Even though our language learning is going slowly we are picking up some useful phrases.  We have included a few so you can give it a try! 

But remember...

        the “a” sounds like the “a” in father
        the “e” sounds like the “e” in pet
        the “i” sounds like a long “e”, as in bee
        the “o” sounds like a long “o”. as in boat (only a shorter sound)
        the “u” sounds like the “oo” in book
        the “r” is trilled or flapped
        the “j” sounds like the “y” in yet
        the “š” sounds like the “sh” in ship
        the “đ” sounds like the “j” in jam
        the “č” sounds like the first “ch” in church
        the “c” sounds like the “ts” in cats

I won’t go into declensions, or how to conjugate, or the six cases, or the gender of nouns, or which syllable gets the accent because I have not figured all that out yet.

Hello          Bok! (for children or people you know)     

                   Dobar Dan (for everyone else)       

What is your name?        Kako se zoveš?

I’m                .               Jesam            .

Pleased to meet you.    Drago me je.

How are you?                Kako si?

I’m good, even great.    Jako dobro, čak izvrsno.

Do you have bread?    Imaš li kruh?

No, I don’t.        Ne, nemam.

Not a problem.        Nema ne čemu.
   

Where is the church?    Gdje je crvek?  If you ask that question, you must pull out your map – well, at least I have to!

See you tomorrow!    Vidimo se sutra!

Goodbye         Bok! (for children or people you know)    

                       Doviđenja! (for everyone else)

 A month before we departed for Croatia, Dan and I realized that we needed to have dental check ups.  A friend told me about a couple from our church, Jim and Kim Harms, who were very good dentists and could help us.  I made an appointment for Wednesday, April 18th – about a week before our departure.  At the check up and cleaning, Kim found I had a cavity and possibly a cracked tooth which might need a root canal and crown!  A year ago, right before we left on our eleven week road trip, I had an old filling replaced and it had bothered me since then – but as we were on the road, I learned to live with it and had never gotten around to doing anything about it.  So here we are – eight days before we leave for four years, with some major dental work.  Over the next week, Jim and Faye, his dental assistant, spent hours on my teeth!

Thursday, 4/19: Cavity filled, pressure and ice cube test on my back molars.  OUCH!  I had two cracked teeth!  Two back teeth filed down, temporary crowns put on and a very numb mouth.  Took Advil.
Monday, 4/23:  Root canal on one tooth that was still aching and one very numb mouth.  Took Advil.
Tuesday, 4/24: Checked on still aching root canal tooth and delayed permanent crowns for a day.  Took Advil.
Wednesday, 4/25: Two permanent crowns put on at 6:00 in the morning.  Took Advil.
Thursday, 4/26:  Left for Croatia, still taking Advil.

The lab they used to make crowns was also owned by Christians and they did a rush job - the crowns were ready on Tuesday morning.  What a whirlwind!  And what a testimony to God’s provision!  Needless to say, I had to cancel a few plans and didn’t get quite as much done as I wanted but my teeth are doing much better now, and I am so thankful that God provided the Harms.   Maybe next time I won’t leave the dental appointment until the very last moment!

"Znate li hrvatski?"  "Samo malo."  The translation for this is: “Do you speak Croatian?”  “Only a little.” 

Language learning is going slowly.  Our tongues are stumbling over unfamiliar sounds and words, while our brains are trying to adjust to different letters and grammar – declension, conjugation, gender, and all those cases!  Thankfully, we have a few people to help us including Mirna, our language helper, who meets with us a few times a week, and Danka, the teacher at a private language school, who is helping us with grammar.  We hope to be increasing our time with Mirna and decreasing our private lessons for awhile until we know more words and phrases.  While we are at the language school, Ellie Beth spends time with Kati and her son, Aron, who is six months old.  Ellie Beth has enjoyed taking walks with them to the market and playing games in Croatian.  Lydia will soon be joining them.  In July, I will be taking an intensive language class at the university while Dan is at camp.  Then in the fall, Dan and I will start language school at the university while all four of us continue with language helpers.

Please continue to pray for our language learning.  Although many people speak some English, especially the younger generation, we want to be able to communicate to the Croatian people in their heart language.  It has been frustrating to not be able to connect with people because we can’t speak their language.  

Aron, Kati, and Ellie Beth

Language Learning is Messy

We are standing at the ticket counter at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport with 22 pieces of luggage on Thursday, April 26^th at 7:30 a.m. for our flight that leaves at 10:04 for Chicago.  Eleven family members are waiting to say goodbye before we leave, but according to the very nice woman behind the counter, we have a problem.  We purchased one way tickets and don’t have documentation that we have a job in Croatia.  They can’t check us in to Zagreb or they could get fined.  We start praying.

Earlier that week, Dan had called United and Luftansa about this very thing, and was told we wouldn’t need any paperwork.  However, that didn’t help the woman at the counter.  She left for 30 minutes to make phone calls to various people and embassies.  We continued praying.  When she came back she explained our options.  We could fly to Chicago and then hope Luftansa checked us in through their system all the way to Zagreb.  Or we could buy a one way refundable ticket from Zagreb to Munich.  Hmmmm… as Dan and I discussed our options, leaning toward the one way ticket, she looked at her computer and paused.  Thank you God!  It turns out we were already checked in to Zagreb.  When Dan had called to confirm our flight, Luftansa had checked us in – so were cleared to go.  She gave us better seats on the plane and wished us luck.

It took about 30-45 minutes to weigh and check all our bags.  By that time we were running late and had to say a quick goodbye to family as we entered the security gates and then raced for the gates.  Ten minutes later, they started boarding the plane.  Whew!  After sitting down in our new seats, we looked up and saw Eric and Kris, a couple from Lakeside Christian Church in Cambridge (where we had been living), walking down the aisle.  They proceeded to sit down next to Dan.  They were on their way to Ethiopia to bring home two boys they were adopting.  Isn’t that amazing?! We knew they were on the same plane to Chicago but it was fantastic that we were able to sit with them.  We prayed together in the Chicago airport before they left for Frankfurt and we left for Munich.

As we waited in Chicago, Lydia’s stomach was having problems.  She had finished her last oral typhoid that morning and had not been able to eat breakfast on our dash to our gate.  She made it through the flight from Minneapolis to Chicago but by the time we arrived in Chicago she was pale and nauseous.  Thankfully, it was out of her system by the time we got on the plane for Munich.  Speaking of which, as we were standing in a long line to board the plane, one of the stewards came up and said, “Follow me.”  He whisked us to the front of the line and went back for other families with kids.  We were able to settle into our seats in the middle of the plane before it got crowded!  As we watched other families enter, we realized how blessed we were, as many had been given seats apart from one another.

The girls did great on the long flight and we eventually arrived in Munich early in the morning.  Our flight to Zagreb was delayed by an hour and when I saw the plane we would be taking I wondered how all our luggage was going to fit and if we were going to get off the ground if it did fit!  It was a small commuter plane but I guess it was bigger and stronger than it looked because one hour later we safely landed in Zagreb, officially entered the country, and collected all our luggage!  Steve, Jenny and Daniel Meeker met us on the other side with beautiful bouquets of flowers.  God is good!

Bonnie, Ellie Beth, Lydia, Dan and Jonathan Meeker at Bundek Park one day after we arrived.