The one place I have visited a bit more regularly is the little bakery just up the alley from our apartment on the main square. Bakeries have a special place in Slovene culture, because only poor people eat bread and they traditionally go every day to get their daily bread. We think it is subsidized by the government, because it is dirt cheap. I like a seed bread they make at that bakery. It is not too heavy and features sunflower seeds. Cost for a nice, big loaf: 0.72 Euro.
To get to the bakery I walk uphill in a narrow alley. The last 20 or 30 feet before the main square, it goes under a building whose second floor was built right over it. It is currently closed to vehicle traffic because they have been remodeling the main square to be a pedestrian-only place. I rather enjoy these pedestrian-only streets. There is still the odd vehicle passing through, but it is a very relaxed feeling walking through them - especially when trying to maintain social distancing.
I have walked past a particular doorway many, many times, but I stopped to photograph it because it is kind of striking.
This is the entrance to an abandoned room. There are panes for glass above the door, but the glass has been broken out, as has the missing door panel. It is a shame, because the carved and painted flowers in the door panels are quite artistic and attractive. This structure is unstable and can't be inhabited without major repairs. One interesting detail is that the threshold stone on the right side - the side where the door opens for ordinary entrance - has been worn down by centuries of usage as people's feet passed in and out. I don't think the door is as old as that stone.
Audits are continuing. All over the World, bishops and clerks are being subjected to a series of questions about the financial operations of their part of the church. It is a bit stressful as they dig out documents supporting the entries made on the computers. We are examining the records for January through June of this year, and would very rarely look at anything prior to that, but the European Union currently demands that all records are maintained for 10 years prior to the current year.
In ordinary times, a ward or branch audit would take less than an hour. In my case, we are responsible for five countries and there are ever-shifting travel restrictions in them. A month ago, Croatia wouldn't let Slovenes enter. Now they will, but Slovenia won't let anyone back in from Croatia. Either way, we can't travel around the mission like we had hoped to do.
One iron-clad principle of auditing for longer than I have any knowledge, is that an audit is ALWAYS done face-to-face. With all the travel restrictions, that is not possible, so we have been using video conferencing to complete them. We are part of the pilot for online auditing, so we have people watching us as we complete the audits. I don't think that will continue much longer, but it's not up to me. We have been able to complete the audits with good assurance of their accuracy, but it hasn't been easy. We had one unit where the internet signal was very marginal. It dropped out frequently. The video images were grainy and hard to see clearly enough for documents to show. Conversation was difficult, both from the low clarity of sound, and because the branch president didn't speak English. That audit was finally completed, but it didn't happen within an hour's time. It took about 4.5 hours! By the end, everybody was bone tired. We had identified quite a few "exceptions" where they hadn't followed church policy and procedures, which is always stressful. It isn't our job as auditors to call them to task - only to note that there were exceptions, but it is still difficult to hear for the local leaders. Following that one, we had to monitor another audit being done by a new auditor. It was 9:30 pm when Liz and I finished that one up and we decided to sit down and watch an episode of "Sherlock" while stress-eating chips and sodas before falling into bed.
Yesterday we had our regular mission-wide zoom conference with the mission president. And then we had other meetings for another couple of hours. As I participated, I had a view of the River Drava. It rained the night before. First thing in the morning, the water was rushing down the river at high speed, and I could see the water level was near the high water mark where grass grows along the river bank. But after an hour or so the river slowed, while the water level fluctuated the rest of the day. Some of the fluctuations were as much as a foot of depth (it's hard to judge the level when looking across a wide river, it could have been more than that.) The Drava is the most fully utilized hydroelectric stream in Europe - very nearly 100% utilized, with dams and generating house every few miles from start to finish. My supposition is that the fluctuating water level is the result of the water masters adjusting to keep the power going steadily, while also balancing water flow to the Mediterranean.
Tomorrow, we plan to break out for a day. It is our P-Day (Personal Day), and we are going to go with the young elders to the city of Piran on the short Slovene Coast. It will probably be packed with tourists, but it has a very high city wall that is largely intact and quite photogenic. It is a small city that is said to be more Italian than Slovene. Photo Ops galore! We will take several face masks. More to come.
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