Day 24 -- End of Program & Final Thoughts

Colin: Each of us came to Croatia with different ideas of what we would find and I am sure we all are leaving with experiences that are different than we expected. I came to Croatia expecting to find a country still mostly involved in an Eastern Bloc economic model, and what I found was a tourist-based market economy. I expected to find a socialized medical system, and to a large extent this still exists, but Croatia is currently going through health insurance reform that is moving them away from a completely state-controlled system. I expected to find a combination of state-run industries and small rural farms, but what I found was an aging rural population (the youth has mostly moved to the cities for work), and a "touristic" economy where the majority of the annual income is earned from German and Italian tourists between July and September. The rest of the year people just get by in any way they can. I expected to find a country with a long and interesting history, and what I found was partly this, but also was a people looking for a unique cultural identity. It is less than 20 years that Croatia has had a truly independent history that was not tied to Yugoslav, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, Venician, or Roman influences. This is most obvious in the facts that the 1991-96 war is commonly referred to as the "Independence War" and that in our travels through 'Hrvatska' it seemed sometimes like you could throw a stick and almost be guaranteed to hit a sociologist looking to help define things as being significantly culturally Croatian (not something I objected to mind you, my own training being as a sociologist and demographer originally...)

One of my professional interests in this trip was to look at the integrated health care delivery system as practiced in Croatia. What I found was a "whole health" model of health-care delivery where mind, body, and spirit are integrated in a holistic understanding of the needs of the individual and an acknowledgment of the power of social networks in the health of all people.

Another of my interest was to get an idea of how Croatia was preparing for the forthcoming ascension to EU membership and what the expected impact would be not only on the delivery of health care services but also infrastructure of the country. In talks with many of the junior researchers, guides, merchants, and service employees that I met on our excursions and in the off-time I have come to believe that, while the official governmental line is that EU membership may cause minor short-term hardship for the working population and is good for Croatian long-term economic well-being, the majority of the population does not have the same optimistic view of social and political integration with the European Union, especially in light of the current economic problems in Greece and Hungary.

What I found here was an amazingly generous people who, as Sasa explained to us, are at the cross roads of Europe -- part East/part West; part Central European/part Mediterranean; part planned economy/part free market; part urban/part rural; and part mountain/part coastal. If there is one thing that this trip -- from Central Croatia to Slavonia to Istria to Dalmacija -- has shown us, is that for something to be typically "Croatian" it is to be a product of multiple influences and sources. There is an assumption in the U.S. that to be Croat is to be ethnically and socially homogeneous. The wealth of diversity that we have seen on this trip shows me that is farthest from the truth!

Charlotte: This trip was truly an amazing experience. This was my first trip abroad and I am not really sure what I expected but I feel like I learned a lot on this trip. Everyone I met in Croatia was very welcoming and they were very hospitable. I feel like our group defiantly stuck out as foreigners but we were greeted politely especially in the smaller towns. I also really admired Croats because most of the young people were bilingual and very cultured. The trip is over but I feel like I am still taking in this experience and making connections for a well rounded over all view of abroad as well.

From a health aspect, it was obvious that we share some of the same health problems as Croatia, these health issues go along with the four priorities for health care in Croatia: decreasing smoking, increase healthy eating, increasing exercise, and increasing knowledge of sexually transmitted infections. It was obvious that smoking is a major health issue in Croatia everywhere we went people were smoking even the very young teens were partaking in this unhealthy habit. I also noticed that a majority of our meals were meat and potatoes with lots of salt and bread with every meal. The entire three and a half weeks we were here we only saw one gym and I did not see anyone else exercising. It appeared that Croats live a relaxed life socializing at cafes for hours at a time; I think increasing exercise will help them in every aspect of their lives. The fourth health priority in Croatia is increasing knowledge on sexually transmitted infections. From the doctors that we spoke with STI’s are not a problem but increasing knowledge will insure that this health issue does not become a problem. While we have some of the same health, problems that Croatia there is not easy answer to fix them. I think we can learn from their education programs and adapt them to our country for example, their sex education, and STI prevention education that are in place in health classes for 12 and 13 year olds. Croatia implements a comprehensive sex education at this age.

