First - hit the button to "play" the song up. That's the song of my July and I also had a chance to see it live. Now you can start reading!/
For the last three months a small voice in my head kept saying – “write a post, write a post, Anna”. So this is the moment when the voice is not so small anymore and I decided to listen to it. Because the more I experience, the tougher it gets to actually give at least a short explanation of all the things and adventures I’ve experienced since I came to Croatia this April.
The last post was written in our way to EVS arrival training. Now it really seems like fortune ago. So much has happened! But – challenge accepted! If I did ignore the voice of “write a blog, Anna” for so long then I might struggle a bit, but still give a short A to Z what am I doing here after all?
But enough with the introduction! Let’s start one by one.
Sooo – June! In June we had our volunteering arrival training in a small city called Orahovica. As we already expected – 3 days with a lot of food (let’s be honest, it was mostly just meat), not so much actual moving (except early mornings that started with a swim in an empty swimming pool) and a bit of thinking about upcoming months here.
Then there was also the Inmusic festival in Zagreb, located in an island in the middle of Jarun lake. Festival was nice, although my expectations were a bit higher. I must say, after Positivus (music festival in Latvia), the bar for festivals has been set quite high for me. Thereby – if you have never been to Positivus in Latvia – go. But one thing Inmusic festival did have better – karaoke tent with huge letters projected on the cealings. That was quite nice, especially when you find yourself at 3 am lost from your friends but singing lyrics of some Croatian songs you hear for the first time. And a night swim before going home is always a good idea.
In June we also had one of the Outward Bound outdoor programmes – first just a three day training for us – evs volunteers, and then an actual programme with international school kids from Germany. 6 days in mountains with lots of peaks. For me as a Latvian person it already says a lot. We’re not used to mountains and even less – climbing up and down from them 24/7. So it was a bit challenging in emotional way, especially when a voice in your head says “Take a break, take a break, take a break!”, but the group of students is already way ahead. So no break. But after 5 days of climbing nothing can give a better feeling of reward as a swim during the sunset in Adriatic sea after whole day going down the mountain. The programme was great and the scenery – breathtaking.
For the last three months a small voice in my head kept saying – “write a post, write a post, Anna”. So this is the moment when the voice is not so small anymore and I decided to listen to it. Because the more I experience, the tougher it gets to actually give at least a short explanation of all the things and adventures I’ve experienced since I came to Croatia this April.
The last post was written in our way to EVS arrival training. Now it really seems like fortune ago. So much has happened! But – challenge accepted! If I did ignore the voice of “write a blog, Anna” for so long then I might struggle a bit, but still give a short A to Z what am I doing here after all?
But enough with the introduction! Let’s start one by one.
Sooo – June! In June we had our volunteering arrival training in a small city called Orahovica. As we already expected – 3 days with a lot of food (let’s be honest, it was mostly just meat), not so much actual moving (except early mornings that started with a swim in an empty swimming pool) and a bit of thinking about upcoming months here.
Then there was also the Inmusic festival in Zagreb, located in an island in the middle of Jarun lake. Festival was nice, although my expectations were a bit higher. I must say, after Positivus (music festival in Latvia), the bar for festivals has been set quite high for me. Thereby – if you have never been to Positivus in Latvia – go. But one thing Inmusic festival did have better – karaoke tent with huge letters projected on the cealings. That was quite nice, especially when you find yourself at 3 am lost from your friends but singing lyrics of some Croatian songs you hear for the first time. And a night swim before going home is always a good idea.
In June we also had one of the Outward Bound outdoor programmes – first just a three day training for us – evs volunteers, and then an actual programme with international school kids from Germany. 6 days in mountains with lots of peaks. For me as a Latvian person it already says a lot. We’re not used to mountains and even less – climbing up and down from them 24/7. So it was a bit challenging in emotional way, especially when a voice in your head says “Take a break, take a break, take a break!”, but the group of students is already way ahead. So no break. But after 5 days of climbing nothing can give a better feeling of reward as a swim during the sunset in Adriatic sea after whole day going down the mountain. The programme was great and the scenery – breathtaking.
After the festival came my birthday. As most of my friends randomly decided that this is the weekend when they’re going out of Zagreb, I had to come up with a plan for myself. Why not Slovenia? Couple of minutes later I was already planning a trip for me and my friend Tamara (at first she probably didn’t even realize what she got herself into, as she was preparing for exams) consisting of finding a couchsurfing host and a ride to Ljubljana. The rest will have an element of surprise.
