1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,860
What's up everybody? Welcome back to the All Things Croatia podcast. I'm your host,
2
00:00:04,860 --> 00:00:08,840
Stanko Zovak, and I'm bringing you the best of Croatia from around the globe.
3
00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:14,520
This episode is brought to you by Adriatic Tours, the best place since 1974 to book
4
00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:19,960
your cruises, tours, flights, and simply All Things Croatia. Use the personalized code
5
00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:25,180
All Things Croatia to get a special discount and book your trip to Croatia today. For more
6
00:00:25,180 --> 00:00:31,720
information, go to www.adriatictours.com or click the link in the description. Now,
7
00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:38,240
eat a modalia and let's get started. Okay, welcome back to the podcast everybody. Today
8
00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:43,840
we have special guest, Domogoy Jakopovic, otherwise known as Reba Fish. Domogoy became
9
00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:48,960
the first person to swim around all 50 inhabited islands in Croatia and recently finished the
10
00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:54,200
last stage of the project recapping a four-year journey up the Adriatic Sea, fulfilling a promise
11
00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:58,600
made to his son. In this episode, we're going to hear his story and the inspiration behind
12
00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:02,200
it. Domogoy, thanks for coming on the podcast.
13
00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:07,480
Thanks a lot, Stan Kozohak. Nice to meet you. I'm sorry that we had no time for beer, but
14
00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,720
next time we will see eye to eye.
15
00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:15,120
Yes, next time we'll have to go for some beer. No rakia though, as you said.
16
00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:20,400
No, no, no. I just told Stan Kozohak before that I'm too old to drink Croatian rakia,
17
00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:25,440
because it's too strong. It's too strong when you are young and stupid and you think that
18
00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:31,400
you can drink and it's anything, rakia is very good. But now when you realize that you
19
00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:37,080
don't have four livers, that you have only one, that's a very important thing. And now
20
00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:43,960
I'm just drinking one or two beers a day. So I'm learning from elder and more intelligent
21
00:01:43,960 --> 00:01:44,960
people.
22
00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:49,720
I still got a few more years left, so maybe I'll be okay. We'll see.
23
00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:51,400
You're still young, my son.
24
00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:57,200
But Domogoy, can you start off just by introducing yourself, you know, where you grew up, where
25
00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,040
you're from?
26
00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:05,440
So I'm Domogoy, but everybody calls me Ribba, that means fish. So the nickname just came
27
00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:14,840
25 years ago, Ribba fish, it means fish fish. Born in Zagreb, parents are from town Krijevci,
28
00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:22,040
which is in Prigoria and from the island of Kortula. Kortula is in the Adriatic Sea. I
29
00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:28,800
spent my summers in the Adriatic Sea, swim a lot, play water polo like all the crows do,
30
00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:35,160
and we are world championships, champions in water polo, but well, not swimming. So one
31
00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:45,000
day I realized that I won't be good in agronomy because I wanted to be anologist and
32
00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:51,920
sommelier, but I realized that I have to finish some university and that was geography. I'm
33
00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:58,840
a professor of geography, used to teach in four schools for four years. After that, I
34
00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:07,240
started to work as a copywriter in three different agencies. After that became my journalist
35
00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:14,200
career and last 20 years, I'm a journalist in a click magazine, Playback Croatia, Stelist,
36
00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:21,240
Cosmopolitan, Dobro Harana, that means good food. And the last 15 years, I'm writing about
37
00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:30,840
food and booze, especially of traditional Croatian food. So after 15 or 20 years in big magazines
38
00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:42,280
and internet sites, now I'm freelancer for the last three or four years and I'm working as a host.
