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.

Some views of Istria (top = basilica at Porec; bottom = view of Rovinj from the sea, actually taken years after this blog, during a 2015 return trip

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.