Down in Dolenjska

I went down to see a friend in Dolenjska (reminder:I live in the northwest corner of the country) about a week or so ago. Here are some images.









scarecrow

Letter to the Bosses #1: Poletje promet je

Dear People Who Run Slovenia,



Now is the time of year when the common greeting of "Hey, how ya doing?" gets dropped and is replaced with "When are you going to the seaside?" Considering this annual inevitability results in so many tens of thousands of your fair citizens (as well as tourists passing through) burning loads of gas and clogging up the roadways, I humbly suggest that you please start organizing some more environmentally friendly alternatives.

How much trouble would it be to run some regular trains and busses down that-a-way? You could offer tickets at a family-friendly (and maybe slightly recession-friendly) price and let people leave their gas guzzlers at home. Not only would it be environmentally-friendly but wouldn't it give a national sense of pulling together for the good of all? I think so!

I hope you consider my proposal.

Until next time, I remain, your humble resident,
Camille Acey of Wheelville

Jose James

Late last night, The Captain and I had the distinct pleasure of going to see my favorite singer, Jose James, live at Klub CD (which is a kindy sucky space, but....) in Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana* . The show was magical from beginning to end. I tried to take photos but my hands were trembling from the good vibes. So, instead, I'll post this video of Jose from last year with the (also fantastic) Soil & Pimp Sessions from Japan.

Support this man. Buy his music. Go to his shows.







*"In my opinion, the greatest gift to Slovenian art would be -- and here comes my terrorist side --to place a giant bomb under Cankarjev dom, while all the cultural workers are gathered there." - Slavoj Žižek

Happy Independence Day- Amurrkah

Happy Independence Day to all my American readers. Be careful with those fireworks, now!

So Magnetic

The other day I went with to visit my friend at her family farm in Dolenjska (lovely photos to come soon!), and I saw this magnet on the fridge and figured it needed to be shared with the world because...'what the hell?'

Booked!

A great find from the local used bookstore here in Radovljica

One of the greatest pains of being an expat here in Slovenia is that I have a very difficult time getting my hands on books. Before coming here, I was a passionate patron of the very fantastic New York Public Library and I have always been an avid reader.My father is also a voracious reader and (former?) book collector who raised me with a fine appreciation for used bookstores and the dusty-smell of an old edition. In fact, my first job was at a library, and I've actually worked at six libraries all together.

So, when I finally decided to move here "for good" I had to very tearfully say goodbye to a great many of my books at my old flat in Brooklyn. These days I am not only scrambling around for my next read, I am also often scrambling for a place to be around old books. Luckily, we have such a place here in Radovljica and I have found quite a few special finds (see the one above) in both Slovenian and English.

Luckily I just came across this fantastic site, Bookstore Guide, which features reviews of great bookstores across Europe. After checking that it had my favorite place in Berlin (and probably one of my fave places in the world!), Another Country bookstore, I knew the site was legit. Of the three stores they mention in Ljubljana, I've been to two and will soon be checking out the third, looking for my next fix.

Steering My Life

Since coming back from Berlin, I've been very frustrated with Slovenia and Slovenian people for all myriad of valid and invalid reasons.

I am having a breakthrough here now. A breakthrough that I've had many times before in other situations, but always forget to re-apply:

You get out what you put in.

I need to open myself up to this place more. I am not sure what that is going to mean, but I hope that putting that intention out there will make it more clear.

What you plug into your inner GPS is where you will arrive in your life.
- Ian Lawton

I'll keep you posted!

Andrea Lee: Today's Summer Reading, Tomorrow's Lifestyle?

Andrea looking gorgeous, probably in some fabulous villa

A friend recently told me about the Black American expat writer, Andrea Lee, who moved first to Moscow many years ago and now lives in Torino, Italy where she is married to an Italian count(!). She has written a number of books (both fiction and non-fiction, which seem to range from classy to trashy) about expat women, and she has also been a contributing writer at places such as New York Times and Vogue. My friend told me that this might be something for me to aspire to and it all sounds good to me!

Check out this interview with her here on NPR, while I hunt down her books for some good summer reading and a little inspiration.

Happy Indendence Slovak --erm, I mean Slovenia

Happy Dan Državnosti (I'm sure Pengovsky has a suitable explanation over here).

But, Slovenia, now is the time for the real hard work!

This Way In

"Top ten emerging markets - A.T. Kearney

According to the latest Global Retail Development Index from management consultants A.T. Kearney, the economic downturn has made emerging markets increasingly relevant to global retailers."

I read this on the Just-Food Daily Food News feed yesterday and thought to myself "Wouldn't it be great if Slovenia was in that top 10?" Then I shrugged it off, thinking there was just no way.

But today, something dragged me over to have a glance at the report and LO and BEHOLD, there is Slovenia at number 9. While I don't want the country to turn into an awful free-for-all, I can only hope that this means that Ben & Jerry's pints, foreign language bookstores, reasonably priced eyeglass retailers, better stocked grocery stores, and more cheap (but good) clothing outlets are on their way.

I am happy to oversee any Gorenjska branches.

P.S. I am no snobby expat. I am American, see me shop!