My Birthday Abroad

 I was a bit anxious to have my 21st birthday away from family, but I actually had a very good birthday abroad. I still have a lot to blog about from I've done in the past two weeks, but I figure that my birthday has much more priority in setting my mother's heart at ease. Today, in addition to being my birthday, is also the day of the program that we were scheduled to take a trip to the beautiful Krk National Park.

 The day began at about 9am with the standard lunch break that I've told you about, the classic cookies and coffee "kekse and kava". In addition, Professor Mamić had gone out that morning and gotten sandwiches for us to have for breakfast. A very delicious and refreshing start to the day.

 Then Mamić drove us for about an hour to a town called Skradin, which was a really pretty town in its own right, but it was not where we were going today. We had some cappuccino and got on the boat that would take us the the national park. The actual park is stunning, with insanely gorgeous waterfalls and amazing raised paths from which you can see very well preserved nature. I can't explain it properly in words, so here is a bunch of pictures that I took while I was there. I'm even in a few of them myself.

 The park also included a historical exhibit with old styled homes and the traditional garb of Croats in the area. It was all quite interesting, there was a traditional kitchen, an old fancy loom, a furnace and bellows for a blacksmith, and these really cool mills and turbines that ran on water power from the waterfalls.

 And next was the aforementioned raised walkway section that had a fantastic view of everything. Didn't come across any snakes or anything cool like that, but the breathtaking views were fine by me. The many pictures are shown below. Hopefully they come out alright at the small size. There was too many to fit in otherwise.

 After that we split up from Mamić to go swimming, which was really awesome at this locale. We swam in the area shown to the right, which could be either a very relaxing place to sit on the rocks and listen to the waterfalls, or a great workout if you swim against the current to the rope barricade in front of the waterfall. This isn't the first place that I've swam in Croatia, but I have to say that it was my favorite so far.

 This day was just one thing to the next. After swimming, we met up with Mamić again and had a very traditional lunch, which in this case means one of the most heavy, meaty, and filling meals that you can possibly think of. It is directly translated to "mixed meats", and it's just a bunch of assorted chicken, pork, sausage, beef, and I think lamb. And then to soak up the ever important greases there was a bed of fries underneath. What I do know is that it was amazing. We had bread, salad, and wine on the side.

There are two things that I learned from this meal-- one, that traditional food is the best type of food and two, that Croats are really big food and alcohol pushers. I ate my fill if not more, but Mamić kept offering me more and more. I'm pretty sure that I even said in Croatian that I can't eat any more, but that doesn't stop a Croat. Amber and I were filled to burst and then we embarked on the boat to start our journey home. And believe it or not, when we got off the boat, Mamić knew one of the nearby shopkeepers as his old friend. He asked if we would want anything to drink and Mamić said just a bit. But of course, since this is Croatia, what he did instead was fill up six shot glasses with a selection of liquors, two for each of us (I was told the names in Croatian, but I don't actually know what they transfer to in English). So yeah, I was very slightly drunk on my birthday.

And finally when we arrived home after the long day, Ana, Mamić's wife, had made me a birthday dinner. The weather was still great like it basically always is so we ate outside on the table out where we have lunch break. She had made this very good omelette-esque cheese filled pancake with prosciutto, cheese, bread, and of course wine on the side. And once again I ate my fill and then some.

 I got two pictures of Professor Mamić, Ana, and me and then two more of Amber, professor Mamić, and me. And yes, it is still that bright and beautiful at 7pm in Croatia.

 Ana is a really sweet woman. She is the one who made the meal and prepared everything for us when we got back. To the left is a picture of just me and her, and my mom will be happy to know that she gave me a hug for her.

It was a great birthday. I was a little bit worried at first how my birthday would turn out away from home, but it was fantastic and the Mamić family was so nice to pitch in so much for it. A letter from my girlfriend, McKinzey, and Skype calls to the family were all that were needed to finish a great birthday overseas.