Author: Johnnyboy

I have only hours until I leave for Croatia, Greece, and more. I am very excited and somewhat nervous. New experiences and new places, new people and a commitment to the program that I haven’t felt before.

Amazing.

I will miss being with my mother for the time I am gone and even though she will be surrounded by people who know her (my sisters, friends, local folks who care) I hope and pray that nothing bad happens. I feel this way always, actually, even if I leave for only the night. ‘What will I return to?’ is the question I usually ask myself. This is a great lesson in turning my will and life over to the care of my Higher Power. I cannot become too attached to the misleading power of running the show.

My school semester finished well, and my PowerPoint presentation was received with good remarks. I have another ‘A’ in American History and probably one in the science class as well. The European history tutorial has garnered two ‘A-‘ papers and still awaits the final paper on the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. I hope to pick up a third ‘A’. Like Aravis, I need these high marks for the future when my GPA may be strained over more difficult work.

My Firefox browser has downloaded a new Google tool bar and I really don’t like it. I can no longer access my email via the ‘tools’ tab and have to actually open up my mail from the start menu. This is stupid I think, but I will set it to rights when I return. Even Blogger has changed…I changed my font as well. This is a weak attempt at control, but it will do for the time being.

My friend Marko P. will be meeting me at the airport on Friday afternoon and from there we will drive to Split, on the Dalmatian Coast. My next installment will be from there in a couple of days.

Toodle-oo

Johnnyboy

I have called the local pharmacy and ordered a larger prescription of Tricor for my trip.

I have, for the most part, decided what clothing I’ll be taking…I travel light.

I have my cameras ready with extra memory cards. I am taking both Canons (Rebel and SureShot)

I am compiling my email and phone list and will laminate that.

I have my Global SIM card for my cell phone, which oddly enough, does not work around here. No cell phones do…

What I need to do is Xerox both my passports, and have the copy place shrink down some material for my photo-essay project.

I will only be spending a short amount of time in Greece, for a couple of reasons. The first is cost. Although Greece is a relatively inexpensive place, it can get a bit pricey for lodging in the larger towns and cities, especially as summer approaches. The second is that my work will deal primarily with the last fifteen years after the Yugoslavian Civil War so my material is in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Serbia. I don’t know if I will get to Serbia, but I’ll try, if only for a couple of days.

I’m not going there to ghoulishly take pictures of death and destruction, but rather rebuilding and growth.

It’s also really cheap to have a great time.

So, just a few assignments to finish up and then off I go next Thursday. I’ll post a few before then.

Johnnyboy