names, so another man standing nearby came and offered his input. It was all in Croatian so I did not really understand. But they immediately indicated where the Milosevic household was. But they were puzzled by Kosmac. Finally I kind of spelled it for them, and the one man said “Oh, Kosmac!” (with a different pronunciation of the “o” sound). Then he remembered where that family lived too. So we were told to go first find the Milosevic household, though they said that the last Milosevic, Anna, died 20 years ago. Nonetheless we found the house (everyone we met on the road and asked knew where it was). It was toward one end of the village. We talked to the neighbors, who said the children of Anna live in Rijeka. She gave me their numbers. We then went to see the church in town (on top of a steep hill), but it was closed. Then we met one of the men from the café, who offered to take us around to the Kosmac woman and the cemetery. We found graves of Milosevic and Kosmac, but only recent graves. There were no graves older than about 50 years old in that cemetery, which I later learned is typical. If a grave is ignored for 20 years, it is simply removed and re-used (I’m not sure exactly how but that is how Jadranka translated what a woman near one cemetery told us).

We then went to find the Kosmac relative, but at first the man helping us spoke to her and told us we had to go ask another woman if she had really been a Kosmac. He said she couldn’t remember for sure what her maiden name had been!! I think maybe she was just wary of talking to strangers. Anyway, another neighbor reputed to have a good memory told us that yes, she was definitely a Kosmac. So we went back and this time she spoke to us. Eventually she invited us in for a drink, so we spoke to her for maybe a half hour. But unfortunately she spoke no English, and I was getting very little translation of what they talked about. Also I did not have a chance (or a way) to ask many questions. Later Jadranka told another neighbor, who’s English is better, some of the things she said, and he told me. I had told Jadranka to tell her the story that I’d heard from my grandmother that the Milosevic family were rich and the Kosmach family were poor. So when my great-grandmother wanted to marry a Kosmach, her family disowned her. In fact, I thought that was why they moved to the States. Nada, this apparently distant cousin, confirmed these facts. She said originally the Kosmaches were very poor and had only a little piece of land (which is on the opposite side of town from the Milosevic family, and in fact in a separate village called “Zelin Mrzla Vodica” or Green Little Frozen Water). Nada told us that little by little the Kosmac family bought more adjoining land and prospered a little better. It seems that both the family names have more or less died out because most of the children (in my grandmother’s family too) were women, so their names changed when they married. It was nice to meet Nada and see these places. I can’t say she seemed overly interested in me, but maybe she found it all a bit odd, and she was friendly. At one point she told me I could buy land there if I wanted to, but I did not express much interest (the translation was a little hard to follow), so that's as far as that went. We exchanged phone numbers, and I also gave her my email address. So we’ll see if I ever hear from her or her family again.

We also went to the church in Lokve (the bigger town nearby where everyone goes for any business). We drove around a little and located the church, but it was locked (as Croatian churches often are). We asked a man about finding the cemetery, and he told us to find the priest, which we did in a marked house nearby. He gave us the keys to go inside the church, so I got to see and take pictures of that. We also checked the Lokve cemetery for graves, but as in Mrzla Vodica, they are all fairly recent, and I did not find any of our family names.

Anyway, it was overall a very fun day to see this place where ancestors lived and some relatives still do. I think life is pretty hard there in the village. Nada and the man who was helping us look around both talked about how hard life always was there, and that many people had emigrated to the States as a result. They said most people don't live there year round anymore. In fact a student of mine from Lokve said there are only about ten people who live there (Mrzla Vodica) year round. The rest who own houses there just come now for weekends or vacations in the summer. It is cool up there in the mountains, and it's quite close to a national park (Risnjak). I felt chilly when we got there about 8:30 am. We left here at 8 am, so that tells you how close it is to Rijeka. But as soon as we got near Rijeka it was back to blazing heat.

Now I am packing and discarding all the stuff I have accumulated or brought here, but don’t want to bring back. I dread dragging all my luggage to Zagreb tomorrow and then the airport Monday morning. I have to take public transportation for all this. So I’ll get a taxi to the bus station here, a bus to Zagreb, another taxi to my hotel, then another taxi the next morning to the airport. This is the less pleasant face of travel. But I do look forward to being back.

Names, Language, and Leaving

Things here are still very hot, making it hard to go out and tour and do what I need to (to prepare to leave). But I'm slogging on. Yesterday I mailed a box (mostly books) back to the States. It was about 25 pounds. I lugged it to the bus stop nearest my house, took the bus into town to the stop nearest the only post office you can send heavy packages from (over two kilos). Then I carried it from the bus stop there to the post office, leaving me sore and sweating, and this was before 9 am. It cost $100 to send this package via the "slow" route. And they made me repack everything in a box I bought from them and that I'm doubtful will make it intact. I hope I see those books again!

From there I went to pay the electric bill, always a challenge here. You write down your own number from the meter in your house, go to the electric company, stand in a long line, give your information to one woman who puts it into a computer and prints out a bill for you. Then you go to another line to pay another woman. From there (on the other side of town), I walked to the center to pay the last phone bill (also a long wait). When I finished and walked into work it was after 11 am and I was completely sweaty, drained, dehydrated, and dirty.

This is just to give you an idea of life here this last week in the country. There are lots of people I’d like to see and things I’d like to do. But each outing takes a lot out of me because of the heat. I think I’m actually allergic to the sun, as I broke out in hives almost two weeks ago. After benadryl, cortisone cream, and dosing up on calcium (recommended by the pharmacist here), I am feeling better. I also take more care to always use sunblock. But what a drag to be allergic to sun in this sunny weather. No more trips to beaches.

One of the things I’ve been meaning to write about for a while are names here. I’m not claiming any expertise in the language, but I have enjoyed learning what little I have and hearing it spoken. Croatian is a Slavic language, which makes it similar to Russian and other Eastern European languages (the way Spanish and Italian and French are similar). It strikes me as a fairly melodic, appealing language, with lots of sh, ch, zh, z, nj, lj, and short vowel sounds. The letter “r” is rolled and the only sort of guttural sound is very lightly made for the letter “h” (as in thank you, “hvala”). Some of the phrases you hear most often are “Dobar dan!” (good day) “Bog!” (for hello & goodbye – based on the word for god), “mozhe”( maybe not spelled that way but my computer doesn’t have Croatian letters – a z with a mark over it to make the z a “zh” sound – means something like “you can,” or “it’ll work”), “molim” (please, also used for hello on the phone), “da” (yes), and “ne” (no). Overall Croatian has a soft and rolling sound. A linguist I work with just told me that this is probably because it contains a lot of palatal sounds, which are indicated with marks when written in Croatian. I'm not including marks here because I don't think they'd show up well.

People here are very polite in their speech too, from what I can tell. So you rarely hear people shouting. And people always greet each other coming and going (“Dobar dan” . . . “Doviđenja” – the phonetic spelling would be dovidjenya -- for goodbye). People greet each other politely even if they are relative strangers. For instance, when I’ve been eating lunch in a room with strangers, say three of us sitting at different tables, when one finishes and leaves, she’ll say a quiet “dovijenya” to the other two of us, and we say it back. Also, people are often assuring each other that things are okay – “Mozhe! Mozhe!” And if you say “pardon” or “oprostite” (sorry) if you bump someone, they are likely to respond, “Ne, nishta!” (No, it’s nothing). Also my favorite phrase is "Nema problema," which means as you might expect, "No problem."

Anyway, names are also quite different from English and interesting and appealing. In general it seems many female names end in “a,” so you have Marija (the version of my name, Mary, as “y” is never used in Croatian – instead it’s “j” – so this is pronounced Maria). There’s also Irena, Dasha, Masha, Natasha, Sasha (though none of those are spelled that way – the “sh” is replaced by an “s” with a line over it), Branka, Slavenka, Maja, Monica, Dora, Ivana, Danica (pronounced Danizza, with an ending like pizza), Sintija (like Cynthia), Jelena, Olga, Mojca, Susana, Anita, Laura, Melanija, and probably a hundred more women’s names that end in “a.” There are also some women’s names ending in other ways, like Neli.

Men’s names in contrast seem to often end in “o.” So I’ve met people named Darko, Dubravko, Vinko, Matko, Zlatko, and so on. But there are also names ending in consonants, like Goran, Kristian, Boris, Marin, Josip, Tomislav, Davor, Antun, Zvonimir, Petar, Vid, and Silvestar. And I’ve also met a few men whose names end in “a,” like Sinisha, Borna, Drashka, and Nikola.

These have all been first names. Last names are more of a challenge, since Croatian letters are unfamiliar (to me), and often seem to make names harder to pronounce. So there are many “c,” “s” and “z” letters with accents on them, making them different from how they look at first glance to an American. Croatian names that are written in English tend to be written differently (anglicized), so Jankovic is written Yankovich in English. Or we pronounce Croatian names wrong. So Monica Seles’ last name actually should be pronounced “Selesh.”

Trieste, Italy

I met two Italian friends for the weekend in Trieste. Barbara and Simone and I met a few years ago in Sweden, when I spent a summer teaching there. I lived in a “university guest house” where Simone also lived, and his girlfriend Barbara visited while we were there. It was a great place to live as a visiting faculty member because a variety of visiting scholars from all over the world shared this beautiful mansion. We all had our own rooms and bathrooms and shared common areas (kitchens, living room, garden, etc.). Barbara and Simone became good friends then, so it was great to see them again and to combine it with a visit to Trieste (which Simone also never saw before).

Trieste is in Italy but over the centuries it has belonged to and been influenced by various other cultures, like the Slavs and Austro-Hungarians. But it felt more Italian than Slavic to me, though maybe that’s because I’ve been living in a Slavic country and haven’t been to Italy in 18 years. It’s a large (250,000) industrial port city, somewhat like Rijeka. But it’s much bigger. It also has seafront areas that are not just industrial (unlike Rijeka). We started out our tour at the top, on the originally settled hill where you now get a good overview. There is a beautiful church (cathedral I think) up there and ruins of an old basilica. The church was built on the site of an old Roman temple and has parts dating back to the 3rd century, though most of the current edifice is 1000 to 700 years old I think. There are beautiful mosaics and decorative details in the arches of the nave.

There’s also a castle nearby, but it was closed for renovation. We then wandered down the hill toward the center. Along the way we saw a few more churches and an old Roman amphitheater that was apparently just discovered recently (20 years ago) during construction in that part of town. It’s also being renovated. Eventually we made it to the big town square or piazza, which is huge and surrounded on three sides by impressive 19th century buildings, town hall, cafes, palaces, and businesses, all with decorative facades. There is also a big fountain toward one end of the square. The fourth side of the square is open to the sea. We read that it’s the largest seaside square in Europe.

James Joyce lived in this part of the world for much of his life, first in Pula (in Istria, Croatia), then in Trieste. So we went into one of the cafés on the square, which is quite famous for artists and writers who frequented it, but the waiter told us it was not one of Joyce’s haunts (though he mentioned other writers who patronized them including Hemingway). We later sat down at a café on the canal and saw a plaque proclaiming that Joyce used to frequent it. We then read in our guide books that this café was one of his regular spots, though not the main one. It was fun to be sitting at a “Joyce café,” drinking the local "apperitif" (a mixture of wine, seltzer, and some bitter orange liquor). We had nice views of the canal and heard a concert from some group that set up on square in front of a church nearby. There’s also a statue of Joyce nearby walking along the bridge over the canal (he’s holding a book). We walked all along the canal and visited an orthodox church there. It's the biggest orthodox church I've seen, very decorated and impressive. We had delicious pizza for dinner that night in a nearby restaurant. We stayed in a pensione near the train and bus stations.

On Sunday we visited Miramar, the estate the Austro-Hungarian emperor Franz Josef built for himself just outside Trieste on the sea. We took the bus there before 9 am on a Sunday morning and were surprised to find the bus very crowded. Barbara and I remarked about how odd it seemed for a bus to be so crowded early on a Sunday morning. I said maybe they’re all going to church, and she agreed. She noticed that most of the people on the bus were elderly. I do remember thinking they did not look dressed for church. Anyway, eventually the bus goes along the sea for a few miles and the route ends at Miramar. As we got near the sea, Barbara told me all those people were going to the beach (she’d heard them talking). And sure enough each seaside stop for a mile or more saw numbers of people getting off the bus with their bags of towels and so on for a day on the seashore. From the bus we saw hordes of people already packing the “beaches.” Mostly people were lying out in parks and on concrete walkways along the sea. I’m not sure there is a “beach” per se. I think, rather, that the coast is all rocky like in Croatia. But huge numbers of apparently mostly older people enjoyed spending their Sunday lying out on this “beach.” Barbara and I both found it amusing that we assumed all the old people were going to church when in fact they were going to the beach.

Miramar itself is a lovely estate, like a palace on the sea with huge gardens and wilderness areas. In fact the world wildlife fund has owned the place for over 20 years. The house has been restored so that most rooms have original furnishings and décor. It’s not a huge, huge mansion, like, say, Biltmore in North Carolina (which I think is the biggest house in the U.S. and was built around the same time), but it is quite impressive. The best part, I thought, are all the views of the sea. From there, we made our way back to town and said goodbye before too long, as I had an early bus back to Rijeka (they took the train a few hours later). We left early to get back home in time to see the world cup finals. Of course you know that Italy won. So I was in Italy on the day (though not the hour) when they won the world cup. In fact I was in Italy the last time they won the world cup in 1982. I had just finished a year abroad in France and was traveling through Italy with my mom. It was a lot of fun to be there then because the whole country seemed to pour out into the streets to dance, laugh, run around with flags, and celebrate.

Photos (Plitivice Falls, Istria)

Heat

It's been extremely hot and humid here lately. Some places nearby (Bosnia) have hit 40 degrees celcius, though here it's "only" in the 30's (80's to 90's farenheit). Those temps feel different here from say Georgia, which gets even hotter, because air-conditioning is rarely used. So you never get a break from it. It reminds me of Africa (I lived in Senegal for a few years as a Peace Corp Volunteer). I do have air-conditioning in one room at home, and though I thought I wouldn't, I have been turning it on a little -- even slept in that room the last few nights. But at work now I'm sweating like crazy even with the windows open and a fan blowing. The relentless heat, and having to walk a lot in it (and traveling in it), is leaving me kind of perpetually just a little nauseous -- also like in Africa -- though it was much worse there (and for a whole two years). Plus I had to deal with being sick from parasites and malaria and other illness in Senegal, which is not at all the case here. So really it's not so much like Africa, just slightly reminiscent because of the heat.

I was traveling a lot in this heat because for much of the last week some friends (Doug and Gunda) were visiting. They had a car, so we were able to drive to some places I would otherwise not have been able to see. In addition to Istria, which I have described in a previous post, we saw Senj and Rab Island, and the last day Doug and I went to Plitivice National Park, which has a series of beautiful lakes and waterfalls. It was great, though also hot there. There is a series of paths and wooden walkways built so that you can walk quite close to and over the water, even right over some of the falls. So spray sometimes hits you refreshingly while you enjoy the sights and hike the trails. The water in the lakes is a strikingly bright and clear turqouise blue. There are tons of little fish that hang out right near the paths, probably because tourists feed them. Doug bent down near the water once and they all swam up to him and then even after he stood up and started walking again they kept following him and looking at him for food. You can't swim in the lakes. But we bought some pastries from a woman at a stand near the park entrance (spinach and cheese strudel), and she told us a place nearby to swim. So we went there. It was very cold, very clear water (the same as in the lakes) at this site, which was really just a slightly damned up part of the river, with a very deep pool surrounded by more shallow places, and even some waterfalls there (and an old mill). Apart from us, it was all Croatians taking advantage of the place, enjoying the coolness of the water on that hot, hot day.

It's too bad more people haven't come to visit me here. Doug and I were commenting one day about how little people in the U.S. expect of Croatia and how shocked they often are to learn how beautiful and interesting it is. Germans do know how great Croatia is, so Doug's friend Gunda was very excited to see and swim in the Adriatic and so on. In fact many Europeans come here for vacation. Well, Americans do too now. It's supposedly the hottest destination in Europe for Americans this year (according to Lonely Planet). Yet most people I told I was going to Croatia had a response more like, "Why would anyone want to go there?"

Before I came I thought I would definitely travel to Italy and Slovenia (neighboring countries), but in fact I feel like I've been traveling almost non-stop (or so it feels) and haven't even seen everything in Croatia, though I have seen a lot. There simply has not been time or really much reason to leave Croatia. There is so much to see here. The only thing left I'm really hoping to see is my great-grand-parents' ancestral village, for which I'll have to rent a car one day. Happily it's in a mountainous area that will likely be more cool. I probably won't make it to other countries, though some Italian friends have offered to meet me in Venice for a day trip. I think I can get there in three hours or so and back home in the same day. So I may do that next weekend. It's so hot right now though, that spending maybe six to eight hours traveling plus trying to sightsee in between is not that appealing. Maybe it will cool off.

I still have one set of papers to grade. Grades are due next week (for my class anyway). One of the things I did here was hook up all the students in my folklore class with American penpals from GCSU (and my nieces & nephew since there weren't enough American volunteers). That seems to have been popular, though not without problems (addresses that don't work, some who don't respond -- on both sides). Anyway, only now are most of them really starting to get their converstations going.

The World Cup is kind of fun to watch here (soccer), especially when Croatia was playing. Half the people you'd see on the street would be dressed up in the colors of the flag and in full party mode on the days when Croatia played. But Croatia did not make it through the first round. Nor did the U.S., nor did anyone unexpected -- other than major powers -- at least now for the quarter finals. But all the games are played on Croatian TV (on which there are only four national channels).

Beautiful Istria

I have had the good fortune to be able to spend a few days in Istria, the peninsula to our West that I've heard so much about as a beautiful area, full of seaside Italian villages and hilltop, walled, medieval towns. It is a green and inviting place. A nice woman I met through the ethnology society in Zagreb invited me to visit her there. First I took the bus to meet her in Pazin. She works at the museum there, which is in an old castle overlooking a chasm or “pit.” This pit inspired Jules Verne to write one of his books, though he himself never visited there. The mayor only sent him pictures, but there is nonetheless a Jules Verne society in Pazin today. On the other side of the museum/castle from the pit are lovely views of rolling green countryside. There is also an impressive church. I had a good visit at the museum, guided by Olga (my host), who especially works in textile arts, which are among my favorites. So she explained well the process of preparing the thread, the loom, and then weaving. I met the director of the museum as well and had a good talk with her. Then Olga drove me around the region. On the drive we took it became obvious that the Istrian interior is more green and the hills and valleys are more distinct than what I’ve seen elsewhere in Croatia.

We went to Buzin from Pazin, where there is a little chapel with 15^th century frescoes still quite well preserved. We got a woman who is the keeper of the keys to open it for us and she explained the images. From Buzin we drove to Motovun, site of an annual film festival much like Sundance. It’s perched on a high hill commanding a spectacular view of the surrounding hills and fields. We walked all around the walls, visited the church and soaked in the atmosphere of the lovely, old (14^th century) cobblestone streets. From there we drove to Groznjan, another hilltop, walled, medieval village. In both Motovun and Groznjan most of the residents had left by the mid 20^th century. So the government offered properties in both places to artists, who set up studios and eventually have brought the two towns back to life. In general, every town we saw in interior Istria seemed to have many artists, so you often see interesting sculptures and other modern art mixed in with the more ancient stuff. Truly post-modern.

