On A Train

So I made the million hour trek to Bistrica on Sunday. Oh man do I hate Slovenian trains. HATE.

I got to the station in Koper and bought my ticket for the TRAIN, the lady at the desk then told me I had to take a bus first, and then a train. So I took a bus to a different train station, switched to a train that went all the way past Ljub., and then somehow needed to switch to a bus AGAIN, and if that wasn't enough, had to switch to one more train before finally arriving in Lipovci. For 98% of that trip I either had no idea where I was, had no idea where I was going, had no idea if I was even on the right train, or had no idea where I had to get off. I made friends with three older ladies on the long train, and two of them were going to Lipovci as well, so I just followed them. We made all the changes together and ended up in the same car again on the last train. If it weren't for them, i don't know what I would have done. I was very glad to see Renato and Tina waiting for me at the station.

We went back to the house and Metka and Bojan were waiting. Bojan made me ham and cheese paninis for dinner, and we sat and talked (sorta) for a bit. Thank god Metka and Renato speak english so well. After dinner I went upstairs to Renato and Tina's flat with Metka and we looked at pictures and things. The next day Tina and Metka drove me to Lendeva where Renato works. I had no idea he OWNED his company...his office is really nice! Then we went to Ocean Orchids, which is the largest production of orchids in Slovenia. It reminded me a lot of the conservatory at Ass. Park in Winnipeg; it was really quite beautiful. Then we drove around and Tina got us lost on the way back to the house. She is quite the character, but I really like her, she has a great sense of humor. She is learning English as well now, and tried to practice a bit which was nice. Metka made lunch when we got home...PAPRIKAS! Much better than the one David made a few days before, but don't tell him! For his first try, it was really good, but Metka's was amazinggg. Then I went and did some reading I needed to do for school and hung out with Tina and Renato in their apartment.

On Tuesday we went to Lebar's in the afternoon. Metka came along as translator and Bojan stayed home because he wasn't feeling very well. We were there for about 3 hours and managed to have somewhat of a conversation, although I always feel bad I can't say as much as I'd like to. They asked, somewhat jokingly, if I was married yet, and told me that when I do get married that Olga and Metka would come. I told them they may be waiting for a while. They asked about mark and everyone, and I tried my best to update them, with Metka's help of course. Gregor and I exchanged numbers because he sometimes works in Koper, not that we could talk or anything lol. I think he speaks more English than he lets on...we shall see. Stanko gave us two small bottles and one big one of homebrew and Aga sent us home with pastries. When we got back, I took a walk with Renato, Tina, and Nusa down to the Morje river and we took a ferry-ish thing across. I was concerned that I would have to get into a boat, but then, while we were standing on the dock, the dock started moving. Turns out the dock is, in fact, the boat. It was quite sweet actually. That night we all went out for pizza at a local place and just hung out for a bit.

The next morning Metka took me to the station where I had yet another run around. Luckily on the first train I befriended one of the workers and he helped me A LOT. He told me which stop to get off at and then got off the train with me to show me which track my next train would be coming on. Then he asked if I was ok, gave me a wink and a smile, and got back on his train. My new best friend. The next guy who "helped" me was a bastard! He didn't tell me anything I asked, and he even spoke english. Then he yelled at me when I didn't know what stop to get off at, so I more or less yelled at him back that I was traveling alone and asked him for help earlier and he didn't, then his supervisor came over (oops) and apologized to me and yelled at the guy in Slovenian. That shut him up...jerk. Made it to Ljubljana after three trains, and had an hour wait there. Finally got on a direct train from ljub to Koper, and made it home by about 8:30. 8 hours of traveling...ugh.

As soon as I got home I had a shower and then got a phone call to go out. So I did. I figured I deserved a stiff drink after that insane day. The welcoming committee was in full force; you'd think i'd been away for 3 months or something! So even though I had to say goodbye to my blood family, my makeshift family was ready to fill the void.

Not much going on this week; going to try to get into Croatia to see a friend of mine, but we'll see how that goes. I want to go to Pula!

Title Track: The Waking Eyes