Zagreb
On the way back to Croatia from our trip, we got stuck in heavy traffic, and I missed the train back to Fuzine. But no matter. I found the info for the Zagreb hostel I had booked for September, and ended up staying there 2 nights. The first night I was there, I joined several other guests to watch the football match between the Croatian national team and the Russian national team. It was a qualifying match for Euro Cup 2008, and it was not a very lively game because neither team scored, but it was just fun to be in Zagreb and watch. And the hostel was about a block away from the stadium where the match was being played, which was kind of fun. A couple of the guys at the hostel walked down just to look at the stadium, which, when we had driven by earlier, I had seen was packed. We had also seen many men in red and white checkered shirts stopped for a drink at rest stops along the highway back to Zagreb when we were driving back from Bosnia earlier in the day. People in Europe get really excited about soccer, something that has taken me awhile to get used to, but now I really do enjoy watching the matches, too.
I didn't do much else in Zagreb because the day I was there happened to be a national holiday and everything was closed, and it was raining. However, it was successful in that I took myself to the movies (and managed to buy a ticket for the version of Shrek 3 that was only subtitled in Croatian, not dubbed!) and had a very delicious teriyaki chicken dinner in Zagreb's (as far as I can tell only) Asian restaurant.
Adventures with laundry
First of all, I think that it should be reiterated that I should not be allowed to do my own laundry on machines I don't know how to use (and can't read)... Although, when we consider the fact that I did 5 loads of laundry and only changed the color of 4 items, and shrunk 2 things, I guess it wasn't that bad! Suffice it to say, however, that I will need to do a little shopping in Rijeka or Zagreb to remedy my current situation. I have been left sweater-less, as my previously too-large sweater will now fit a very small child... Ah, well.
Update 6/18/2007 - Brajna was just showing one of our FYF volunteers how to use the laundry machines, so I went along to see what she said, and hopefully rectify my mistakes the next time I do laundry. Apparently even though I was aware that the machines were using Celcius, I didn't register that when I set them. Ajoj! Turns out that I boiled my clothes... 90 degrees Celcius works out to something like 195 degrees Farenheit. Crap. I'm lucky I only screwed up a few things!! Well, at least now I know for next time.
Hrvatski Radijski Festival
Many of you may know that I have a (minor) obsession with Croatian pop music, and that I use learning the language as an excuse to listen to it. Well, imagine my joy at discovering that the Hrvatski Radijski Festival was aired on live TV this past Saturday night! Of course, I was thrilled and enjoyed every minute of it! Especially since it is the CD of last year's HRF that I listen to most. Lovely. See: www.hrf.hr
Upcoming events
Now we are getting ready for the events that make this place so, well, eventful, during the summers. Next Saturday, we begin the Fuzine Youth Festival, which is coordinated by Tea. It will be a week-long English-language program for the kids from Fuzine's elementary school. And it promises to be a lot of fun. The Economic Diplomacy Seminar (EDS) will follow soon after, and then ROM (Renewing Our Minds) will consume most of the rest of the summer. Karuna and Whitney, this year's UPC Deputees to Croatia, will be arriving somewhere around the beginning of EDS, and I am so excited for them to get here! I am definitely looking forward to all of these events, and to see the work God does here and in the participants' lives this summer. We would appreciate your prayers.