Olga’s friend directs an international program for young musicians that is centered in Groznjan, so we met her there and all had a drink. We then met some other Americans there, one a teacher in the group (Jeunesses Musicales International), and another professor (from California) and his wife, who is Croatian originally. We all had dinner on an outdoor terrace overlooking beautiful views. Late that night Olga and I drove back to Rovinj, the town on the coast where she lives.

Rovinj is often described as the loveliest or most appealing town in Croatia, very like an Italian fishing village. So I was happy to be able to spend the next day wandering around there while Olga went to work in Pazin. One part of Rovinj rises steeply from the seaside path to a peak where you’ll find the big Cathedral of Saint Euphemia. From there a cobblestone street (one of many such) descends to the central square, right on the harbor full of sail boats. Along this street many artists have things for sale, most of it touristy junk like ashtrays made of seashells or mediocre paintings. There were a few good artists, including one well known “naïve” artist. But her work was quite expensive.

It was very pleasant to just wander the streets in Rovinj. Many little alleys, streets, and seaside points offer rewarding views. But it was also very full of tourists. In fact of all the places I went in Istria, this was by far the most crowded with tourists (in spite of contrary information from the guide books that this would be true of Porec). But when I was in Porec it was virtually empty compared to Rovinj. Perhaps as a result, the merchants in Rovinj were quite aggressive, more so than anywhere else I have been in Croatia. So I had people calling to me and then getting mad at me if I just walked by without stopping to look more closely at their wares. I also tried to bargain for a few things, but mostly the merchants were unwilling to lower their price by even a few kunas, unlike most other places in Croatia. Late that afternoon I met Olga and her boss from the museum (whom I’d met the day before) for coffee and then dinner. We ate in a nice little place on an atmospheric side street overlooking the sea. I had gnocchi with truffles, both specialties of the region of Istria.

The next day was a holiday in Istria, so Olga did not have to work and offered to take me to Porec, which is meant to have the most beautiful church around. On the way there we stopped at the ruins of yet another walled city on top of a hill. This one satisfied my appetite for ruins, which I think I explained in a previous post as having to do with an appealing mixture of architecture and nature. In Porec itself the main attraction is the Euphrasian Basilica, a beautiful 6^th century church with glittering, golden mosaics reminiscent (to me) of San Marco’s in Rome (though only over the altar here as opposed to the whole church). The guide books say it’s more reminiscent of Ravenna in Italy, though I haven’t been there. There is a whole complex here (not just a church), with baptistery and a courtyard in between, a bishop’s palace (with a garden), and a museum. In various places you can also see mosaics dating back to the fourth century. The whole places is appealing, with many other nice architectural details besides just the mosaics.

We also wandered the streets of Porec, which as I noted, were surprisingly free of tourists (apparently there are quite a few huge tourist hotels nearby Porec). It may have been less crowded that day because (according to one merchant) there had been a shooting in town that morning. In fact we could not get to the ethnography museum because that area was taped off and police were still investigating the scene. We even saw a taped outline of a body on the street there. But what we were able to see of Porec was quite nice, typically blending lovely cobblestone, narrow, winding streets with views of the sea and old architecture. We had a good lunch in Porec, gnocchi again for me, before heading on back to Rovinj for me to catch a bus home.

On the way back from Porec to Rovinj, Olga stopped along the road (full of roadside stands selling wine, truffles, and honey to tourists), to show me a great view of a river valley known as “fjords” because of geographical resemblances. The bus ride from Rovinj to Rijeka seemed long, at three and a half hours, but with many great views, especially as we came to the eastern coast of Istria which melded into that Kvarner bay. Amazingly I met up with another Fulbrighter (Bess from Zagreb) at the bus station in Rovinj--amazing in terms of being a coincidence. She had come to Istria for a few days too with her friend Vera and was taking a bus to Pula (the same bus that then goes on to Rijeka--where I was going). So we rode together for the first few hours.

The next day a friend from home (Doug who has posted many comments here) arrived with his German friend Gunda (with a car). They are here for a week. Since they also were interested in seeing Istria, we went back, this time to Pula, which is especially notable for the giant first century Roman amphitheatre there. To me the most interesting fact about this is it’s a huge amphitheatre that seats 20,000 people, but the town was never bigger than 5,000 people. So it’s a mystery why such a large arena was needed. Today there are classical and pop music concerts held there at nights in the summer. I looked into getting tickets and going to one of these, but it seems like it is not to be.

In Pula there are also Roman walls, arches, mosaics, a temple, and various interesting churches, many of which we visited. This town too is on the sea. We were meant then to visit this woman I’d met in Groznjan since her work coordinates well with Doug’s. But we got lost, so we ended up on the road to Rijeka and never made it to Groznjan that day, unfortunately. But we noticed that a slight detour would take us to a couple of interesting sounding places, so we visited Roc, another hilltop town with walls and apparently an amazing musical tradition (playing accordion like instruments). During their festival apparently all (20-30) residents join in and play. There the tourist agency woman opened a few churches for us and showed up some Glagolitic script in one little church and old frescoes in another. She also recommended this “Glagolitic Road” that winds from Roc to Hum, which we thus drove along. Glagolitic script is a form of Croatian writing from the middle ages that people are very proud of today (though it is no longer used). I think there is an academy in Roc that teaches it and there are many examples of it that exist in the region. So this lovely country road is a monument to that script. Along its seven kilometers a sculptor in the 20^th century erected a series of stone monuments all commemorating the script (often these sculptures were stone blocks somehow in the shape of the letter or with some of the letters engraved on them). I found it quite appealing.

At the end of the trail one is rewarded with Hum, which bills itself as the smallest village in the world (8 to 30 inhabitants). It’s another gem of a town on top of a hill. I feel like I’m just using the same superlatives and descriptive words over and over, because all of these places are so nice and interesting. They are also similar to each other and yet quite distinct. Hum is small, and hilly with cobblestone streets, many interesting architectural details (like little stone arches between buildings and over a road), and an interesting old church, and also striking and alluring modern details added by sculptors, like some impressive, new, sculpted brass doors on one very old barn like structure, and a newer wall in the fashion of the older walls overlooking an especially appealing view. This new wall had little niches built into it for flowers and other plants to grow right in the wall. And there were openings as though there were holes in it through which one could see the countryside. There were also many lovely flowers and plants, like a huge and fragrant rose tree in one courtyard. And lovely views of the hilly, green countryside abound.

In addition to all this beauty in terms of nature and architecture, Istria is known for its wine, its pasta, its truffles (though this is not truffle season), and of course its seafood. It’s no wonder that so many tourists flock there.

Travel Advertisements

On BBC World (a news channel like CNN) and other international channels (like CNN International and Eurosport), there are not many commercials, and those they have seem to be limited to things that are travel oriented. So you don’t find commercials for products like clothes, household goods, cars or other such things. Instead the commercials are about places of the world they entice you to visit, or possibly about ways of getting to those places (e.g. advertisements for airlines). I find these advertisements interesting for a couple of reasons. First they each seem to look for a hook including a slogan to get people interested in the country or airline. Secondly, there are only a handful of places that advertise over and over. They are perhaps less developed countries, maybe those that depend on tourism. So there are ads for Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, Croatia, and Montenegro, but also UAE and New Zealand. I have seen no ads for Western Europe, Northern Europe, Asia or the Americas. It may just be that in this part of the world they play ads geared to the Mediterranean (with a few other places like New Zealand thrown in). But I have not seen any ads for Italy, France, or Spain, which one might think would fit the Mediterranean theme, nor for other places in North Africa (besides Egypt). Maybe elsewhere they play very different travel ads. Or maybe only countries largely dependent on tourism pay for these advertisements.

Anyway, I thought I’d share some of the highlights of some of the more memorable of the slogans and a few other details of these ads. What they indicate about the nature of tourism and travel I will leave for us all to consider.

New Zealand: “100% pure escape,” and “100% New Zealand” flashes in writing on the screen at various points, to a song with the repeating lyric, “You’ve been waiting, you’ve been waiting for so long” all while they show endlessly beautiful scenes of mountains, forests, oceans, and lakes, and young, beautiful people looking like they’re having a great time there (one scene shows them being welcomed by Maoris on the beach – who are happily offering them fresh seafood).

Egypt: “Egypt’s Red Sea Riviera, where the sun always shines, every day of every year.” This comes after they show many scenes of scuba diving, swimming (with dolphins), many beautiful women in bathing suits sitting by pools or walking on beach. One very tanned woman in a striking white suit and very high heals saunters along the beach – you see only her body, no head.

Greece: “Live your myth!” is flashed on the screen at the end after many scenes of various people (some Greek, some tourists, some combinations) dancing happily to lively, traditional music in various interesting settings – on boats, in villages, in restaurants with flaming food being served, etc.

Croatia: “The Mediterranean as it once was” is announced after many scenes of various lovely coastal towns (Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar) and islands, along with scenes of people swimming in the aqua blue waters, scuba diving (and finding interesting undersea artifacts), sailing, etc. I rather like this ad, though I’ve heard a few Croatian people say how sick they are of it.

Others of which I remember fewer details include: Cyprus (showing beaches and towns), Emirates (showing high rise luxury hotels on beaches), Montenegro (showing mountains and dramatic coastlines), Maldives (with the slogan “the sunny side of life”).

Airlines advertisements I remember include the following examples.

Turkish Air has one that states, “The skies are changing” as they kind of morph a floral pattern common in pottery there into an airplane. A man with a very deep voice and a slight accent makes the slow pronouncement about change.

Air France has a trendy couple lounging beside a cool pool with soft but insistent, kind of synthetic background music. The woman dives in just as the beeping noise of an airplane announcement signals and says to “prepare your seat for landing.” She sleekly climbs out of the pool as the water therein tilts to one side (as though it’s in an airplane which is turning), back into her lounging chair, which is meant to represent her airline seat. She and her cool male companion glance at each other in self satisfaction in their seats.

Also many Asian airlines have ads that typically show beautiful, smiling, serene looking Asian women standing by watching and ready to cater to the every whim of (typically) a middle aged white man lounging in a luxurious airline seat. Usually they show only one passenger on the airplane, this man who seems to have a virtual bedroom to himself, with the Asian woman there to attend to his needs.

Delta shows a bear and wolf sanctuary and then people sleeping in comfortable seats while beautiful women prepare wine for them and close their shades. It flashes “bear sanctuary” and “wolf sanctuary” on the screen (with nice pictures of bear and wolves in their snowy habitats) before you even know what the ad is for. Then you see people looking very relaxed in their airplane seats while beautiful women attend to their needs.

The idea of airplanes as sanctuaries, swimming pools, or bedrooms, places that are quiet, serene, and tended over by beautiful women is the common theme, it seems.

Emirates Airlines also has a series of ads right now focusing on football (meaning soccer in American terms), showing white and Arab or African people interacting by playing football together. The slogan is “We all speak one language” (meaning football). You don't know the ad is for an airline until the very end.

Photos from Mljet, Dubrovnik, Kotor (2) and Dubrovnik (museum)

More on Dubrovnik and Region

Now I am back in Rijeka as of a few hours ago -- the Marko Polo ferry, named after the historical figure who is by the way from the lovely Croatian island of Korćula, which I saw from the ferry twice on this trip, pulled into Rijeka with its load of weary tourists at 7 am. I had a cabin again this time on the 21 hour ferry ride. A Slovenian man I met on this leg of the trip, Sylvester, told me that these ferries (the Marko Polo and the Liburnija, which I took in April to Split) are the same ferries that have been in use since the old Yugoslavia, 40-70 years old. And they do show their age. For instance in the cabin I had last night there was an awful lot of rattling all night long, and I heard other passengers saying the same thing as we waited to pull into dock this morning.

My remaining time in Dubrovnik and region was enjoyable and inspiring. I went to Mljet on Monday, an island near Dubrovnik that is a national park. Like national parks everywhere I guess, it was full of lovely views of nature, including two little salt water "lakes" (really inlets connecting through a narrow channel to the sea), lots of trees and other vegetation (many flowers this time of year), and the mountains that are a ubiquitous part of the Croatian coast and islands. There are also some interesting little towns, like Polače, where our catamaran docked, that has ruins of a Roman settlement right in the middle of the town (the main road goes through the arch created by them).

And the jewel of Mljet, in my opinion is the islet of St. Mary of the Hill in the "big lake." Here is a Benedictine Monastery (including it's limestone church with colorfully decorated -- painted -- altars), the ruins of an older church, a couple of little chapels, and foot paths through it all. You can walk all around this islet and get spectacular views of the turquoise to deep green waters, the mountains and trees, various interesting vegetation (huge alo vera plants, wild and cultivated flowers, pine and palm trees, lavender, sage, etc.) and stylistic architecture. Paths circle near the little tiny chapels (just large enough for a little altar and shrine and maybe four people maximum to squeeze in), up to the ruins (being excavated) and down to the seaside. There are a few cafes on the island too, where the boats dock. The boats are part of the park. You get a free ride to and from the islet with your park entrance ticket (which costs about $17). The one less-than-ideal scene on the island that day, though, was a donkey tied up near the top whose leg was all mangled (bloody and bandaged). When I saw him he was lying there looking pitiful and I remain haunted by that image of his suffering. But other people on the catamaran going back to Dubrovnik said they saw him standing and eating and looking not too bad (though we all noticed his leg -- you couldn't help it).

After my time on the islet soaking up mostly beauty, I rented a bike and biked around much of the "big lake" for a few hours. Tourists were biking away (and hiking and canoeing) everywhere, some with their own bikes, some with rented bikes (or rented canoes). It's been a while since I biked so far and over bumpy (gravelly) roads, so I was sore and had a headache by the end. But it did give me some good perspectives on the park. I also sat by the "little lake" for a while where some people were swimming. Actually people were swimming all over the island's beaches, but it was too cold for me (and I did not bring a suit).

By the way, Mljet is thought to be the island where Odysseus holed up for a while with Calypso. And it's also thought to be "Mileta," the island where St. Paul was shipwrecked and bitten by a serpant before continuing on to Rome. According to my guide book, the island was once plagued by snakes until they imported the mongoose from India. Supposedly you can still see the creatures (mongoose), though I did not see any while I was there.

Later that afternoon I hiked along the road back to the spot where the bus took me back to the town where the boat was docked. All in all, through walking, hiking, and biking, I had an active day filled with lovely scenery. While waiting for the ferry I had an early dinner on the balcony of a restaurant that had a TV set up there to play a soccer game (Australia vs Japan) from the world cup. World cup fever has hit all of Europe and probably much of the world. The day Croatia played (Tuesday), half the Croatian people I saw that day were dressed up in country colors (shirts, hats, etc.) that look like part of the Croatian flag (like a red and white checkerboard). And they were joyous in their revelry, blowing horns, waving flags in front of tourists faces, etc. Sadly, they had to play Brazil in their first game and lost. On the catamaran back to Dubrovnik from Mljet, we watched the game on the boat playing then (U.S. vs. the Czech Republic), so I saw the U.S. lose their first game rather ingloriously.

Tuesday I spent exploring Dubrovnik more, particularly a number of churches and museums, like the ethnography museum. One especially interesting thing there (to me) was some art made out of palm fronds (like the kind you get on palm Sunday) -- the fronds are woven and twisted into beautifully patterned designs. My Croatian grandmother (born in the U.S., but parents from Croatia) used to do that and teach us how to every year at Easter time. I never knew it was a folk custom that came from Croatia until I saw this display of similar art in this ethnography museum.

That afternoon I took a bus to Cavtat, a nearby coastal town that has a lovely sea front, but it is overrun with tourists. Well, most places in that region are overrun by tourists, but maybe since Cavtat is smaller, it seemed even fuller of tourists and tourist oriented businesses. I did walk up many steps to a cemetery where Ivan Mestrovič (famous sculptor) designed a famous mausoleum. I saw no other tourists in that part of town, though it was well worth the effort of the climb to see it.

Then Wednesday I took an organized (Atlas) tour to Montenegro. Many people had told me how lovely Kotor is, and that is what I most wanted to see. But the whole trip was good, from the bay of Kotor with its church filled islets and towns, to the mountain tops of scrubby little villages known for good wine and cheese (our lunch), and where the king of Montenegro lived -- we saw his palace. But I think the place I most enjoyed was Budva, a walled coastal town similar to Dubrovnik. The unfortunate thing about a package tour is that you don't get enough time to see everything in the way and time frame you want to. So our stay in Budva was short, only an hour. But still, I'm glad I got this overview of Montenegro, a small but lovely country. The churches in Kotor and Budva (some Orthodox, some Catholic) were among the best (most architecturally interesting and well designed and decorated) that I've seen in this part of the world.

Overall I felt I could have used several more days to really appreciate Dubrovnik and region, but at least I got that almost-week there.

Finally in Dubrovnik

I got to Dubrovnik yesterday after a 20 hour ferry ride from Rijeka. The Marko Polo ferry is nice enough, though it doesn't compare to the MV Explorer (the ship I was on for Semester at Sea). I had a cabin that was fine but a bit dingy. But still, twenty hours packed in with nothing but tourists (from Germany, France, England, the U.S. and elsewhere) was a bit much, and tiring. Along the way there was plenty of pretty scenery, of the rocky, mountainous coast and the endless string of 1,000 islands. Being outside, though, was windy and sometimes too sunny. I saw an awfully large number of tourists toward the end of the voyage who were burnt to a crisp.

I picked out a place on the internet to stay in here in Dubrovnik and it turns out to be ideally located (right in the best part of old town), very friendly, and comfortable, plus it is pretty cheap for here (about $36 a night). In terms of my overall impression of Dubrovnik, I couldn't use enough superlatives. It's beautiful and interesting, though also packed with tourists. Still, although I feel like the streets and various sites are choked with tourists now, it is apparently MUCH more crowded in July and August (the main tourist season and also when the lauded Dubrovnik festival occurs). The weather is also great in spite of predicted rain. It's in the 60's and sunny. I walked the whole circuit of the city walls this morning. These walls, built in the 13th through 16th centuries (later re-built at various times), are limestone (white), as is most of the town, and circle all of old town, offering endless spectacular views of the red clay tiled roofs of the old town, the sea, various fortresses, and the many little streets inside oldtown and outer areas of Dubrovnik. I spent a good 2 and 1/2 hours on the walls (it usually takes 1 hour I guess) and got lots of photos along with soaking up lots of atmosphere.

Then I had a pizza lunch (typical for Croatia) and have been wandering streets all afternoon (as I did yesterday afternoon and evening). It seems that every corner you turn and every little square and tiny street you stumble upon offers something of interest, weather lovely statues carved into the architecture, a grape arbor over a terrace, roses or other flowers growing, cats sleeping in the sunshine on a wall, or even someone's laundry hanging out over what looks to me like wild sage growing. I've also visited a number of churches and museums, including two monasteries with beautiful cloisters and museums. The cloisters (one Franciscan, one Dominican) have each had orange trees growing in the cloisters with big oranges hanging on the brances. They also have in their reliquaries or museums little body part reliquaries. These are ornately filagreed and decorated silver, enjeweled cases, often here in Croatia in the shape of body parts (like an arm, a foot, a leg, a finger, even a head). That reliquary holds parts (or maybe THE part that it's in the shape of) of whatever saint it honors. Although it may sound gruesome these reliquaries are actually quite beautifully worked and well worth seeing. Yesterday I saw a head reliquary of Saint Ursula. I wanted to get a picture for my friend Ursula, but they did not allow photos and sold no postcards of it.

