Posted from the train!

The lady is on the train again, this time heading east to Osijek, in the Slavonian region. I will give another lecture at the Universtiy of Osijek, and I look forward to seeing a different part of Croatia. Even though I am not crossing any borders this time I have my passport with me. I always have my passport with me. I am wearing a new outfit: a skirt and matching short-sleeved cardigan, and shiny stockings. I did not know that the stockings would be shiny when I bought them. Professor lady attire.

Once the train moves out of the city and its outskirts we quickly come upon small towns with red brick or concrete houses with tile roofs. The houses built of concrete are whitewashed or painted muted yellows, oranges, and greens. The sun is shining and the compartment is stuffy, even with the window open. Across from me are three young people (or at least younger than I): a young man who seems to be traveling on business and is eating biscuits; a high school-age blind girl who is listening to something—a book?—on her laptop; and a very attractive young woman with short hair, black-framed glasses, wearing skinny jeans, a black t-shirt and yellow Converse sneakers. She is reading a Croatian translation of Ana Karenina. A student perhaps? In between staring out of the window (and typing this post) I am reading Dubravka Ugresic’s memoir Baba Yaga Laid an Egg.

In the wooded areas the forest floor is covered with violets and what look like the wild bleeding heart (can’t recall the Latin name) that I have in my garden at home. Marsh marigolds bloom near water. Along the tracks, some sort of bush is in flower, a bright white.