Day 2

So this is take two- I ran out of time on the internet and lost my post.
I have made it- luggage and all! We landed yesterday afternoon. Let me just say- swiss air is fantastic. I have never been so well fed and cared for on an airline by such friendly staff. They were fantastic, and the (dairy free meal option) food was great. I was seated next to this large Russian woman for the long flight- who was on her way to vacation in Bratislava. Which made my choosing the balkans look sane. She was very sweet and interesting. I was almost asleep when the meal tray came by, and when it didnt look like i would be waking up she asked worriedly of the stewerdess if i could get the meal later. "She is much to thin to be skipping a meal!" she said. I woke up to eat rather than have her harass the staff later on my behalf. Unfortunately my uncomfortable sleep was often disrupted by the several screaming children that were near by. Flying into Zurich was so beautiful i can not even describe. I was expecting The Von Trapp family, Heidi, and Indiana Jones to appear in the hills at any moment. It was amazing. until...i went to the exit for the second leg to Zagreb. I had to take a train (which was three floors down) over to this awkward back terminal that opened up onto a sidewalk. No plane or even airfeild in space. The waiting area was filled with hostil looking people, and when boarding was called we all filed through the doors onto a bus. Which thankfully took us out onto the runway and our plane. After even more amazing food i expected the gorgeous view to fade and the drab Balkans to appear. But they never did and by the time we started our descent i was pretty thrilled with the look of Croatia. lots of mountains and rivers and cute little towns in the hills. The airport was like a slightly larger and more militaristic (some apache or black hawk like helicopter was sitting on the runway as well, and a burnt out jeep) Customs was a breaze, and mz luggage was quickly sent around the belt. It was easy. By now the three of us on the plane for SIT had met up, and our teacher, Goga found us and we were off to the bus. With surprsingly sane driving we drove Northeast towards the city. It looked gorgeous from afar and i was not dissapointed. The bit by the airport loooked a bit like Costa Rica, then we drove through the residential Novizagreb full of run down communist era buildings, and thankfully continued on. The city is gorgeous. All brick and stone and yellow buildings (thanks to the hapsburg empire) and it is the cleanest city i have ever seen. We are staying in a hostel that is great and clean and friendly and located directly behind a chocolate factory. It smells great all the time.
We met up with all the students and had a large lunch at an italian place, and then were left to ourselves around five. I went to the grocery store with three other girls, and we bought a few things (towels mostly) and came back to the hotel. Around nine out of a bit of desperation we went to the bar down the street looking for food and instead found giant cheep beers and really nice croats who spoke no english. It was a great night and one girl (who is gay) was given this guys- who is 43- sons number for when the son moves to Miami. She is from California but goes to Colby. All in all a good night, and I was glad for the excuse to get out for the evening. After a night of bad sleep (jet lag) we went to class this morning for orientation stuff. Mostly though we went to this HUGE amazing market that takes place everydac across the square from the SIT office. The theme of the trip seems to be eating and drinking coffee.
Our office is right above the city center. We take the tram from the hostel and are there in 15 minutes. its so easy. If you google image the city centar our office is in the yellow building with the wrought iron grate on the second floor.
Goga and Orli are our teachers. Both seem wonderful- smart, enthusiastic, and so sensible. It looks like it will be a very interesting semester. We meet our host families on thursday, and i am a bit nervous though i am sure for no reason. Well i am off in search of dinner- i think Marissa and i are making gnocci. More later....