I've also seen a number of very fine icons, including some in the inside of an orthodox church today. Another churchly phenomenon that I've often noticed here is that statues, chapels and other religious iconic art is often highly decorated, with flowers, candles, sometimes other art, especially statues or paintings of Mary. I've seen more examples of this here, including one church that had a whole sort of grotto devoted to a statue of Mary. There were many little niches therein full of flowers and plants, and then a bunch of candles out front. And in the Orthodox church there was a middle aisle of the floor that was stone with a sort of little altar to Mary set up in the middle of this aisle. Then there were wooden floors on either side of this where normally you'd expect to see chairs or pews. But these wooden floors were empty except for some dried flowers sprinkled all over them. Maybe there had been a wedding or something. One thing different about Orthodox churches (if you haven't seen one) is that usually there is a "screen" between the main part of the church and the altar. The screen is often heavily decorated with paintings (like icons), crosses, and other religious art.

Tomorrow I may go to an island which is also a national park -- Mjlet. Then Tuesday I'll continue touring around here. Wednesday I will likely go to Montenegro (Kotor area) on a bus tour (which appears to be about the only way to get there for a day trip).

Back in Zagreb

My party the other day went well, though fewer people came than I thought might. So I have quite a lot of food and drink leftover. Everyone brought presents, which I wasn't expecting. So I have a few little mementos now, even more bottles of wine, and some beautiful flowers. Yesterday, Sunday, I took the bus to Zagreb again, to give a lecture today (in about an hour) at the Museum of Ethnology.

I had dinner last night with some friends here at a good Italian restaurant. I had gnocchi with a creamy truffle/spinach sauce, and a delicious tomato, cheese salad. Zagreb is a nice city with more shops and restaurants and everything than Rijeka. But I think overall I'm happier being on the coast. Still, today I visited Algoritam, a big bookstore downtown. It was quite large and all the books are in English. I got a book by a Croatian writer (Slavenka Drakulic), another (called Another Food in the Balkans) by a Brit who has traveled around here, and two works of fiction by Americans writers. So I think I'll have enough reading now to get me through the rest of my time here. I have less than 6 weeks left in Croatia.

Before I left I had thought that for sure I would take trips to Trieste and Venice (in Italy), Slovenia, maybe even Austria or further afield. But so far I have only traveled in Croatia. And for those of you who keep urging me to see Dubrovnik, don't worry, I have a five day trip planned there, leaving Friday. In fact I feel like I have been traveling quite a lot. And though I have seen most of the country, I still have a fair amount left that I haven't seen. So just fitting in the things I want to see in Croatia should fill my time, let alone going to other countries. I guess this is alright, since ultimately Croatia was what I came to see and was most interested in for this trip. But it will feel odd to be so close to Itlay and not to visit there. Maybe I'll at least get to Trieste one day. I hear it's got a very Austro-Hungarian feel.

The Croatian writer I mentioned, by the way, Slavenka Drakulic, is one I recommend. I have only thus far read her non fiction, a collection of essays called Cafe Europa. She gives interesting insight into the culture here from before, during and after the recent war, and the changes wrought (or not) during the switch from communism to capitalism. One of the things she discusses is something I've mentioned here before too, the concern people have over whether outsiders like the country. I had thought it was out of pride. And maybe it is in part, but it's also partly out of insecurity. After all Italians and French and so on are not constantly asking foreigners what they think of their countries. They are convinced of their own excellence and don't need outside approval, or at least that's one way of thinking of it (I've had discussions with people here about this too). But this country is relatively new and in some ways fragile, so that I guess it's understandable that people wonder what outsiders think about it.

Working Days

Mundane matters like working (teaching and writing) have been keeping me busy lately. The weather turned cold for several days. Maybe if you’ve been watching the French Open (tennis tournament) you’ve seen people shivering and bundled up there. It’s not quite as cold here, but it is uncharacteristically cold for this time of year. Today it’s very clear, early this morning at least. So from my apartment I have a clear view of the sea and land across it, including Krk Island. The sky is colorful as well, with a kind of glow of light and a bit of color from a sunrise over the land across the water. The sun glows through between the bluish looking land and clouds.

Although I still have almost 6 weeks left here, it feels like things are winding down and I’m turning my thoughts toward leaving in little ways (like getting rid of books). I’m having a party today for everyone in my department (and the neighbors and others I know here). I’m making a big pot of chili, cornbread, rice and desserts. So I’m thinking of giving people party favors of some of the gifts and books I brought along from the States. I’ve spent much of the week cleaning.

Recently I seem to have lost most of my television channels. I think they were supposed to be blocked (on satellite) all along, but for some reason I was getting them. But now they are truly blocked as they were supposed to be. Most of the French channels are gone, and some of the very few English channels that I ever got. So the only channel I really get now (that’s useful and understandable) is BBC World, a fine channel, but not really enough. Luckily Croatian TV, which I also get (6 channels)—not on Satellite—often plays shows in English. But I miss all my French channels and BBC Prime. I was getting pretty good at French. In Zadar I went and saw The Da Vinci Code (movie). One frustrating thing about watching that here was that they have characters speaking in other languages throughout the film, which are translated in subtitles. But of course here the subtitles are in Croatian, so that did me no good. But one of most spoken foreign languages in the film was French. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was taking in the French almost as easily as the English in the film. Sometimes I even had moments where I was kind of startled to realize that they weren’t speaking English.

Classes are winding down and then “exams,” which are a huge deal here, take place. Recently my students told me that they have as many as 17 or 20 classes a semester. And then at the end of the year (now) they are supposed to take exams for all of them. These are comprehensive written AND oral exams that can be quite difficult to pass. They said that most people only take a few exams during the year when they took the class. Then they have all the following year to take the previous years exams. And they get to take each exam three times (it’s a right). So sometimes they are so backed up with exams from the previous year that they can hardly get through their classes for the current year. It seems like a crazy system. How can anyone do well at 17 classes at once at this level? Partly they have so many classes because they have two majors. English is only one major, then they all have a second major, either education or psychology or philosophy or Croatian, or whatever. Anyway, it was clear as I spoke to one group of students the other night how frustrated they all are by the system. They were asking me how it works in the States. I think the “Bologna Process,” which all of Europe is switching too, is partly an attempt to alleviate these kinds of overloads and over-emphases on exams. In the new system (just in its first year here), students have fewer classes and are supposed to have continual assessment. But of course switching to a new system after so long takes a while. And many professors who have only known the old system may not really change much in their classes or teaching styles. So whether the new system will really be implemented and how successfully remains to be seen.

Pictures from Nin

Pictures from Zadar

Visit to Zadar

I just spent five days in a lovely city on the coast south of here, Zadar. I went to give a series of lectures, partially as part of a seminar they had on American Studies. Zadar has an old walled part of the city that gives it an ancient feel, yet it is also quite modern and lively, with many groups of tourists walking around, as well as lots of locals shopping at the market, going to cafes and churches, and catering to the tourists. There are probably more tourists in Zadar than any other city I've visited except Split. My hotel was a very large one that catered to big busloads of tourists, mostly from France and Germany. I had a half-board deal (through the university), so I ate my suppers there amidst these big crowds. The room itself was small but had a nice balcony with views of the sea and the hotel's big round pool. I finally swam there the last day and was only surprised by the fact that the pool water was salty. It was quite startling. But I think people here often believe that the sea water is healing, so maybe that's why it was in the pool.

One of the more interesting aspects of Zadar is one big square in the old town where there are several interesting churches, a few museums, and remains (ruins) of the old Roman forum. There are ancient capitals just lying on the ground with images of Jupiter carved into them. There is also a church called St. Donat's that was constructed at least partly with remains from the old forum. It's a striking church in that it is round, one of the few round churches in this part of the world. The building is now only used for summer concerts, though there was no such concert while I was there. One bit of music I did hear though was the "sea organ" they have, literally an organ constructed so that the water rushes through pipes and creates music. It was lulling. I sat on the steps right on the shore (in part of the old town) for over an hour listening. I got sunburnt. Later that evening I watched the new Da Vinci Code movie in town, which was alright.

When I visited the archeology museum I noticed that many artifacts from the medieval period were in fact from a city nearby called Nin. I had a free day in which to travel and thought about going to an island or a park nearby. But instead I went to Nin, the ancient city of kings of Croatia. It was a picturesque town, the old town of which is actually on a little island. I wandered around there for hours and saw four or five lovely old churches, remains of a Roman temple, the old city wall, a cemetary, and another archeology museum. There were also interesting houses and some businesses. People in Croatia, like all over Europe, are really into landscaping, and right at this time those flowers most in bloom are roses. I saw huge, blooming, fragrant rose bushes all over the city, and for that matter, all over this part of Croatia (on the road). There are also many bright red poppies growing wild all over. For instance, amidst the ruins of the Roman temple were masses of poppies. Just outside of town there is also a hill, which is apparently an ancient burial mound with a little chapel built on top of it. A picture I'd seen of this the day before was partly what drew me to visit here. In fact this hill and chapel--St. Nicholas--were quite small, very appealing, but small, almost (some descriptions said) like a big chess piece on the hill. I'll try to post a photo later if any came out. I only saw St. Nicholas from the bus as it was moving since it was a way outside of town.

On the bus to Nin I met a Canadian traveler who was heading to Nin for the beaches. He asked me why I was going and I told him to see the museum and the churches and ruins. He said at the beginning of his trip, a few weeks ago, he was really in to churches and castles and museums, but then he got burned out at that and just needed the reality of the beach. He had read that the best beaches in Croatia are in Nin. It's funny how different travels can have such different experiences of a country. To me most beaches are more or less the same. I love walking along the sea, or sitting and meditating near it. But to sit all day in the sun and swim occassionally doesn't appeal to me. But to skip some of the most interesting churches (for instance "the smallest cathedral in the world") and artifacts in the region completely in favor of sitting in the sun all day baffles me. But I suppose my style of living and traveling would baffle many others.

Today is my birthday, and also that of Tito, or so it used to be celebrated as (I heard that it wasn't really his birthday but he claimed it as such because it was a good time for a holiday). It's no longer a national holiday. Nor will it be much of a celebration for me. But I'm glad to be back home and to have a chance to rest, to gear up for my next round of travel starting in about 10 days. I may go look for a new book to read and have a meal out. But I think I'll also try to make it to the market and cook for myself tonight, something I've missed while on the road.

Visit to Osijek

I took the train for an eight and a half hour journey last week to Osijek (leaving Rijeka at 5:43 am). In Osijek I taught a few classes for their University English department (in the faculty of philosophy). Osijek is the capital of Slavonia, in the eastern half of the country. It was one of the places most hurt by the recent war. People I met there told me about what they remembered of the times the city was under air raids and shelling attacks. They said they would be working and suddenly when the sirens started everyone who wasn’t already home would race home. They said you cold drive 90 miles an hour right down city streets and through red lights to try to make it home. Unlike nearby Vukovar, many buildings that had been destroyed or scarred by the bombs and shooting were repaired in Osijek. But there were still a number of facades in which one can see pock marks and other signs of where shrapnel or bullets hit. Before the war Osijek was known as being one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the country. But now most Serbs and other non-Croatian nationalities have apparently left. Just inside the door into the faculty are bas relief portraits of four students from the faculty who were killed during the war. One teacher remembered how she and other teachers had been carrying out a thesis defense in a room right there, and all during the defense they heard these loud bomb-like noises. But they carried on. Later they found out that the big, public market (just on the other side of that building) was being bombed. They said that even while they were living through it all, it seemed surreal and unbelievable.

The city of Opatija sits on the Drava River, a wide, rolling river that was quite high when I was there (it had flooded recently). Nearby, the Drava meets up with the Danube, which has meant this area has been geographically important for millennia. There is a long, park-lined walk along the Drava in town that extends from the newer, modern city to the older section of town, the Trvda. When I walked along it, there were joggers, bikers, people in shells and other boats (on the river) and a lot of people just enjoyed the scenery (sitting on benches or strolling along). Nearby Osijek there is a national park (Kopacki Rit) that is one of the largest wetlands in Europe. All this water apparently makes the area ideal for mosquitoes. I had been warned by the embassy while I was there in Zagreb last month about how bad the mosquitoes can be in Osijek. Sure enough, within a few minutes of getting off the train, on the tram on the way to my hotel, I killed a mosquito on my arm. At points we were literally swarmed by mosquitoes, though mostly it was just a matter of keeping yourself alert and not being shy about waving your arms about. In fact several people told me a joke that in Osijek if you see someone waving their arms about in the street you know that it’s either normal behavior because of the mosquitoes or they’re crazy (but usually it’s the former).

My hosts in Osijek were very nice, welcoming, and appreciative. They have several people there who do American Studies, including a woman who studies and teaches Native American literature. She spent a year in Arizona on a Fulbright. So I had some compatible colleagues with whom it was enjoyable to share notes and experiences. My lectures seemed to go over well, but probably most interesting of the whole visit there was the amazing coincidence that the very day I was giving my lectures there was a visitor from the U.S. that the embassy brought to town to speak, and he was none other than the director of the National Museum of the American Indian (part of the Smithsonian, which I visited last summer), Richard West. I was able to hear his lecture, which was very well received by the large audience. Then afterward I was invited to attend the lunch with him and several Croatian colleagues. It was a good day.

Mostly I spent my time in Osijek with my colleagues there. One night we met at the national theater to watch Shakespeare (Twelfth Night, in Croatian). One of the professors I’d met that day teaches and writes about theater, so she got us all in for free. I was going just to see the theater. But in the end I stayed for the first two acts. Even though I couldn’t understand, it was interesting to watch. There were interesting silver sets, nice costumes, and musicians playing piano, guitar and drums in between and during some scenes.

Osijek is a town of broad avenues, lovely old mansions, many green and flowery parks, active public squares, and a fair amount of modern architecture (no doubt much of it recently repaired buildings or facades that were damaged in the war). It’s also one of the only places in Croatian where some of the traditional cuisine includes spicy food. I had a delicious pepper salad one day at lunch (though it honestly wasn’t very hot), though the pepper/cheese spread (not dissimilar from Pimento Cheese) that day was quite satisfyingly spicy. There are also a couple of Sezchuan restaurants in town, and I ate a spicy meal there one night.

The train was an interesting, though long, eight hour ride. I saw a lot of Croatia, from rocky coast near here, to the mountains of Gorsky Kotor (just east of here), to gradually declining hills until the flat, fertile land of Slavonia. Before the war it was the “breadbasket” of Croatia, and also enjoyed a prosperous economy based on a number of factories and businesses. But it has yet to really bounce back to that pre-war state of prosperity. Nonetheless the people I met there were some of the friendliest, most welcoming, and interesting that I have met anywhere in the country.

A Few Images from Rab Island

Visit to Rab Island

I spent a rewarding day yesterday on Rab Island, one of the southernmost inhabited islands of the Kvarner region. I took the bus from Rijeka, which included a ride on the ferry, and wound up in Rab Town, the "old town" of which goes back at least 1000 years (or parts of it do). Rab Town is known for its four distinctive remaining towers (there were more once), some beautiful churches, charming streets that wind through the old town, and a dramatically beautiful seafront with large deciduous forests. It's also known for its "naturist" beaches (i.e. nude beaches). King Edward XIII vacationed here, though it's debated whether he bared all. He was wooing Wallis Simpson all along the Adriatic. Rab has been a tourist destination for quite some time, though luckily there were only a few busloads of Germans there yesterday, and various other wandering tourists from all over, including Croatia. I met a woman on the bus who said she lives near Zagreb and has never been here before. She said she found the island unbelievably beautiful. I agree.

Not much was open in terms of churches and museums since it was not yet tourist season (which is July-September). In preparation for the masses to come there was a lot of construction going on. But much of the town was quiet and enjoyable. Most of the important churches had their doors open, but not the grill gatework that is just inside the door. So you could peer through the grillwork at the interior. There is also one old church in ruins now (St. Justine I think). But sometimes ruins are more interesting or appealing to me than intact churches, I guess because I enjoy the sense of mystery, imagining what it might have been like in its heyday. Also it sort of becomes part of the natural environment in a way, making it half naturally, half architecturally interesting. Anyway, at this site of ruins the tower still stands, along with the apse, and they have reconstructed (putting up pillars) part of the nave and other areas. There were supposed to be beautiful mosaics here originally, only traces of which are left, but I searched and searched and could find no traces of mosaics. So I'm assuming they've been moved to a museum. There was also a lovely cathedral called "St. Mary the Great" (a great name), made striking by the use of contrasting colored stone (pink and white) in construction of the outer, front wall (see photo above).

This old town is on a hill, and the steepest part of the hill is the street with all the churches and towers and borders the sea. So from here you can walk down to the seaside or get dramatic views. There is also a very large (100's of acres) park next to the old town area which also has areas with steps leading down to the seafront. After lunch I walked along this seafront for a while (a mile or more). One walks along a well used path including many little built-in seats of stone and cement. Every so often there are also cafes or swimming areas. I saw a few people swimming. I did stick my feet in once and found the water to be pretty cold, but not unbearable. There were a few place with actual sand beaches, though mostly they were mostly rocky, maybe mixed with a little sand, and there were plenty of concrete areas too (though not as much as in some places).

Most of the cafes were closed (except for one larger one that I think was part of a hotel). There were also some very beautiful and large rocks on the shore at various places. I think they were fossils since they have very interesting markings, groves, notches, pocks, and so on (there's picture of some of these above). The water as usual in Croatia varies from deep green to turqouise blue. I don't know what causes the water to have that striking turqouise blue pattern in patches. There is lot of limestone in the landscape here, so I was thinking maybe it happens where the bottom is limestone without any vegetation or dirt. And that might reflect the sky differently. But I don't know if this idea has any merit.

It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm, but with a cool breeze that kept me from ever feeling hot. I had lunch in a restaurant called Paradiso in a courtyard that had an interesting mix of features -- old stone and woodwork in the walls and balconies, flower boxes full of gernaiums, and over the old, covered well, a modern glass sculpture that I think was meant to resemble a kind of water fountain. There was also music blaring from the louspeakers, a contemporary Italian singer, it sounded like. The food was pizza and pasta. The pizza I had was okay, not the best I have had here, though the most expensive (at $9). Corn on pizza just doesn't appeal to me, and this one had it, along with mushrooms, zuchinni, and peppers. I had asked just for mushroom pizza, but in trying to stress or verify that I wanted no meat on the pizza I used the word "vegetarian." So the waiter got the idea that I wanted a mixed vegetable pizza and they put on all this other stuff. This place was also notable for charging 25 kuna ($4) for a carafe of tap water (at least that's what I ordered; maybe it was bottled water poured into a carafe).

The bus/ferry ride back and forth was long but quite enjoyable because the coastal scenery all along the way was so lovely. We stopped off at a number of seaside villages to pick up or let off passengers. One of the more striking things I remember about this ride, apart from the generally beautiful scenery of sea, mountains, and dramatic landscapes, were the wildflowers blooming all along the way. Many of these were fairly generic seeming, but one that especially struck me was the deep purple iris. I had heard from the folklore institute that the iris played a big role in traditional mythology here (like in Greece there was a goddess named for the flower). But now I can start to see why. The iris seems to grow wild all along this route we traveled and is evident in great abundance. Everywhere you see interspersed amidst the greenery, yellow and softer colored flowers these bursts of deep purple. It took me a little while to realize they are irises. And since they are all along the road and hillsides, even far from settlements, they cannot all have been planted. What joy it added to the day to see all these wild irises everywhere.

