ShawneeDispatch.com

Danijel Hren's dream is to buy a 1959 Cadillac and drive the old Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Making that dream much harder is the fact that Hren lives not in the United States, but in the eastern European country of Slovenia, and up until a week ago, he had never been to America.

But Hren, 25, and his brother, David Hren, 22, got a little bit closer to that dream this week during their first visit to the United States, thanks in part to their hosts, Shawnee residents Joe and Mary Borders.

Joe Borders met Danijel in an online chat room, Skype.com, where chatters can both speak and type to communicate. Borders said he likes to visit just to listen to the various languages in the chat room, but one day, Danijel got in asking for someone who spoke English, because he wanted to practice.

Borders offered his help, and after several months of talking, he learned that Danijel and his brother had formerly been in the logging business with their father and were now truck drivers, transporting BMW and Mercedes cars from Munich to a Belgian port for overseas shipment.

They also were American history buffs.

"We always have wished to come to the 'States and see what's behind the movies," Danijel said. "It's just a curiosity, I think."

Danijel particularly likes cowboy stories and the American culture from the 1950s and 60s, from the cars and diners to the music. But the brothers didn't want to come to America without knowing anyone.

"We don't know the way of living here, where we can be, where we don't want to be," Danijel said.

So Borders told them if they'd like to come to the United States, he would arrange for a place for the Hrens to stay, as well as some activities to introduce them to American culture. On May 3, the brothers arrived for their two-week stay.

The Borders previously have hosted European visitors in visits set up through friends or through St. Joseph Church. Though he admits some might find a little strange to host someone he met online, Joe Borders didn't see a problem with it.

"After you talk to someone so long, and you've talked to their family and they've talked to your family, you begin to trust what they say," Borders said.

The Borders took the brothers to Branson, Mo., to see some shows and drove a little bit of Route 66. Locally, they've visited Wagner's Automotive, a classic car dealer in Bonner Springs, and attended church in the Strawberry Hill area of Kansas City, Kan., to meet some local Slovenians. They also planned to visit Vic Macek in Merriam, a classic car restorer who has Slovenian heritage.

Saturday they attended the Knights of Columbus's polka dance, where Slovenian native Don Lipovac was playing.

The Hrens come from a small village called Josipdol with about 500 people, just west of the larger city of Maribor in Slovenia's northeastern region of Styria. The entire country is just under 8,000 square miles with a population just more than 2 million people.

So it's not surprising that the Hrens find everything in the United States to be big.

"America is bigger - everything is bigger here, the streets, the cars, the trucks," Danijel said. "For us it is also strange, the land here is very flat."

The Hren brothers will return Saturday to Slovenia, and now that they are more familiar with American culture, they hope to come back.

"Next year, we are hoping to take our trip from Chicago to L.A.," Danijel said.