Chasing A Croatian Girl, A Survivor’s Tale by Cody McClain Brown.
In a spirit of full disclosure I did start reading this when it was just a blog. Then I found out there’s a whole book and since I really enjoyed the blog,got the book and it did not disappoint. I’ve been getting lost in books since I could read a full book ( I believe 2nd grade). It transcends time,place, gender and race and it gives your soul a beautiful escape. Back to the book in question.
I was blown away by honesty of the author from the page 1. He ( American) fell for a Croatian girl and thought that was part of Russia ( happens more often than any Croatian would like it).
He blames his ignorance on poor geography education in US, but that didn’t stop him from embarking on a journey of discovering more about Croatia and it’s history. His research proved to be successful and managed to impress his future wife. I,on the other hand was impressed how he ‘got’ our way of thinking, starting with how we viewed our next door neighbors: Slovenia. He also got our complicated history and the fact that his Croatian daughter,wife,mother-in-law and her mother, have all been born in a same place, but each in a different country! It’s a lot even for Croatians, but this American from Oklahoma got it!
The author then takes us on a journey to Split, Croatia and all the things he doesn’t understand, loves and has learned to like. I found it fascinating how many thing he loves in Croatia I can’t stand. He was an American in Croatia and fell in love with the country, people and their customs, while I was a Croatian who fell in love with USA before even coming here. Then there are some fun chapters that capture Croatians sometimes silly habits and superstitions, like Propuh ( if you’re not Croatian you have to read it to understand, we just grow up with this scary tales of the Murderous Wind as he put it).
As we go on Cody takes us to capital, Zagreb. He writes about every day struggles, like finding an apartment ( in my experience it’s a hustle in any country), social aspect of their lives and among other things like the term ‘party breaker’. It was entertaining to hear a foreigner’s take on a term Croatians have, in English!
He ends with his take on ‘going home’. It seams he now finds home to be in Croatia and no longer looks forward to going back, to US. Unlike him, I found home to be in NYC and couldn’t imagine ever going to Croatia. It’s a great read no matter where you’re from, but I think Americans could learn a thing or two from it ( as well as being entertained) and Croatians who’s ego doesn’t get bruised easily, would appreciate it.
*** ‘Van iz grada’ by Belfast Food and ‘Born In The USA’ by Bruce Springsteen