Concrete Thoughts

This has been a week of teaching here at my home institution in Rijeka, which has been enjoyable. The students are good as always, and last night a few stayed to talk to me after class about Croatia and what I should see here. Everywhere I go here people are always asking me how I like Croatia, how I like Rijeka, how I like each place I see. I think this interest in foreigners' responses comes from a deep pride in the country. And my response is always an enthusiastic and genuine, "I love it." Everywhere I've been has been appealing and interesting at the very least and sometimes quite breathtaking, from the little stone villages on islands to the capital of Zagreb. My students gave me enthusiastic recommendations of other places to visit places in Istria and the islands. I think I will go to a few places in Istria this weekend if the weather holds (sunny and warmer the last few days).

The building my department/faculty is housed in also houses an elementary school, and maybe even classes through middle school. So very often when I'm coming or going there will be children on recess in the courtyard in front of the building. Right now there are some kids skateboarding on the sidewalk just below my window. The noise is a distraction since I have the window open on this sunny, warm day. I rather suspect these particular kids (since there are only a few) are not on recess but playing hooky. Usually the kids in front of the school play ball games (like soccer) or sometimes just stand and talk to each other. The area in front of the building actually intrigues me, because it is just a big open space covered over in concrete, but also with rectangular blocks of concrete sticking up, which are painted green, a kind of chartreuse I'd say. There is a parking garage underneath, so perhaps the concrete blocks are part of the support for that. But the fact that the are painted green suggests that they are meant to be decorative.

This is a rather large open space in the middle of a very public section of town, with banks, businesses, apartment buildings, the police station next door, the city tower off one end of this square, and so on, busy all around. So it seems like it should be used in some way, perhaps as a park or square if nothing else, because of its prime location. It might be kind of public art display, given that these rectangular blocks sticking up are painted. And there is also a longer, lower diagonal block that cuts through at an angle that is painted red. Or perhaps it is designated as the square or playground for the children's recess from this school. But it strikes me as an odd playground, with no equipment, no grass or trees or plants, or a public art display that is primarily plain, ugly concrete. If it's meant for children it's poor planning because the blocks sticking up just hinder their ball games, or make them more challending.

Just today, during my folklore class, in which I was giving an exam, there was a kind of assembly of the grade school students. They were set up in this square, near the steps to the building (which served as a stage), in a little semi-circle, singing songs (with mics and amplifiers) and doing other little performances. It was sort of sweet and interesting, except that it was pretty disruptive for my poor students sitting for an exam. Well, I think it was a pretty easy exam, and the music and voices weren't too loud.

In regards to this concrete public space -- as I think about it, a lot of the public spaces here seem to involve significant amounts of concrete. The river that gives the town it's name (Rijeka means river in Croatian and the Italian name for the town, Fiume, also means river) flows between concrete banks, which must have been so changed within the last century. The whole waterfront is concretized, even in places designated as "beaches." And many public parks have as much or more concrete than grass. I wonder why this is -- perhaps concrete makes it seem more sanitized or easy to care for or something. Even in the tourist resort of Opatija, the main "beach" is a big area that is covered in a massive concrete slab, and this is where the tourists and locals sunbathe, lying on their towels on the concrete.

A Few Photos from Zagreb

Rainy Days Again

The weather turned gloomy and soggy the last few days here in Rijeka. My colleague Bess is visiting from Zagreb to give some lectures, which went well, to our department. It's too bad that it's rainy because we had planned to rent a car and explore Istria this weekend. But with the weather so unhelpful, Bess decided to return to Zagreb tonight instead. There is a folklore conference in Istria tomorrow too, and I had thought I should go to that. But it will depend on whether I can figure out how to get a bus there (I'm not sure of the name of the town), and if I have any energy. After over two weeks of nearly continuous travel, and then hosting Bess here, I find myself exhausted today. I feel like I need a few days to re-gather my energy and just relax. Otherwise, things are going well. My students continue to impress me with their English skills and their general intelligence and respectfulness.

As I was in Zagreb walking around the streets looking at the stately buildings and landscaped parks, and on my bus trips (to here and Verazdin), looking at all the little towns we passed and houses and gardens and businesses, I was struck again by something that has often struck me in the past about life in Europe. The general spirit of building any community here seems always to attend at least partly, and often largely, to aesthetics. The countryside here and elsewhere I've been in Europe is not necessarily very different and often quite similar to the landscape in the States. But where we seem to so often have an eye on profit in our development of towns, cities, and so on, here there is more attention to keeping it or making it beautiful. Everywhere there are lovely fences, stone used in architecture, clay tile roofs, public gardens, private gardens on public display, and so on. Of course all those things can be found in the U.S. But it seems to me it's not the norm. Just driving down the highways, you'll see as many or more powerlines, billboards, ugly buildings like huge gas stations, diners, shopping malls, and so on. Too many buildings don't seem to be built particularly with aesthetics in mind. Of course you can also find ugly, utilitarian buildings here, and there is often graffiti defacing buildings or walls and so on. But in general one of the main things that I think helps distinguish Europe from the U.S. is this more comprehensive and widespread attention to aesthetics in public and private artchitectural and landscaped spaces. So often here, you'll see little details on buildings or on streets or in gardens that serve little or no purpose, but are a decorative element. For instance, just today as Bess and I were waiting at a bus stop to visit the castle here (Trsat), she noticed that on an otherwise not terribly important building across the street, there were a series of human faces carved in stone all along the lintels toward the top of the building near the roof. And people seem to organize much of their time to enjoy these spaces, sitting in cafes, shopping in the open air market, visiting downtown most days. It makes life in Europe appealing.

Zagreb days

I just got back from Zagreb last night, which means I've been traveling almost non-stop for over two weeks. And that's how much of the rest of my time here will go – a week here and a week gone. Mostly I’ll be giving lectures at other universities, but I also have a trip to Dubrovnik (where there is no English dept) in the works. Today my colleague Bess is coming from Zagreb to lecture here. So I'll be busy helping to host her. Then on the weekend I’m off to Istria, a pretty part of Croatia near here.

I'm watching CNN in the background and hear how high gas prices are there in the U.S. now. The world is really a scary place these days with the most powerful man on earth so out of touch. Cheney is apparently coming here – to Dubrovnik – which happily is quite far from here. But I think the embassy is all abuzz about it. I was there two days ago (the embassy). I finally met the people there who have coordinated my whole visit and work experience here. It was a trip going to the embassy, literally. It's way outside of town (near the airport) and is a kind of bunker, I guess. The security was really tight getting in. I had to wait almost ten minutes while they verified that I was meeting someone there, and then I had to get everything x-rayed and scrutinized, and they kept my camera while I was inside the building. But everyone who works there seems very nice. And it was interesting to see. They used to be in a beautiful location right downtown on one of the main parks, but three years ago they moved out to the cornfields. The French are apparently in our old building. Those French appreciate aesthetics.

Zagreb is quite an interesting and beautiful town, more so than I expected. There are lots of beautiful buildings, public squares, and parks. I visited quite a few museums too, the best of which were the ethnology museum, the archeology museum, and the naive art museum. And there are lots of beautiful churches too. It has a fairly small feel and seems easy to navigate, although there are 1,000,000 people there.

I taught a class on Native American literature at University of Zagreb on Thursday. The students were very sharp, asking some perceptive questions. Then I had dinner with my American counterpart in Zagreb and two Croatian colleagues in American studies. We had a nice dinner at a restaurant across from the old cathedral and talked about our cultures and politics, and so on for hours. It was the first dinner I’ve had with Croatians I think, and it was very nice. I wish for more such experiences.

I also took a day trip with my colleague Bess on Sunday to Verazdin, a town northeast of Zagreb with a castle and several palaces. It’s known as one of the loveliest Baroque towns in Europe. The churches and palaces are indeed very Baroque, and it is undeniably a lovely town with many beautiful buildings, the castle set in a park (you can walk around the whole place on the old hill that made the moat), and plenty of squares and parks. We had a great meal at an Italian type restaurant on a balcony overlooking a big park. Afterwards we walked (or rather waddled – it was a huge meal) to the cemetery, noted for its park-like design by a famous landscape architect here. It has very tall hedges (though with gaps between each bush), and the graves were raised and quite well tended, with walkways weaving maze-like through the whole place.

Monday evening in Zagreb the embassy people organized a Fulbrighter gathering at a bar in the center. It was fun to meet and compare notes. Almost all the other Fulbrighters this year (and most years) are in Zagreb. But a number of them were working or out of town this week. Still, those of us who went had a nice couple of hours. I ordered Guinness to drink, but this bar didn’t have it. The waitress suggested I try the Croatian dark beer that is like Guinness, so I did. It was good, though a little sweet, and I’m sorry I can’t remember what it’s called. Then three of us went on to dinner at a good little restaurant one of the student Fulbrighters knew about. It had some kind of Vietnamese influence, though the menu items were more or less standard Croatian fare. I ate pasta and salad that were very tastily prepared.

My last day there (yesterday) I met with the folklore institute, who were quite nice and buzzingly busy – something like 60 people work there. They gave me homemade apple juice and a few pastries and asked me to come back and give a talk in June or July. They also invited me to a conference on myth this weekend near here. But with my Istria plans I don't know if I'll be able to go. And they gave me a bunch of journals and articles about folklore in Croatia. I'm so glad I got to meet them. It's always a joy meeting with other folklorists, everywhere in the world. I hope I do get to go back. They seem to be doing a lot of good work, and I can’t wait to read these articles (I’ve been longing to have something to read about the folklore here).

I took the bus back yesterday afternoon after my meeting with the folklore institute (arrived here about 6 pm). So now I'm back “home” in my place in Rijeka, which feels good. Seeing the familiar streets, buildings, and river and sea was nice. I slept ten hours last night and still feel a bit tired. I'm here (except for Istria this weekend) for almost two weeks, then I'm off to Osijek (in the east – Slavonia), near the border with Serbia and one of the cities in Croatia most hurt by the war. They are quite keen on having me come, and I’m also interested to see this part of Croatia, though I heard at the embassy that they are plagued now by mosquitoes, because they’ve had so much rain and the river is flooded (as are rivers in much of this part of the world).

As I was wandering through the beautiful archeology museum yesterday morning in Zagreb, looking at various artifacts from the Paleolithic, Neolithic, Copper, Bronze and Iron ages from all over Croatia, including many grave sites, “hoards,” and artifacts from daily life (pottery, jewelry, cups, icons, etc.), it struck me how cool it is to be here in the land where my ancestors lived. I mean I have seen museums like this all over the world and have always enjoyed them and find a sense of wonder in connecting with the work of humans from the distant past where ever I am. But when I see these kinds of things here, I keep wondering if one of my ancestors helped make that old pot or bead, used a similar icon, or prayed in that church, etc. It's the first time in my life I've been in a place where I can experience that feeling of connection, however fanciful or imagined it is. I mean if you go back far enough, I guess we’re all related and so any place is the home of our ancestors. Plus, I don’t know how long my ancestors even lived here. There was always so much migration all around the world. But still, I’m enjoying my imagined connections to ancestors here and getting to learn about their life ways.

The more I get to see of Croatia, the more persuasively I can affirm what a beautiful and interesting country it is. Apparently this is the number one tourist destination for Americans this year, but I really think most Americans have no idea how lovely the place is, nor how appealing the culture is here. I feel very happy to be here and lucky to have this opportunity.

From Zagreb

I came to Zagreb yesterday to teach a class and meet next Tuesday with the folklore institute here. In the meantime I have time to explore the city. So far the weather has been ideal, sunny and not too hot. Flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and it's full on spring here. Zagreb is the capital of Croatia, and is a very manageable and lovely city. Lots of grand architecture, public squares, gardens, museums, and shops. People jam the cafes everywhere I've been, and many cafes there are.

Yesterday I visited the cathedral, which is under some renovation, and was mostly rebuilt during the 19th century after an earthquake hit the area. It's very beautiful in its neo-gothic design. I also wandered many streets before teaching a class, where the students were very smart, asking excellent questions.

Then today I have so far visited two nice museums, the ethnography museum, mostly with traditional costumes, and some furniture and textiles, and a private collection donated to the state that is now in an old high school. It's very large and eclectic as private collections go, with everything from prehistoric art (from cave art in Europe to Egyptian, Roman, Etruscan and Greek, etc.) to Chinese pottery, Persian rugs, European paintings, medieval icons, and ancient Italian and Egyptian glass. So it was a good morning.

I had lunch at a Mexican restaurant, first one I've seen since I left the States. It's not the best Mexican food I've ever had, but it was decent.

Images from Hvar Town on Hvar Island (fortress; me and Mariellyn)

Diocletian's Palace, Split

Visit to Split

I spent the last week in Split, down south from here on the Dalmatian coast. I took the ferry there last Monday night. It was the first time I've been on a ship since my semester at sea voyage -- see that report at my website: http://hercules.gcsu.edu/~mmagouli
I went to Split with my colleague Mariellyn to teach some classes for another colleague there in the English department. We were met Tuesday early morning at the dock by our colleague Tania and immediately set off for the law school, where Mariellyn taught. After a few hours there, we raced across town to the faculty of philosophy, where the English dept is housed. I taught three classes there that day, and three again the next day. I also met many members of the English department, including a senior scholar Fulbrighter who has been in Croatia several times previously and whom I had heard much about over the years, since I read his reports and I taught for a year at his university back in the States (Radford University). We all had lunch together that day at a vegetarian restaurant and Merle (the man from Radford) gave us a little introductory tour of Diocletian’s palace.

Diocletian’s palace is the main attraction in Split. Diocletian (245-312 CE) was emperor of Rome but originally was from Croatia, near what became Split, which was all part of Rome at the time. He started with humble roots but rose through the infantry to the highest position and eventually declared himself a god. But he had no happy end; rather he is believed to have killed himself when his daughter was taken prisoner (based on something to do with the way he split (!) up the empire to be ruled by four people and then retired to this palace). In any case, he built his retirement palace in Split, on the sea near the Roman town of Solanas (now Solin -- just a few kilometers away). I was able to visit those ruins too.

The palace originally was a huge walled fortress (or city) including soldiers barracks, courtyards, temples, his tomb, and living quarters, all of which eventually became the center of Split. When I first saw the “palace,” which I had seen images of showing the layout in Roman times, I did not fully comprehend that what I was seeing is what’s left of the palace. Many of the outer walls and the original gates are still there, as well as the “peristyle” (middle picture above) a central courtyard area that is the main place today where people consider themselves to be in the old palace. It’s a tourist hot spot and kind of a main square, with columns, steps, an Egyptian sphinx, and entries into the cathedral (transformed from Diocletian’s octagonal tomb in the Middle Ages). There are also some basement rooms (recently excavated) that one can visit to get a sense of the original layout of Diocletian’s apartments, and there are some other interesting spaces like a domed area with an open circle in the roof (bottom picture above) and a former temple of Jupiter since transformed into a baptistery. But the bulk of the space where Diocletian lived is now completely transformed and unrecognizable as what it once was. It’s all been subsumed by the rest of the city. So in Diocletian’s apartment are crowded many more modern apartment buildings (though often using the old materials).

The whole palace area is a maze of tiny streets, surprising squares, and a mishmash of apartments, cafés, businesses, tourist shops, and so on. My guide book says this was for much of the last 50 years a kind of ghetto area of Split, the hang-out of prostitutes, drug addicts, and the poor. Nonetheless there seems to have been some recent renovations and changes, and although it’s now very touristy, it’s nonetheless a very beautiful and interesting place. I walked through the peristyle and ancient streets pretty much every time I went into town or to the faculty, so it became a familiar, but nonetheless thrilling sight.

Inside the cathedral is quite lovely, with it’s roundish shape from the original octagonal tomb. There are still a few carvings near the domed ceiling of Diocletian and his wife, and other scenes from Roman mythology, but mostly the original symbols were removed and replaced with Christian ones. There is a beautifully carved pulpit, a large, ornate choir behind the altar, and little side chapels, plus some nice, huge carved doors with biblical scenes. There’s also a tower just outside the cathedral that was added in medieval times and well, towers above the whole palace. The tower is a landmark you can see from the sea and many parts of town (top picture above).

There were many other interesting things to see in Split, the second largest city in Croatia. It’s such an attraction that there were tons of tourists from all over the world. I heard more American English spoken there than I have since I got to Croatia. Perhaps the most interesting and lovely day I had was when I visited the archeological museum, on the sea. It turns out there are actually two archeological museums, which is why I got completely conflicting and confusing directions about how to find it. But eventually I found one of them and enjoyed the exhibits on an excavation of part of the palace and artifacts from a medieval church from a nearby small village. There was also an interesting statue of a woman in a meditative pose. I asked the woman who worked there when it was from, and she told me it was the work of Ivan Mestrović, the most famous Croatian sculptor (from the early 20th century). She told me his museum was just down the street and that I should go see it. So I walked down this road along the sea on a beautiful, sunny spring day to his museum. The museum turned out to be in a beautiful old villa overlooking the sea where Mestrović planned to live (but instead fled to Zagreb during the Italian occupation in 1941). Nonetheless it’s an incredibly beautiful place, now full of his sculptures. My favorite part was the dining room, with a fireplace he designed with amazing sculptures, and medieval style chairs and tables. Plus the balcony running the length of the second floor gave amazing views of the sea and the beautifully landscaped grounds (also holding some of his work).

From there I was directed to also try to see the chapel Mestrović designed that is in a little kastellet just down the road, so I continued wandering along the sea, which was very lovely in this area and has many luxurious villas lining it. I found the chapel and really enjoyed the space. Mestrović carved wooden panels that line all the walls showing the entire life story of Jesus, and he sculpted the crucifix and altar as well. The little castle itself was also nice to see, with incredibly beautiful views of the sea. I sat in a window (with a wide ledge) there for almost an hour, just soaking up the sea air and the whole atmosphere, spring flowers, turquoise sea, waves crashing, and almost no other tourists around (I saw one couple the whole time I was there). It was a sublimely beautiful and inspiring morning all in all.

From there, I walked back into town, about a 45 minute walk all along the sea. I went from virtual isolation to eventually incredibly thick crowds (of mostly Croatians) as I got to the seafront area near the central harbor. This central seaside promenade was cheek to jowl with people parading on a sunny day, sitting at the numerous cafés, and just hanging out. It was Easter Saturday, so perhaps it’s the thing to do in Croatia to be seen that day on a public square or the waterfront.

I also took a couple of day trips from Split, once to Hvar, an island nearby called “the jewel in crown” of Croatian islands. No doubt it is very pretty, with an interesting medieval old town area, a monastery, a lovely seafront, and hills that tower above it all. The island is known for lavender, rosemary, olive oil, figs and so on. There is a fortress that rises above Hvar town, where we hiked up to get amazing views of the sea and nearby islands (see pictures in Hvar entry above). We also met another English language fellow, Annie, who lives on Hvar. After we toured Hvar town, she drove us to her house in a little village near Stari Grad (another town on the island near the ferry). Her house is an old traditional farmhouse that she is slowly renovating. It’s in a charming location, and she has a lot of good ideas for how to use it. It’s got one main room to which she has added a loft. There is also a kitchen, then a kind of outdoor courtyard with other attached rooms, including a summer kitchen, the old outhouse, a modern bathroom she’s put in, a barn, and some basement areas, and also a little garden area. The whole complex is maybe 800 sqaure feet (I'm totally guessing at that). It’s really nothing like houses we know or that I’ve seen elsewhere, but I suppose it’s a fairly common style for this area. Imagining a whole family living there is kind of hard, since presumably they would all have slept in that one main room, and crowded their animals and gardening and all their living into that space. But I guess all our ancestors were used to much more communal living than most of us are. For Annie it’s a good space, I think, with lots of opportunity for her to keep transforming it to her vision. It’s already got all the character and a lot of lovely details. Her neighbors bring her wine, herbal tea, honey, and other local goods.