This was the trip of a lifetime! I had so much fun meeting new people and learning about another culture. I am also honored to have spent these past few weeks as an honorary bulldog!

Day 23 -- Return to Zagreb

Colin: Today we loaded up early for our trip back to Zagreb. While we had the "Purple Horse" bus for our trip back, we did not have our favorite driver, Franjo (they had to send two drivers just to make up for him!)

Everybody was very sedate on the 6 hour trip back to Zagreb and many of the folks just slept. The joke made by one of the professors was that we were going to stop to see a church on the way back (it seems like we have visited every church in every town in Croatia in 3.5 weeks sometimes...). The weather was bright, and clear and windy, and you could see forever it seemed!

We checked back into the Hotel Jadran and everyone scattered to take care of necessary errands, arrangements, shopping, or making plans to go in our various directions as the program ends tomorrow (we even left one of our party in Makarska because he was catching a bus to Split, a ferry from there to Italy and a train to Rome). I am personally going to the central train station tomorrow morning to catch the train back to Vienna where I will spend a few days before flying from there to Atlanta through Amsterdam.

The evening was spend by a small but dedicated group of us going out to celebrate the birthday of one of our group members and the successful completion of our journey.

Day 22 -- Day Off #2

Colin: Our second day off (and our last full day on the Makarskan Riviera) gave me a full day on my own to go explore the coast on foot from Makarska to Brela (a distance of about 11 km or 6.8 miles each way). This allowed me to see many of the things that we could not have seen if we were in a larger group. One of my first observations was that, unlike the pebble beaches at Makarska or Bol, there actually are some smaller, less well know, beaches that actually have sand on them on the Dalmatian Coast!

The other chief finding was that there are many former socialist era towns and villages that were either "Worker's Paradise" resorts or some other form of subsidized industry that are no longer viable under the transitional economy that Croatia now has. The town of Bratus (pop. 50) has an abandoned Yugoslav Army Retreat, and even though the small beach there is beautiful, and the infrastructure exists, the facilities and the town itself are in decline. The town of Promajna (pop. 250) has found a way to re-purpose itself with a small boat drydock industry. Baska Voda (pop. 2,900) and Brela (pop. 1,800) are smaller than Makarska (pop. 13,800) but are much more desirable as small, exclusive 'get away' locations. The hotels and restaurants are not as large as Makarska but the beaches are nicer (if smaller and more exclusive) and I am sure the accommodations are more expensive.

Baska Voda (pronounced Bash-Kuh Vo-Duh) was the scene of a major WWII landing in 1944 by the 12th Dalmatian Partisan Brigade in their push to liberate Split from the control of the Nazis and their Croat Ustasha allies. There was a monument to this that I discovered on my trek, but honestly, these are the pieces of locally important history that make up the legacy of a people. But if you are from another country, you probably would never know it about unless you went there...

The coastal "trail" is a path that goes through the coastal pine forests, rocky cliff faces and dirt tracks as well as the pebble beaches and paved "rivas" of the waterfronts of the towns. It was an adventure to explore and I made it 3/4 of the way back before the heavens opened up (rain in Croatia no longer surprises me...) and I was drenched by the time I got back, looking like a drowned rat, but happy that I had gone.

Apparently the majority of the rest of the group spent a relaxing day at the beach in Makarska laying out, renting paddle boats and playing in the water until the rain came in. After the storm blew out (a result in a change of the wind patterns from the southern "Yugo" wind to the northern "Bura" wind), we were left with the clearest weather (though windy and somewhat cool) that we had seen on our entire trip, and the most beautiful of sunset imaginable. (Ben - to the left is a picture of what the clouds look like when the 2 winds collide and push the storms away. This lead to the clearest weather we saw on the entire trip)

Ben: What Colin said is correct, the majority of us did spend part of the day relaxing at the beach, until the heavens opened up and the wind kicked in. At that point, we all decided to head back to the apartments and spend some quality time cleaning up and packing our suitcases. The rains eventually stopped, and Colin was not exaggerating when he said it was the clearest weather we had seen on the trip. The view was absolutely breathtaking. Some of the group decided to do a little cooking for dinner, but for the rest of us, we decided the weather was too beautiful to pass up. So, we opted to eat dinner at a nice little restaurant on the beach. We left just before sunset, and on our way, the boys decided to stop for a nice, pensive-photo op. This was the perfect sunset to end our stay in Makarska.

