Spinning my wheels in Split...

I have reached that point in my travels that I have stayed here too long, in Split, that is. My friend Marko has been very kind to let me stay at his home, far outside the city, but it has actually been very inconvenient for me. I have been reliant on him for transport, etc...Yes, you can say that I am relying on a Higher Power, but humans are not my idea of a HP, and Marko is far from the ideal. He is flighty and disorganized and changes his mind at a moments notice, giving any real thought to his passengers. He may believe that he is thinking of them, but he is not.

I am also finding it difficult to stay out of other folks' adventures. I gave someone some unasked advice yesterday and I just did it again...Damn. I hate breaking my own travel rules. This is more evidence that I have outstayed my time in Dalmatia. I am becoming an 'expert'.

So tomorrow I head off to Plitvice National Park, north of here and find a hotel, where I belong. I am a tourist and do not relish the idea of staying in people's homes too long. Plus I do not know the area, so I will be the one asking the questions. Unfortunately, before I get there I will be at the mercy of my mercurial friend who has offered to drive me there. He says we are leaving at noon, and that it will take 3 hours to drive to the park. We'll see...In some ways I'd rather take the bus.

Patras to Ancona...

On board the truck drivers and I have had our supper. I had pan-fried Gilt-head, potatoes, strawberries, and roasted red peppers with olive oil. They ate Pasta, lamb stew, and other heavier trucker food. They had wine, I had water.

We left port around 5PM (10AM EST) and entered the Ionian Sea. We have yet to reach Corfu, where we'll stop briefly to pick up more passengers and discharge some of the freight lorries tucked inside this enormous ferry. It is still the shoulder season so the ship is largely empty, but in July it will pack 600 people in its cabins and on deck.

I drink coffee, smoke cigarettes, and read my book. The world is blissfully unconcerned with me tonight and I feel the same way.

The sea is smooth and deep, and a blue that begs for description but it has been said to be 'wine dark'...and it is. I cannot help but know that the route I am traveling has been charted for thousands of years and I am merely another of millions (maybe billions) of travelers to skim over its depths.

Imagine that it is 2500 years ago and a small Minoan boat is making its slow and peaceful way along the limestone coast. On board are 6 people...3 of them are crew; there is a trader from Corfu on his way home from trading in Athens; a scribe on his way to a wealthy household to become the teacher for the owner's children; and there is the last passenger...a young man from Somewheresville, who can't help but think he's been there before, and that he will return again and again, if only to feel the depths and blueness of this sea.


Johnnyboy

Olympia, tourists, etc...

Olympia is hoppin' with tourists (myself included). Mostly Americans and coach tours from the coast with retirees. It's kind of sweet, actually, all these older travelers seeing the world together. I think I'd like to do that someday, but for now, o solo mio...

I'll be back in Croatia by Thursday and I hope to be able to cram the rest of my trip into the small bag of time I have.

I have reading to do, coffee to drink, and meetings to attend. No meetings here, though, as far as I know. No worries.


Johnnyboy

Convention update and Olympia...

The Greek convention was a smashing success. 32 countries were represented and we all stayed sober. There were about 550 people and the total years sober was 2, 505 years and 2 months. That's pretty cool. More evidence that the program actually works. I left today shortly after 12 o'clock with an AA friend Leif, who was driving across the Peloponnese to his home on the west coast. He dropped me off in Olympia, home of the the very first Olympic games around 770 BC. It was a pagan religious site for several centuries before that, so this place is extremely powerful.

We drove through some of the most beautiful spots on the planet: Arcadia. It was full of very high, fir covered mountains draped in clouds and deep verdant valleys full of fruit orchards. It was raining slightly and that made the green stand out even more. Sorry, no pictures, but I hope to try to capture some shots of the ruins and surrounding hills tomorrow.

On Tuesday I head back to Patras and connect with the boat to take me back to Croatia. I still have around three weeks to go before i fly back to America, and believe me, I have my work cut out for me. I still have to read a book so i can write a paper, and so forth. Now that the conventions are over, I think I'll be able to do that.

Thoughts of H. make me alternately sad, joyful, horny, and...horny some more. Oh Viking Princess, what have you done to this wandering soul?


Johnnyboy

More tribulations...

