An Assortment of Days + Croatia

Sup ‘Merica.

The days are going by faster and the day I come home is getting closer!! I have a little less than a month left in my beloved Oxford. I’m feeling a little bittersweet about it. I’m really excited to come home and see all of you and just be home home again, but I am going to miss Oxford very much. At first, everything went by really slowly and it seemed like we had been here forever, but now it seems as if time has flown by. Funny how that usually happens. Oxford has become my home away from home and the people that I live with, my family away from family. I know we’ll all stay in touch when we all go home, but it just won’t be the same. I hope that I have made some life longs friends while being on this trip. I believe I have. May I just say, this has been the best experience I have ever had. It has taught me so much about myself and other people and I have been blessed to be able to see so much of the world. After seeing beautiful wonders and so many different interesting cultures, it kills me inside that some people back home will never leave Abilene or their hometown. There is so much of the world out there that we just don’t really think about while we are in our safe little bubbles.

Enough of that sappy sad stuff. Onward!

So before I tell you all about Croatia, I must tell you about the preceding week!! The actual school week was normal and nothing out of the ordinary, but I did have some exciting things happen on Friday (10/26), Saturday (27), and Monday (29)! So, as the Joker would say, “Here…we…GO:”

10/26:

Friday was super fun. I don’t have class on Fridays (What?! I know, crazy. It’s fantastic.) USUALLY (unless we have a make up class for something) and so on this Friday, I went to Earth Trust with my friends Laynie, Sawyer, Aaron, Ashley, and Chris. For one of our classes, INTS, we have to get twenty hours of volunteer service. Earth Trust is this outdoors, manual labor sort of all day thing. It’s hard work. BUT lucky for us, we got to do something really fun that bitterly cold day: plant baby trees. Despite what you might think or if you have a weird negative past experiences with planting trees, it was really the most fun I have ever had volunteering (besides at DRI, those are some fantastic people too).  Anyways, the reason it was so fun was because I got to be outside in the dirt and fresh air, work with my hands, and talk to our new pals Johnny and Richard. They were these two older (like a bit older than my parents…not that you’re old…you’re timeless…uh…moving on…) gentlemen. Richard had questions galore about Uni (what they call college here, short for university…OBVIOUSLY) in the States and about our own personal studies here in Oxford and what we were majoring in back in the States. He also gave our friend Ashley the hardest time about planting the trees. It was a little difficult and awkward at first. Step one was to stomp the spade into the ground until you could no longer see the head of the spade and then to move it back and forth to make a sort of bell shaped hole in the ground. Step two was to get a baby tree, place the roots downward in the hole and then stomp it in (stomp the ground around the tree making the hole close). Step three was to push a bamboo stick right next to the tree. Step four was to take a plastic wobbly (we called it a wobbly, but plastic cone protector is probably more accurate, but who would want to say that when they can say wobbly?) and wrap it around the tree and the bamboo stick and make sure that the wobbly covered the very bottom of the tree to protect it from scavengers. Now, Ashley was just struggling to make holes. So, about ½ through the first session of planting (before tea time) Richard stops and looks at Ashley with this horrified expression. He said, in his English accent (think of Neville Longbottom’s voice from the Harry Potter movies), “Ashley, have you been putting this extra plastic protector around all the Hawthorns?? They all need this extra sheet of protection!” First of all, all we knew was that we were planting three different kinds of trees. That does not mean we knew exactly which one we were planting all the time. Ashley just looked at Richard, helpless and completely gullible and everything was quiet for about ten seconds and then Richard and the rest of us started laughing. Ashley started laughing and then it was all good fun. There was also this giant metal pole in the ground that Ashley and Richard were trying to get out but due to their lack of strength, couldn’t. So, me being me, I jokingly said, “Oh, did someone call for some muscles, please, let me assist you people.” So I went up to the pole and started wobbling it to and fro and pulling up. Richard at first started laughing a little bit and being a bit sarcastic, but then I really started to get it moving and out a bit and he then started encouraging me. Then Ashley and I pulled at the same time after I had loosened it a ton and we pulled it right out. I just smiled at Rich, dusted the dirt off of my hands, put my gloves back on, and walked back to my baby trees. Richard then named the next tree he planted after me and he planted it right where the pole had been. He went on and on about how I could come back in like fifty years with my grandkids and look at all these trees (we planted like 3,000) and show them the one he named after me. The other older gentleman was Johnny. He was just a funny old man that was a bit of a slacker with a potty mouth. We were about thirty minutes in and he kept asking if it was teatime yet and that he should get two cups of tea because he was working so hard. He would randomly walk by us while we were working and say, “Plant a G** damn tree, damn it!” and then smile his crooked smile. Towards the end of day Johnny really did start working. He was working right next to me when I almost fell over laughing so hard because he talked to himself. He said, “piss off ya thistles!!” hahaha We ended up working about seven hours in total. It was a really great adventure and walk to Earth Trust. About 9.6 miles in the cold, wet, mud actually. It was a fantastic day full of laughs and hard work. Those are the best kind.

