Friday, November 20, 2009

The Yugoslavian Beach Ball

In unpacking my many boxes, some of which had been in storage for eight years, I came upon the Yugoslavian beach ball. I blew into it, and lo and behold, it still held air! I guess the Communists could do some things right, because this beach ball was obtained in the former Yugoslavia in the summer of 1988. Yes, this beach ball is twenty-one years old and still going strong. I kept it, of course, because it is an artifact of the days when Yugoslavia was still a country, still under Communist rule, and still a peaceful nation where many different peoples lived together. And the map on this ball, for it is a globe of the world at the time, shows Europe as it was then, with Yugoslavia clearly one country, as was the USSR. "SFRJ," or Socijalistička Federatvna Republika Jugoslavija, stood for Yugoslavia (see below). Note that all the spelling is in Serbo-Croatian.

How did we happen to be there that summer, our first in Europe? Well, I had had a foreign exchange student at Hall High School in Spring Valley, Illinois, not long before we moved overseas. His name was Mladen Latinovic, and he came from Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. He invited my family to come and stay at his family's vacation house on the beach in Yugoslavia, somewhere between Dubrovnik and Split. That summer, our first in Europe, we traveled almost continuously--Berlin, Austria, Yugoslavia, and Italy--driving everywhere in our 1985 VW Jetta. Shana was turning nine that summer and Alison four. Here we are (below) at the beach with the beach ball which was brand new (I seem to hogging it). I do remember the water being so warm in the Adriatic, especially that far south. Little did we know that we'd never have the chance again to visit Yugoslavia as such. Even Mladen and his family emigrated to different countries because they did not want to fight in the war that tore their country apart. It only exists in our memories and on the beach ball.

8 comments:

  1. Yay! Excellent blog about the beach ball! Way to make a story!
    -Shana

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  2. What a delightful story. I spent considerable time in Sarajevo, I would have loved to have seen it before the war. Do you have pictures? joan

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  3. Your stories are amazing. I am collecting and intend to publish some day. (MB)

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  4. Your stories are amazing. I am collecting and intend to publish some day. (MB)

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  5. Oh, that is so neat! Do you ever hear from him or his family now?

    Isn't it strange to think about all of the changes in Europe since we came over in the 80's? Sometimes, many times, I wish it had stayed the way it was. However, I know the people who lived under communism, at least most of them, are very happy that communistic rule is gone.

    Cute pic of you and the girls! (SB)

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  6. Really nice. Thank you.

    Regards,

    Mladen

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  7. It's funny how certain things do bring back so many memories! Great story about the Yugoslavian Beach Ball! (KK)

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  8. I'm so jealous you got so far down; even when we lived in Aviano area we could only get so far down, plus the boats don't go down there in the off season any more. (Daniel)

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