Close, but far away

Greetings Friends and Family!

We finally have a blog up and running to chronicle our times here in Slovenia and share our experiences with everyone.  If you don't know already, we are finally settled in Ljubljana for the next 2 years and Scott will begin his master's program (probably in Balkan history) in the fall.  Right now we are enjoying our summer and exploring as much of Slovenia and the surrounding area as we can.  I figured the best place to start sharing our experiences is with some more recent trips.  As I sit here writing this, we are in a small town in the southeast corner of Slovenia called Vinica, in the region of Bela Krajna.  We are here visiting our friend Primoz, his parents and hometown for "Schengenfest," a big rock concert here every year on the border of Croatia and Slovenia.  It highlights a lot of the bands that made their name during the former Yugoslavia years - bands like "Prljavo Kazalište" (Dirty Theater) which is roughly equivalent to burnt-out 80's band whose ballads everybody knows, and "Vlado Kreslin" who is the Slovene Bob Dylan.  We have also been soaking up the vibrant green scenery here in what I call "Heidi country."  For the most part, Slovenia was under Austro-Hungarian rule the longest and that time is reflected in the house styles and way of life.  All the fruits and vegetables taste much sweeter and fresher than I am used to.  A lot is to be said about growing your own garden out here - everybody seems to have a garden, even in the most downtown areas of Ljubljana.  It has grown in us a new appreciation for the work ethic that goes into everyday living.  Anyway, we hope that through sharing some of our experiences this way it will help everyone see a different part of the world you may normally get to see and maybe help change some perspectives.  This will also just help our parents & family keep track of us:)  We are also throwing out an open invitation to come visit and we'll be sure to have a warm place for you to stay and some yummy soups and local foods to satisfy the palate.  Please come and join us, we'd love to have you!

Love,
Carolynn & Scott