I'm Finally Here!

So after a long journey (22 hours long), I finally made it on Friday afternoon. I was happy to be on the ground because frankly, after three flights in one day-ish time I feel like I was starting to push my luck. Not to mention the landing in Dubrovnik was a bit shaky and the runway is like a high school track field. Zeljko picked me up from the airport. Unfortunately, he did not pick up my luggage since both bags were lost in Frankfurt... I've been living off of travel size toiletries for days, wreaking havoc on my beauty routine. Anyway, he talked to the lost and found woman and everything finally arrived today. I've finally settled in and started to un-pack. Although, I should have listened to my mom and brought less shoes because I am out of space. In the time I've been living without my electric converters (aka sans computer), I have been documenting random things.

On Friday, I got here and went straight to sleep. It was about 3pm here so I woke up and watched some local television and this is what I came across:



I did find out what it was... it's HANDBALL! Apparently, Croatia is the constant champion (something I'm used to, obviously) of this sport. The Croatian National Team ended up winning over Austria in this particular game. Fun fact: There are more people playing this sport in Germany than there are people in Croatia. I find it very hard to believe I haven't seen this before.

The next day I went to lunch with Zeljko and Ana at a local restaurant. Lots of people have asked me what people eat in Croatia so I took some pictures of my lunch.
This is our appetizer. It's a random assortment of fresh fish, ceviche, seafood pate, and grilled squid salad.

Here was my main course: black risotto. It's made with cuttlefish which makes the sauce black. It is super delicious.

I will say we've been eating our big meal around 1pm, which is a little hard for me. It's like I wake up and I'm eating lamb and potatoes. Don't get me wrong I love lamb and potatoes, but maybe a little breakfast first. Zeljko told me when I start work it won't be this way and I'll eat normal lunch food. It's mostly a "yay we have company let's feed them as much as possible" kind of thing. I've already had some of that homemade wine that got me into trouble last time, which Robert loooooves reminding me of.

So that's what I've been eating. Now here's what I've been doing... It's been raining almost the entire time I've been here so there hasn't been much to do. However, today Ankica, Ana, and myself took their dogs for a walk up on top of the hill behind where we live. Let me just make this clear...this is right behind our house. Pretty awesome.

Ankica and Mischa on the left, Ana and Meda on the right.

The dogs were busy enjoying the scenery.

So this is what I've been up to the past few days. Oh and since it's been raining I've been learning Croatian by watching American movies and TV (Cast Away, Grey's Anatomy, some Tarantino, etc.) in English with Croatian subtitles. I don't think it's working too well because I still don't have a firm grasp on the extra letters in this alphabet. I should probably start with the ABCs.

As soon as my clothes and shoes aren't all over the place I'll post pictures and maybe a video tour of my apartment.