Back from Croatia

Hello!

I am writing to you on a rainy Monday morning before I head out to school.  Another week is about to begin but this week will be extra hectic because I am going to attempt to start moving into my permanent temporary accomodation!  This will include checking into the dorm office, providing all my paperwork and money, getting assigned a room, finding that building/room, moving all my stuff there, unpacking and setting up an internet connection, and meeting my new roommate!  Oi!  But I knew all this was bound to happen, better late than never I suppose.

 As you can see, I got my permit!  Yippie Hooray I was more than ecstatic when this picture was taken because I have been waiting for this for a few months!  I was astounded how easy it was to get it.  I just walked right in and it was there, why oh why couldn't this whole process been this smooth?  Oh well thats done. 

I traveled to Zagreb, Croatia with my friend Tom.  I was convinced that we had to be there super early so we took the 6:20 am train and arrived right before 9 when the Embassy opened.  It took less than 5 minutes but I was glad to get that out of the way.  The rest of the trip was a nice vacation.  After finding and checking into a hostel we got to explore.  We took a lot of walks around the city and did the whole tourist/taking pictures thing.  The open air market was especially nice, a lot bigger than in Ljubljana.  Enjoyed a lot of fresh fruit there, yummm.  We then decided to sit on the big lawn near the train station and soak up some sun/wine.  It was a really nice day, I really liked the park because a lot of other young people were sitting around too enjoying the day.  The city seemed pretty relaxed in that aspect.  I need to find a place back home where I can sit and chill, a new favorite pasttime of mine.  But yes that was really nice.  After a nap we went to dinner and then went to the happenin' scene in Zagreb.  There is one really nice street up from the main square that has a lot of bars and nightclubs.  We went to an English pub and then went to "Funk club" which played  alot of good alternative music.  Also, a sidenote about Croatian beer--sadly not the best :( I had one and it just couldnt compare to Union or Lasko in Slovenia.  Then after an exhausting day starting before 6 am it was time for sleep!

The next day was pretty relaxed as well.  We did some more touring, eating, shopping, and sitting in the park.  We went to this really interesting museum called "Museum of Broken Relationships" all about stuff people left behind from bad break ups and the meaning behind it.  Quite depressing haha.  But something worth mentioning is that while we were on our way to the museum we saw the government district of Zagreb heavily guarded by police officers!  There were about 20 of them and they had the plastic shields for riot control with them.  This was very interesting and we then found out that Zagreb had been having some public protests against the government recently.  Thankfully they were only peaceful protests but it was still a little tense.  I'm not sure on the whole story but I know that Croatia is in a transition to become eligible for membership into the EU.  This may be a part of the reason for protest or maybe not, who knows.

It was cool to go to Croatia at this time though.  I'm glad I got to see it before it joins the EU.  It was interesting dealing with their currency the Kuna!  Paying 60 Kuna for a meal is normal as it translates to something like under 10 Euro.  Very confusing but something normal to Croatians.  Zagreb was really beautiful, and had a totally different feel to it.  Its hard to compare to Ljubljana, definitely bigger but filled with the same spirit that I came here to enjoy.  I got some new stamps in my passport and a lot of great memories :)

Adijo!

Millie