10/27:

Just imagine an obscene amount of junk food, girls in giant sweaters and sweats, and you pretty much can imagine our Saturdays. And this one was no different. We vegged out and pretended to be proactive with homework and that evening we watched the Phantom of the Opera with MC (Mama Cracken) and our wolf pack (Laynie, Shelby, me, and Lyndi). Hanging out with Tara (MC) is always super fun. She is so funny and thinks we are the coolest kids ever. Naturally, she’s correct.

10/29:

Monday. I’ll give you all a hint: sweaty, muddy, super muscular men. You guessed it, that evening we got to go to an Oxford Blues rugby match! The Oxford Blues is the Oxford rugby team. It was pretty cold and we went at night which just made it even more exciting. The thing that struck me the most, and don’t judge me, is how HUGE and MUSCULAR these men’s legs are! It was ridiculous! The game was pretty awesome too and was so interesting to watch. I love rugby. It makes American football look like a pansy sport. These men would just run into each other, tackle each other, and push and shove each other with no padding whatsoever. PLUS it was raining so all of this was happening in the mud. EVEN BETTER! In any case, rugby is now my favorite sport to watch. My night was made by watching muddy, sweaty, ridiculously muscular men hit each other and I am not ashamed.  

Well, that was all that happened that was exciting that week!! Next up, Croatia!

DAY ONE:

We started our trek to the bus station at about 1:00am, the time all good adventures begin. We hopped on the bus, went to the airport, hopped on another bus, and arrived in Dubrovnik by lunchtime. As soon as we stepped off the bus, a flock of women surrounded us and asked us if we had a place to stay. Thank the Lord we did and we thanked them and walked away. There was one particular woman that got really offended when Brady told her we didn’t need anything and then followed us around as we tried to find a place to eat. We ended up sitting down and talking with her for about thirty-five minutes as to not be rude and she actually gave us some helpful tips. Soon we were able to pull away and we finally found some deliciously wholesome pizza. Little did I know we would eat pizza everyday, five days straight, for lunch. A dream come true:)

 

  After lunch we walked about two miles through town to get to our rented out apartment. The sea side was so beautiful. 

It just goes on for forever, both the sky and the sea

Locks of love

My fearless group minus Brady

On our way to our apartment we found a grocery store so we bought groceries to make supper that night. It was delicious. Aaron is a fabulous cook. We had chicken with mixed veggies. After supper we decided to go grab some gelato and sat by the sea just talking and being silly. Once we got back to the apartment I had a lovely freezing cold shower because I couldn't figure out the water heater. But of course, right after I got out, my loving friends discovered the issue and they all had hot showers. I'm not bitter.

 DAY TWO:

Thursday we slept in and then lazily made our way down to city center to explore the Walls of Dubrovnik. Before we started the trek on the walls, the girls and I of course had to buy some sun hats. Then we continued on. These were some seriously cool walls. Way cooler than the walls at Avila in Spain.

Do you see the face??

The boys were jealous and had to have a photoshoot

After the walls, we had lunch at this little sea food place next to the bay (yes, I had pizza), bought gelato, did some shopping, and then hopped on the bus back to our apartment. Except we weren't really sure which one to get off. So we rode the bus until they told us to get out because it was the last stop...and then we had to walk back from there for about fifteen minutes to our apartment. I'm still not exactly sure how we even found it. Once we got back to the apartment, we made a quick change into our swimsuits (mine consisted of shorts and a tank top because I forgot my awesome swimsuit at Oxford) and ran down to the ocean to watch the sunset and go swimming. When we got down to the beach, we realized just how cold the ocean water was. But did that stop us from deciding to run into it? No, of course not.

                             

                                                              

                       

                  

                               

After that semi-regrettable/memorable experience, we watched the sun set. And it was so beautiful. There's nothing quite like watching the sun rise or the sun set. Especially when you're freezing cold. It just makes you feel so small and yet, at the same time, part of something so much bigger than yourself.

