Plane Riding
The plane trip was really exhausting. We were about 22 hours in total between waiting on the plane and then also being on the flights. Our flight for Chicago left in the afternoon. I packed a lot of things, including my riding boots, three swimsuits, lots of jeans and shirts, and my electronics. While I'm thinking about it, I will be calling some of you through Skype just so you know.
The flight to Chicago sort of sucked. None of the videos worked etc but we could see the digital map. Traveling really blows for me because of my legs but I cheered myself up by writing in my journal a lot. My goal is to complete the journal Ann gave me for Xmas by the time I get back. The girls entertained themselves by coloring, reading, and sleeping.
Chicago had crappy Italian food that made me sick. I brushed my teeth and tried to freshen up between catering for the girls.
The flight to Paris was okay, some good food that Neva rejected. Talk about a string bean - she is quite picky about everything from desserts to food. She eats very little but I've been using the "no thank-you bites" concept quite successfully. She has to take 3-5 bites before she can insist that she's full. Very handy.
Flight to Dubrovnik was great! I met some Swedish girls who were going backpacking in Croatia. They were all really kind and we exchanged info about our countries and had a blast! We laughed a lot! Lena would have fit right in with their gang.
Jennifer seems to make friends everywhere she goes, literally. She sat next to a French couple and I ended up translating a lot. Talk about exercising my brain, trying to learn about Croatia + talking French + trying to write this all down = impossible.
June 11
I met Jennifer's cousins - Marilyn, Cindy, Jeanette, Mato (Mike) and John. They were all quite nice and they live in California. They picked us up in a white volkswagen. It was sweltering - I quickly decided to change into flip-flops and finished my water bottle. I also got a little gift box from a relative of Jennifer's who had asked her cousins to deliver them to us.
The car ride was miserable. I had the worst motion sickness and we had to stop halfway to our lunch spot so I could go sit outside as well as getting me to sit crammed up front with John and Mato. That didn't do much because I apparently turned light green and vomited. My abs hurt really bad that night, uggg.
We ate lunch and I drank a lot so I felt much better. The restaurant was right near the water and I managed to dip my feet in the Adriatic for the first time. It was so refreshing and transparent. I fell in love with it.
When we got to our lovely, 2 bedroom apartment in Neum, Bosnia, with a great view and a lovely kitchenette, I quickly unpacked my bag. We threw on our swimsuits and jumped in the water, rather . . . everyone but Neva. The poor thing was too cold.
Let me give you a second to understand that the country where I resided has been terribly war-ravaged. It is a fight over religion. From what I can understand from Jennifer (a Croatian view): Trouble started brewing in the 90's when Slovenia declared independence without any trouble. This sparked tension about the various states breaking away. Serbia started bombing mainly Bosnia and Croatia along with it. Croatia was mostly Catholic but Bosnia was various religions all mixed up. The Serbs slaughtered many Muslims during their Communist regime, especially in Bosnia. Part of the concessions at the end of the war was that Bosnia received a small bit of coastline right in Croatia (maybe 1/2 mile).
So, I stayed on that concessioned bit and every time we had to go even ten minutes away we had to present all of our passports (9 total). The guards didn't actually look at our pictures, just had to make sure we all had passports and then they sailed us through.
We didn't bother with dinner if I can remember . . .
June 12
This day was the family reunions of the Jurkovich family. I tried to dress the part, wearing a turquoise crochet top with white pants and leather flats. We packed into the van
Border crossing was easy and we sailed on to Metkovic. We visited a friend of the cousins called Lude, who was a young Croatian well-versed in English with a lovely wife. We ate some sweet cookies and ice-cream. Jennifer tasted her first cup of Turkish coffee and got instructions on how to make it.
Next stop - the reunion was in Scezosce. It was on a small farm that we pulled in to. We went exploring the farm, seeing some very skinny cats and a guard dog. Poor Nini (Neva) was a bit dismayed at the bad condition of the animals but she smiled all the same. We saw some chickens and a stinky pig pen.
Jeanette is a historian by hobby and showed us all the houses that various family members grew up in, etc. She told stories and went on about who was born when ,etc. Perhaps because it wasn't my own family, I was terribly bored. I put on a kind face and stood tall in the sweltering heat that was making me fall over with exhaustion. After a half-hour of her telling stories, we ambled back to the long benches and tables where I almost fell asleep. Jennifer gave me some homeopathic pills to help my adrenals.
What we ate:
- Yummy tiny pastries
- Broth (this is what they consider soup)
- Cucumber salad with tomatoes
- Cabbage leaves and grape leaves stuffed with meat and rice - it looked really weird and the relatives mashed it up a lot, ick,
- Meat and roasted potatoes - the potatoes were sooooo good - they reminded me of the ones my late uncle used to make with his BBQ
- Lamb - ewwwwwww
- Cream and custard cake was very rich and delicious.
Neva ate some tomatoes and broth. Can't remember what Natalya ate. I ate a bit of everything except the meat stuff, tomatoes, and lamb.
We were about 20 at the table and there was SOOOOO much food. The people here don't recycle or compost so most of it went into the trash sadly, except the desserts.
We were all worn out after the long reunion with the kids, babies (2), and all the adults. After driving back, we went for a swim, except Neva and ate butterfly pasta for dinner with sauce while watching the FIFA soccer game.
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