Mid-Winter Trip to Croatia
Until fairly recently, I knew embarrassingly little about ex-Yugoslavia (the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). Ex-Yugoslavia existed from the end of World War II (1945) until it disintegrated in the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s and was replaced by the present-day independent states of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro and Slovenia.
About a year ago I picked up The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo by Paula Huntly and took a small step towards becoming more knowledgeable about the area.
When my Croatian friend asked if I would like to go home with her on her next visit, I jumped at the chance. Not only would I get to see the country - I would have the opportunity to have interactions on a more intimate level. My friend, who is finishing her PhD in Art History, had also been a tour guide for years. She generously devoted many hours to showing me around and sharing her knowledge. I had the opportunity to get to know her wonderful family and friends, and country. The Croatian people I had a chance to meet were all extremely friendly and genuinely kind. My one regret was not being able to see more, but I will just have to wait until next time. In the meantime I will start learning some more about life in that part of the world with the book I picked up - Miljenko Jergovic's collection of short stories "Sarajevo Marlboro".
This is a picture of one of the many guys around town who weigh people (in Split). This is a real job and people actually stop by and get weighed. My friend pointed out that it's important to always be faithful to the same scale if you want to really keep track of exactly how many kilos you've gained or lost because one might vary quite a bit from another.
This rooftop has seen many better days.
Scarves on sale at the market in Split. 1 for 30, 2 for 50, and if you look closely you can see the math for deals for 3 and 4 scarves in pencil.
More pictures coming soon!
About a year ago I picked up The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo by Paula Huntly and took a small step towards becoming more knowledgeable about the area.
When my Croatian friend asked if I would like to go home with her on her next visit, I jumped at the chance. Not only would I get to see the country - I would have the opportunity to have interactions on a more intimate level. My friend, who is finishing her PhD in Art History, had also been a tour guide for years. She generously devoted many hours to showing me around and sharing her knowledge. I had the opportunity to get to know her wonderful family and friends, and country. The Croatian people I had a chance to meet were all extremely friendly and genuinely kind. My one regret was not being able to see more, but I will just have to wait until next time. In the meantime I will start learning some more about life in that part of the world with the book I picked up - Miljenko Jergovic's collection of short stories "Sarajevo Marlboro".
This is a picture of one of the many guys around town who weigh people (in Split). This is a real job and people actually stop by and get weighed. My friend pointed out that it's important to always be faithful to the same scale if you want to really keep track of exactly how many kilos you've gained or lost because one might vary quite a bit from another.
This rooftop has seen many better days.
Scarves on sale at the market in Split. 1 for 30, 2 for 50, and if you look closely you can see the math for deals for 3 and 4 scarves in pencil.
More pictures coming soon!
posted by lalessi | 6:03 AM
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