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).