New sports, new games, new friends, new life...Lydia and I just returned from our second year at EBS camp. The camp program for this year was called "Wastewatchers."  It focused on the themes of God's creation, taking care of the earth, and spiritual transformation in Christ.  Most of the Bible stories and memory verses were from the Gospel of John. 

We renewed friendships with some campers from last year and met a lot of new ones.  The camp was full!  Thirty five kids (from Protestant, Catholic, and unchurched backgrounds), eight counselors (four from England, two from Croatia, one from South Africa and myself), two cooks and one leader all lived together at the DPB House for a week.

We introduced a new sport to camp this summer– Dance Praise.  Dance Praise is a Christian dance music video game which four people can do at the same time.  It soon became the third favorite sport activity after archery and rock climbing.  It was great to see the kids dancing and singing along with the music, “It’s all about You...It's not about me…Wherever I go I want people to see Your light shining like the sun in everything that I do..." (Nate Sallie from All About You) 

The campers were diverse, ranging in age from 9 to 14, from a variety of backgrounds.  Some were believers, some strong followers of Christ, some seekers and some were just there for the fun and Christ-like atmosphere.  They enjoyed playing soccer, table tennis, volleyball, capture the flag, speed stacks, swimming, crafts, and just hanging out.  Everyone got along for the most part, although I was able to practice my peacemaking training one day between two different rooms.

Morning Bible Study Group

The camp ended with hugs, tears, and an exchange of email addresses and phone numbers. We are exhausted but excited to see God at work.  We can’t wait until next year!

Our language instructor in Colorado told us: “You’re going to make a million mistakes so get started!  Here is one of my million.
 
Ellie Beth and I were taking Frodo, our puppy and people magnet, for a walk one day when two girls about Ellie’s age started talking with us: “Baš je slatki!” He’s so sweet/cute!  “Muski ili ženski?”  Is he male or female?  “Kako se zove?  What’s his name?   “Koliko je star?” How old is he?

Ellie Beth answered them all!  But then they asked us another question – one we hadn’t heard before…we had no idea what they were saying.   Ellie Beth and I looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders.  I gave my typical answer – “Ne razumijem."  I don't understand.  Then after a second to think it through: "Tvoy hrvastski nije dobar."  Our Croatian is not so good.  Well that’s what I meant to say!  They looked at me strangely, smiled and walked away.  We walked on. 

About 20 meters later I stopped, looked at Ellie Beth and said, “Oh, no! I just told that girl that her Croatian wasn’t good, didn’t I?!!”

 “Yep – you did.” Ellie Beth smiled at me and we started laughing.  It’s better than crying! 

Ellie Beth and Dubravka in the kitchen

After looking up the Croatian words for mold, wall and found; we called our landlords, Dubravka and Stjepan, who came over right away.  They called the builder who came over the next day.  He could not find any leaks so Stjepan cleaned up the mold and repainted.  We learned that we must air out the house morning and evening- basically we turn off the heat and open all the windows for five to ten minutes to let the apartment breathe.  We have been keeping a much closer eye on our walls lately!

You might be wondering how this relates to making sarma.  Well, when Dubravka and Stjepan came over to clean up the mold, Dubravka brought over a recipe for sarma, in Croatian.  She started to translate it word by word from her dictionary.  Stjepan suggested she just come over and make it for us.  So, a few days later she came over with all the ingredients, and showed us how to make sarma (stuffed cabbage) – the Croatian way, and I wrote down the recipe.  It was delicious!

Some of my Croaticum class at the Fakultet

I was told this semester by my teacher, Sanda, that she would be teaching us so much Croatian and giving us so much grammar, that it would be coming out our nose.  Now that is quite an image! 

My teacher, Sanda

Language learning has been interesting, challenging, and at times very funny.  There is so much grammar and vocabulary to learn.  It is frustrating to realize that after a month long course in the summer and a semester of Croatian, I still can’t hold much of a conversation in Croatian and I still get “the deer in the headlights” look when someone asks me a question.  But, I am making progress.  Sometimes I actually say a Croatian word without thinking and it is often the right word.  Last week, I answered a question at our women’s Bible study in Croatian!  I had to write it down and look up a word or two, but I knew most of it and best of all – the other women understood what I was saying! 

Of course, I have also had many good laughs over what comes out of my mouth.   When I was asked what I wear in the winter, I replied, “Nosim toplu dijecu – I wear warm children” instead of “Nosim toplu odjecu – I wear warm clothes.”  And trying to pronounce some Croatian words like “istraživačica”, "jedriličarska reprezentacija", "srednjodalmatinski" and "člankonošce” makes for tongue twisters! And what about those words with no vowels like "smrt".

Like I said it has been a challenge but I am making progress.  A friend from church just called and invited us to a piano concert his daughter is in, and although I didn't understand everything - I got the general idea.  So tonight at eight, Ellie Beth and I will be at a children's concert.