39
00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:49,960
If you have a kind of event with a lot of food and booze and beer fest, wine fest,
40
00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:58,440
I'm here to talk a lot, to drink a lot, to eat a lot. And I live with my girlfriend who has also
41
00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:07,640
a great food site, which is called Forking Croatia, really some cross-carbazko. So we are eating and
42
00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:15,080
drinking around Croatia. We don't have a lot of money, but we are fat and happy. Sometimes that's
43
00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:21,480
a lot. In these years, in this world, this is very much. So I will be very short today because I
44
00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:27,560
have to go to learn something about Kotlovinna. What is the English word for Kotlovinna, Stankov,
45
00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:33,800
help me. It's a good question. I wish I could help you with that. I have a lot of meat and a lot of
46
00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:45,080
vegetables in some huge, huge... It looks like satellite antenna. Okay, never mind. You have to
47
00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:53,000
come to Croatia to eat Kotlovinna. So this is my life. One day I'm here, the next day I'm writing
48
00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:59,800
five or six articles and after that I have to taste new beers and wines. It's quite good.
49
00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:04,920
Yeah, eating and drinking can't complain about that. That's for sure. You mentioned
50
00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:09,800
Kriyazivci. Actually, I have cousins over in Kriyazivci. I didn't really know anything from there.
51
00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:18,200
It's a beautiful, small place in Croatia, which was much bigger 50 years ago when
52
00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:27,160
there was a very important train station. But we have a lot of problems in Croatia with trains
53
00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:34,200
and infrastructure. I don't know if I know these people, these directors and politicians who
54
00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:43,320
just take all the money from European projects and our money that they have to put in railways.
55
00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:50,440
I don't know. These people just steal about millions and millions of dollars of money. So we have
56
00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:58,360
a total disaster of railways and trains. And my Kriyazivci just, they are not important like
57
00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:06,520
they were 50 or 60 years ago. But a beautiful, small place with great domestic beer, with
58
00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:11,560
craft beer, Kriyazivci beer. You've got to try it. Yeah, I try it. I like the Kriyazivci
59
00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:20,840
people. That's one of my favorites. Okay, you know what I'm talking about. Yeah, that's a very
60
00:06:20,840 --> 00:06:26,680
good one. But Domo, I want to talk a little bit about your initiative, Rok Oto, that you started,
61
00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:32,280
I believe, four years ago now. Can you talk about the story behind that and how that happened?
62
00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:46,120
It is an initiative that would never happen if there wasn't so tragic situation. Four years ago,
63
00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:55,560
I lost my son and I didn't know what to do with myself. And after half a year, I decided to go
64
00:06:55,560 --> 00:07:05,640
to swim to all the Croatian islands because I gave my word that one day we will visit all
65
00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:13,080
Croatian islands, that we will visit all Croatian Jupania. This is part of Croatia, 21 parts
66
00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:20,760
of Croatia, and that we will visit all the countries in the world. When Rok was 12, he just,
67
00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:30,760
he's not with us anymore here on this world. And I wanted to talk with kids, to talk them about sport,
68
00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:44,600
about nature, about ecology, about problems with plastics and all stuff at our planet,
69
00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:50,520
because we don't have another plant. We don't have plant baby. We have only one earth and
70
00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:56,920
a lot of people don't care about earth anymore. So I decided to swim to all 50 islands in three
71
00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:05,400
years and talk with kids about that. And of course, to teach them how to clean, see how to clean
72
00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:16,520
beaches and how to make a day at summertime, at holidays, how to make it to find some adventure,
73
00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:24,600
to meet new friends, to have some sports, to walk around. And then I put this action with
74
00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:35,480
cleaning beaches and with finding and hiding geocache, geocache materials, boxes of geocache.
75
00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:42,520
I don't know how much geocaching is now popular in the United States, but this is a game that
76
00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:49,480
starts in the United States. And the last three years, I found some money from sponsors and
77
00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:59,080
every July, we spent 25 days on a boat. And in the morning, we swim. And after that,
78
00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:05,560
and in the evening, we spent hours and hours with kids, talked with them and learned them how to
79
00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:13,240
survive on this planet and how to keep our earth. And it was, I don't know, I was very afraid because
80
00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:20,520
it was my idea. It was my project that nobody ever swimmed that distances before. And but I
81
00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:28,040
promised my son and I didn't promise him that we will swim together. But it goes on a harder way.
