Receptions, Movie Nights, Ice Cream, $7 Macedonian New Wave concerts, hobbies and Dolac

Work has started to pick up a bit which is nice because most days I'm busy. I've been given some longer term projects to work on which is exciting. Tuesday night we had a nice reception at my boss' boss' house for some people that are leaving this summer. It was very cool especially because there were a lot of Croatians there! The rest of the week went by pretty quickly, although me and my roommates had an extensive discussion about finding a hobby to fill some of our spare time with. We work for eight hours a day, sleep for eight, leaving eight hours free. If you have any suggestions please let me know, because right now we've got coloring and possibly dance lessons and juggling. Friday night a coworker hosted a movie night which was really fun and we had chevapchichi (a sausage-like sandwich traditional Croatian dish) afterwards. Saturday I went out with one of my roommates to a nearby lake to just hang out and she introduced me to a Croatian ice cream brand and it was delicious. Apparently roller blading is still cool in Croatia as many of the locals were out and about roller blading on the paths by the lake! Saturday night we ended up going to a Macedonian new wave concert by this band I've never heard of. Tickets were only $7 and although it was enjoyable and certainly a new experience, I do not think I've found a new hobby and my hearing took a while to recover. This morning (Sunday) I went to mass at the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary which is the main cathedral in downtown Zagreb and it is a beautiful church! It was local election day today too in Croatia although you wouldn't really know it, people didn't seem to be too involved. After mass, we proceeded to a bakery which was delicious, then headed to the main market in Zagreb called Dolac (pronounced doll-ats). I found lemons, cucumbers, avocado (which was a bit pricey although worth it!) and a few other odds and ends. The market though was large and had a huge selection of fruit, vegetables, oils, cheeses, meats and fish. We then had coffee at a nice cafe and then ate at a more local restaurant right back by the cathedral. We get a new roommate this week so that's going to be exciting! Until next time! Vidimo se!

Bok iz Zagreba! Hello from Zagreb!

Bok!  My past 10 days in Croatia has been a whirlwind, but a wonderful one. After twenty six hours of travel I finally arrived in Zagreb, got a taxi, and found my new home! The house is beautiful and in a little suburb outside of Zagreb, very close to work. My roommates are great people and made me feel right at home. Tuesday I started work and although I met close to 200 people this past week, I know I will be very good friends with many of them, even past my time in Zagreb. Most of last week was spent settling in and working but I did get out of the office a little bit and even went to and Irish Pub (in Croatia?) for a trivia night with some neighbors. This past weekend I went down to "the coast" as it's known locally, which means any seaside town you can get to over the weekend. We were in a little town called Crikvenica. It's not high tourist season yet, so there weren't a lot of people around but that's what made it so relaxing. Who knew a group of Americans could just sit around and drink coffee and beer all day and actually *gasp* relax? These Croatians really understand the true meaning of vacation. The other good news is that this place is pretty cheap (well at least the food) and the Kuna, although pegged to the Euro, does not have very high value and the prices are low even after conversion. I get my morning coffee for $0.86! I hope this gives you a little taste of what my past week and a half of life has been like, and I hope I have some exciting things to write about in the near future. Vidimo Se!