A post by Laura
I think I have hesitated to write a goodbye post for a lot of reasons. Several months after we returned to the U.S., I'm still resistant to this experience being over. Despite my post at the end of July about wanting to hold onto the Croatian pace of life, so far I've failed miserably at that; I've become all too busy and rushed again. And I haven't been sure what to say.
I am very grateful to so many people for taking my family and me into their lives while we were in Croatia. I hope that I can begin to pay forward the generosity and kindness people there showed to us. Though I haven't succeeded as of yet in holding onto the pace of life, I do feel as though I now have some Croatian in me. Hvala!
Our last few days in Rijeka were filled with goodbyes. Here are some photos, almost all from that time.
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| Me with colleagues Branka (left) and Lovorka (right) at Branka's house |
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Our landlord Vanja with J.D. and me, in our kitchen
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Caroline helping Maja, my department chair, with her cooking
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| The girls' homeschooling tutor and our friend Greta with Alison, on our balcony |
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| Darko, the head of the university's International Relations Office, with J.D., Caroline, and me, again in our kitchen |
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| Our apartment building, constructed in the late 1930s |
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Our favorite bakery, Pekara Monika, up the street from our apartment.
Caroline liked going there by herself to buy 2 apple bureks,
one for herself and one for her sister (for a total of 11 kuna, or less than $2 for HUGE, delicious pastries).
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| The girls outside of our apartment building on the morning we left for Zagreb--and the States |
If you're reading this blog because you're thinking of applying for a Fulbright, I'd say: go for it! It's an extraordinary opportunity, and for me, it has been a life-changing experience, one that I'm just starting to process and try to understand.