82
00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:35,000
And after four years, one year, we couldn't swim because of lockdown. There was about
83
00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:48,360
6,000 kids, 6,000 parents. It was 52 meetings with those kids and parents. And we just talk. We talk
84
00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:58,360
about half an hour, 45 minutes with examples, not just time talking, you listen. And after all,
85
00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:05,480
a lot of those kids and a lot of parents said that was beautiful. We learned something. And we know
86
00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:11,800
that we spent so many times, too much time with cell phones, with computers, with laptops. And
87
00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:19,560
you keep our kids three or four hours without cell phone, without computer, you just
88
00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:28,680
walk with them in a nature. They are dirt. They have some little wounds on their arms,
89
00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:33,240
but they are happy. They are happy. Tomorrow in the morning, they want to go out. They want to
90
00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:43,800
clean the surface and you do good stuff. So after three, okay, four years, I just finished that
91
00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:52,840
project and a lot of magazines and portals just decided they were out about that project. And
92
00:10:53,320 --> 00:11:01,320
Rokotok was the great stuff, but there is a problem in my mind because I'm totally lost now.
93
00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:09,720
He was my only son. I don't have any more kids and nothing special in my life to do
94
00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:15,720
except to try to speak with kids and parents and tell them that they spend more time together,
95
00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:22,600
that they spend more quality time together, that they have to talk to each other what is good,
96
00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:31,320
what is bad. And that only together, then they can change the world. They can make the world
97
00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:43,240
better. So that was Rokotok. And today, I'm really in all of thoughts. I'm every day thinking and
98
00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:49,160
writing something on paper, but nothing is so huge, so great. It was Rokotok project, but
99
00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:57,560
I'm still cleaning my hometown Zagreb. We talked to kids. I'm going to school and tell the kids that
100
00:11:57,560 --> 00:12:05,880
they are here to save this nature. I think people older than 25, 30 years in Croatia that don't care
101
00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:14,360
about nature anymore, a lot of them. And we can't change them. Can somebody change you? How old are
102
00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:23,960
you? You are 19, 20. 26. Oh, you. Looking nice. So can somebody change right now? Oh, come on.
103
00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:29,960
Please, please don't change me now. You can change a man till the age of 13. And after that,
104
00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:35,800
what you have in your mind, that's it. So I think that the future is on the kids, but
105
00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:42,440
you have to talk with kids and work with kids and go out with kids. And this is something that I
106
00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:49,640
I'm learning. I'm still learning and I'm teaching around. So that's in the
107
00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:59,320
during the week, I'm eater and speaker and I'm host. But when I have any free time, I'm spending it
108
00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:05,640
with kids in nature with cleaning and trying to tell them that they believe in parents, parents
109
00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:12,840
are good people. I always say who thinks that parents are boring, evil, that they never let us go,
110
00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:20,360
let us play when we want what we want. I think I'm thinking. But please be good with them. They're
111
00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:27,800
good people. You still don't know they're good. I'm then tell them I realized how good are there
112
00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:35,640
when I was 24, but not before. So please don't be stupid like me and understand earlier when
113
00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:41,480
you are 13, 14 that they are good for you. They just want you to be perfect people, normal people
114
00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:47,800
that live in this stupid world as good as possible. You are still too young to understand that. But
115
00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:54,200
please listen to me. I'm here to talk that to you. And one day maybe you will see that that was right.
116
00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:59,480
Well, I think it's a great initiative what you're doing. I mean, especially Croatia is such a
117
00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:03,880
beautiful country with such beautiful scenery. I mean, you don't want to see that ruined by,
118
00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:09,480
you know, trash or plastic or, you know, waste ruining the coastlines or even in Zagreb,
119
00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:15,880
you know, such a beautiful city as far as the actual, you know, swimming of the Rokotok part.
