Most of my work the last few weeks has been centered around human rights groups in Zagreb. I have met with three so far (Human Right's House, Documenta, and the Serb National Council) to discuss their current projects and annual reports. They mostly had similar opinions of the current environment in Croatia, all citing a slight increase in nationalism due to Croatia's world cup success. This past Sunday I attended a commemoration with my colleague for Serb victims killed during WW2. It was held in a small town called Glina, and the ceremony was in front of a community center where an Orthodox church used to stand before it was destroyed. After the ceremony I got to have drinks with the Serbian Ambassador to Croatia and one of the local Bishops.
Croatia's world cup run finally came to an end in the Finals. Our ambassador reserved a private room right above the square which had an amazing view of the screen and the thousands of fans who came to watch. I took a weekend trip to the nearby coastal town of Zadar. There is a beautiful castle surrounding the inner part of the city and the seafood was really good. I was able to stay with one of my friends who I studied with in Dubrovnik last year. It was really nice catching up with him and meeting his family. The following weekend I went to Belgrade Serbia. This was one of my favorite trips, as I got to see a lot of my friends that I knew from last year. I also met up with the Duke Engage students who are there for the summer. This weekend I am heading to Dubrovnik (which is now famous for being part of the set for Game of Thrones). I am excited to meet up with all my friends there who I studied with last fall, and I'm hoping to spend a lot of time at the beach.
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The last 2 weeks have been very eventful. As I mentioned in my last post, I made a weekend trip to Budapest with my fellow intern, Brittany, and other friends. The city took my breath away. The city was full of beautiful monuments and castle-like structures, and everything was extremely cheap. The highlights included visiting the thermal pool and going to the ruin bars with one of my Hungarian friends who just graduated from Duke. The following weekend, Brittany and I rented a car and traveled to the Northern Coast of Croatia. I was pretty nervous because I had never really driven a manual transmission, but somehow managed to make it there and back without destroying the car (although it probably doesn’t have a transmission anymore). The first night we stayed in the beautiful village of Pazin, and left the following morning for a remote waterfall nearby. The view was absolutely stunning, and we had the whole place to ourselves for more than an hour. We swam, jumped off the waterfalls, explored the caves, and enjoyed a nice picnic lunch on the rocks next to the water. I made a short YouTube video of the trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On2gamlXK8k) From the waterfall we travelled to the coast town of Pula. At the heart of the city there is an Ancient Roman Coliseum that was built in the 1st century. This coliseum was a lot more enjoyable than the one in Rome. Although it wasn’t as big, it only cost 4$ to get in, wasn’t crowded, and you had access to just about the entire site. After touring the coliseum, we made the short drive to another city called Rovinj. This coastal town has a heavy Italian influence, and most of the street signs were in both Croatian and Italian. This was perhaps my favorite city I have visited so far. We enjoyed wine and cheese on a bench that overlooked the waterfront, and then ate at a nearby restaurant for dinner. The next day we walked around the city a bit longer, and then made the drive back to Zagreb. Last Saturday I went on a solo hike to a fortress on top of a mountain in Zagreb. The trails were fun and the view at the top was stunning. As far as work goes, my main focus for the last week and a half was prepping for the embassy’s annual Fourth of July party. This is the biggest event of the year, so there was a lot of work to be done. Some of my tasks included designing the invitation, building signs from scratch, and passing out party gifts. The event went off without a hitch, and the night ended with some massive fireworks. Yesterday was one of my most interesting days as the U.S Secretary of Defense James Mattis paid a visit to Zagreb. One of my co-workers and I were stationed at his hotel and prepped the conference room where he had some meetings. In other news: Croatia kicked England’s butt to advance to its first World Cup Final. The games here have been absolutely wild. After each game people shoot off flares, roman candles, fireworks, and basically anything else that lights up and makes loud noises. I am leaving today for a trip to Zadar which is on the Adriatic coast. I will make sure to be back in Zagreb before the World Cup final starts at 5pm. Today marks my third week in the Embassy. This internship has been incredible. I started sending Daily Action Reports (DAR's) back to Washington, which are used to keep people informed of all the Political/Economic developments in Croatia. I was pretty nervous when I sent my first one out, knowing that hundreds of people would receive it, but it turned out well. They are usually just around 250 words, and are very direct and to the point. Unlike papers at school where I try to fluff up the language to make it sound pretty, DARs use very simple and straightforward language which makes them east to read/write. Not only has it helped me improve my writing skills, but I am learning so much about the current political/economic issues in Croatia.
Yesterday was probably my best day so far, as I was able to travel with our Political Military Liaison to a Croatian weapons warehouse to check out anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. We were joined by some naval officers from D.C that are in charge of a program that oversees the safe storage and demolition of dangerous weapons. We were looking specifically at man-pods, which are anti-aircraft missiles that can be very dangerous if put in the wrong hands. In the upcoming weeks I will be helping our planning crew organize the huge 4th of July festival that will be held at the embassy. I've already made the VIP parking passes for the event, and next week I will help make some of the signs. Should be a good time. In other news, the world cup has been very big here (unlike are national team, Croatia is actually playing). I am pretending that I have been a Croatian soccer fan my whole life, even though I didn't know the name of a single player before I got here. Last Saturday was the first game, and I went and visited my family that live in Bjelovar (about a one hour drive from Zagreb). We had a big barbecue and then watched the game at night. As you can see in the pictures below, the pride for the soccer team here is tremendous. On Wednesday, I attended the Embassy Book Club at a colleagues house. I didn't read the book but it didn't matter. It was a really fun night and it was a great bonding experience. This weekend, I am off to Budapest with my fellow intern. I have heard great things about the city and I have never been, so I am very excited. We are planning on doing a boat tour, thermal baths, and a city crawl. I will certainly share pictures in my next post. |
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