In Split, we stayed in a student dorm (but nicer rooms set aside for faculty and visitors therein) about 20 minutes walk to town. It was nice to get an idea of how Croatian students live. When I first got to Split I wished I had been placed there (it was the city/university that I requested on my original Fulbright application). But after a week there I realized that the tourists might get on my nerves. Although Split is in many ways very beautiful, I am happy to be in Rijeka, maybe just because it already feels more like “home.” I took the ferry back here the evening of Easter Sunday, after a quiet day I spent by myself wandering the old town one last time. It was an overnight ferry trip back, about a 12 hour trip from Split to Rijeka (faster by car). I met people on the ferry who’d all been to Dubrovnik as well, and they all raved about it as being even more beautiful than Split, one of the most beautiful places they’ve seen, so that’s something to look forward to.

Visit to Krk Island

Yesterday (Saturday), the English Language Fellow, Mariellyn, and I took a little excursion to the nearby island of Krk (pronounced “Kirk,” with a slightly rolled “r”). According to reading I did back in the States, there is some thought that this might be the island where Ulysses / Odysseus was stranded, what we call “Circe” (though in Greek it was pronounced with a hard C or K sound, hence the spelling). In any case, it’s a very beautiful island with a very long history, from prehistoric traces, to a strong Roman presence (when Croatia was known as Illyria), to more recent Italian influence. There is a bridge from the mainland just south east of here (Rijeka) to the island, so it is easily accessible. We took the bus, which was very comfortable, though they played this cheesy radio station (all old songs in English, none of which I’d ever heard before) rather loud the whole way. The island, like the mainland nearby, is hilly and rocky. There are many little villages and towns, several of which our bus stopped at before arriving at Krk town, our destination.

Krk town includes the old town, which is a medieval walled city that is very beautiful. We wandered along the harbor, with many tulips and spring flowers just blooming, and lovely views of the sea and mountains of the mainland beyond as views, as well as the walls and towers of the city. We entered the old town through the “south gate” that is near the water and almost immediately stumbled upon the beautiful cathedral. There were children gathering in the St. Quirinus church just across a walkway from the cathedral, and eventually they started singing, perhaps practicing for an Easter concert. The old town is full of narrow, twisting, hilly, cobblestone streets that wind between the buildings. As we wandered all around this labyrinth of streets, we came upon a bakery exuding a marvelous smell. So we stopped and bought pastries. Mariellyn got a chocolate croissant, and I chose a local specialty, croissant dough filled with a sweet ground nut mixture that was heavenly. It was still warm and had a light dusting of powdered sugar on it. We wandered to a nearby park and there enjoyed these pastries in front of an incredible view of the sea and the old castle. The water from this vantage point appeared various colors at once, from a clear, deep green to an amazing aqua blue. There were boats tied up, picturesque houses in the background, and a stone wall before us. We sat under a big old tree on a park bench, while pigeons flew abruptly from the cat stalking them. I saw quite a few cats on that island, mostly lazing around soaking up the sun on the city walls, hunting birds, or begging tourists for tidbits.

What we could see of the outer walls of the castle was picturesque, but the castle itself (or what's left of it) was closed, like the museums and cathedral (though you could look through glass inside the cathedral to see most of what's inside). There was an area near the castle wall that was open and allowed us to walk over boulders to get quite close to the sea. The water was very clear; in fact we saw a bicycle that had fallen in near the steps.

We wandered the charming old town streets for a few hours, at one point coming upon the Franciscan monastery that my guide book said is closed to the public. But the monks and nuns kind of waved us through and didn’t seem to mind that the two of us entered. So in fact we saw inside the courtyard, two churches (or chapels), and even their vineyard/garden area, all of which were very lovely. One old man tried to talk to us, but he spoke Italian and German, which neither of us spoke. We told him the garden and whole monastery were "bellisimo" and he agreed, smiling and nodding. There are also some ruins of old Roman walls visible from the monastery. We think we picked them out, but weren’t sure (since there are many walls made of stones all around the island, many of them crumbling).

We had lunch at a restaurant with a huge open air seating area right on the water and under some trees. I had a delicious pizza and salad and Mariellyn had lasagna. It was a sunny day, though still a bit cool. There was good opportunity for people watching, although since it’s not yet summer, the tourist season is not in high gear. This was overall good news for us, because the town was not too crowded, nor were any of the cafes. On the other hand, there were plenty of people there, many apparently tourists. We heard a lot of German spoken, but also a lot of Croatian. Only once did I pick out other Americans, some young women who came and sat at a table next to ours as we were finishing lunch. The two Americans appeared to be with two Croatian women their age who spoke excellent English. I imagined they were students here (the Americans) with some friends, but who knows. I think many Croatians come to enjoy the island as well as foreign tourists. In summer there are scuba diving and sailing opportunities, along with boat tours around the island. It is a beautiful place, and from what I’ve heard, not even the best of the many islands around here. But I’m glad I finally got out and saw at least one of them.

Visit to Opatija

Things are going well here in Rijeka, though yesterday we had a blast of the bura (the cold wind from the Northwest that comes off the Adriatic), making it feel like winter again. Plus it was rainy. This was the first day when I saw people’s umbrellas getting blown out of shape. But it’s supposed to be nice again today and for the weekend.

A few days ago I went to Opatija for the first time. It’s the resort town just Northwest of us on the same stretch of the sea. You can actually walk along the “beach” in Opatija (unlike here in Rijeka where it’s all industrial port). You can walk for hours, all the way to towns (like Lovran) further along the beach. They do call it a beach, though mostly it seems to be concrete slabs, plus a developed walkway, with cafes and tourists shops interspersed at points. The whole town is also full of grand Austro-Hungarian architecture, from when this was the resort area for the Hapsburgs. Lots of lovely “villas” crowd the whole town, many of them now hotels (plus other big built up hotels) and casinos, restaurants, and all kind of tourist stores. It’s a long-standing resort town, and many elderly Austrians still come regularly. I heard more German spoken while I was there than I have since I got to Croatia. The day I was there (Wednesday) was overcast and a bit cool, but I was determined to finally get there after weeks of putting it off for one reason or another. It’s a half hour bus ride from Rijeka, which only takes that long because of frequent stops all along the way, and it costs only $2. It was not especially comfortable on the bus, however, as it was jam packed and went around a few sharp curves. I was standing the whole way. In fact this woman I met at the bus stop sort of latched onto me when she realized I spoke English (she asked me at the bus stop which bus had just left), and kept up a non-stop stream of talking to me the whole way. She was a bit pushy in her friendliness. She gave me her name and number and told me that if I didn’t call her, she would “find me.” It felt a bit like a threat!

Anyway, the English Language Fellow who lives here in Rijeka when she’s not traveling around the country working at all the law faculties, met me

Folklore Class

I taught the first session of the second class I've been assigned to teach here. It's called American Culture and Folklore, and I think it went quite well. The students are first year students, so they are just beginning. But their language skills and general abilities seemed quite high, and I think they will be very interesting to work with. We talked about key concepts like culture, tradition, worldview, folklore, and related issues. At one point I was explaining assimilation, and I asked them if they had seen Star Trek. Most people nodded and said yes, much more so than is usually the case in my American classrooms (American students claim to have never seen Star Trek). So then I asked if they knew the Borg, and they again said yes. So I said "Then you are familiar with the term assimilation?" They laughed and said yes again. Most of my lecture on understanding culture and folklore seemed to go over well. I got through a lot of material (happily, because I only have 7 total class meetings, many fewer than at home), and they seemed to understand it all quite easily and quickly. We briefly covered many kinds of folklore and art, from foodways, to Lascaux Cave paintings, to Shakespeare and the Grimm Brothers, to Picasso and Pueblo potters.

I asked them if they would be interested in having American students as pen pals on email, and they all said yes, so please let me know if you know college age students who would be interested in having a Croatian college student to chat with online (as an email penpal).

There was an American writer here in town yesterday, Roger Rueff, who spoke about his theory of writing, especially for screen plays. He wrote the screenplay for the film The Big Kahuna. He was interesting, though there was some disagreement over his theory (which was basically that all films should have one main character with one main story arc with one of four possible outcomes). It seemed a bit restrictive, but when challenged he claimed he wasn't saying everyone had to write this way. But he did seem to be suggesting that otherwise the script would not make a good movie. When he was presented with examples that people thought did not fit his theory and yet were still good films, like Almodovar's films, or ensemble films like Crash or The Big Chill, he basically concluded that none of those were ultimately really very moving or compelling films (because there was no character he could relate to). Anyway, I really enjoyed the event overall regardless of whether his theory seems right. It was in the university library museum room, where the walls were all lined with beautiful old manuscripts, fragments of medieval architecture -- stone statues, parts of churches, and so on -- and the chairs we sat in seemed to be beautiful old church choir chairs, big and wooden.

Afterwards a group of faculty and a few students took the writer out for coffee at a cafe overlooking the sea. It was the first really warm and sunny day since I've been here, so it was very nice. All the outdoor seating at all cafes in town (of which there are many) was filled up, for the first time since I've been here. But we found a table and crowded around it. One of the people I met is a professor here in cultural studies. He seemed quite nice and interesting, got his PhD at U of Texas and taught for a while in the States, but came back here when U.S. politics got so disheartening. It was really nice to connect with people and be intellectually stimulated. So it's been a good few days.

Walking Down the Street

Conventions vary around the world for all sorts of things, including which side of the road you drive on, how to greet people (shake hands, nod, bow, kiss on the cheeks, or hug), whether or not to look people in the eye (or when to do so), how to dress appropriately, and a million other things. Here, one of the little things I've noticed about daily life is that I often seem to trip up on which side of the sidewalk to walk on when passing other people. At home we pretty much always stick to the right side, (right?), probably because that's how we drive too (I've always assumed). I think in Japan you always stick to the left side (which is also the side of the road they drive on). And I've been in countries where people just kind of ignore on-comers in certain situations. So for instance a woman might always get out of the way for a man, squeezing herself to a wall or something on a narrow sidewalk, so the man can get by. In Vietnam you have to just hurl yourself into the otherwise non-stop moped or scooter traffic just to get across the street. You see some tourists sort of paralyzed at crossing the street because they keep waiting for an opening. If you make the right moves, you can usually just go (in Vietnam) and people will slow down enough not to run into you, though you have to be sort of aggressive about it, maybe look them in the eye as you cross and make it clear you're not backing down. I've had friends from New Orleans tell me getting people to throw you beads at Mardi Gras is all about eye contact.

Here, people are quite polite when passing each other on a narrow walkway. I particularly notice this because the walk I take into town each day includes one long narrow sidewalk that is frequently traveled by walkers, often carrying heavy sacks of groceries or other goods. And they are quite polite about turning aside and making room for those coming from the opposite direction. It's narrow because on one side are buildings and on the other are cars, kept from parking on the sidewalk only by a series of iron poles cemented into the walk. The whole sidewalk is probably about 2 feet wide. So both parties will adjust to make room for the other as they pass. But which side do you go for?

At first I was assuming that since they drive on the right side of the road here, they would walk that way too. But it doesn't seem to always be true. The thing is, there seems to be no clear convention. Sometimes if you walk on the right side the other party coming toward does so too, and there's no problem. But other times, the other party sticks to his or her left, making me think I should be on the left. But if I've left it too long, the other person may have already switched to the right, so then we're both confused and maybe do one of those little dances trying to pass each other.

An office mate tells me that there is no real convention for this that she's noticed after 12 years of living here. It's more a squaring of the shoulders and a look in the eye (but not aggressively) she says, and sticking to your side. She thinks people are often more preoccupied by avoiding obstacles on the sidewalk than worrying about which side of the street they're on or should be on. What obstacles? Well, like in Paris and other big cities in Europe, where people love dogs but live in apartments without yards or parks nearby, there is often dog poop on the sidewalk. You'll see many a tourist in the city of lights ogling the architecture and stepping in a big pile of you know what, much to their dismay. There are also dripping air conditioners, cars, and so on to avoid. So maybe it is about just picking your side and sticking to it.

Anyway, it's one of many joys and stimulations of living abroad, I think, to have these constant (even if very minor) opportunities to reflect upon the nature of customs, habits, and culture generally while living abroad. Why do we do the things we do, and what are those things? Do most of us ever even think about walking down the street, or how we do it? Out I go now, to brave the dirtied and crowded avenues on my way home. There are, by way, plenty of architecture and other sights to ogle here, but I have yet to step in doggy doo.

Making Connections

Friday evening I went to a concert of a French group of folk singers as part of what apparently was French Cultural Week here. They were six men with excellent voices who mostly sang without accompaniment. But on some songs they also used open backed drums and a tambourine. The cultural center where the concert took place is not far from my place. It’s actually on the route I walk into town everyday, though I’ve never noticed it before. The group’s French was hard to understand since they were from some southern region of France (Provence maybe) with their own distinctive dialect. But they also made many introductions to their songs in English. And most of the audience seemed to understand (laughing at the jokes, etc.).

This is a phenomenon that I have observed overseas before, how people from all over the world often use English as the “lingua franca.” I’ve seen Belgians, Germans and Dutch using English in France; Italians, Swedes, Japanese, and Danish sharing a household with English as the only way to communicate with each other; and many other situations all over the world where the only way to communicate is English. I think it’s a phenomenon that has never happened before in history or prehistory, this global way of communicating. I’m not saying that everyone speaks English, or that they should. And I’m not saying that everyone’s English is equally good or fluent or effective. But I have noticed that no matter where you go, almost anywhere on the planet today, you can probably find someone who can speak a little English. So if you speak English, you can probably get along almost anywhere. It’s really amazing when you think about it.

I also took a little outing with a colleague yesterday. We went to Trsat. She showed me the health food store there (Lotos) and pointed out things that she likes to buy there (like some soy pudding, good honey, and interesting bread). We sat and had coffee in an outdoor café for a few hours and just chatted about life in Croatia and the States (where she has visited several times). I asked her about life in communist Yugoslavia. She said it wasn’t really bad most of the time, nothing like the U.S.S.R., since they could travel and never had shortages and so on. Plus she said life was better in some ways, everything was available and provided (like health care and apartments), and you could afford to go out to dinner and cultural events and so on quite easily (which I gather is less the case now).

I also heard from my Dad’s cousin’s daughter (Cathy) who is an expert in genealogy. She found this blog and wrote me as a result, telling me some details about our family history. Our grandmothers were sisters, so their parents (the Kosmuch/Milosevich family) were the ones who came from Croatia. Anyway, the name of the village they came from is Mrzla Vodica, which is very near Lokve, which amazingly turns out to be just 25 kilometers from where I am now, Rijeka. So I should have no trouble going there and looking in the parish (St. Catherine’s) records for family information. It probably means any Kuzmic families around there may be relatives.

Second Class (with a little on Flannery)

My research methods class met again last night. I had prepared a lot to talk about and some exercises, so we did not really have much discussion. Fewer students came last night than the first week, 12 I think. There are 39 on the roll, but apparently all those with other majors (history, philosophy, Croatian, etc.) who will write a thesis focused in that area will not come to this class at all. So I'm not sure why they are on the roll. But we had a pretty good class I think. At one point I told them about a Flannery O'Connor story. The example I was using about analyzing literature was based on one of her stories -- "Good Country People" -- so I briefly explained the plot. I set it up by describing Joy/Hugla's personality, her artificial leg, her mother, her lifestyle. Then I told them about the Bible salesman and the trip the two took up into the barn loft. I explained that Hulga was feeling superior in her seduction of the man. Then I asked them what they thought would happen next. They did not make any guesses. When I told them that he stole her leg, they all burst out laughing. I tried to explain a little of the Southern Gothic tradition. They seemed appreciative, so maybe I'll try to give them a copy of the story. Apparently Flannery is translated into Croatian, but so far I have not found too many people who have heard of her. My office mate who is a writer (and has spent time -- partly in grad school -- in the States and Canada) does know of her work. By the way, the town I live in (Milledgeville, GA) and the university where I teach (Georgia College) is the hometown and alma mater of this great writer of whom I speak, Flannery O'Connor.

Mostly the class last night was about how to write a thesis statement and conceive of a research project. I had a long day yesterday since the class is in the evening. On the way home, at about 7:45 pm, I decided to stop and get a little pizza for dinner at the pizzeria closest to my house. It was quite good (the classic Margerita), with a thicker crust than is often the case with pizzas here. It came in the same kind of take out box that we have back home. I carried it through the rain (just sprinkling mostly) and ate it at home. By the way, I want to correct one impression I gave in an earlier post about Croatian TV. I think I said most of the films they show are violent and bloody, but I've discovered that's not true. I've seen a number of pretty good art films and what would be called independent or alternative films back home on TV here too. For instance last night they played Surviving Picasso with Anthony Hopkins.

More Rain and Cold

The last few days have been dreary, yet trees are blossoming, so spring is clearly on the way. I did not even leave the house yesterday, though I did a fair amount of work at home, writing syllabi and preparing for tonight's class. I teach my research methods class at 6 pm and am looking forward to interacting with the students again.

I found out Monday that I will soon have another class to teach, American culture and folklore, I think it will be called. This apparently required various kinds of negotiation and permission, because all of Europe is switching their university systems to what is called the "Bologna Process." I don't fully understand what that involves, but apparently it will be an effort at standardization and will make European universities a bit more like American ones (or so it was briefly explained to me). Anyway, in spite of this hurdle, Maja (pronounced Maya), the department chair here, managed to get it approved. Maja seems very nice and interesting, like all the faculty I've met here. She did her PhD in Oxford (England).

There's another vegetarian restaurant in town, MacroVega (maybe I've already mentioned it?), which is quite good. I've eaten lunch there three times this week. Today I chose a mashed potatoes and greens dish with a tomato like sauce, and some beets and corn (kind of a salad I think), and a patty of some grains and veggies, kind of a veggie burger, but smaller and fatter. It was filling; in fact I did not finish the beets. I spoke to one of the owners briefly to ask her if they had a religious affiliation (often vegetarian restaurants are run by Hari Krishnas). She said that no, she and two friends were just very committed to animal rights and being vegetarian, so they decided to open this restaurant. It seems to do a good business. It has brightly painted, orange walls, yellow patterned curtains, I think green patterned table cloths, and many Indian prints on the walls.

A bit later-- I also found a nice tea room today, not far from the office. I was actually driven away by a non-stop smoking office mate. This is the first time we've been in the office together. I had a lot of prep work to do, so I couldn't really leave. But once I finished my prep, some of which I did in an empty classroom to escape the smoke, I went out looking for a cafe, hoping I might find one uncrowded or non-smoking. I wandered some back streets near the office and quickly came upon signs pointing to an interesting seeming tea room. It was non-smoking(!), had an excellent selection of teas, and was a great place to spend an hour on a rainy afternoon. Lots of atmosphere with pink walls, paper lanterns, distressed wood tables, and all the huge variety of tea served in nice porcelain. Everything came with its own little dish, a timer to tell me when to remove the tea bag (green tea with Japanese cherry flavor), a little dish to put the empty tea bag into, another little dish with a sugar cube in it, another with a little cookie in it.

