Advertisement
Published: February 20th 2005
My plane touched down on approximately 11:00 a.m. on the 6th of February in Ljubljana, Slovenia after a connection in Frankfurt, Germany. The flight itself was rather uneventful. I was surprised to find that on the relatively short flight from Frankfurt (1 ½ hrs) that I was actually served lunch. I guess the nationalized Slovenian airline is not under as much of cash crunch as the destitute airlines of American these days.
Upon arrival at the airport, I soon came to discover that my person was the only part of me that made the connection to Ljubljana—my luggage being left in Frankfurt for the evening. No complaints from me though because that meant that I did not have to lug the rest of my material life around with me as I searched for my new home in the University of Ljubljana dormitories, which was cause for a lot of confusion that resulted in a lot of walking in the cold. That reminds me, it has been DAMN COLD here since I arrived. I think that it has only been consistently above zero degrees centigrade for all of two afternoons. This has been a cause of great consternation for me since I do not have what you might consider a proper coat. I have clothes that can keep me warm enough in the winter as long as I’m not going to be spending a lot of time outdoors; however, since I am forced to use inconsistent public transportation for travel, I find myself doing a lot of shivering at outdoor bus stops. Fortunately, my parents have, since then, sent me a warmer coat from home, and I just recently found a decent coat for 1000 SIT (Tolar) which is the equivalent of about $5.50—unbelievable deal.
That brings me to the interesting topic of money and the costs of goods in Slovenia. Do not think that because I found a coat for $5.50 that everything is that cheap. It’s quite the opposite depending on what it is that you’re buying. For instance, anything that is Westernized (i.e. electronics, CD’s, electric shavers, books, and even household goods) seem to cost about 30%!m(MISSING)ore than in the U.S maybe even more. Also, cell phones here are quite expensive. I’m using a pre-paid phone that costs about 39 SIT per minute to use with a 1000 SIT pre-paid card giving you about 27 minutes of talk time. That means that there are not many people standing around chatting on their phones as people are inclined to do in the U.S.
Back to dorm life…I arrived at my dormitory to find that it would definitely not ever be considered luxury accommodation. There were two bedrooms with two desks and three closets that sleep two people each. I would say that each bedroom was roughly 10’ x 15’. There is a small kitchen/dining room that is shared between the two rooms that just barely seats 4 people. Attached to the kitchen is what can only be described as a tiny bathroom with a sink, shower, and toilet. Upon first inspection, I noticed that there is not a curtain that goes around the shower. It is just a shower with a small basin-like floor to it with a drain. Ah, and I can’t fail to mention that the spray nozzle is handheld. So, after my first shower in this bathroom, I realized that there is absolutely no way to clean yourself without making a ridiculously wet mess of the bathroom. This is the type of shower that takes all of the enjoyment out of the relaxing and invigorating experience that usually comes with a shower. I can say this though, at least the water was warm—most of the time. In fact, one morning I awoke expecting to take a shower before going up to the university only to find that there was no water whatsoever in the shower or in any other faucet for that matter. I found out later that this is a common occurrence in the dormitories here. It makes you appreciate a nice shower, I must say.
About the third day I was in my dormitory, where I had one shared room to myself, I came home to discover that I had a new roommate. His name is Haluk, and he hails from Turkey. Haluk turns out to be a very nice guy. He’s Muslim, which is quite interesting—no pork, no alcohol, etc.—and he is a very excitable and worrisome person. Now as you can imagine, living in the same small space with someone like this whom you really cannot communicate with is enough to drive a person, namely Me, mad. What made it worse was the fact that he did not even bring a book or a hobby or any type of leisure activity with him. So, he would spend entire afternoons sitting on his bed doing nothing but fiddle, with nothing. It makes me batty.
Okay so let’s be more positive here because the experience that I have had in Slovenia thus far really has been superb. It’s just very important to distinguish this part of the trip from the actual travel portion which will begin in June. I realized quickly that if I was going to be staying in a place for 5 months I was going to be
living here. For me that meant that I needed to have accommodations that were comfortable for me—a place that I could temporarily call home. That’s why I was fortunate to find group of Frechmen that needed another roommate so they could move into a flat that they had found. Yes, yes, I know. How ironic; three French guys living with an American—not to mention that I am essentially the only American that is here in Ljubljana studying . That means that I can’t eat my ‘freedom fries’ anymore, and will have to cease my boycott of French goods. Damn!
Now after spending some time with them, I can see that much of this hostility between the Americans and the French is unfounded; however, I’m talking about the hostility between the people, individuals, and not the attitudes of the French towards American politics. That’s an entirely different story.
So, now I am in comfortable accommodations in a nice area of Ljubljana. We have a shower with a curtain (JOY!) and a bathroom that is big enough to turn around in. There is a washing machine and dryer, a kitchen that can be used for food preparation, and I am right by the biggest park in the city. All these amenities do not come without a price though. Back in the dorm, I was paying about 16,000 SIT (~$80) per month, and now I’m paying about 54,000 SIT (~$300) per month with utilities included. As with most things, you get what you pay for I suppose. In this case, it is very much worth it!
(to be continued…)
Note:
Once I get this one month backlog of details take care of I will be posting more consistent, and likely more interesting, cultural and experiential details of my journey thus far (and with pictures). There is just so much to tell! If anyone has specific questions, please ask…
Advertisement
Tot: 0.173s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 51; dbt: 0.071s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb
anonymous
non-member comment
!!
Hello and nice to hear from you! Didnt realise you had left the US yet. So when are u comingt to Oz?? - Karolien