"I Can Hear You Breathe"..by Cathy and Annette

We decided this could be on of our many theme songs. If one us can hear the other one gasping over the sound of her own gasps, it is time to take a rest stop.

Such a great weekend. Annette and I left ACMT on Friday around 6:30 and decide to go to Mea Culpa for their huge cheesy pizza. I wanted the ham/gorgonzola one (not easy to type with the "z" and the "y" switched on this Croatian keyboard) and Annette as usual was adventurous and got the frutti de mare pizza. We were horrified when it came to the table and the shrimp were whole! Annette had to decapitate, de-vein, de-tail and de-tiny little feeties from each shrimp before she could eat her supper.

Then, because it had been a long stressful day, we got the giggles and started playing with the shrimp heads, making them say things like "Help me! Help me!" I am sure everyone thought we were nuts. We calmed down by going to a shop called La Dolce Vita for ice cream cones and cake and cappuccino.

On Saturday, we got up at 5:00 to go to Medjugorje. It is a shrine where six village children saw apparitions of the Virgin Mary and it was one place Annette wanted to visit. The ride in the van was nice; we had a guide who explained the countryside as we drove. We stopped and had more cappuccinos at a rest stop, then on thru several checkpoints at the Bosnia/Herzegovina border. No strip searches by husky Croatian/Bosnian/Herzegovinian politsia. Drat.

When we arrived, another guide joined us who had been born in Toronto to Croatian parents, so her English was perfect. She was so strong in her Roman Catholic faith and her belief in the apparitions and really transmitted her emotions to everyone. We both choked up and had tears in our eyes several times.

The town is SO commercialized. The entire winding paved path to the mountain is gift shop after gift shop. It was so slippery from the rain that you had to put your feet sideways to keep from falling. The mountain path looked rocky (the whole country is rocky as if the glaciers just passed), but the guide told us that the rocks are all slick from the millions of pilgrims that have walked there in the last 27 years. Annette and I opted to wait at the gift shops because we do have to work after all. We could not afford to injure ourselves. We felt pretty guilty when we saw many very old people with canes and crutches and real disabilities come back down the mountain. Our guide said Our Lady gives them the strength.

We went to Croatian mass which, although beautiful, was a tiny bit hard to understand. Annette, having been Catholic, could follow it somewhat. There was a baptism of a tiny baby and when communion began, we slipped out the back.

We had lunch at a cafe in town and when the sandwiches came, they were as big as our heads! We have to learn to start ordering half portions. I had a "chopped meat" sandwich and it was deep fried bread (!!) with ten little Jimmy Dean sausages inside. Annette had the same kind of bread, but four huge spicy sausages inside! We left quite a bit on our plates.

When we arrived back in Dubrovnik, we walked over to a little restaurant called Tabasco where the students, Vincent and the dean of ACMT were all eating pizza. I can not believe how good the pizza is here. Anyhow, Jackie was having a good time and told us afterwards that her mom said she could not come home. She had decided to have a good time and even if she was NOT having a good time, to pretend that she was. Good girl. We gave her big hugs and told her we were so proud of her.

That is about it for now. We are having a wonderful time and the three of us are getting along perfectly. I think Vincent (Mr. Veensent as our landlord calls him) would really miss us if we were not there. Serravallo means mountain valley; he told us we should call him Doctor Mountain Valley, but that never really stuck. Mostly it is Vince or Vincent. He calls us Mrs. Cathy or Mrs. Annette.

PS - We were lucky enough to be walking through the old town Saturday when we saw a crowd gathering. A couple had just gotten married in the huge church on the square and a little trio of guitar, bass and accordian struck up a festive Croatian song and everyone started clapping and cheering. The bride and groom came out and tossed confetti and candies to the crowd. We considered crashing the reception, but realized it would not be too long before our accents gave us away.

Annette will tell you tomorrow about our Sunday adventures. We miss you all.
C & A