Driving Down the Penna Turnpike
February 22, 2008
Despite all of the technology and all these people working hard to make it really easy for me to write my "diary" (they even let me forever abandon the word "blog" and continue with my more romantic version) I have fallen behind once again. On the other hand, there is Sharon, (a great girl who became a friend of our family through our music) who very lovingly and gently pointed out that she has my diary page bookmarked, but she knows that I must be very, very busy - so busy I don't write!
Excuses, excuses, excuses...I don't like excuses, so I decided to put Sharon's picture on my Google calendar to pop up every few days and remind me with a gentle smile: Web diary! So, finally I'm writing. We are driving down the Penna Turnpike on a georgeous, sunny Thursday towards Allentown. I feel great, energized by the concerts and the effect they leave on those who attend, great crowds, stories that would blow you away - like the one of the young exchange student from Zagreb, Croatia who has been staying with a family in Versailles, Ohio (near Russia, OH where we had a concert). She was a bit disappointed with the scene in Versailles (a small town) because when you grow up outside of America, you think the entire country is like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Miami. No one ever talks about the corn fields of the midwest! The host family understood the young girl, who is a very sweet girl, and enjoyed taking her to see Chicago, New York and few other places. She was very grateful and very, very happy, but, she said there still was one thing she wanted to do while she was in America. She knew that Tajci lived in the States and mentioned it to her host family that if she could see and meet Tajci, all of her wishes would have come true. What are the odds? It's a big, big country. But, the host family knew exactly who the girl was talking about - the mother had been to one of Tajci's (aka Tatiana) concerts before and knew her story and her music well. The very next Sunday there was a flier in their Church Bulletin about Tajci's concert in Russia, OH...
I have to admit that that day, when we drove into the little town of Russia I wondered: how in the world do we end up in these tiny little places and who on earth would show up for a concert? There was no "town" in sight. That night we had one of the most amazing dinner ever - all made from scratch, even the New York Cheesecake and Chocolate Mousse Pie - we thought perhaps it's because there is no store around... It was an amazing night! After the concert I met Matea - the young girl from my home town. She was beaming with excitement and disbelief. I just regret I didn't know she was there before the concert - because I would have sung a special song for her! (Not to use it as an excuse, but I didn't think I'd be able to finish this entry - as I was writing we were getting the news about the attack of the US Embassy in Belgrade. Matthew was getting the phone calls and couldn't believe that I was determined to stay focused on writing my "blog" I mean "diary"... or an update for Sharon :-)
Well, I texted my mother and since she didn't text or call right back, I know that I shouldn't be concerned. Kosovo has always been a very touchy subject in old Yugoslavia and in the most recent years... we just need to pray that it doesn't escalate into another violent Balkan crisis.)
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Na putu kroz Pennsilvaniju
Usprkos svoj tehnologiji i ljudima koji su se stvarno jako potrudili da mi sto vise olaksaju ovaj proces pisanja "web-dnevnika" (cak su mi udovoljili zelji da skroz izbacimo rijec "blog" i upotrebljavamo moju puno romanticniju verziju), ja svejedno "zabusavam". Prije par dana mi je moja prijateljica Sharon (jako zgodna zenskica koju sam upoznala na jednom od koncerata i odmah smo se zblizile) pokusala vrlo obzirno skrenuti paznju na moj "zaboravljeni" web-dnevnik. Komentirala je kako sam najvjerojatnije jako zauzeta...prezauzeta da bi pisala.
Puste isprike.... Nikad nisam voljela isprike. Odmah sam odlucila staviti fotku od Sharon (s njenim prekrasnim osmijehom) na moj Google kalendar da me svako malo podsjeti: "Web-dnevnik!"
Napokon pisem... Vozimo se autoputom po drzavi Pennsylvania prema Allentown-u gdje imamo koncert u tamosnjoj Katedrali. Vani je sunce, prekrasan zimski dan a sve u skladu s pozitivnom energijom koju svi osjecamo. Koncerti su prekrasni, prepuni ljudi koji dolaze s velikim uzbudenjem a odlaze odusevljeni, obnovljeni, promjenjeni. Kad bi samo znali koliko smo svi zapravo svakodnevno suoceni s bezbroj ljudskih sudbina i nevjerojatnih prica...
Prije nekoliko dana na koncertu u drzavi Ohio sreli smo Mateu - srednjoskolku iz Zagreba koja je zavrsila u malom, malom gradicu Versailles, Ohio, preko programa za razmjenu studenata. Povjerila nam je kako joj je bio veliki sok doci iz Zagreba u Ameriku. Naravno da je ocekivala ono sto svi prvo ocekujemo od Amerike - New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, ili Miami. O prostranstvu i nepreglednosti polja kuruze i soje u srednjoj Americi rijetko tko bas sanja. Matejini domacini su je razumjeli i pomogli joj da ipak dozivi i New York, i Chicago i jos par stvari koje je silno zeljela vidjeti i dozivjeti. Mateja je bila jako zahvalna, ali ipak, imala je jos jednu zelju: znala je da Tajci zivi u Americi i spomenula je svojim domacinima da prije nego sto se vrati u Hrvatsku, da bi voljela vidjeti i upoznati Tajci koje se sjeca dok je bila mala curica. Koja je bila vjerojatnost da se to dogodi? Vrlo, vrlo mala. Amerika je jako velika zemlja. No, domacini su odmah znali o kome se radi jer su vec biili na jednom od Tajcinih duhovnih koncerata. Slijedece nedjelje nakon mise u njihovoj zupi culi su obavjest - Tajci ce odrzati koncert u susjednom malom mjestu Russia.
Moram priznati da sam taj dan kad smo dosli u Russiu prvo pomislila - pa kako smo zapravo dospjeli u ovo malo mjestasce i koga ovdje zapravo zanimaju nekakvi koncerti? Vjerovali ili ne, mjesto je bilo tako malo da cak nije imalo ni ducan, cak ni "krcmicu".
Te veceri dvorana je bila prepuna zahvalne publike. Nakon koncerta upoznala sam se Matejom i cula njezinu nevjerojatnu pricu. Bila je presretna! Slikale smo se kako bi joj tata vjerovao da je u Americi upoznala Tajci. Jedino mi je bilo zao sto nisam znala da je u publici prije koncerta. Zasigurno bi bila bih otpjevala jednu od starih "Tajci" pjesama samo za nju.
(Nije da pokusavam uloziti ispriku, ali nisam vjerovala da cu uspjeti bilo sto napisati - dok sam pisala u autu, primili smo novosti o nemirima u Beogradu. Matthew je bio na telefonu non stop i nije mogao vjerovati da sam ja i dalje pisala, zapravo ignorirajci njegovu brigu. Poslala sam mami text poruku, probala sam je zvati i znala sam ako me ne nazove odmah, da stvari nisu tako strasne. Potiho sam prosaptala molitvu da sve bude u redu i zavrsila moj "web-dnevnik")
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