120
00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:21,160
So from what I understand, you would swim to these islands and then when you arrive there,
121
00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:25,640
that's when you meet with kids, you know, on each island and talk with them and the parents.
122
00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:31,480
How was the actual swimming process? You started down in the rubric and worked your way up
123
00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:42,520
all the way up to the curve? Yes, yes. We decided that we, that I can swim three times 17 islands.
124
00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:49,240
First year it was 100 kilometers from Dubrovnik to Split. Next year it was 55-60 from Srebrenik
125
00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:57,400
to Zadar. And the last one was from Zadar to Rieka Islands, of course. It was 55-60 kilometers too.
126
00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:04,600
I'm not a professional swimmer. I started to swim at age of 25 because I used to play volleyball,
127
00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:09,880
but I broke all my ankles and my doctor says if you want to walk when you are 40,
128
00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:15,880
just go to swimming pool and try to swim. And then I realized that I like to swim. I'm not a
129
00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:21,480
perfect swimmer, I'm not a professional swimmer, but I'm a correct amateur swimmer. So I, 20 years
130
00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:31,560
and 20 kilos ago, I used to swim as a creation open water swimming tournament. It is about 15
131
00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:39,480
marathons across the Adriatic Sea and islands and area from June to September every year you can
132
00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:47,400
swim and see how beautiful Croatia is. And I used to swim for five years, but then I stopped because
133
00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:58,040
Rock was born and I have much more other stuff to do. And I have problems with my ankle. No, it is
134
00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:06,360
shoulder. Oh my God. Put your hands on my shoulder. Sorry for my English. I'm not good
135
00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:13,080
in English, but I'm trying. So and then I realized that it is very hard, but once you
136
00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:19,080
when you gave promise you have to do it, that wasn't easy. And it was the most difficult
137
00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:28,840
day when I need to swim to my to my island, my Kortula, but from Mlet. And this is 18 and a half
138
00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:37,720
kilometers. It's about 13 miles, notic miles and seven hours of swimming waves, three meters,
139
00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:48,920
wind, 30 knots per hour. And what's the word? In the sea, you got the current.
140
00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:59,720
Currents, yes, yes. Currents, eight knots. So it was really a survivor. But in the brain,
141
00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:04,760
every time, every time I want to stop and just watch upstairs and okay, okay, I'll do it for you.
142
00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:11,640
Okay, I promise. And it was it. So there was 18 and a half kilometers for these 18 kilometers.
143
00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:21,400
Kortula last of 13, then this year, Rob, 10 kilometers. And of course, there was two or
144
00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:30,280
three parts with 200 meters, 300 meters, that was easier. And but I say nobody ever did it in
145
00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:37,480
Croatia in the world. So I'm very proud. And I'm writing a book about this. A friend was on a boat
146
00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:45,240
last two and a half years, and he will make a documentary movie. So Rob Kotok still lives.
147
00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:51,480
Even I don't have idea what to do next, next July. So if somebody who is watching this, if
148
00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:57,720
somebody has an idea, just call me and talk to me and tell me something, how to make kids
149
00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:07,800
better summer with more ideas, initiatives, adventures, and walking around with funny people
150
00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:13,000
and have a great time. Well, yeah, I mean, that's such a big initiative that once you finish something
151
00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:16,760
like that after four years, you know, I'm sure you feel like you don't know what to do next,
152
00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:21,160
you know, you you're devoting so much time to that. And now now you just finished that what a
153
00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:29,240
few months ago, I knew I knew what to do with next I broke my arm. What happened when everything
154
00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:36,440
when everything was finished, I just went to relax myself. And then I fell off down from from a ferry
155
00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:44,200
boat, because I have my dog in my arms. And I forgot that the stairs are totally like this. And
156
00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:52,200
he just moved the beat and we fall down. And I just broke my right arm. So next, that was two
157
00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:59,560
months ago. And next three months, I can't do nothing with my right arm. So I got a lot of time
158
00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:06,680
to think about it and and to write down what to do. So very soon, I think I will do something.
