After the most intense, yet rewarding months of travelling in my life, I am happy to run on half cylinders in my Croatian home. Weather is nice, the fishermen’s village behaves as usually and the first tourists have poured in as well.
Just one thing sucks. The imbeciles from Croatian T-COM terminally switched off my internet at home. One could argue that it’s my fault as I failed to pay the bill for 3 months, although I had organized someone to do so. Shit happens. But what sucks even more is that you get lame answers from the service provider like: “prepayment is not possible” which would be obviously the easiest choice. And how about receiving the invoices per e-mail in order to become aware of outstanding debt? “Nema” (=does not exist) comes the a swift response. Welcome to the Balkans. Being half-Croatian and coming 36 years to this country, I feel reasonable safe to articulate a few blunt truths:
1. Work has certainly not been invented in Croatia.
2. Reliability is not a major trait either.
3. Service mentality to get the ass up for a customer is deeply stuck in a post-socialist mindset.
In most cases reputation is well deserved. Add other countries south of Croatia which have been part of former Yugoslavia, and you have them: The Balkans. Looking at the snail-like pace of their economic progress and correlating it to the multitude of personal experiences I have had, then they clearly are where they are, because they behave as they behave.
My view got amplified my meeting a devout Croatian Marko two days back here who was born and raised in Germany and is currently working in Offenbach, a city close to Frankfurt. “I love my country and if I had 8 mn Euro, I would move here immediately for living. But I would never want to make my living here.” You don’t need 8 mn Euro for a good life in Croatia, but it costst you at least 8 million nerve cells to get through the ever-prevailing indolence when you come with a “getting things done attitude.” Motherland, it’s wake-up time!
Feeds
… and then you make Bangalore home? Haha!
My 1 week in Croatia didn’t afford me the experiences with T-Com but I know what you mean. The fact that there are no scheduled buses to Plitvice surprised me. I had to suffer the worst, when I waited at a ramshackle shed of a bus stand for the ‘scheduled’ bus (made sure i was there 20 minutes before the ‘scheduled’ arrival) not knowing at all that i’d have to wait in the vicinity of 5 hours! thankfully i had a fellow backpacker for company.
well. the bus never came.
But I didn’t become a relic waiting outside Plitvice, thanks to a generous soul who gave us a ride 30 kms down to the next bus station.
I have many stories to tell about the generosity of Croatians, all that took place within a span of 7 days. That must say something about it!
I am very serious about buying myself a stone house, along the coast. Thats a retirement plan, but I am willing to go into retirement right now if Croatia is in the picture! :)