A Trip to the Countryside

Saturday I met another American working in Rijeka, Mariellyn, who is an English Language Fellow working at all the law faculties in the country (to help them improve their English) throughout this whole year (and maybe next year too). She is a former attorney herself, from San Francisco, and she is very friendly. She travels quite a bit, to all the law faculties (colleges) in the country, so apparently she is not here too often, though her apartment is in Rijeka. Now she is gone for another week to Split. But anyway on Saturday I took the bus to this new part of town and met her and her friends who were visiting from Split. One of these -- Stephanie -- is also an American who is married to a Croat. Her husband (a merchant marine) and a few friends from their village were all visiting.

It was interesting to see inside another apartment; this one a three bedroom, also with a view of the sea (though nearer to Opatija). I think her view of the sea is better than mine, and she has a large terrace. But my apartment has bigger rooms and more charm. I liked her place though, and wouldn't have minded something like that, though it's a longer walk into town too. I think we pay about the same amount in rent. And I think the rents are probably inflated for foreigners.

It was also interesting to get to talk to people who have been here a while and ask them questions about life here. They had planned an excursion to some Croatian friends to drop off something Stephanie's husband brought back for them from a recent trip to the States. So I went along for the ride. We went to a seaside village about 45 minutes Southeast of Rijeka (on the way to Split). It was a beautiful drive to a beautiful spot. The houses in the village were all quite nice, and many had out signs that they have rooms for rent for tourists on holiday. It's apparently quite common in Croatia for people (especially in touristy areas on the seashore) to have rooms or apartments for rent in private houses. The government even helps promote these to some extent, with tourists agencies in most town that will help you find the kind of accommodation you are seeking.

These people spoke English very well, since they have lived in the U.S. for years. So we had a nice visit, and this was the first Croatian house I saw the inside of, except for my landlady's. It did not seem much different from an American house, though there was some Croatian traditional "naive" art on the walls. These are basically paintings in a "naive" or folk style of village life in the countryside. We were served coffee, wine, a liquor, and some "cake" the woman had made, a kind of baklava type dessert. It was a really pleasant afternoon. One exciting aspect of it was that when they found out I have Croatian ancestry they asked me for the family names. One of them, my Grandfather's mother's maiden name, Gasparivich, they said was a name from a village right nearby (ten minutes away). They said this is the only village in the country where people were named Gasparivich, so I might try to get back there and search church records or something.

I also went to church with this whole group (who were visiting Mariellyn) on Sunday at Our Lady of Trsat -- the church I have described before. By the way, this is the third most popular pilgrimage site in the country. Catholics are big on pilrgrimages. This particular spot is considered sacred, and the church is here, because the house where the annunciation was made (to Mary) is believed to have been magically transported here, where it rested for three years before it was again magically transported to Italy, its final resting spot. So this spot is blessed, and apparently is particularly visited by women.

The church was so crowded for mass that at least half of the people there had to stand all through the mass. Of course I did not understand any of it, but it followed along like mass anywhere. There was a nice choir and organ. One interesting thing I noticed was that there was a confessional in the back of the church, near where we were standing, that was open (i.e. a priest was hearing confessions), and there was a big line of people waiting to have their confessions heard -- during mass. I guess it's common here, and fairly practical, since you can then be sure of taking communion with a clean slate. But it also struck me as kind of odd, because if you're in the confessional, you are not paying attention to mass, which I always thought you were supposed to do. I am not, by the way, a practicing Catholic (nor a practitioner of any religion), though this was the religion I was raised in, so the rituals are familiar to me.

After mass let out many people, mostly all dressed up, strolled around the area, took their picture in front of the statue of the pope there, or went to cafes nearby. We in fact went to the cafe in the courtyard of the castle, a beautiful spot. It was a bit chilly while the wind blew, but when the wind died down the sun felt lovely. After our coffee we strolled around and saw many people visiting the courtyard and chapel devoted to Mary. There is an image of Mary under a kind of arbor in the courtyard (of the church), where many people light candles and leave them to burn, probably in remembrance of departed loved ones or as part of particular prayers. Many people also approached the actual "statue" -- sort of a bas relief image on a wall -- and touched it reverently as part of their prayers. There were hundreds and hundreds of candles burning away on a table in front of the main image and also on side tables. So there was a lot of smoke and people praying to "the blessed virgin." I was struck by the similarity between this scene and similar scenes I have seen in China and Vietnam, of people praying either to Buddha or female goddesses of fertility. Similar to the candles, they light incense, or burn money, or somehow create smoke, that helps send prayers (I think). And they pray before the image of the goddess or god, and sometimes they touch the image reverently.

Photos and New Template

Surprise! I changed the template to this "Harbour" option. Hope you like it and the new photos. In the change some formatting where the other photos appear may look different depending on the browser you use.

Two more photos showing a vew from Trsat and the church of Our Lady of Trsat

A Little More of Rijeka

It's still cold and windy, but bright and sunny today. I had to pull up my hood on my walk to town, and a half hour after coming into the office after walking around mostly outside for about 2 hours, my cheeks still feel glowing. But I was determined to see something more of the town today. I found a church very close to the office, St. Vitus. It's a round church, mostly built and decorated in the 18th and 19th centuries. There is a statue of someone (St. Vitus?) under glass and people were praying to it. Maybe it even hold the reminds of the saint. In fact every time I've gone into any church here, no matter the day or hour, there are always a significant number of people inside praying. It's a very Roman Catholic country, and I think part of the new nationalism after the break-up of Yugoslavia and Croatian independence has been a big resurgence in religious sentiment and practice. It shows you are truly Croatian to pray (in a Catholic church). Of course this is not true of everyone, but it's noticeable to me how many more people here are always praying than when I've visited churches elsewhere throughout Europe. I'm not sure how popular the Eastern Orthodox churches are here, since it would be mostly Serbs attending (and I think many of them left after the war). But there are a few orthodox churches in town.

Several people have mentioned to me in emails that they wonder how Croatia is responding to Slobodan Milosević's recent death. I wonder myself. I can't understand Croatian to hear what they say on the news. So mostly I've followed it on CNN International and BBC World. I have asked a few people here about it and what they think. And everyone I've talked to just shakes the head and says what a bad man he was. I think there is a sense of relief that he did not do so much damage in Croatia as in some other places.

By the way, some of you may have received postcards that show Trsat, including a picture of a man depicted in statue. I did not know who that was when I sent the cards. The statue is outside the church and is quite prominent and large. When I've been there, many people go up to the statue, and some seem very moved and even pray before it. Anyway, I asked Vinko the other day who that was, and he looked at me like I'm stupid, "The Papa, Jan Pavel II," which of course means Pope John Paul II. And it does look like him. I just wasn't even thinking it would be someone I knew when I looked at the statue. I assumed it was a bishop or count or someone from Croatia. But apparently the pope visited here at some point and Croatians greatly revere him. Vinko told me that he really helped Croatia a lot in its quest for independence. So if you get one of those postcards, that's who the man in the statue is.

After my trip to the St. Vitus church today, I wandered through some interesting back streets, and eventually found the university library near the center. It houses the museum of modern art. But there was no exhibit today, so basically it was closed. There will be an American writer here giving a talk in a couple of weeks, and it will take place there, so it's good I found where it is. I also found a little Irish pub that sells Guinness beer (my favorite) that I hope to visit in the future (maybe when friends come to visit).

And then I found another vegan restaurant (the second I've found here), called "Macrovegan." I have eaten several times at the other such place near the Korzo called Ganesha. And they don't have a huge variety of dishes. So I was happy to hear that there is another vegetarian restaurant here. I had lunch there just now, gnocchi in a spinach sauce, a nice mixed salad, and a hearty, whole grain slice of bread, all for about $2.50. They also had some crepes with pineapple, carob, and nuts that I was eyeing. But I was so full after the food that I did not get any dessert.

I was speaking to a colleague yesterday who just recently spent a year in Oxford, England. She was apologizing for the lack of vegetarian restaurants and shops here in Rijeka. I told her that I had already found more here than in my town of Milledgeville, Georgia (which used to have one but now has none). I think she was surprised, but I told her that I live in a conservative (and I think I might have said "backwards") part of the country, and people are not sympathetic to vegetarians there. So I'm very happy to be here for a while (which I am). Anytime someone here asks me how I like Rijeka, I sense they really want me to have a positive impression, and they are very happy when I tell them how much I like it. So that has made me think that people are very proud of the country and this city and region in particular.

A Nice Day and an Excursion

My landlord (well the landlady's nephew who is acting as the landlord since she is sick) called this morning to ask if I want a ride to the big grocery store on the outskirts of town. I happily took him up on the offer. We went to Plodine and I had a nice leisurely time looking through what was there and picking out items. Some things you can figure out easily, like cookies and tomatoes, especially since there are pictures on the labels. And sometimes there is even some English on the label. But other things are harder to figure out. For instance I wanted to buy some solution to clean the bathtub, but I couldn't figure out which of the many cleaning solutions there would work on the bathtub (this was actually the other day in town). I did try to ask a woman working there, but she spoke no English. After looking for quite a while I finally noticed one that bottle, "Mr. Proper" with the same muscled guy pictured as on "Mr. Clean" at home, had the word "bath" on it, and showed a picture of a bathroom sink, a toilet and a bathtub shining in the background of the label. So I figured it would work. And today I used it and it did work quite well. So shopping is always an interesting cross-cultural experience.

By the way, I also bought some of the nut roll that looks like pugatitsa today and tasted it. It tastes a little like the pugatitsa we make, but that's not what it's called. I'm still working on learning what pugatitsa is here, and how it's different from this other stuff.

Then Vinko asked if I wanted to go up to Trsat (from the grocery store), and so we did. We visited the church there (our lady of Trsat), and saw more of it because there was no mass going on (as there was the other day). Vinko also took me around through the connected cloister and grounds near the monastery. There is a back garden with a covered area for devotions to the Virgin Mary (Marija here). And there were plaques and other objects decorating the gardens that had been found by the monks in the gardens and on the walls. There were many plaques on the wall given in commemoration to "our lady" or asking for her protection. Many of them apparently had to do with the sea. There was a whole chapel devoted to Mary with the walls completely covered with these types of commemorations, and also what appeared to be devotional artwork. For instance, there was a big (like 6 foot long) rosary all carved from wood, with 1 inch wooden beads, and a carved wooden crucifix. There were also some crutches on one wall, presumably from sick people healed by their pilgrimage there. This is one of the biggest pilgrimage centers in the country.

We also went to a health foodstore (Lotos) and then we went to a cafe, where I had some of the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted -- basically just melted chocolate, it seemed. I might start going to more cafes. Since I don't drink coffee I often don't think of stopping at cafes. But they also have lots of herbal tea here. I see people drinking it all the time, and it's readily available in groceries and at cafes, and people choose it over black tea. And the whole cafe culture (sitting outside or inside in an interesting atmosphere) is relaxing and appealing.

The weather was a little better today, but apparently another cold front is due to come through.

On Books and Reading

I think it's Spring Break (one week of no classes) back home in Georgia now. So perhaps a lot of people there are relaxing and reading. Or maybe traveling and not relaxing. I feel like I'm on a kind of break as well, since I don't have very taxing teaching duties right now. But it's still very cold, so enjoying the beach, wandering leisurely through town, or taking trips to nearby interesting spots are not appealing. Mostly I just hang out in my apartment and take at least one walk into town each day (to go to the office, shop, and just get out). But it's always a windy, cold walk. So what I am doing a fair amount of (as I also usually do during Spring Breaks) is reading, huddling under a blanket and sitting just below the heating unit. I brought some books with me, but I've also been looking for new ones.

There are several bookstores in town, and all of them sell at least a few books in English. The best of these that I've found is on the Korzo and has a pretty big section of books in English. I bought a couple of books last week by Isabel Allende. They're from a juvenile fiction series, fantasy I guess, that I didn't even know she had written. I've been so busy for so long that I haven't even had time to browse at bookstores or check bestseller lists for many of the writers I like (or new writers). So far I have read the second in Allende's new trilogy -- Kingdom of the Golden Dragon (set in a fictional kingdom in the Himalayas). It was fun, though light and well, fantastical. I also got the third in the trilogy (set in Africa), but they did not have the first one (set in the Amazon). They take place in these far away, "hidden" places in our world and involve magical beasts (like real Yetis), talking stones, and so on. A couple of adolescents (boy and girl) accompany their grandmother on her treks as a travel magazine writer and solve mysteries or crimes as they discover these magically interesting people, animals, and places.

I'm also reading my friend Kellie Wells' new novel, Skin, which I highly recommend. She's a gifted writer with a luminous style, complex characterizations, and powerful stories. Check it out (available at Amazon.com or University of Nebraska Press).

Speaking of Amazon, I assume it would be kind of risky (mail wise) and expensive to order things from there to get here. But there is a new bestseller out that I'd really like to get and read, Labyrinth, by Kate Mosse. I know it's probably a DaVinci Code wannabe, and maybe kind of cheesy. But I wish I could find it and read it. The kicker is that I had an English language version of it in my hands at a bookstore at the airport in Amsterdam. But I thought it seemed kind of overpriced (about 14 euros). Plus I was just too tired to think coherently there and deal with carrying yet one more thing. Now I wish I had bought it and would pay that much if I found it here. I've checked all the bookstores here in town, and asked my favorite one to order it for me. But so far, it sounds like they may not be able to. At least they're looking into it. If I can't order it here, maybe I'll find it in Zagreb, which I think I'll visit in about a month. Or maybe I can find it in Italy if I go there (which I hope to as soon as it is even a little warmer).

You may get that I tend to feel the cold pretty intensely. People who know me marvel that I made it through two years of fieldwork in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, especially since it was during some of their worst ever winters. But partly it's that I was prepared mentally for long, cold winters up there (though I still suffered from the cold). Here I expected a Mediterranean Spring. Surely it will come, hopefully soon.

On Trash and Interesting Things about Crotia

It's been a cold few days, especially yesterday, when there was a very strong wind howling all around the house. Today is also briskly cold, but at least it's sunny. And we don't have the snow that is present in much of the rest of Croatia and Europe (I've seen pictures on TV). But I know it's warm and sunny back home in Georgia, and even when I left the daffodils and a few trees were already blooming. So now it's probably a gorgeous spring there. After my excursion Saturday (when I took the pictures you can see below) I did not leave the house on Sunday, except to throw out the trash. There are dumpsters along the road, one only a few meters from our street gate (which is down some steps and a walkway from the actual villa).

Trash cans, by the way, inside the house, are very small here, more like the size of what we use in the bathroom (for the kitchen). I think it's all part of a different mentality here about consumerism and waste. At home, I've known people who seem to enjoy producing as much trash as possible, filling up even huge trashcans sometimes multiple times per week. I've often thought that some people think it's a sign of their success or something to be able to throw away a lot of stuff. It kind of drives me nuts and I work very hard at home to recycle and try to produce as little trash as possible. Fifteen years ago there was a resurgence in environmentalism, I think, and we were all worried about recycling, toxic waste, and overflowing landfills. But it didn't laste long, I think, and packaging and junk mail just keep increasing and people seem less aware, if anything, about the impact of all our junk on the environment. It's like we're conditioned to produce and process a lot of garbage. But here there is less trash, and people (I think) re-use things more. It's not that they don't want to buy things, but maybe people do buy less because salaries are lower on average. I think the range of salary for college professors, for instance, is between $700 and $1000 per month. But even when you buy things, food for instance, there won't be so much superfluous packaging, so there's less to throw away as a result. Anyway, I haven't filled up my little trash can in the kitchen more than once a week.

I made a big pot of soup yesterday, the first really ambitious cooking I've done since I got here. It's a variation on my mom's German mother's soup recipe, called grumbla noodla (at least that's how it sounds), basically it's potatoes and homemade noodles with milk in it. But I add a bunch of other vegetables as well (garlic, onion, tomato, green pepper, celery, carrot, cauliflower, and broccoli). And since it was all I had, I made my noodles out of whole wheat flour (from the health food store). It turned out quite delicious, and I'll be able to eat leftovers all week. Just the thing to do on a very cold and lazy day, make a hearty, vegetarian soup!

Today I visited the rector's building in the morning, where the international relations office is for the university. This is where the very helpful people are housed who found my apartment and will help me register for a residency permit with the police, and so on. Once we talked about a few bureaucratic matters (papers they need for my permit and how I'll get paid), I asked Darko about some of my family connections to Croatia. He helped me look up a few names in the phone book to see where they might live today. The Kosmuch (as we spell it in the States) or Kuzmić, as it's spelled here, name shows up in various parts of Croatia, mostly around Zagreb, the center of the country, and the coast (a few in Rijeka). We also looked up the name my mom got that she thinks is the village my grandmother's mother came from, Bistra Vodica, which Darko said means, "clear water" in Croatian. We had no luck finding that exact name. But it was interesting to look it all up. Darko has some ancestors who went to the States, so we looked up those names too. In fact they were in Akron, OH, where some of my family also settled. So I may help him to contact those people.

I also walked through a new section of town, to get to the rector's building, and then around that neighborhood. It seems to be the richest, biggest mansions in town, some very beautiful houses or villas. This was all up a hill from where I live, so I climbed a bunch of steps to get there, then walked through winding streets to get back down to the center.

Part of what makes this town interesting is all the influences and history. There were Celts here, Gauls, Romans, Italians, Austrians, Hungarians, and of course Slavs. But the particular region didn't really suffer so much during the recent war (far enough from the border I guess). So there are many influences and much cultural mixture. As I learn more about this, I'll write more.

Two Pictures of Town

Two New Photos: Farmer-s Market Scene and the Canal

Picture of Trsat Castle

Here's a view inside the walls of Trsat -- the ruins of the castle / fort. The Greek looking part is a recent addition by the family -- the Austrian Nugents -- who owned the place in the 19th century and restored it and added this mausoleum.

Visit to Trsat

Here's a view of the Kvarner Coast (the region I'm in) from the castle Trsat, which I was able to visit today, our first sunny and slightly warmer day. This is actually from a park near the castle, closer to the church there (called Gospe Trsatske -- Our Lady of Trsat). Next to it there are these steps that lead up to a park, including an ampitheater for outdoor music performance, and a hill that includes monuments to all the stations of the cross, each of which was adorned with at least a rose, and often other plants or flowers as well. And there was a big cross at the top of the hill, along with a platform for taking in this lovely view. You can see some of the port and center of Rijeka, along with Opatija, the town below the snow covered peaks across the bay. Opatija is a resort town, where the Hapsburgs vacationed when Hungary owned and ran this part of what is now Croatia (it was their port). It still attracts a lot of tourists.

I also visited the "castle," called Trsat. It's basically the ruins of a fort that is on a high hill overlooking the region and the Rejecina River, the fast flowing river that helped make this a desirable place to settle. The oldest part is from the 13th century, but much of it was rebuilt much later. There is a kind of little town up there, with cafes, stores, restaurants, and a kind of square, plus the park near the church and another one near the castle. So it's quite pretty, especially today, the first really nice day since I've been here. It was sunny and not quite as cold as it's been. I even took off my jacket.