159
00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:12,200
Well, four years of swimming in the in the ocean in the sea, and then you get injured on a boat
160
00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:21,880
after all that. Unbelievable. No, no shark, no tuna, no jellyfish. Okay, one jellyfish just
161
00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:30,200
kicked me. But first day of the first marathon. Yes. So some big fishes, a lot of stupid drivers of
162
00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:44,520
fast boats and jet skis. The most important, the most important big of all creatures in the world
163
00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:51,800
is a man is a man, no, no sharks, no fishes, no, no jellyfish, just men. You got so many
164
00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:58,840
people that don't care about everybody else, you know, enjoying and watching around. And
165
00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:03,480
what is in front of you, I'm sorry, I have, I spent a lot of money to a new boat. So I'm
166
00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:14,840
I'm important. So take care if you go, if you go far away from from land from on open sea, take care
167
00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:20,360
of boats of humans. Well, you said that there was someone a friend on a boat next to you. Was
168
00:20:20,360 --> 00:20:25,640
there anyone ever swimming with you? Or how did that work? Were you alone at all? There was
169
00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:32,840
there was not 200 people that swim with me, especially on the short tracks that there was
170
00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:39,080
kids, grannies, old people, young people, professional swimmers, Tony Pavich, don't teach
171
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:46,280
the best swimmer of Croatia of all the time, Dina Levich, who is a beautiful lady from Split,
172
00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:54,600
who now need just one more marathon to collect all seven great marathons of the world. She
173
00:20:54,600 --> 00:21:04,840
swam around Manhattan, Hawaii, Los Angeles, sorry, San Francisco, then from Ireland to Scotland,
174
00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:22,120
from Japanese to to islands from Konshu to to to. Okay, I'll remember later. And now she just needs
175
00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:27,960
yes, then Gibraltar from Europe to Africa. And now she's just needs to swim from South to
176
00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:38,440
North New Zealand islands. So these are marathons of 40, 50, 60 kilometers in cold waters. And I'm
177
00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:45,880
so proud that she finds some time to swim with me. A lot of people and I think thanks to all of them
178
00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:53,400
that helped me to do this. Of course, I have to say that Bruno Shimolosha, a very known
179
00:21:54,360 --> 00:22:03,560
publicist and writer from Croatia, who also is doing this very similar thing. He walks for people
180
00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:11,160
who needs money and attention. And every year he walks about 1000 kilometers at mountains. He also
181
00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:20,040
came and streamed with me. I promised him to walk with him this year. But then next year Bruno,
182
00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:25,240
you got to call Bruno to talk with him. He's a great guy also. Yeah, I'll have to give him a call.
183
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:31,160
I'll put him on my list. You mentioned you're writing a book, but there's also a documentary
184
00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:37,720
coming out, right? Or did it already come out? Yes, there is one book, the first book before that
185
00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:49,080
was written before. Rokotok, this is a kind of stories that used to talk, Rok and me. And I think
186
00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:57,400
that I still didn't start to write, but this will be a story about all 50 islands and people who
187
00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:03,240
help us and people who live there. It's not easy to live on an island in Croatia because
188
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:13,720
the government don't give money for doctors, for a lot of stuff. And many people just live
189
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:22,360
those islands and then came back for one month. But this is not the life. I will write about
190
00:23:22,360 --> 00:23:29,560
a lot of things about islands and people and kids and of course food and booze because it's really
191
00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:37,480
special. What's sort of your biggest takeaway from that whole experience? I mean, the most
192
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:41,960
important thing you learned or learned about yourself maybe from a journey like that?
