After airport hopping from St. Louis to Washington Dulles, and an international flight to Zurich, Switzerland, our deset (ten) travelers made a final connection to Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia.
The 30-minute drive from the airport to our hotel was nothing short of surreal. After months of soaking up cultural facts and historical context, we were finally looking out across the lush fields and quaint buildings of Slovenia.
As we oriented ourselves to the city, I began to realize just how unfamiliar I was to the sights, smells, and sounds of this small, Central European country. First, everything is quieter! No matter where we went, people kept to themselves, speaking in soft tones and an even-keeled timbre. The architecture isn’t neatly planned like the U.S. cities I’m familiar with. The cobblestone streets abruptly give way to cleanly paved roads, while old-fashioned, run-down buildings stand aside new-age, modern structures. The smell of rich coffee mixed with chocolate and a heavenly concoction of herbs and spices wafts through the streets. It is all so enchantingly new, a freshness that brings a sense of wonder to the eyes of our little group.
More than any of these things, however, the distinct nature of the Slovene language brings a new feeling of disorientation. My previous
travel experiences occurred in countries with Romance languages, meaning I could at least make out a few words here and there. Slovene, a Slavic language, is an enigma in and of itself. Unlike any language I’ve experienced, it has left me unable to reason through pronunciations or grammatical structures. Overhearing conversations while walking the city has left me feeling vulnerable, like a small child too new to the world to attach garbled sounds to anything of substance. Until today it hadn’t occurred to me how comforting it is to see words on the street and understand their meaning!
It is a delightful challenge to explore the city while learning to find comfort in being uncomfortable. The language adventures continue with our first language class tomorrow!
From a country whose borders stretch beyond the physical,
Brooke
Brooke Engel is a sophomore at Principia double majoring in studio art and creative writing, with a minor in mass communication. Her Slovenian cultural research centered on Mt. Triglav National Park and Slovenes’ general love for the outdoors.