Then I did a little shopping at the market in the center, near the port. Even though I was there late, just after noon, there was plenty of fuit and veggies left to choose from. I bought tomatoes, celery, broccoli, caultiflower, bananas, pears, a half loaf of brown (whole wheat) bread, and a little apple pastry.

Teaching the First Class Here

I taught my first class last night -- research methods for the 4th year, senior English majors. I had thought that this meant a kind of senior review class (a review of the literature and major theories and perhaps involving a research project), but in fact it seems to mean a kind of research paper writing class. I did bring a few books appropriate for teaching that, but could have brought more had I realized sooner what the course involves. Additionally, this class carries no requirements in terms of writing assignments the students must do or exams. They just need to attend 50% of the classes, and it meets for 1.5 hours every two weeks (on Wednesday evenings). It's meant to be a preparation for writing their senior theses (40-50 pages on a topic of their choice), which they must defend orally before receiving a diploma. It's a new class that hasn't been taught before.

The students were very nice and their English was exceptionally good. I make this assessment as someone who taught English as a Second Language to students from all over the world for 8 years. I would compare these students favorably with the very best speakers we had from elsewhere in Europe. In fact a British colleague here told me they were comparable to English speakers from Holland and Scandinavia (typically the best non-native English speakers), and I would agree. This high level of English among the English majors at university might also be connected to the overall high level of English I've found among the people generally (as I am doing errands and so on).

The students last night were all waiting in the hallway (though the door was open) outside the classroom at a minute to 6 pm (when we were due to start). Once I went into the classroom, they all filed in. The class room had rows of little tables that two people could share lined up two on each side of the aisle with 4 chairs per pair of tables. There was another table in the front of the room with a podium where I stood. But I also walked around the room most of the time and sat on a desk facing the students, as I often do in the States too. There was a chalkboard, and a box of chalk and a slightly damp sponge in a box attached to the wall next to the chalkboard. All the students went straight for the back of the room. There are 39 students on the roll, and probably room for 50 in the classroom. But not all students attended last night. So in fact there were about 3-4 free rows of desks. Usually in the States students will kind of scatter themselves in a classroom. Some always sit right up front, others way in the back, some near the window, some near the door. But here, they all filled up the rows completely starting from the back, leaving all the front desks free.

I tried to read the roll, but my pronunciation of Croatian names, especially family names, was terrible. They finally told me to just read their first names. So I must have been really butchering the pronunciation. I really have to try to learn a little Croatian.

Anyway, I think we had a pretty good first class. They seem very smart and dedicated, and all about the same age, early twenties, from what I could tell. At one point toward the end of class we were just talking a little and they asked me if I like Croatian food. I told them I'm a vegetarian and so have not eaten much Croatian food. They seemed disappointed. I told them I had eaten a lot of Croatian food growing up, since that's what my mom often cooked. And I told them that when I came home one day here I noticed a very strong smell in my building that I recognized as stuffed cabbage, a dish I knew the smell of well from childhood. And they all kind of laughed and seemed really surprised, about more than just that I would know that food. So I asked them what was up. And they said that they were surprised by my name for the dish, "stuffed cabbage." They told me their name for it in Croatian -- I think it's "sarma" -- and that I should say this instead of stuffed cabbage. I asked why, and they said, "Stuffed cabbage! That just makes it sound so awful!" I said but that's really what we call it and it has no negative connotation. But they really disliked that name. It's funny that I grew up eating this dish, but never thought the name for it was in any way bad; in fact I preferred it to the name some of my friends used for the same dish, "pigs in a blanket," which to me sounded unappealing. Just last night on TV I saw some British show where they called this same dish cabbage rolls. I wonder if the students would find that less objectionable. It seemed it was the "stuffed" part that bothered them. Anyway they definitely prefer their Croatian name for it, sarma.

On Cars and Driving Habits

Cars in Europe are usually much smaller on average than we are used to in the States. I've always admired this about Europe -- that and the excellent, extremely widespread and efficient public transportation. It still galls me that there is no way to get from the city where I live in Georgia to the airport or anywhere in Atlanta without a car.

I remember the first time I ever came overseas, for a year abroad in France 25 years ago. One of my very first impressions of Paris (where my plane landed) was that everything somehow seemed smaller and more compact. Okay, I know and appreciate how grand and beautiful Paris is. I don't mean literally smaller. But somehow it all felt more closed in, compact, with narrow streets (except of course for those Grands Boulevards), no lawns (though many public parks), smaller sidewalks, and so on. From the taxi that took me on a wild ride from one train station (where the train from the airport left me) to another train station (where I could find a train to the city I would live in -- Dijon), I had views of this amazing city that I'd studied so much about. And my initial impression included thinking that it seemed compact or miniature, especially compared to what I was accustomed to up until then, Metro Detroit (kingdom of the automobile and all things designed for it). I think my impression of Paris as compact was largely based on the cars being uniformly so small.

As I walk down the street here and see all the cars parked on the side of the road (parallel parked very tightly), there is nary a one bigger than my car at home (a Ford Focus ZX3 -- hatchback). In fact my car would be considered a fairly large, nice, family car here. Whenever I've brought this up in the States, there's always someone who says, "It's because gas is so expensive over there! That's the only reason they drive those crummy little cars." Gas is more expensive here, but at least for good reason -- government taxes that support things like public transportation. It's not just going into the pockets of oil tycoons, which is the only reason prices seem to go up at home. So I think it' something like $1.5 per liter (~$6 per gallon) for gas here.

But I also remember having conversations with French friends way back when about why they all like small cars (as they said they did). And mostly it seemed to be that compact cars were in their minds cool, sexy, and svelte, because you could zip around town in them, park easily, and so on (all reasons I'm realizing as I write this that I like small cars as well). Plus, they would say, you get good gas mileage and know you are doing something a little better for the environment.

Anyway, coming from the U.S., the smallness of all the cars here is one of the things that strikes you most as you walk down the street. In fact when you see a bigger car, like an S.U.V. or a Minivan, that is what strikes you as out of place and unusual. And I have yet to see a pick-up truck, so ubiquitous back home, especially in the South.

Sunset Photo from My Balcony

This shows a bit of the Adriatic sea that I see from my balcony. You can also see part of the port that I'm at the tail end of (and which seems to produce a lot of noise), and the end of an apartment building across the street. This was the first sunset I saw -- yesterday. There are better views of the sea if I turn to the left a little, but the glare of the sun did not make for good photos in that direction. The land you see across the water is the Istrian peninsula, another part of Croatia.

Thoughts on Television and Language

A few words about television television here. I have a TV in my apartment, and Vinko thoughtfully had satellite installed so that I could have more channels to watch. But I think he probably got the cheapest package, probably some kind of basic international package, which is fine with me. Anyway, I probably have 150 or more channels available, including 6 Croatian stations on the main TV, and then 150 or more others on the satellite. But of those 150 or more channels, maybe 20 are in English, and most of those are news stations (I do happily get CNNI, CNBC, and BBC world -- about the only of these 20 I ever watch); there's also kids programming, music videos, and quite a few really cheesy religious channels. There are really very few channels that just play shows in English, like networks. There are HBO and a few other known American channels listed (Discovery, Fox), but they are all blocked on my system.

But this isn't to say I get no shows in English. On Croatian TV whenever they play American or British shows, they play them in the original version (English language) with Croatian subtitles. And they seem to show many of those, though often they are old movies or old sitcoms or dramas that don't interest me much. I never watch sitcoms anyway, except for the Simpsons (which maybe is a different genre). And they do play The Simpsons (which I think is called something like "Simpsone" here). So there are American or English language shows pretty often if I want to watch them. A lot of the American films they play seem to involve blood and gore. There was one the other day that I only watched a bit of about some super smart sharks that kill all the researchers in a station under the ocean (Samuel L. Jackson was in it and got very dramatically chomped just as he was making a speech about how they'd all make it out alive). And there was one last night that had tons of stars in it, including Val Kilmer and Robert Deniro as bank robbers, and I think Al Pacino as the FBI man who chased them. I only saw the tail end. These are probably films most of you know, but I never can see the titles (even if I catch the beginning of the film) because they replace the English titles with the equivalent in Croatian.

One interesting thing about watching even bad films with Croatian subtitles is that it helps me learn a little Croatian. For instance to say "Good day" here is Dobar dan, and "dobro" means good (can be put in front of morning or evening too). So dobro, good, is one of the few words in Croatian I have learned and hear all the time. And when anyone on any American show says anything in English remotely like "good," "cool," "that's okay," "no problem," "yeah, sure," "you bet," and so on, it seems to always get translated into a subtitle that reads "dobro." So dobro has come to seem like a powerful word.

But back to the satellite, there's very little programming I get in English that interests me. I do get one BBC station besides the news -- BBC prime I think it's called -- that has some good programming sometimes. Last night I watched a well done law drama that dealt with animal and human rights. But mostly they play a lot of silly British comedies (which I don't watch) and sometimes informational shows (which I sometimes watch). For instance I watched an interesting one on Sunday about the hanging gardens of Babylon. Some archeologists tried to reconstruct some methods of lifting the water uphill that they think might have been used.

But by far the vast majority of the channels I get on the satellite are in French, for what reason I don't know. The happy news is that I speak French (was a French major undergrad and have spent 3 years living in French speaking countries). So it's been pretty fun getting to use my French again in this passive way. And I'm finding myself starting to think a little in French, and even to say things aloud in French sometimes. All well and good, except that French doesn't really do me any good in Croatia (it's probably one of the least spoken foreign languages here -- more often people will speak English, Italian, or German). And it's kind of discombobulating to be in a foreign place where I know I should be learning a foreign language, and then to have my brain working on a foreign language, trying to understand, remember vocabulary, etc., but to have it be the wrong foreign language. Anyway, I can see all the programming in French I want, though I don't get what I think is probably the best French channel, canal plus. But this other channel called serie club that I do get plays all kinds of series, mostly from the States, including Buffy, Xena, Highlander, and others in that genre, along with crime dramas and Oz (the HBO prison show).

There are also a lot of would-be porn type channels, called things like EuroticTv, sexytv, and so on. At one point I went through every single channel to write down which ones were in English and French and what they showed. So I saw how many of these channels there are. Many of them seem to come from Italy, Arab countries, or I am not even sure where. But the funny thing is that they are not what you are probably imagining. Mostly they just show scantily clad, overly made up women looking supposedly "sexy," but at least partially dressed, and like, holding a telephone or something, maybe suggestively. Then there are tons of words on the screen ( in languages I don't know) and numbers. So I assume they are urging people to call the equivalent of 1-900 numbers. It seems to be quite a global phenomenon. Sad, cheap, sexual taunts. Plus lots of religious channels, kids programming, music videos, and news. And old American series and films. And some original series and programs from all the various countries in their own languages. That's what people around the world watch.

Cool Travel Blogs to Visit

If you enjoy reading about this kind of travel, you might want to check out a couple of other blogs of friends of mine. Chris Grant is a former colleague who is also on a Fulbright right now in Moldova. You can read his blog here: http://faculty.mercer.edu/grant_jc/moldova.html

And Giles Orr is a former librarian at the university where I teach in the States (Georgia College). He decided to become a world traveler and has been backpacking around Southeast Asia for many months now. You can read about his adventures and see all his beautiful photography at: http://www.gilesorr.com/nucleusblog/

Various people are asking to see more photos from here. I'm trying. Yesterday I wasted an hour of online time trying to upload four pictures I took recently. But after all that time of apparently uploading, I got an error message, and all was for naught. Very frustrating, but I will try again.

Shopping and Getting Accustomed

Today is a sunny day, finally. In fact it's quite bright, but it's still very cold and windy. Apparently the wind can be pretty intense here. In fact I read that the islands between here and Venice were deforested during Venitian rule of this area, and since then the fierce winds have made it impossible for the islands to ever be reforested. The topsoil is gone forever it seems, and most of the islands and even much of the coast around here are quite rocky and not so good for farming.

I came into the office and found out a little about my schedule. I will teach Research Methods to senior students (English majors) on Wednesday evenings. And then I may help out with a few other classes or get another class of my own later in the semester (maybe in a few weeks). There were people in the office today, partly to conduct some "defenses" (final oral exams) for students to graduate (with a B.A.). So I finally got to meet some people here. Everyone seems very nice, and since it was English professors (one from Zagreb, two from here), their English was excellent. One man was telling me a little about the country's history and how it was before the wars (the more recent wars). He said he was in the States and Britain and even had opportunities to move there, but he chose to stay in Croatia because he thought the country had so much promise. But he thinks things have been really hard the last 10-15 years. And everyone affirmed that Rijeka is really the best place to be in the country, better than Zagreb, or even other coastal cities. They said not to worry, that as soon as the weather changes, it will be marvelous. One man told me it will even get too hot, into the 30's (celcius).

I was happy today to find that the little health food store I found the other day -- Ganesha (maybe spelled differently) -- serves vegetarian lunches. So while the other profs used the office for the students' defenses, I went there and had lunch. It was very delicious, some kind of green veggies (kale I was told, but uncertainly) mixed, I think, with mashed potatoes; I also had a salad with lettuce and potatoes and other veggies, a piece of homemade bread, and a kind of falafel like patty that was good. There were many other options too, including homemade tofu sandwiches, homemade seitan, pasta, and soup. I think I will go there for lunch often. It seemed to be a very popular place, too. There must have been 50 people in and out (most buying sandwiches or take-out hot food) just in the 20 minutes or so that I was there. I got more food than I could possible eat (maybe because the woman did not understand I just wanted a little of each, or maybe that's the only way they sell it), so they wrapped up my leftovers to take home.

I also bought a few things there, which were quite expensive in retrospect. I do more or less have the money down, 6 kunas to a dollar, but it is still confusing to divide so quickly and realize the price while you're trying to pay and people are waiting, and so on. So I bought a roll of digestive cookies for something like 4 dollars, and a jar of peanut butter for over 6 dollars, and some sunflower seeds (only a few cups) for 6 dollars, and an organic chocolate bar for 4 dollars. About 20 bucks for one little sack of food. Meanwhile the big double sized lunch was less than 5 dollars. Eating lunch there will be the thing to do, rather than buying the overpriced groceries. But I guess organic and health food is more expensive in the States too. Then I went to the grocery store on the Korzo and mostly just looked around at what they had for sale. I always find grocery stores in foreign countries fascinating, what they have, what they don't have, how they organize it, how they sell it, and so on. Probably the most ubiquitous things worldwide are bread, potatoes, pasta, coffee, biscuits, tomatoes, eggs, paper products, and other stapes. There are also always products from Nestle everwhere I have ever been. It's amazing how you can be in a little, tiny spot on the road in Africa, where someone is set up just to sell coffee to people stuck there waiting for public transportation, and they'll have nescafe instant coffee and cocoa. They may only have a tiny little hibachi type grill filled with charcoal to heat the water, and no real supplies beyond what they can carry there with them, but no problem finding Nescafe. Anyway, I noticed that much of the chocolate available here was from Nestle.

I bought some bread and tea, and some basil (I found a dried version of it there in a little jar just like at home). I also saw in the bakery section something that looks like the Croatian delicacy that our family makes, that we call pugatista. I asked the women if that is what it was, and they said no. But they knew the word, though they pronounced it a bit differently (the s had an sh sound for one thing). They said that is just a special kind of bread, not necessarily with a (walnut or poppyseed) filling rolled in it. I told them my grandmother was Croatian and she used to make it with a sweet ground nut mixture rolled in it, and they said, yes, you can make it that way too, but it is not the same as what was for sale there (which honestly looked like the pugatista we make). So I'll have to ask around to find out more details on what pugatista is here and what this other thing is and how it's different. I did not buy any because I already had a heavy sack to carry and I figured it would probably get smushed.

I have also been on a quest to find laundry soap that doesn't have dyes or perfumes, and so far I haven't found any. I asked the very helpful English dept. secretary, Neli, if she knew where I could get some. She wasn't sure so she called a friend, and they consulted about it. She recommended one brand, Meli, that she thought would be the most mild, but she said most Croatians want very strong smelling laundry detergent -- I guess they are always advertising new smells. Maybe they think that without the smell you're not really getting it clean. The stuff I've been using smells quite strong, and in fact reminds me of the stuff I used to use in France. It may even be a French brand. But I really prefer no smell at all. Anyway, Neli thought I should try this German store in town that she thought might have something I would like. So I'll look for it.

First Saturday Market

Saturday (yesterday) I walked around town for about four hours. It was again a rainy and gray day, but at least in that morning the rain was only a light sprinkle, so walking around was pleasant enough. I think it was also a little less cold than it has been (maybe 50 degrees). I found an underground passage I’d heard about the other day that I think makes the walk in to town a few minutes faster, cuts out most of a big hill, and takes me by more businesses (stores, a post office, etc.), which are useful. The passage seems likely to be a creepy place, and in fact I’ve seen people there who look homeless (well, one man), and kids skateboarding, and teenagers making out and smoking (all in just the four times I’ve been through it so far). Plus there’s a “Club XXL” down there, which looks like abar/pool hall. I don’t think the “XX” part of the title means the same thing here, since it didn’t look like a strip club. And overall I think the “tunnel” / passageway is in fact perfectly safe. I think things are generally quite safe here. Matko told me so my first evening here. He said, “Based on what we see on T.V., you have to always be afraid to walk alone at night in the U.S., but not here.” And I’ve read in several guide books that the crime rate in Croatia is quite low and there’s really very little need to worry about anything beyond pick-pocketing, and then only if you don’t take care to hide your wallet.

And I think this must be true. In all my walking around town so far, no one has followed me, looked at me speculatively (as an easy mark), or in any way made me feel uncomfortable. And based on my experience elsewhere in Europe, I know these things are quite often the case. Of course, it might help that having lived in Europe before I know more or less how to walk down the street, not making eye contact, looking like I know where I’m going, etc. But then again, I have been doing a fair amount of gawking. At the market the other day I was obviously only looking and had a silly smile on my face most of the time, because I love open air markets and miss them in the states. Plus it was just such a lively and interesting scene. So I suppose anyone there could have easily picked me out as a foreigner or tourist.

Everyone I’ve spoken to here has been very kind and helpful. A couple of times when I’ve asked people for directions, they’ve stopped what they were doing, sometimes walking in the opposite direction with me, to help me find what I’m looking for. When I first went into the faculty of philosophy (the department in which I work), I asked what looked to be a student coming down the stairs if she knew where the English department was, and she took me right to the door, two flights back up the way she has just descended. I told her she could just tell me, but she insisted, because she said, “There is only one little door, and it is not well marked.” She also asked me if I would be teaching there, when I said yes, she responded, “Cool!”

In terms of teaching, I have yet to learn my schedule or classes. I think I will start my research methods class this week, though when exactly I will learn tomorrow. And then if I get another class, it will not be for two weeks. This is fine, though I would like to feel that I’m a little more involved in a community here.

During my hours of walking around yesterday I went to the T-com building and signed up for internet access at home, which is dial-up (the only thing available -- at least in my neighborhood). Then I walked along the Korzo and wandered into the open air market that is near the center. There were all kinds of things for sale (clothes, household goods) but mostly food, lovely fresh vegetables and fruits. The one thing I was looking for especially was basil, because I hadn’t found any in the grocery store the other day and I wanted to make pasta sauce today. But I did not see basil anywhere. I did see parsley, cilantro, all kinds of herbal teas (chamomile is happily quite popular here), and a few unidentifiable others, but no basil. Maybe it’s not the season yet. There were oranges, bananas, tomatoes, potatoes and other root veggies (beets, carrots, radishes, etc.), peppers, many kinds of greens, garlic, and lots of other fresh produce. Plus there were dried beans, nuts, and other dried foods (herbs, fruits, and mushrooms maybe?), along with eggs, bread, pastries, meat, and probably lots of other stuff I’m not remembering. I saw several stands selling “bourek,” which I know a version of from Turkish food, and it looked like it might be the same thing. But since I’m vegetarian and don’t know yet how to ask whether or not there’s meat in it, I did not want to chance it. And I wasn’t hungry. But I do want to try it if it is the bourek I know (potatoes, cheese, and yoghurt between pastry dough).