Day 21 -- Upper Tucepi

Colin: Today our hike took us to Upper Tucepi (pronounced Too-Chep-ee), a town in the mountains above Makarska. Our guide for the day was "Joe", a Dalmatian who grew up in this town, then emigrated to Australia (apparently there is a fair-sized Croatian population there), and has since moved back.

We discovered on our hike, as we had already seen in our visits to Biokovo Nature Park and DESA-Dubrovnik, Dalmatian mountain culture is in decline. Joe explained that the combination of the 1962 earthquake, migration to the cities for work, and the "Independence War" are only a few of the reasons that these small towns are dying and their distinct culture is in decline.

One of the main reasons is the lack of land. The size of the individual land holdings has gotten too small to be able to adequately be able to farm or herd the land and be self-sustainable as centuries of dividing lands among large families has left everyone with unusable plots. When the plots have not been divided, the problem regularly becomes that not all the members of a family can agree on the use of the land, so rather than maintain, develop, or sell it, they let it decline. This is the story in many of the mountain towns apparently where the family members no longer live there, cannot agree on what to do with the land, and therefore do nothing. Because of this, these beautiful Dalmatian mountain towns, and their unique culture, may be a thing of the past.

We stopped into a mountain town church (yes, another church), and saw examples of a painted faux marble effect that apparently is very traditional here before taking the customary end of trip group photo that they do here every year.

Since our traditional Dalmatian Dinner in Topici had been pushed from tonight to the night that we toured Biokovo, this left us free to hike back to Makarska, go to the beach, or do whatever we liked in preparation for our last day off tomorrow.

Day 20 -- Dubrovnik

Charlotte: Today we went on an excursion to Dubrovnik, one of the southern most cities on the Croatian coast. Dubrovnik (pronounced DOO-Brov-nick) was damaged very heavily in the war in the 1990’s, and while much of the city has been restored, it will not soon be forgotten. Upon arriving we went straight to DESA- Dubrovnik. In its self description, “DESA (pronounced DAY-Shuh) is a non-governmental, humanitarian and peacekeeping organization, founded in 1993, aiming to stimulate and develop various activities in order to help a women and her family in the war and post-war period.” Their vision is to “develop civil society that uses available local resources on the principles of sustainable development, in which the leading role will be given to the women as a peace-maker, as n advocate of the tolerance and dialogue for building the better co-existence in multi-ethnic society, as well as the bearer of the positive changes in the family and local community.”

This group was originally made up of displaced women who had fled to the city of Dubrovnik. They felt that the city would be spared by war because of its rich history, and also because of the protection provided within the cities walls. Unfortunately they were wrong. The city was the scene of heavy destruction.

These women originally came together for comfort and to share their similar cultural backgrounds. They were trying to find normalcy where they could and that is when their mission began and they started working together and finding resources to help educate and create peace. DESA has had a very significant number of projects their projects called the “Return to Life,” in which these projects specifically focused on the cultural and economic developments of Dubrovnik-neretva county that were implemented during the war and still to this day. These projects include:
Project Silk- renewal of traditional heritage of Konavle
Project Rural tourism in Konavle
Project renewal of the traditional costume from the island of Mljet
Project Women’s entrepreneurship in tourism

The products of many of these projects can be purchased at DESA and a portion of the profits go to continuing the education and projects DESA is a part of. Many of us bought their beautiful hand made silk scarves, hand made lace table runners and a variety of other treasures.

Our speaker at DESA also informed us that the building that they are currently in was once used as a quarantine location for ships before their crew or animals could enter the city. Every one coming into the city by ship was required to be quarantined for at least 40 days, because that was the general incubation period for any number of diseases that could be spread within the population of the city. This may seem like a strict policy but it saved the city of Dubrovnik from experiencing the plague and other disease outbreaks. They were very much ahead of their time.

