ben ben benko blog

Clearly I've been feeling less than inspired to post something here for the last few weeks. Well that's not entirely true. I've been struggling with inspiration and the rare times it hits me H is at the library with the computer so I watch some stupid show about Hitler or "Mega-structures" or restoring classic cars or saving the endangered Australian Bilby and then by the time he gets home either my inspiration is gone or I'd rather hang out with him than compose a post. But that's no excuse right? Right! So here's a big old update extravaganza. I can't promise it will be interesting but hopefully it will be informative.

So as many of you know I've had a back problem for over 10 years now. It wasn't until about 2 years ago that I finally got a proper diagnosis. I started physical therapy and everything was starting to feel much better until my insurance company decided that since I could get the pain down to zero with a few Advil I clearly didn't need any more therapy. So after 10 years, 3 general practitioners, an orthopedist, a chiropractor, 2 acupuncturists, a physiatrist, and finally a physical therapist I reached a dead end. Once we got to Croatia, I decided that I should take advantage of the super cheap healthcare here and try once more to get someone to help me. The first thing the doctor did was send me for an x-ray. That x-ray cost me $1.75 and showed more than I expected. Here is my new x-ray. What do you think?




In other news we spent a nice lazy Saturday on a hillside outside of the city last weekend. H's grandparents have a quirky little house up there. His grandfather has planted all sorts of fruit trees and a bunch of grape vines that are hard for him to keep up on his own these days. So H, his mother, his grandparents, and I headed up there to have a nice lunch in the fresh air and get the vines ready for spring time. Here are a few photos from our time there:







We were planning on stopping in Samobor on our way home for some kremsnite, but right as we were loading up the car H's mom got a call that H's dad was in the hospital. He'd been paragliding and he fell and hurt his back. We rushed back to Zagreb to see him. He had surgery that night and had a bone graft and 4 metal rods placed onto his spine. He'll need a lot of physical therapy, but a week after the surgery he's already talking about windsurfing this summer. Although I take this as a good sign that he's staying in good spirits, I also find this a little sad since I know the doctors will probably never allow him to windsurf again.

So that's the major stuff from here for now. I'm still teaching and studying and learning how to get the things I need. I navigated the market all on my own this weekend. Here are a few final photos from that. I plan to capture more of the market before we leave, but I think this is a good start:

posted by Liz @ 10:24 AM