There was also a grocery store set amidst all this, along with lots of little shops, and hawkers on the street selling watches, perfume, and other things. I also saw one very old woman (in a babushka) with what looked like hand embroidered cloths. I almost went to investigate, but I knew if I even looked closely, I’d feel compelled to buy, and so I figured I’d wait until I could ask someone what are typical handicrafts here, typical prices, and where is the best place to buy them. Plus I figured she’ll be there (or someone else will) next week or pretty regularly.

When I was a kid, I used to spend a lot of time at my grandmother’s house in downtown Detroit. She’s the one whom I mentioned before was Croatian (maiden name Kosmuch). She lived in a neighborhood of Detroit with primarily Eastern and Central European immigrants, including many other Croatians. I used to go with her on walks every morning, to the butcher, grocer, baker, and so on. Anyway, I remember her often speaking this language I couldn’t understand, which was Croatian. Many of the women we’d encounter on these walks wore babushkas. I have only seen a few women here wearing them, but between that and the language (which I guess maybe I have some slight memory of – at least of the sound – from back then), and the look of people’s faces (which are reminiscent of my family and all those faces in that Detroit neighborhood from my youth), there is a certain level of familiarity in what I see and experience here. Or maybe I’m just imagining it. But it’s interesting either way. Mostly everything still feels foreign, as it is. But there are these tinges of familiarity, or seem to be, from time to time.

Once I left the market (where I purchased only bananas), I set off looking for the big health food store I’d heard about near the steps to Trsat (the castle). I have not yet found it, though I found a few more little ones. But I did come across another store in the chain of big supermarkets, Plodine. It’s good to know there’s one in walking distance (though it’s a good 15 minutes at least). I bought a ten pack of toilet paper and a little box of 100 Kleenex (for about $1.20 and $2.50 respectively – just the opposite of what they’d cost back home). I’ve already learned to carry a sturdy plastic sack with me whenever I go out, so that I can carry groceries home. Like in most parts of the world, you don’t automatically get sacks to carry your groceries home in here. You either buy them (for maybe 20 cents apiece) or bring your own – a much more ecological system.

Then I walked back home, at which point I was exhausted. On the way home I actually met an American who is working here as an architect – Nathan from Nebraska. We barely exchanged names and told each other where we work – he pointed out his office – before we parted ways. Later I wished I had asked him more about himself, how long he’s been here, how he likes it, etc. Perhaps I will look him up or run into him again. I wonder if there are many Americans here. I also met a French man who lives here (married to a woman from Rijeka) the other day at the tourist information office. I helped translate for him with Dominique (the man who works in that office, and whom I’ve already popped in to ask questions of multiple times). The French man was very thankful since he needed help with a business matter. But I did not think to ask for his information either, though he kind of tried to talk to me afterwards briefly. The problem I have is a certain level of shyness when meeting new people. For instance, I also know my neighbors in this building are all nice people, but I feel funny about just knocking on their doors and asking to talk to them, even though I’ve been told I could.

Once I got home I was quite tired and sore. Perhaps I should at this point disclose that I had major abdominal surgery just two months ago. It went well, I shouldn’t have any lingering problems, and the doctor cleared me for this travel, but still, I realize I shouldn’t overdo it. And between preparing for travel, the actual work of traveling, and then getting settled here, I have been doing a lot of lifting, walking, and general heavy work. So my abdomen finally felt pretty sore yesterday after my four hour walk. So I have done literally nothing today, which was again miserable in terms of the weather, cold, dreary, rainy (at times snowy), and windy. The few things I’ve done have been a little laundry and cleaning, and then to make dinner (pasta sauce as planned, which even without the basil turned out well).

I do feel better today, ready for the week ahead, which I honestly don’t know how I’ll fill, but exploring more and beginning teaching are likely. I hope the weather finally clears up soon. It’s been rainy and cold every single day since I arrived (five days now).

Photo of the Villa

The "villa" in Rijeka where I'm living. My apartment includes all the windows on the 2nd (middle) floor in this picture, and the little balcony (in front of the second window from the left). The sea is to the left (and down a hill) from the photographer. The public park in the foreground is right next to the villa continues down the hill, across the street below it, to the sea.

First Posts (four days of entries) -- Arrival and First Impressions

28 February, 2006 ~ Rijeka, Croatia5:55 pm (17:55) local time

I left Atlanta at 6:20 pm on NW/KLM, approximately on time, except for the long line of planes we had to wait in on the runway. We landed in Amsterdam (my transfer point) on time too, but then had to wait for our terminal to open up. It was snowy there, and they were apparently backed up in de-icing planes. We waited on the runway about a half hour before pulling up to our gate and deplaning. I had plenty of layover time (2 hours), unlike many other people on our flight, who were very agitated about the delay. The eight hour flight was pretty comfortable since I had both the seats next to the window to myself and could stretch out a little. Still, I only slept about an hour, partly because I watched the in-flight film (Pride and Prejudice) and partly because I was keyed up. I was very tired during my 1½ hour layover at the Amsterdam airport, which seemed smoky to me. But I found a non-smoking area to wait in until they allowed us into the gate for our flight.

The flight to Zagreb was on Croatian Airlines and I thought most of the passengers were probably Croatian. There were some guys (a group of three) sitting next to me who reeked of alcohol and cigarettes, so I imagined they were in Amsterdam to party. One was dressed in tight black (polyester?) pants and a black turtleneck and reminded of the “wild and crazy guys” from SNL. At the airport in Zagreb my luggage didn’t arrive on the belt in the first batch. Pretty much everyone else had collected theirs and gone, so I spoke to the other people there to ask if they were missing pieces, and they turned out to be an American legal team here working on war crime trials. They said I would really like Croatia and especially Rijeka, since it’s Mediterranean. My luggage (both very heavy 50 pound pieces – partly full of books and gifts for people here), did then show up on the belt. I went through customs very quickly and found the embassy driver waiting for me just outside the customs gates (with a sign with my name on it). What a welcome sight he was. He (Goran) had a big Ford SUV parked right at the entrance/exit, so it was a very smooth arrival and easy trip to Rijeka.

Goran drove me straight to my apartment here in Rijeka, though we did take one turn around this side of town to find the right street and house. The countryside on the way here was all snowy and mountainous, and there was not much traffic. Goran said this was partly because the highway we were on is new and nice and you must pay a toll to drive it, so many Croatians take back roads. There were these forms along the road, like signs, but cut out in the shape of bears, so I asked Goran if that meant there were bears around, and he said that there are, though they are smaller than American bears, and not fierce.

My landlady, who is 87 and doesn’t speak English, had her nephew (Vinko) and his son (Matko) here to greet me. In fact, she has been in the hospital for a few weeks, and I still have not met her, though Vinko is very nice and helpful. Goran and Matko carried in all that nightmarishly heavy luggage (plus three heavy boxes of books I had shipped through diplomatic pouch straight to the embassy), for which I was very thankful. I was, by that time, going on about 22 hours with only a few brief snatches of sleep, so I was exhausted and overwhelmed. But I saw right away how nice the apartment is.

Vinko and Matko, who both speak English (Matko especially well) showed me how everything in the apartment works, and generally answered my questions and told me about the neighborhood. We arranged to meet the next morning at 10 am to meet with the international relations office and get the paperwork started for my residency permit. We also went up to the neighbors – Beba and her son Christian – and they let me use their computer to look for a phone number we needed. Everyone seems very nice. And the place is pretty. I have views of the sea from my very tall windows and lovely balcony.

I am utterly exhausted and hope I can sleep the night through to be ready at 10 am tomorrow (which will be 4 am back home – at the time my internal alarm is adjusted to). I tend to feel jet lag pretty deeply and have trouble adjusting to new time zones. But I find that if I avoid caffeine, drink a lot of water, and just try to make myself stay up until approximately the time to sleep in the new place, it works fairly well. I am just going to eat a sandwich that I brought all this way and then make up the bed to go to sleep.

2 March, 2006 ~ Rijeka, Hotel Continental

It's Thursday at 10:30 am here in Rijeka, Croatia (where I arrived two days ago) – so everyone back home is probably sound asleep (since it’s 4:30 am there). I am adjusting pretty well to the different time zone. I slept almost 8 hours during the actual night here the last two nights (often a challenge for me with jet lag), thought not continuously. Yesterday I spent the whole day with my landlord, going to meet the international relations people, going to the police to register (a requirement for all foreigners with 24 hours of entering the country), and going on errands. The landlord (Vinko) took me in his car to a very large supermarket on the outskirts called Plodine. But I did not buy as much as I would have or look around as I wanted to because he was waiting in the cafe for me, and he had already spent the whole day on my business. Still, I got 4 big sacks full of food and staples, plenty to last a week or more.

My apartment is very nice - tall ceilings and windows give it an even more spacious and elegant feel than I expected (I had seen pictures before I left). It has views of the Adriatic Sea from most windows and the balcony. There are beautiful wooden floors in a kind of herringbone pattern, along with some antique furniture and some new furniture. The kitchen and bath are new, and all seems comfortable so far, although it’s a bit cold now. But I have a down comforter on the bed, so it has been fine to sleep. I’m sure most of the time I’ll be here it will be quite warm. I've been assured by several people that the weather will turn nice very soon and that winter is almost over.

Most stuff is brand new in the apartment. I am the first person to get to use this apartment since my landlady got control of it. Vinko and Matko told me the story last night that she originally had the whole building (it came to her through her family of which she was the only child). But when communism took over the country the party took control of the building and said it was too big for one family, so they broke it into apartments. Then just recently she petitioned to at least get this one apartment back. Apparently some other family had been squatting there for years and so it was in terrible condition. I think Vinko – the landlady's great nephew and her only family – did most of the renovation himself. He is an engineer and seems quite meticulous, so it's very nice and really brand new. Even the sheets and towels have never been used. And the stove and oven are brand new (and so smelled the first few times I used them). There is a dishwasher too and a washing machine in the bathroom (dryers aren’t used much in Europe – but I have a drying rack and will have a line on the balcony). Vinko doesn't even know how to use all of the stuff, so he's been giving me pamphlets and instructions to figure it out. And he’s very accommodating about asking me what else I might need and then providing it. There are other neighbors in the building (maybe five apartments in all) who seem very nice and keen to meet me.

I have not met the people in my department yet. I called my mentor yesterday, but got no answer. I think I left a message, but the instructions were in Croatian, so I'm not totally sure.

It's rainy today. I was going to try to find the department and walk around town, but so far I have only made it to this hotel, which has an internet cafe. It's very smoky here - everywhere. I tried to find a terminal by itself but someone just sat next to me and lit up. Everywhere I've been the smoke has been oppressively thick and annoying (to me). On a more positive note, food-wise there's a strong Italian influence, so lots of pasta, pizza, and good cheese in the stores.

2 March, 2006 ~ 15:55 pm ~ Rijeka, English Department Office
In response to questions from a friend about some of my earlier reports: Q: “You have to register with the police? Wow!” A: The good thing about registering with the cops once here is that you do it instead of getting a visa. So it did save me a lot of bureaucratic hassle. While we waited in line at the police station Vinko told me that the other people ahead of us (who were arguing vigorously with the woman at the counter) were Macedonians trying to immigrate. They seemed to just keep arguing the same thing over and over. There was also someone ahead of us later from Kosovo arguing a bit with the same woman (we had gone to fill out forms in between). Who knew Croatia would be a hot spot of people trying to immigrate? My case (for registering) went very smoothly by comparison. Overall the police building was jam packed with people for various business. The longest line was apparently to do with drivers licenses.
Q: “When did the communists take over that building and break it into apartments?” A: The building I live in was taken over and broken into apartments shortly after WWII. And my office mate/colleague whom I just asked that question of told me that it wasn't ever really communism here. It was socialism. So it was the socialists who seized it. She said if they’d really had communism it would have been a paradise, but since they didn’t ever have anything like a paradise, it was never really communism, but a mixture of communism and capitalism, i.e. socialism.

I’m going to check into wireless possibilities for internet access. So far I haven't even taken out my laptop. There seems to be more use of dialup from what little I've seen. Later: wireless is not available where I live. I ended up with the only dial-up service they allow for foreigners, about $1.20 per hour during peak times (half that at non-peak times). I'm still pretty out of it all around. It's an accomplishment for me to sleep during the night and eat at the right times (which is not when my body wants to do those things). And I feel good about having walked to town and back twice today – it takes 15-20 minutes each way.

I have now met a few colleagues and seen the dept. It's crowded and different from what I’m used to, but sufficient. In fact this office is much like those I used as a grad student. It should be fine – seems like most Croatians don't stay in their offices much anyway. I'm the only one here now. I met one of my colleagues yesterday and she was nice. Her name is Branka. There are ashtrays on the tables (five desks). Everywhere here reeks of smoke. It reminds me of when I was a kid (not in a good way) when all my relatives smoked.

3 March, 2006, Friday ~ English Department Faculty Office ~ 14:49 (2:49 pm)

Things here are fine, though cold. It actually snowed the last few mornings, but it did not stick. By mid-morning both days it turned to rain. And the rain has been non-stop. It's a soggy, cold walk into town, where I am now in the office I share using the computer. Practically the last thing I put into one of my suitcases was an umbrella, and I'm very glad for it now. On the walk home one evening in this cold rain, when I was very tired and trying to find the underground passage I need to take to get to my street (a kind of short-cut), I stepped into a hole in the sidewalk that was of course full of water. My foot twisted, so my shoe and sock were soaked. Ah, the joys of being an almost clueless foreigner stumbling about in a new town.

It's been a little hard figuring things out because I don't speak Croatian and I don't live with other foreigners who typically can help explain how things work for those of us who don’t yet understand or feel familiar with most aspects of the culture. I am going to try to learn at least a little Croatian. Darko, the head of international relations for the university who found my housing, offered to exchange Croatian lessons for English lessons (though his English is very good and my Croatian is non-existent). And I have to say virtually every single person I've asked for information has spoken at least a little English, and often quite good English, much more so than in Hungary, for instance. So that has made it all much easier

I had kind of a hard night sleeping last night because first it was really cold (my apt has very large rooms and tall ceilings, so heating it is a challenge), then I woke up from weird dreams, and then I couldn't get back to sleep for a while because there is construction or something going on at the port right across the busy road (also a lot of traffic noise). I can't believe the construction or work goes on all through the night, but it does. I would hear the "beep, beep, beep" of a truck backing up, then a load being dumped (loudly), and then scraping and banging noises. The port is literally right across the street, though I'm at the end of it, so I still have something of a view, especially since we're on a hill (above the port). There's a little beach just at the end of the little park below our building. Because of the rain, I have not explored nor investigated so much. By the way, I woke up at about 3:30 am, and I figure our Thursday yoga group was probably at a restaurant right about that time, which made me a little homesick. But once the lull (clank, grind, bang) of the bulldozers kicked in, I finally fell back to sleep.

An interesting genealogical note: I asked my landlord Vinko about my Croatian Grandmother's surname, Kosmuch. He said it's definitely Croatian, probably from right around here. That was nice to hear, so maybe I'll find some long lost relatives. Vinko actually helped me draw up a little genealogical chart of our family, which I guess is one of his interests. His son Matko (a theology student at this university) was going to help me find some stuff in town today and sign up for Internet, but the weather is so bad (rainy and cold) that Matko called to postpone for some other day.

I think I'll start work Monday or one day next week. Everything seems really laid back in that regard. My mentor (dept. head) is not even around right now because of some health problems. So work is a bit confusing since no one else knows what I shall teach or when, etc. But everyone I’ve met has been kind, helpful, and seems friendly and interesting. So I’m not worrying.

The town seems pretty and interesting. Of course it's on the sea, and is a big industrial port city, so it’s not entirely pretty. But it has it charm. There's a river that runs right through town, and a canal, with lots of seagulls (and the ubiquitous pigeons). The river and canal are crystal clear, and I don't know if that means they're clean or so polluted that nothing lives there. And the town is very hilly; in fact there are mountains everywhere I've seen in the country so far, all the way from Zagreb straight to the sea (here). Up on one big hill in town are the old castle (Trsat) and a church. I haven't gone up there yet. I think there's something like 600 steps to get there. And in the rain (non-stop the last two days) and cold, I haven't wanted to tour much yet. I have walked up and down the Korzo – the main street downtown that is a pedestrian shopping street. There's a McDonald's on the Korzo, which I will never visit. But Goran, the embassy driver (who drove me here) said that he's been to the States, and McDonald's here tastes much better than McDonald's in the States. There are also lots of pizzerias and seafood restaurants. I haven't really found many bakeries yet, but then I haven't had much chance to explore (so that is to say I haven't stumbled on a bakery – though there was a shop selling pastries right on the street I walk to and from to get to town, and the woman there persuaded me to try a few, which were so-so). There seem to be a couple of shopping malls on the Korzo, and a bookstore, lots of clothes and shoe stores, and other shops, also many cafes and restaurants.

There is a tower in town (just near this office, which is near the center) that leans a bit, "just like the tower in Pisa," Vinko told me when we passed it on the way to the police station. It does lean and looks architecturally similar to the leaning tower of Pisa (which I climbed years ago), but this tower leans only a little, not nearly as much as that one in Pisa. And there are many churches in town, including one orthodox one (or at least one that I've seen). I haven't gone in any such places yet, because as I said, I've been kind of focused on getting settled and getting business taken care of rather than touring. I did go into the city hall on the Korzo one day to ask directions. It seems pretty modern.

I've eaten all my meals at home, and they've been simple and utilitarian so far because I haven't had energy for more. I did have one meal out with Vinko – pizza in a very typical Italian style (that first day here amidst our errands). It was a nice little pizza café that was maybe part of a hotel – both right on the sea just south of town. I was happy to see some more of the sea, away from town. Vinko pointed out the islands, Krk and others.

Today when I leave here I may go look for a big health food store I heard of. I found a little one yesterday, but apparently there is a much bigger, better one not far from my house.

Photo of Mary

In my office

Intro to Mary and Project

Hi all. My name is Mary Magoulick. I'm an Associate Professor of English at Georgia College and I'm leaving on a Fulbright Grant to teach in Croatia in 2 weeks. This blog is a way to share my experience with those who want to follow along vitually. Right now I am preparing for the trip by getting my house ready, reading about Croatia, preparing for the classes I will teach, and taking care of various professional obligations before I leave. I plan to leave for Croatia on February 27, 2006. I fly on Northwest (KLM) via Amsterdam to arrive in Zagreb on Feb. 28 around 1:30 pm. Then someone from the embassy should meet me and drive me to my apartment in Rijeka, where I'll teach and live.

All I've heard about Croatia makes it sound like a beautiful and interesting country. I have some Croatian ancestry, which is part of the reason I applied for the Fulbright there. I will teach in the English and Cultural Studies departments. Rijeka is a port city on the Adriatic.