a belated update

I'm still in Croatia. I spent a month in Karlobag, on the coast living and teaching in a hotel. It was a Russian summer school (NOT a camp- correction for previous journal entry). They offered me a job in Moscow, and I said that I couldn't consider without seeing the school and the city first. Now I have a trip to Russia planned. it's a difficult and complicated process to get a visa there, but the owner of the school has connections and was able to do it quickly- that said, I won't know for sure until it's in my passport, which is currently with the Russian embassy in Zagreb. I have already decided that I will not accept for this year, but would consider for next year. This year I'm not prepared to leave Madrid, and certainly not to begin 1 Sept.

The person that rented my room this month wants to rent it again next month, along with my flatmate's room because two friends of hers are coming to Madrid for the month to visit- it's a good arrangement, seeing as my flatmate will be away for two months performing in the States. If I do that, then I need to commit to not coming back to Madrid until the end of September. The trip to Russia, if I stay the full time will be from 15 Aug - 15 Sept, and I'm going by train, which will take 3 days, I could even take the train back across Europe if I can stand being on the trains any longer and stop and see other friends, or get cheap flights to do so- perhaps see my friend in Roma, or stop in France to see a friend there. Ah, and I just got a reminder from a friend of mine in Leipzig that I should come and visit her and Berlin- I've not yet been to Berlin (or Leipzig for that matter). All in all it's doable. I would simply need to set up my classes to begin the first week of October from abroad.

Right now, I'm staying with a friend in Trogir, Croatia in her beautiful house by the sea, on a small mountain with pine trees and gardens and forests. The balcony overlooks the sea as well as nearby islands and the roosters go nuts at about 5am. :-P The sea is perfect for swimming.Her family makes its own wine, olive oil, bread and her grandfather makes a Mediterranean delicacy: fresh sardines that are then cured with salt for months and then stored in olive oil. They're quite common in Spain as well, but they range in price and quality. For a tiny jar of this quality, you'd pay 30-40 euros in Spain. I don't actually like the lesser quality ones- they're too fishy. These were exquisite though. Also, for lunch yesterday with her family we had home made gnocchi (a kind of hand rolled potato pasta), a beautiful soup that reminded me of mom's spices, and a stew made with deer and wild boar. Of course there was cabbage salad- there is ALWAYS cabbage salad for lunch in Croatia! Somewhere, Grandma (RIP) would be very proud of how much cabbage I've eaten in the last 6 weeks! She never could get me to eat the stuff. I've been told it's very nutritious- I hope that's true because otherwise I've eaten a metric ton for nothing!

The wine is interesting, they brought it out in a big pitcher. Croatian wine, like its other alcohols is quite strong and best with water. They served it generously in tumblers, and then the second half of the tumbler was filled with sparkling water- made for a very refreshing white wine spritzer. It was such a gorgeous meal- everything made from scratch and things done the old fashioned way. Do you know, even the fields here are scythed with actual scythes. My friend here promised to email me, and if they are going to do the wine making at the end of September, then I'll come back for it. I've always wanted to take part in the stomping of the grapes.

It's been an interesting 6 weeks of speaking with people in a variety of languages, from pidgin Italian (shared), to Spanish (a couple that stayed in my room in a hostel one night), to Croatian and Russian- the last two have been the most interesting because I spoke English, they spoke Croatian or Russian and we just decided that we understood each other. We told jokes, had drinks, made arrangements, told stories, gave gifts, etc. We needed to understand, so we did. It's been the best summer in memory.

I hope that all of you are having a beautiful summer as well. I'll be back regularly in October.