And the trip was really, really amazing! Starting with arriving in Ljubljana at 7 am and being asked out to play a frisbee by weirdly looking old guy who seemed already quite drunk (and was a hairstyler) ending with catching a hitchhiking ride and sitting in the back of the car full of wine boxes and a cute old dutch couple in the front. During the day we hitchhiked to nearby nature park and in the evening we met our couchsurfing host in Ljubljana, who also showed us the city and even made me surprise pancakes in the morning of my birthday. There are actually so many more stories from our Slovenian trip to tell, but if I would start – I would never even get to the part of my trip to Bosnia and Serbia.
And the trip was really, really amazing! Starting with arriving in Ljubljana at 7 am and being asked out to play a frisbee by weirdly looking old guy who seemed already quite drunk (and was a hairstyler) ending with catching a hitchhiking ride and sitting in the back of the car full of wine boxes and a cute old dutch couple in the front. During the day we hitchhiked to nearby nature park and in the evening we met our couchsurfing host in Ljubljana, who also showed us the city and even made me surprise pancakes in the morning of my birthday. There are actually so many more stories from our Slovenian trip to tell, but if I would start – I would never even get to the part of my trip to Bosnia and Serbia.
As we didn’t had a lot of work in the office we decided to use the free days and go on a trip as we already had tickets for EXIT festival in Serbia. We started with going by bus to Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina and then hitchhiking all the way to festival through Belgrade. My conclusion about hitchhiking in Bosnia – next time I’ll think longer before signing up for it. Two girls can get into some troubles. As for the country it self – beautiful, but a bit wild from different aspects. Thanks to our couchsurfing host we did hear many, many historical stories and A to Z explanation why the situation between the neighbouring countries is so fuc*ed up. Serious background of historical knowledge needed. After 300 km of hitchhiking we got to our second destination – Belgrade. It proved as always that it’s all about the expectations. An urban metropole city that I wasn’t so excited to go to turned out to be charmingly beautiful and with many, many small hipster places. Just as I like them.
Two days in Belgrade and we left the city for the big reason of the whole trip – EXIT festival. The day started out quite well taking in mind the fact that we managed to hitchhike a taxi that took us all the way to festival, but then continued with being stuck on a bank to make a debate card just to be able to pay in festival’s territory. Forget about mysterious incognito when you’re asked for your relatives names, addresses etc. not even mentioning the barcode on your wrist. Festivals are not as romantic as they used to be. At least not EXIT. But in general the festival was great! Stages and performers for all tastes and a really, reaaaaally lot of people.
And in the last day of the festival I went to Budapest as you can never go wrong (well, maybe sometimes) with the spontaneous plans. And Budapest was greeeeat! My favourite place – a bridge that has been closed down for some reconstruction works thereby are being used by local young people as an ultimate sunset/sunrise spot. Sitting on the upper parts of the bridge, drinking a beer and eating a watermelon with a spoon in the other hand gives you a feeling of – this is it! This is happiness!
So that’s it – that’s the short version of what I’ve been doing during the last two months. More stories coming soon!
Two days in Belgrade and we left the city for the big reason of the whole trip – EXIT festival. The day started out quite well taking in mind the fact that we managed to hitchhike a taxi that took us all the way to festival, but then continued with being stuck on a bank to make a debate card just to be able to pay in festival’s territory. Forget about mysterious incognito when you’re asked for your relatives names, addresses etc. not even mentioning the barcode on your wrist. Festivals are not as romantic as they used to be. At least not EXIT. But in general the festival was great! Stages and performers for all tastes and a really, reaaaaally lot of people.
And in the last day of the festival I went to Budapest as you can never go wrong (well, maybe sometimes) with the spontaneous plans. And Budapest was greeeeat! My favourite place – a bridge that has been closed down for some reconstruction works thereby are being used by local young people as an ultimate sunset/sunrise spot. Sitting on the upper parts of the bridge, drinking a beer and eating a watermelon with a spoon in the other hand gives you a feeling of – this is it! This is happiness!
So that’s it – that’s the short version of what I’ve been doing during the last two months. More stories coming soon!