193
00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:50,040
Well, human body and human mind can do a lot of stuff. When everybody says, oh no, no way,
194
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:56,920
you can do it. And the other important stuff that there is a lot of evil people on this planet,
195
00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:07,000
but there is also so many beautiful, so beautiful people and kids and elder people. And there is
196
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:15,080
so much love over there. And I will never forget a few kids that after all day of running and
197
00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:26,200
swimming and playing that just came and give me a hug and they didn't let me go. And it hurts so
198
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:37,400
much. But it is also in the same time so beautiful, so big. So I promise that I will come back on 30
199
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:45,160
or 50 islands to be again with those kids and play with them. And that's the most important thing to
200
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:52,840
learn from kids and be good with kids and to give kids all the heart and knowledge that you have
201
00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:58,440
when we are old to be better people and to love the other people and our planet.
202
00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:07,000
Oh yeah, that's a great initiative. And hopefully I can share this and the hospital can hear your
203
00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:11,640
story because I know here in Croatia, I mean, it's always a big story. For the last couple
204
00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:18,520
years I remember seeing the articles about it and you in the media and the news. And now with the
205
00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:22,760
book and the documentary, I'm sure you're going to be able to reach even more people with that.
206
00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:30,440
Do you have plans to maybe, I know you said you're still thinking about what to do next with that,
207
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:37,240
but do you have any idea of how you want to expand on that and expand your way of teaching children
208
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:46,680
and bringing life to some of these problems? One idea is a camp for kids, but for kids,
209
00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:53,960
creative kids. I used to work in a school for five years and there is always some kids who
210
00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:59,640
put arms in there. Teacher, teacher, do you know, I've heard about it, can you tell me please? Oh my
211
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:08,280
god, no, no, no. When you're a teacher, you're afraid of these kids because kids' brain is so much
212
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:15,880
faster than your and they have so many questions and if you start to answer all those questions,
213
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:25,960
you just forget what do you want to tell them for this class. And I wasn't like this. I always try to
214
00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:33,240
answer those questions and today in schools, teachers don't answer questions anymore. Shut up,
215
00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:39,720
sit there, listen to me, I'm talking, don't talk, if you want to talk, go somewhere else to some
216
00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:49,800
other group and many, many creative kids are now put, they put them in a box. So don't
217
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:56,840
go out from the box. You have to finish school, let me go, I'm your teacher, I don't want to
218
00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:05,480
listen to anything around and I think that about 80% of teachers today don't leave kids to open
219
00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:15,640
their minds and to do something great. And a lot of those kids are waiting somewhere and we, I think
220
00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:27,320
damn, I need to go to dinner. So this is my girlfriend, she's cooking and I think that I
221
00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:38,920
still don't have a plan, program, money, place and idea how to make it perfect. So I need a place in
222
00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:48,200
nature and to do with kids morning, morning walk, then what to eat in the woods, what to eat in a
223
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:57,160
sea, how to clean the water, how to make a fire, how to breathe in the air, in the nature because
224
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:02,760
all of this stuff, kids are all the time cell phones and they have applications for this, for
225
00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:09,400
this, for this, would you like to watch the laundry? No, when I get old, I will pay somebody to do that
226
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:19,320
for me. But the people don't want to work that kind of stuff anymore. So I think that we are going
227
00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:26,040
in the wrong direction and in a very short time that we'll need some a reset. I think that's more
228
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:31,640
is not the answer, but we will need the rest for the people who don't want to work anymore, who
229
00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:38,280
become lazy, who think that all the world is in Facebook and Instagram and so and
230
00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:46,840
we will need to start again to work in a country on the field and to make food for the beginning.
231
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:57,320
So not day, not tomorrow, but in 30, 50 years I won't be, I will not be alive in this time, but
232
00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:05,240
we need to start to talk to kids and to take care about nature much more than than today.