Last night I boarded the Blue Line ferry from Split to Ancona, the first leg of 4 on my Greek junket. I had an airline seat, which is almost the cheapest. I was joined by three groups of people. There was a French group made up of retirees on a tourism trip; there was an Italian group coming from a spiritual pilgrimage to Medugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina; and finally there was a large group of Croatian teenagers going on a trip with their nun/teacher to Italy. I'm pretty sure one of them stole my mobile phone. I had put it on the table next to where I had stretched out and voila, when I woke up, it was gone. So when I arrived in Ancona I raced to an Internet cafe and had the phone locked down. What time is left on the SIM is still mine, and I will get a new handset when I return. I will also get a new global SIM when I need to. The money is spent and it is not going anywhere. Annoying and frustrating because it is the only way to contact H. She is at sea as well and cannot access her email. She has probably been SMSing me and is now pissed off because I have not responded. Other than that, can do without it, really. It's just one more thing to worry about. I'll use email and landlines to keep contact.

The Greek boat that I am on is run by the Anek Lines and is really super. The Greeks run the best long-distance ferries, except of course for the Scandinavian lines. I splurged and booked a solo cabin with a shower, which I needed following a hot and uncomfortable night on the aged Croatian tub. So now I have washed, eaten a snack, made a phone call, and all is well.

The other bad thing about losing the phone is all the stored phone numbers. I did write some of them down, but not enough, and not hers...Shit.


Johnnyboy

She´s right, of course...

Yes, it´s true. Apparently I brought the moving van along with me to Croatia. This is all very humorous and I will take it easy, as she advises. One day at a time, easy does it, Think, think, think. Knowing that she´s out there and I have seen her, kissed her, and sadly waved goodbye as the taxi drove her to the airport is hope enough for me.

Never fear, Muru, I will not put too much weight on this. It´s a blessing that we met, and this will happen again, in the time of our HPs.

Last night I had a wild dream. I was undergoing painful and trying trials by fire and endurance. At the end of these exertions I was told that I had become a ´soldier of God in the fight against the forces of Darkness´. I felt that ´God´ meant something much older and far more powerful than anything humanity could even conceive and that all I had to do was live my life as I am doing. Coming on the heels of great temptations to drink and exert my control over situations beyond my abilities, I feel that this has significance to me. I´ll be careful with whom I share this information lest they find me a nutter!

Sleep tight world, you´re getting smaller by the minute.

Johnnyboy

I'm in love...

Actually I love the way she makes me feel. Her name is H. (for anonymity) and she lives in Finland. Yes, the distance is great, but that only makes the heart grow fonder. It also gives me an actual reason to move in the direction of relocation. As an EU citizen I could do this. I imagine summers in Finland and winters somewhere with more sun. She is darling, smart, and reads my mind. I can't say enough about her.

The Croatian Convention was a great success for me. I learned many things about my own character assets and defects while overcoming terrible temptations to drink due to emotions over my cousin's death. I discovered that I can feel love and not be afraid and want to run away at the concept of commitment. I can learn to laugh at those who live in a divided and sycophantic AA community and understand that because they are sicker than most, they deserve even more love.
All of this is truly a gift---the promises coming true as I sit here. Fear will no longer be something to fear, but rather a concept to examine and put in its place.

Wow. And to think I still have one more convention to go to and another three weeks of travel after that. Blessed? Let me count the ways...

1,2,3,4,5,....Ha!

Johnnyboy

Gratitude, death, and recovery...

I have been performing more service than I have ever experienced. Organizing an international AA convention is hard and rewarding work. I suggest you all try it.

Yesterday I found out that my cousin had died. He was an alcoholic who never found any kind of sobriety or peace in life. His death was bloody, painful, and tragic. Blissfully his final hours were spent in a soporific coma before his family removed life-support. The details are not important except to remember that massive organ failure awaits me as well if I choose the dark path again. I am angry, sad, and grateful all in one breath. When I heard the news I wanted to drink, but instead spoke to another alcoholic instead. I was better and back on the beam.

My reality here in Croatia is much different. I am surrounded by recovery, the sun is hot, the convention is super, and I still have 5 weeks of travel left until I return to the USA.

More later....

Johnnyboy

Hooray!

I was able to cut and paste my way through the password reset dilemma and now have a new one. So the blog continues.

Croatia is fun, tiring, adventurous, hot, rainy, sunny, filling, and full of AA.

The convention begins this weekend and the hotel is the Hotel Medina which is a Tito-era monolith of what can only be described as having 'cold-war' charm. The rooms are clean and neat, the lobby is the size of a basketball court, and there are so many conference halls it boggles the mind. Tennis courts, swimming pools, water slides, etc...remember this is the place Tito took his good friends Sophia Loren and Richard Burton before they went to his island hideaway of Brioni--now a closed national park.

My friend Marko says that the three of them enjoyed the water slide immensely.

The DigPhoPro is moving along and I am focusing (no pun intended) on depth-of-field today. I have yet to begin reading any thing for the paper I am going to write when I return, but I will.

More will be revealed...


Johnnyboy

Off I go...

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