CB and I spoke a few times on the phone before I arrived. His boss is BB (big boss at Borovo). CB is my liaison to BB; I also spoke to BB on the phone a few times and that was cool. BB told me, when we met, that he wants CB to succeed and, to allow that to happen, he steps out of the way to assign to CB professional experiences that may expand his horizons. BB is a good person.
CB and I met at the main hotel in Vukovar for lunch at 5pm the day I arrived. We did no step right into talk about Borovo/research, but talked about shared experiences. CB has lived all over Croatia and the US, and that people in Slavonia are the nicest, most open, and most mellow. His mom is from Hercegovina and his father is from Sinj, and CB was born in Vukovar. The family left when CB was age 7, the state housing them first in Zagreb and then settling them in Porec, in Istria. CB is a skilled basketball player, playing in the youth professional league in Croatia, and then accepting a scholarship to play college NCAA ball in the US.
What I want to say is this: that CB is right, people in Slavonia are really nice, and they are really uncomplicated and down to earth. I like how they ride their bikes everywhere.
Zarucni Slavonci...after we encountered these friends of my host, they had just become engaged, which I suspected before they said so because her mascara was imperfect and she had lots of emotion on her face and I noticed the ring. Darko said to me, you know, he, my friend, is really lucky, I've lived all over Croatia, and in four states in the US, dated girls of all nationalities. Girls from Slavonia are the best in Croatia, probably in the world, because they are pretty and smart, and they know how to cook, and you can trust them :) My Dad is from Slavonia, does that make me a Slavonka? Hope so :)
