Hello everyone – it’s the Amerikanka in Croatia.
Of all the culture shock I have experienced since coming to like here, it’s the people that really crack me up sometimes.
Take tonight. It’s November now, so naturally, the weather is cool at night. We live near a forest, so we heat our home with fallen wood and it provides a great ambiance for family bonding in the kitchen 🙂 imagine – four people hanging out together – even if they are on technical devices – we also play cards and study and write blogposts. The wood burning stove is simply magnetic.
So when Mladen went off to his rehearsal he started the fire with the instructions – Use the fat pieces of wood to keep the fire going. I went down to the garage to get some freshly chopped wood – but – it’s gone! Who done it?
STARI, of course! Stari – means Oldie – male version. Old lady version is Stara.
He lives below us on the ground floor – and sure enough – he took all the wood!
To see his photograph – click on the colored link above!
Being American, I figured out about 18 years ago that being direct doesn’t work too well in these here parts, but – just for fun, I tried it once more (i.e. does gravity work? hmm, yes, seems that it does):.
It went a little like this.
A: “Good evening! (smile!)
May I take some of your wood?”
S: “No, you may not!”
A: (Aha, so, I thought) and a few more words back and forth, just meaningless banter… then I got a bright idea.
A: Hey Stari – I was thinking, maybe we can SHARE the wood?”
S: “Oh, that would be alright.”
CHA-CHING!
Of six nice chunks, I managed to get three (sharing, remember?)
Thanks Stari!
Earlier today we spent some time in nature picking olives, another seasonal pasttime. It can actually be quite profitable – each liter of domestic olive oil easily fetches 75-85 kn – especially the olives grown without pesticides etc. (Unsprayed, we like to say.)
Just another adventure from… the
Amerikanka in Croatia
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