After the sunset, we went back to our apartment, I took a HOT shower, we cooked supper, and watched Hot Rod. If you have not seen that movie you should probably stop reading and go watch it right now. It's hilarious. After supper and the movie we of course continued our tradition of getting gelato after every meal. Yuumm:)

DAY THREE:

Friday was a pretty chill day, we just made our way to Split. We slept in and then hopped on our bus. Then we walked to our hostel, went and grabbed some pizza (of course), did some more shopping, and then we climbed this random tower we found! There were at least a million steps, all of which were about a foot tall. Maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration. But, a lot. It was worth it though! The view so pretty and even more so because it was just starting to get dark.

There were even more in the bottom bit of the tower. NIGHTMARE.

Left my mark on Croatia! CHECK.

The Tower...

After the tower we went back to the hostel and hit the hay!!

DAY FOUR:

Saturday was probably the most packed day that we had the entire trip. We got up at about 6:00am and went to the beach to watch the sunrise. It was so beautiful and peaceful. I was struck by how quiet it was.

Absolutely beautiful. Almost the highlight of my day. After the sunrise we went and tossed our bags into a locker so we didn't have to lug them about all day long and then explored Split a bit. We went shopping (ALWAYS good fun), went to a museum, and this really cool view point at the top of a giant hill right in town! More awful steps, these at an incline, but we reached the top and the view was breathtaking. You could just see for miles over the ocean and into the city! We explored a bit at the top and discovered a playground. So, as any mature college students would, we played on it and had a tea party.

On the way back down we came across this random giant statue of a hook. I'm not sure what it was in honor of or if it meant anything super spectacular, but all the same, we paid our respects to it.

Sawyer excited about his catch haha

The line got cut, but somehow they still caught me

Dead as a doornail

After our look around town, it was time to go. So we hopped on our bus, yet again, and got to Zadar just as night fell. Then we began our trek to our hostel. Once we arrived, we began to worry a little bit but only because there were no lights on, everything was locked, and we had arrived two hours early...We all stood outside the doors whispering and freaking out (mostly me and my friend Sarah) and thinking about all the scary movies we had ever watched (which for me is like three because I get so freaked out when I'm in the dark...yes, I'm still scared of the dark. I'm not ashamed) when all of a sudden we hear a voice say, "Guys?" It was dead quiet for about ten seconds and then we all said, "BRADY?! WHERE ARE YOU?? ARE YOU INSIDE?!" in a hushed whisper. To which Brady answered yes and that he would come and get us. At this point I am freaking out because Brady is definitely The First One who will be murdered first due to his separation from the pack and the fact that he is on the inside of a dead bolted door...Then he appears from the side and tells us that he found a side door that was unlocked. He persuades us to all go inside and we all file into the kitchen, the only room with a light on. Aaron and Brady walk around trying lights and door handles and discover that the lights don't work either and all the doors are locked. This of course, does not calm me down at all. While I am texting my friends and telling them goodbye and that I love them, Sarah walks through the corridor we walked through to get inside and the door from the outside opens all of a sudden and Sarah screams...Thank goodness it was the hostel people. We had apparently scared them too hahaha After that we all nervously laughed and I kept saying, "I'm so glad that was you Sarah. I think I would have decked someone in the face." So, after calming down and cleaning up a bit we walked to city center to scope out some supper. Then we walked around the bay and came upon the sea organ! It was super cool. It is this system of holes under the cement and when it is high tide, the sea rolls in and out playing music that sounds like an organ. Sadly, the tide was low so we only heard a few notes, but it was still really cool. Then we headed back to the hostel and all climbed into bed. I felt like a ten year old girl at a slumber party because we all stayed in the same room, were all on bunkbeds and stayed up talking to each other in the dark about past relationships and the "right" way to act around boys and girls. Just goes to show you, even when you're in college, boys and girls are still a mystery. Maybe even more so than when you're younger.

DAY FIVE:

Sunday we made our trek back home. We hopped on our bus and started our way to Zegreb. Sadly, our trip stopped about half an hour into it due to our bus breaking down. We all stayed really calm though.

Maybe not all of us. Maybe I was playing with Rachel's camera.

About half an hour later another bus came and picked us up and took us the rest of the way to Zegreb at which we of course had pizza for lunch. We did a bit more shopping, wandered around and found a cathedral in which we talked to a random man for about forty-five minutes about the upcoming election and the EU and the history of Croatia. Very interesting. Then we went to the Museum of Broken Relationships. This museum was so interesting! It's a place where people bring their artifacts from past relationships and their story and donate them to the museum which puts them on display. I guess it works as a type of catharsis, but it also makes for some very real and very raw art.

After the museum we caught our bus to the airport and then flew home without any mishaps!

This trip was full of adventures, some things I'd never like to experience again, and a lot of stray cats, which I hate,

 but for the most part it was very fun.

That's all for this trip, hope you are all doing great!!

Cheers from across the pond,
Mallory Jean