Rijeka, Opatija and Sapna

We had the opportunity to go to Rijeka, Croatia this week.  Rijeka means river in Croatian.  Needless to say there is quite a bit of water in Rijeka.  It is located along the Adriatic Coast, or as some of you would better recognize "Dalmatian Coast".  Just so you know, yes it is beautiful.   There is a good reason we are in Tuzla and not Rijeka.  Not that Croatia does not need humanitarian aid, they do, but the need is much bigger in Bosnia.  We find it interesting that Bosnia only has 24 kilometers of coast line and the rest belongs to Croatia.  But that is not for us to understand,  The drive to Rijeka was quite pleasant.  It took about 6 hours from home to the Babbel's.  The Babbels are a senior couple from Twin Falls, Idaho.

Elder Babbel is a brother to Sister Ivins who is also in our mission.  Rumor has it that another sister to Elder Babbel and Sister Ivins might be coming to our mission as well. We want to issue an invitation to anyone contemplating a mission that there will be 10 openings for senior couples in our mission this fall.  Anyone interested, let us know and we will put you in touch with the people who can make it happen.  Most of the openings are in Croatia and Slovenia, but there will be one in Bosnia and one in Serbia. 

Back to Rijeka.  Rijeka is the 3rd largest city in Croatia.  It is a seaport.  We saw lots of container ships.  Apparently it used to be a place where they did quite a bit of ship building.  But not since the war.  As we said, it was absolutely gorgeous.  Driving to the Babbel's one morning we took a wrong turn.  After getting turned back around and headed into the city again, we drove along the coast.  It reminded us of the Pacific Coast Highway. 

  
We spent the night in an apartment of a couple who was called to be mission president in the Philippines.  This is the view from their balcony.  That is the Adriatic Sea in the background.

The next day we visited various potential projects.  After our visits we drove about 25 kilometers southwest and visited the town of Opatija.  Opatija is a tourist town.  We had lunch and enjoyed being in a "peaceful serene place" for the afternoon.

 

 

 

We returned to Rijeka and reality in the early afternoon.  We stopped by the church to check our emails before returning to the apartment we were staying in.  Upon returning to the parking lot the attendant motioned for us to come down to where he was.  Another car had hit the back bumper of the Babbel's car.  After we got in touch with the Babbels we returned to the apartment .  The next morning we got up and drove back to Tuzla.  The weather was delightful when we were in Rijeka/Opatija.  Thursday morning as we left it started to get cloudy and by the time we arrived in Tuzla it was pouring. 

Friday morning we went to the village of Sapna.  We were able to help with the tables, chairs, and a teacher desk for the Kindergarten here.  We visited the school, saw the completed project, and took some pictures.  After visiting the school we went to another school which is close by.  This school has a problem with the sewer.  They need to have the windows to the bathroom open at all times and still the smell is "terrible".  Best description - a pit toilet.  They have some ideas of how to fix the problem, but still need to get an experts opinion.

We have a baptism tonight at 7:45 so this is going to have to be it for now.  We will give you details and add pictures next week.  Hope you all have a fantastic Memorial Day weekend.