Sljeme and my host Family

It has been a pretty eventful two days. Yesterday was amazing. We had language class in the morning: je sam Lila, dolazim iz Maine, Je volim pse, Ne volim mliejko. Pretty basic stuff- my name is lila, i am from maine, i like dogs and i don't like milk. Our language teacher is Marija. She is really funny, always color coordinated, coffee in hand, and all around great. This was the first two hours of the day, then we were sent on a 'drop-off.' Goga and Orli paired us up and sent us about the city to different places. Another girl and i were sent to Sljeme- which is the ski slope at the top of the mountain overlooking the town. It was BEAUTIFUL. We took a tram to the end of the line, in a part of town called Mihalovic and then waited for a bus that would take us to Sljeme. We figured the little ski icon on the bus display was a good sign and climbed on board. The view the whole way up was just unbelievable. For the first 15 minutes we drove through the valley and a bit of an incline through houses and residential areas that were really nice- a bit like embassy row in dc i think in some palaces, but croatian style. Then came the ascent and the switchbacks. Our driver was on his phone the entire time- always nerve racking. and the Australian runner next to us was telling this other australian couple his whole running life history, but nothing could take away from this view. It was so beautiful. We went through woods with hiking trails that were really tall forests with plenty of open space on the ground to see everything, and we climbed and climbed and climbed. When we arrived at what appeared to be the top the driver just pulled over and put his feet up so we figured this was it and disembarked. We went and checked out the hiking trails, the slightly snobby four star hotel, the shortest ski runs i have ever seen, and had the most awkward lunch ever. We were sent to find the TV tower- easy to spot, the ski runs- easy to find, and have lunch at this restaurant. It is quite the alpine ski lodge, and it was just the woman who runs it there, with her daughter and grandkids. not knowing how to ask for lunch, we just sort of awkwardly stood there, asked in english and then pantomimed. We had our drinks (coke is still in glass bottles here- i love it! and schweps makes lemonade in glass bottles too) on the porch but got too cold so went back inside even more awkwardly. We were told to have grah- which turns out to be a bean soup. It was so fantastic. Then the trip down took an interesting turn when we screached to a halt halfway down the mountain. Turns out a tree had fallen across the road and traffic was blocked. and this was the only way down. half an hour later and the police arrive, without any tools, and awkwardly stand on the far side of the tree and look at those of us who are blocked in. We borrowed some guys cell phone to alert the school to our delay, and when the ranger service did eventually show up it was to great applause. I can't help but wonder with every man i encounter between the ages of 30 and 60 what they were doing 15 years ago. There is no real sign of a war having been fought here- at least not yet- and i think i am more stuck on the past than the croatians.

I am now with my host family- a very sweet couple in their fifties or sixties whose son has moved out (pretty rare) and speak no english. BUT she speaks some russian- so that is nice. My languages are all coming out in a torrent of mess- russian english french and spanish. its one big mess but hopefully i improve. I will write more about it later. It is raining today and the low pressure has brought another headache for me. More tomorrow! Hope things are all well on the homefront!