After the meeting at DESA we went on a short walking tour of Dubrovnik and we were given the afternoon to explore. Many of us walked the walls of the city and shopped at the local market places. Dubrovnik was a very beautiful city with lots of history, but it was hard to take all of it in due the number of tourists from three cruise ships that were in their port today. We've been somewhat spoiled so far on this trip; every place that we have visited has been very undercrowded and free of other tourists.

Day 19 -- Biokovo Nature Park

Colin: Today we went on an excursion to the Biokovo Nature Park (Nature Parks in Croatia are distinguished from National Parks in that there are logging, herding, and hunting activities allowed in the former, but not the latter). Biokovo (pronounced Bee-OH-ko-vo) is 196 km² in area and ranges from 200m to 1,762m above sea level. It is known for its biodiversity and the cultural significance of its small villages and highland pastures with semi-permanent stone shepard houses. Biovoko plays an important part in the history of the Makarska region. In 1962 the region was hit by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that destroyed many of the high mountain villages causing much of the remaining population to migrate to the coastal area and give up their herding lifestyle for one of fishing and eventually tourism. War, natural disasters, and economic betterment are all majority reasons for populations to migrate and we have seen examples of all three of these as we have traveled through Croatia.

Biokovo, like Plitvice Lakes, is an important natural wonder that may form a likely economic draw that will increase tourism with closer EU integration. However, as with all such endeavors, a careful balance must be struck between accessibility, marketability, and sustainability. Hopefully this can be achieved.

Our traditional Dalmatian dinner night at Topici (pronounced Too-PEE-Chee), which is generally held on the last Sunday we are in Makarska, was held tonight because of weather concerns (big surprise there, huh?). Everyone dressed in their best (see the two pics in the final post) and had a wonderful night full of food, drink, song, and dance in an "almost" traditional Dalmatian style. I say almost traditional since a couple of the more musically inclined members of our party (who had been dying for weeks to get their hands on a guitar) borrowed one from the traditional band and proceeded to lead us in a "sing-along" of current (and not so current) popular American songs to the great amusement of everyone including the band!

Day 18 -- Mostar, Herzegovina

Charlotte: Today we made a day trip to Mostar (pronounced MOW-star) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Security at the border was more lax than what I thought. Basically a BiH boarder officer loaded our bus and checked the passports of only a few people and hardly glanced and others and then we were free to enter the country and did not even have to show passports upon reentry of Croatia.

Once in Mostar we had a tour guide show us the city. We saw the street that was front line in the war in 1993, saw the famous bridge that was destroyed during the war and later rebuilt, visited a traditional Bosniak mosque, and saw an authentic Turkish house. We were then given free time to explore the city and do some shopping in the beautiful cultural markets.

Colin: Mostar is still a divided city in many respects. After the initial assault in Croatia by the Serbian controlled Yugoslav Army in 1991 wound down and a stalemate ensued, the Yugoslav Army moved into BiH to "protect" the rights of ethnic Serbs living there, and helped them to establish the semi-autonomous "Republika Srpska" (pronounced Serb-skuh) which was opposed by an ethnic Croat and Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) alliance. This alliance broke down and fighting broke out between these groups over who would control the remainder of BiH. Mostar, a traditionally Croat & Bosniak multi-ethnic city, was one of the centers of this fighting which lasted a year. The current city government is a Croat-Muslim coalition that is held together by a combination of EU and UN support and pressure. This apparently is true of much of BiH which we found has a currency, the Convertible Mark (abbreviated KM), that is fixed at 2-to-1 to the Euro (based on the 2002 exchange rate between the German Mark and the Euro before their adoption of the Euro), making it artificially stronger than the Croatian Kuna (abbreviated Kn), which is a free-floating currency. This meant that some of the savvy shoppers in our group were able to get some very good deals when negotiating prices between U.S. dollars, Euros, Kuna and KM since many of the merchants in the local bazaar took all four in exchange!