First time posting

[Rndaubner]

Hello everyone,  I am born and raised in the US and reciently have found an amazing girl with relatives from otok prvic. She is currently teaching me to speak Croation so when we come and visit this beautiful island I will be able to speek with everyone. I cant wait to see your country in person and there is no one else I'd rather see it with than Dola. Thanks for reading.  Shannon

[Meri]

Welcome Shannon!! 

There are some great Croatian books out there and even phrase books if you want some more pratice...oddly enough available at Walmart! 

Where are you located?

[Rndaubner]

Hello Meri,
 First of all, thank you very much for responding to my post. I was very excited to see that someone out there read it. Well, to answer your question, I am from Milwaukee Wisconsin in the midwest. I am very familiar with the Wal-Mart stores, but I never would have thought to use them as a Croation resource. Thank you very much for the tip. Where are you from?                                                               Hvala,  Shannon and Dola

[Meri]

Hi Shannon

Aw we are Dalmatian - so even though we read it some are just too lazy to read   

Wal-Mart sure does have an amazing selection and the best prices!  We have a Croatian language school here and I always ordered the books for the school from Wal-Mart via online. 

I am from San Pedro, California (near Los Angeles) where the most people from Prvic live in the states.    Soon I will put some pictures up from a Croatian picnic we recently had where I ran into about 20+ people from Prvic!!!!   

Does Milwaukee have Croatian picnics?

[Rndaubner]

Hi Meri,
Wow California, I used to spend a lot of time working at Boeing down in Long Beach about 40 minutes south of LA on 405.
     Well to answer your question, yes we have a Croatian Park, but I'm not sure when the festivals are so Dolores is going to look into this for me.
    Well to let you know who we are, I'm a 32 year old Irish/German guy who has fallen head over heals for a Beautiful 32 year old Croatian girl.
    Three months ago I wouldn't have been able to point out Croatia on a globe, but now all i've been doing is researching and teaching myself everything I can to show this girl how much she means to me and how much I want to be part of her. Not to mention I found out that Croatia makes the most beautiful women in the world. And the best food.
So tell me about you. Have you lived in the states your whole life? when did you come over?how old were you when you came over? did you mary a croatian guy or a yankee?
                                                                    Hope to hear from you soon
                                                                    Hvala (see i'm learning) Shannon and Dolores

 

[Meri]

Hi Shannon!

Yup know exactly where in Long Beach :-) 

Not to mention I found out that Croatia makes the most beautiful women in the world. And the best food

  - Well I don't think anyone can argue with you  about that one :-)

I am a 2? (hehehehe) first generation Croat.   I am a born and raised Cali girl - minue the "likes" and blonde hair!   My father is Prvic Luka, my mother is from the island of Vis, town Komiza.   Oddly there are quite a bit of pairs like that in California and even one in Croatia :-)

When are you intending to go?  Have Dolores teach you the Dalmatian dialect, much easier to pronounce   

Learning the language, researching?!  Well trust me that surely does mean a lot to us ladies! 

Does this also mean you are trying to cook some Croatian dishes? 

[Rndaubner]

Hi Meri,
Kako se? Hows things going in Cali? I miss going down to seal beach and watching the sun set into the water. However, the most crazy and fun place i had ever been to was Venice beach. And I did see the guy wearing the turban and riding on roller skates playing the guitar. Pivital point of my life.
As far as dishes go, I have not learned anything yet, but Dolores said some sunday we will make a pot of sarma. I dont know if I spelled that right.
And as far as learning the language. She said there are 30 letters in the alphabet and she will teach me 5 a day starting today. so wish us luck please. 

[Meri]

  that guy used to be a legend!!!  he even made it on a cover of a text book....sadly he isnt there anymore...at least i didnt see him in a long time..i used to go a lot down there to skateboard a lot last year....cant beat those beautiful paths

well there is no seal beach nor venice beach in prvic....sand is a luxury i guess...but nonethless much more beautiful.....quite and peaceful! 

sarma thats correct!  a famous dish...good for those cold winter months...youll probably make enough to last a few days..my dad usually freezes the left over and then reheats..like a lot of croatian foods, that dish i think is always best next day..needs to settle in and drink the "juice"

let us know how it came out...maybe we all could reccommend a dish for you to surprise her with next time!

"teach yourself croatian"  has a nice CD that comes with the text book..it helps when you are driving....the first lesson is the alphabet and helping your pronounce...lots of students find it helpful!

[Rndaubner]

Hiya Meri,
Wow great idea about the book, and even greater idea about the dinner. I'd absolutly love for some input on different recipe ideas. Even if they dont turn out perfect, at least it would show her I tried. Practice makes perfect.
So the two places I want to go to so far since I started my research is otok prvic and Dubrovnic. Although I also want to throw on a backpack and tour the countryside by foot.
Do you get to go there often?

[Meri]

here are some good language books:

http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-Croatian-Complete-Course/dp/0071420215/ref=pd_bbs_12/105-3096283-4860415?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187630217&sr=8-12

http://www.amazon.com/Croatian-Lonely-Phrasebook-Gordana-Ivetac/dp/1740599969/ref=sr_1_17/105-3096283-4860415?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187630263&sr=8-17  (this one is hillarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

the first book is the best croatian language book available for english speakers.  I looked in every possible Croatian publication and North America and nothing can compare.  We use that as a language book in California

do you know what part of the island your girlfriend is from?  there are two towns on the island....

i go often but i stick around the dalmatian coast with my granny.

any new croatian dishes that you tried???

[Rndaubner]

Hi Meri, How've you been?
Well so much has happened since I last talked with you. I learned how to make Kruh (bread) from scratch although I still find it hard to say because in english we don't end many words with an "h". I've officialy packed away my MrCoffee coffee maker after tasting the wonderful world of turkish style coffee. Dolores got me this little pot that makes the best coffee I've ever tasted. I'm not saying I'm wishy washy and looking to change all my ways of life just to please someone else, however when someone introduces me to something that is better than the way I was doing it, well I'm man enough to convert.
I'm glad to hear you get to go back often with your baba. Dolores is talking about going next July. She said her baba's house is in the village of Sepurine on top of the hill behind the church, but for health reasons she is currently living in Dubrovnik.
Hey, did I mention I can count to 4, (yea me) not bad for an American hey! Dola's four year old son can count higher than me so I think I'll hire him to teach me how to count.
This has been a fantastic courtship so far and the best days of my life. You've given me some great advice and I am appreciative of that. Thanks for being friendly on the forum and not laughing at my attempts to learn more about croatian ways and cultures.                          Shannon