Dalmatian Coast

The water near the town of Marina, on the Dalmatian coast:

On a run up the hills, I took this picture of Marina bay:

A passageway in Trogir, old island city on the southern coast:
Fishing boats in Split, a magical and historic place...:

Champagnes at Passover

Here is a photo of Dad, Mom, Jess and me at Passover in DC earlier this year.

In Zagreb

I am back in Zagreb, and things are moving. After being in the US and spending a week in Bobbe’s garden, seeing the gang in Provi, watching BMO regionals and communing with the fam in DC and Harrisburg, I started a couple weeks ago doing work here in Zagreb at UNAIDS, for the Regional Knowledge Hub on HIV Surveillance (www.surveillancezagreb.org). I’m also teaching English (www.linguagrupa.hr), and coaching/playing ultimate (www.frizbi.hr), and getting to know life in Zagreb.

I joined a gym, Jump Fitness Centar (www.fc-jump.hr), attached to a high school. Lots of funny things happen there, including working out with a former Yugoslav body-building champion and working out perilously close to the reigning European women’s karate champion. It’s a bare-bones gym, with a great crowd.

Hopefully I will be living in the dormitory at the Andrija Štampar School of Public Health, and thus far I have been crashing on couches at Rebeca and Mak’s, and at Marina and Ogi’s.

Notable events:

I was the best man and witness at Ogi and Marina’s wedding! The first question I know you’re asking…weren’t they married already? Right, apparently not. (This pair are the center of ultimate frisbee life in Zagreb, and have been incredibly loving and generous hosts when I have needed a place to stay here.) Second question…why ask me to be best man? It was a court affair, not a gala event, and there were four people (including bride and groom) in attendance. They told their parents (and even other best friends) after the fact, and I think they didn’t want a lot of hubbub, though we gave them a sweet party nonetheless. So why ask me? Still kind of a mystery, but Ognjen said I helped renew their spirit about young people and maybe having children one day. Truly, that was very touching, and I think it is why they asked me to be there in that role.

Thanks to Sanja Pirsl (a colleague of our old family friend Ron Landsman), I met Ilija Jandric, a widely known journalist, and independent reporter for Croatian State TV. He did a story on me for the Sunday night news program Dnevnik, the most popular news show here. The piece discussed why an American, well-educated and upwardly mobile, would come to Croatia. It is always a big surprise to people when they get answers to who I am and why I’m here, even though I don’t feel like I’m doing anything really extraordinary. Ilija asked all about my background, motivation and goals etc. An incredible percentage of people seem to watch that show – I can’t go anywhere without being recognized somehow. File it under ‘strange but true.’

Last weekend, our ultimate club traveled to Slovenia for a friendly match (and drinkup/bbq that would make Amy proud). Our side took five people on the 1.5 hour drive that slowly became a four hour trek, after Ogi forgot the directions and none of us volunteered our cell phone minutes to call the Slovenian players. When we finally arrived amid the raindrops, the other team donated two players to our cause, and we proceeded to play a full seven-on-seven game. I felt mostly satisfied and somewhat surprised with how hard my teammates worked on the field, and how well we did. The group is showing a lot of improvement, and the commitment level is increasing. All challengers should show up to the Lake Ballaton tournament in July. (Also, if you are an ultimate player in the area and want to come to an ultimate frisbee getaway in a beautiful place, get in touch. The Adriatic island Rab, on the weekend of June 24.)

Best thing about being back? Finally starting on some productive projects and seeing my friends here.

Worst thing about being from the states? Missing mom and dad’s thirtieth wedding anniversary.