233
00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:10,280
Well, I agree. Yeah, a lot of kids, especially these days are losing real life skills because
234
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:14,360
you know, they're on the phones on the computers with technology so much that they're losing some
235
00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:18,040
of these, you know, other skills. I think that's important. And I'll wrap this up so you can,
236
00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:22,120
you know, get going with your girlfriend and your friends. And on the topic of food, which
237
00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:28,280
you're going to go eat right now, last question, what is your favorite traditional Croatian
238
00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:32,440
meal? And then you compare it even with a favorite beer if you want.
239
00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:45,480
Okay, we need another episode. You touch, you touch. So there is, there is not
240
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:54,200
lots of traditional Croatian food meals because Croatia was from seventh century of
241
00:29:54,200 --> 00:30:02,760
or 10th century when we are kind of kingdom. There we are always under somebody under
242
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:16,040
Austro-Hungary or under Turks or under Italy or under everybody. So we have a cuisine that is
243
00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:26,680
part of Mediterranean, Middle Europe, Middle Europe and Middle East. So we put the best of it,
244
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:33,640
best of Turkish food, best of Macedonian food, best of, I don't know, German food and best of
245
00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:43,080
Italian food. So we have a lot of food, a lot of meals, different meals. We have, in a matter of fact,
246
00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:53,080
one meal is totally Croatian because we made, okay, when you when you cook something, you put
247
00:30:53,080 --> 00:31:02,200
everything in the peka. Not peka, but buzara. Buzara is posuda, how do you say posuda in English?
248
00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:13,240
Lonac. Lin, no, lonac. Well, you're cooking it. I know that, that bowl, pot. Pot, pot.
249
00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:22,760
I got nervous, I know that. I told about me, sorry. So, buzara is a name of pot, very
250
00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:30,040
pot, scumpy and fish and everything. So this is original Croatian food, a meal, but you have
251
00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:36,920
rudarska greblice, you have padera negače, jabuk, javšlaproku, terganci sa špekom, terganci sa špekom
252
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:45,880
i vrgaňima. So, no, no, I don't have my favorite meal, but there is about 20 favorite Croatian meals.
253
00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:53,720
Peka is great, but rážan is much better. When you put lamb on a stick, it's brilliant. And when you
254
00:31:53,720 --> 00:32:01,720
put pork on a stick, it's great. You never have that taste. Lamb chops, no lamb chops ever when you
255
00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:09,800
try a lamb from a stick in Croatia. Forget lamb chops, never again. And beers, there is 120
256
00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:22,760
beer, craft beer breweries in Croatia and I can't tell you one. So you have to have to drink with me,
257
00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:29,000
we can go in Valhalla, Ambassador or some place where we have about more than 50 Croatian beers,
258
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:37,240
then we can talk about it. And of course, we have 3,500 wineries in Croatia. So we got about
259
00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:46,040
20,000 different wines. So come in Croatia to eat, drink and make it cleaner and better for all the
260
00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:55,960
people in the world. Stanko, I'm so sorry. You saw it is 156 centimeters and you know how women with
261
00:32:55,960 --> 00:33:03,640
red hair and small package are. Yeah, well, I'll let you get going so you don't get in trouble,
262
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:07,800
but Domo Goy, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and sharing your story. I really appreciate
263
00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:12,920
it and we'll have to meet up for that beer sometime soon. If you have more than 10,000 likes, we will
264
00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:18,520
do it again. Okay, awesome. All right, that's a deal. Thank you so much and so sorry. Thank you,
265
00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:26,680
Noah. Thank you so much. Bye. That's it for today's episode of the All Things Croatia podcast.
266
00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:31,400
Thanks for tuning in and I hope you all enjoyed it. You can subscribe to the Patreon and check out
267
00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:36,120
the All Things Croatia Instagram page to stay updated. Feel free to reach out to me with any
268
00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:41,720
questions, tips or ideas and make sure to tune back in to the next episode. Thanks again and
269
00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:50,840
see you soon.